Had a 82' scirocco and miss that thing. I went through hell, took the mountains like a star and then I moved to Japan. So, I bought a 86' jetta with a golf transmission and cams. Ran the crap out of it and it just asked for more ... all for the price of a rear fuel pump. Got married and the wife made me trash it ... Later on bought a 96' MK3 golf wagon and ran the crap out it and pounded on it as hard as I could it only cost me some strange oil plug sensor. Got divorced and kept the wife's grand cherokee.

All in all, the VWs took more punishment and cost less in the long term than any other car I have owned.

I would go back to VW any day. Plus, the girls are hotties at the dealer. lolo, pulled in the other day with my SC and had to say hello to the staff :D All under the pretense of buying fuses :P

looks like you got yourself a lemon ... too bad ... put it out of it's misery

No, masochist

Seriously though, I drive diesels. Right now the only options for diesel cars are VW and Mercedes. I can't own another VW... they are just too hard on me. I thought about an older Benz, but I really wanted something more modern, and something with airbags. What other options are there? If I could get the european Honda Accord CTDi I wouldn't even think twice.

Although the E class cars aren't necessarily the pinnacle of mercedes workmanship, they are good solid cars. This model is known for some particular issues, but my car's been impeccably maintained and had all the issues addressed pre-emptively.

The only spooky issue for me is the tendency to have seized glow plugs. I'll have the intake manifold off when I'm converting to vegetable oil, so I'm going to bite the bullet and do them then. They should be OK... they have only been in there 3 years.

How do the current TDI models fare?

The current TDIs are electronically regulated. I have heard of a couple of problems. In one car, the chip had the wrong values for maximum boost, was easily diagnosed and re-programmed by the dealer. The other lost power when the wiring harness to the wastegate was overheated, (due to improperly applied insulation I believe). The wires were fixed.

Compared to my 93 Passat turbo, the '06 Jetta is a rocketship (Heck, what isn't?)
It cruises at about 2500rpm in 5th at 120 km/h, burning 5.6 liters/100km while doing so. The torque number, (as stated above) is 170 lbs-ft. @1800 rpm, so downshifting is optional when passing.

Les

Drove up to Montreal after work on Thursday.
Picked up the new car on Friday, sold Regret-a-Jetta on Saturday.

Spent a couple days tooling around Montreal, then drove home yesterday... about 600 miles. What a great car... really a joy to drive.

I really like this car
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1200365350.jpg

I've become so accustomed to diesels being utilitarian and somewhat crude, even in nicer cars like my dad's 83 300sd. A tractor engine in nice pants.

Not this thing. It not only pulls like a train, it actually makes nice sounds. It's snowing very hard tonight, and I only have all season (read: no season) tires on. Had to frig around a bit to get in the garage, eventually switched off the traction control to let it "dig" a bit. Holy smokes, it really has a growl.

Just love it.

While I was away, my wife filled the Samurai with gasoline and it died about 10 minutes later on the highway. That was fun for her, and even more fun for me to deal with tonight out in the driveway, in the middle of that weather. Diesel down my arms and snow down my back.

BUMP!

Almost a year later...

Got an email this afternoon from the guy who bought Regret-a-Jetta. It burned to the ground last saturday, just because.

He thinks it was the heater controls, which are prone to just bursting into flames, and in fact did so in this very car a few years ago, but I (mistakenly) put the fire out and replaced the faulty VW part with (apparently) another faulty VW part.

Fair winds, Regret-a-Jetta. I hope you find peace in the great Autobahn in the sky, now that you have left your flawed, broken body here on earth.

WORST CAR I EVER OWNED... which is saying a lot considering I owned 7 Renaults.

It's not a matter of "if" but "when"....

You got out in time, in any event.

JP

What is it with your cars and bursting into flames?:D

I have an alibi!!!

Jake,

Come on, you're among friends. You can tell us. You had the car hit, didn't you?

Congrats on selling the thing before you were 2 for 2 in a few short months.

Best
Les

Been there, done that.

Just glad it wasn't you.

I know, but at the same time it woulda made a GREAT story!

