TDI left on a rollback

[aigel]

Originally Posted by speeder

Let's see: take an absolute, guaranteed bath on a great car vs, the 1/100 chance of taking the same bath on a possible repair and getting the use of the great car the whole time....

And you're torn? I don't know what to say.

LOL - sure a good way to look at it. But the car is suspect as it stops running for a reason that could not be determined. Not fun.

Peppy - how many miles? What year?

I would try to keep running it until the warranty is up. Decide if that's 36k or 60k miles for you. Selling after 3 or 5 years is perfectly fine in terms of depreciation. They are good points in the curve IMHO - the next best chance would be 90k and then 180k.

My car hasn't had any problems and I will keep it for 5/60k knowing that likely any HPFP issues will be covered. After 60k it will be a good time for me to look for a new car anyway.

G

[peppy]

The jetta is a 2011 with 34K miles.

my wife wasn't stranded the issue was in the driveway. I think her confidence was shaken a little, but I don't think she is scared of it. Now if it does it again that may change.

We had long term plans for this car to replace my 2001 TDI that has 342,000 miles. I know it won't last forever, and I thought the new jetta would be as durable. I guess we will have to waite and see.

[Macroni]

Originally Posted by peppy

We had long term plans for this car to replace my 2001 TDI that has 342,000 miles. I know it won't last forever, and I thought the new jetta would be as durable. I guess we will have to waite and see.

You have got to be kidding me you have a TDI w/ 342,000 on it and your 2011 didn't start once and you are willing to give up on it? Man.... define what it takes to earn your loyalty or goodwill to me. It appears TDI's have served you well.

[Deschodt]

Originally Posted by Macroni

You have got to be kidding me you have a TDI w/ 342,000 on it and your 2011 didn't start once and you are willing to give up on it? Man.... define what it takes to earn your loyalty or goodwill to me. It appears TDI's have served you well.

Apples and oranges ? AFAIK, and I'm no expert, the 2001 was 1.9 turbo D, old style.
The 2012 is a 2.0 direct injection, with higher fuel pressures, a different fueling system prone to total destruction when contaminated, and believe you me, if you surf the TDi boards, it feels like a lot more than 1% failures ;-(

That's like saying my 911SC had 200K mi without any issues but I don't trust my
996's IMS. That would be a fair statement too, in my book.

[Macroni]

Originally Posted by Deschodt

That would be a fair statement too, in my book.

I see your point but it is not a fair comparison we are speaking of a 1% failure rate.

[Macroni]

Originally Posted by Deschodt

if you surf the TDi boards

Let's face it what % of total owners make it to the boards. Based upon my Pelican experience, it only takes a few to make quite a bit of noise.....

[speeder]

People who do not have serious problems with their new or late model cars are a LOT less likely to wind up on a web forum that primarily discusses mechanical issues with the cars. I would think that this is common sense. In my quite wide cross-section of friends and acquaintances, I do not know anyone who is not a "car person" or owner of a lemon who has spent any time on a car board like we do.

I acknowledge that there is some issue with some new VW TDIs regarding fuel pumps but it seems like the type of thing that would rear its ugly head in the warranty period if it truly is some serious design flaw. I'm going to research it further and I am still very interested in these cars. As a road trip machine + DD in the modern world, I don't see much that's better. At least in the USA, in Europe their are myriad choices of similar cars. You could call me a diesel fanatic.

[speeder]

Originally Posted by Deschodt

Apples and oranges ? AFAIK, and I'm no expert, the 2001 was 1.9 turbo D, old style.
The 2012 is a 2.0 direct injection, with higher fuel pressures, a different fueling system prone to total destruction when contaminated, and believe you me, if you surf the TDi boards, it feels like a lot more than 1% failures ;-(

That's like saying my 911SC had 200K mi without any issues but I don't trust my
996's IMS. That would be a fair statement too, in my book.

Every TDI VW, (and every other modern diesel for the last 20 years), is high-pressure direct injection. What did you think that TDI stands for?

A 996 is a massive departure from air-cooled 911 engine technology. Not a good analogy at all. And as someone who has owned more air-cooled 911s than most on this board, (and rebuilds them myself), I think that the fear of IMS issues is hugely over blown and 996s are great cars mechanically for the most part.

[onewhippedpuppy]

Originally Posted by speeder

People who do not have serious problems with their new or late model cars are a LOT less likely to wind up on a web forum that primarily discusses mechanical issues with the cars. I would think that this is common sense. In my quite wide cross-section of friends and acquaintances, I do not know anyone who is not a "car person" or owner of a lemon who has spent any time on a car board like we do.

I acknowledge that there is some issue with some new VW TDIs regarding fuel pumps but it seems like the type of thing that would rear its ugly head in the warranty period if it truly is some serious design flaw. I'm going to research it further and I am still very interested in these cars. As a road trip machine + DD in the modern world, I don't see much that's better. At least in the USA, in Europe their are myriad choices of similar cars. You could call me a diesel fanatic.

Absolutely. Having an expensive issue with your car could very easily spur you into looking for either help or a place to vent. It's pretty common to see someone's first forum post be looking for help with a problem. Non-enthusiasts don't waste hours posting about how awesome their grocery getters are.

[kaisen]

Denis, you're a gambling man....

How about I give you 97 to one odds that you'll pay me $10,000 and I pay you $10 for that bet?

Buying a new/newer TDI (or older, actually) is like playing very expensive roulette. The stakes are high, but the benefits of taking that risk are pretty low. How much will you save overall buying a TDI over, say, a similar high-efficiency gas car? Forget TDI resale value, that's likely NOT going to be true in 5-10 years. Industry analysts are cutting the TDI's residuals like crazy right now, not just because of these issues, but due to the cost of diesel, the closing efficiency gap of gas powered alternatives, hybrids making gains, and more diesel competitors coming to market (soon!).

So you get to save a few pennies in fuel costs (maybe) and take the risk that you'll have a $6000-$12,000 repair that affects a good number of cars, and may affect more as time goes on -- they're still relatively new.

I know you love diesels. YMMV

[beepbeep]

Here, the diesels have been around forever and have been fairly indestructible...until lately.
Manufacturers went to great lengths to wring out the very last MPG out of the car, which has led to some very complicated and daring designs.

Personally, I would rather have a tad older tech with 10% worse MPG than pay trough the nose for latest and greatest and then risk a general failure.

Most of cars with HPFP-troubles mentioned on VW forum had less than 30000 miles FFS! That's really bad.


Here in Sweden, VAG decided to stop offering DSG Passat's to Taxi companies as many drivers munched two/three transmissions before the end of drivetrain warranty. It must have cost a fortune for factory to cover this...