I guess I should disclose that I had a sailboat catch fire in the driveway once too. I can't really relay the details of that incident, as it could prevent me from running for high office

"I might sell your carcass by the pound..."

- you gonna pimp her out?

how much for a "ride"?

I read this to my husband and both of us just sat here on the couch laughing our butts off!

Then I remembered I've owned both a Fiat and a Mid-70's Jaguar... :rolleyes:

angela

Canadian national pastime, eh.

That's sick, man. :eek:

Wait a darned minute here! You can't just say "I had a sailboat catch fire in the driveway once too. " and leave us hanging! We need details man.

This I GOTTA hear.

It was a 23' wooden bluenose.

There was an incident, one evening, involving several tasty beverages, an "evening sail in the driveway" and firetrucks. Seriously, if I say any more it'll come back to haunt me.

It was funny, though, after a year or so.

I have never set foot in a sailboat, or even been closer than 10 feet to one. I'm basicly a land lubber. BUT, of the ones I have seen there are no motors of any kind, whick means no fuel on board.

I could see a few tasty ones, and a good cigar for an, "evening sail in the driveway" after a day of working on it. I've done it many times on my 19 ft 1974 Glastron I was bringing back from the dead . Nothing like relaxing, and enjoying the progress you make. It had a leaking 18 gallon fuel tank out in the open, a 302 Ford, and an electrical night mare for wiring. It was a bonfire waiting to happen, and I managed to not burn that one.

Jake, If I EVER make it Canada, I want to have a few with you! I'll bring a fire extinguisher of course. There have got to be more stories we aren't hearing.

Most sailboats above 27' in length have either inboard gas or diesel engines. Some smaller boats have inboard engines, too, but it's not as common. Many small sailboats have outboard motors and a small portable gas tank is carried in the cockpit.

Perhaps we should start referring to Jake as "Pyro-Jake."

So Jake:

How's the E300TD "Beirut Taxi" working out for you? I was thinking of buying one as a winter beater. I was in an E300TD taxi in Hamburg not long ago that had more than 900,000 km on the clock and looked great. Those things go forever.

Beirut Taxi...does it have bullet holes in it?

Every time I consider a VW, I will look back on this thread.

Oh man, I just LOVE it. It's built like a bank vault, drives beautifully, and even SOUNDS great (which is saying A LOT for a diesel). That engine, the om606, was a real milestone for diesel engines. Straight 6, DOHC, 24v, crossflow head, turbocharged and intercooled. It only sounds like a diesel at idle.

For maintenance and repairs, parts are generally LESS expensive that VW equivalents, so it's actually been less expensive to run than our VW.

More importantly for me though, it's a JOY to work on. A few weeks ago I had A LOT of suspension work to do, no fault of the car's... there was an *incident*. Anyhow, I got into a bit of a case of "while I'm in there", and ordered a huge pile of parts from our gracious host. I expected it to take a couple weekends to get all the work done, but once I set to work I found I was getting things done REALLY quickly.

Within 3 hours I had changed out:
- tie rod ends
- sway bar links (front & rear)
- front & rear shocks
- engine mounts

Try that on a Jetta or Passat

Only low points in ownership have been:
- an air leak in the fuel system, causing it to not start, or worse yet stall in traffic. E300D's are prone to fuel system air leaks, but in the end that was caused by a cheap hose clamp on my veggie conversion, so I can't really fault the car for that.
- I had a glow plug break off in the head. These engines are known for seized glow plugs, but I figured I was OK because they'd been done a couple years before. Nope. Even after reading all the warnings and DIY tricks, I had one break. It was one of my scariest DIY experiences ever, but I managed to make a puller and get it out. Some aren't so lucky, and end up having to pull the head. Around the time I was doing mine, a guy on the mercedesshop forum had one break and ended up spending $4300USD at a benz specialist.

i had that model jetta. many problems in very few miles. my 2000 golf was a disaster as well.

my current rabbit seems like a world apart from the previous generation. time will tell but so far im impressed with its power, build quality and style. i swore off VW after two expensive mistakes but so far my mind has been changed. why so many people diss the new 5 cycl engines i have no idea. i think its a amazing. good luck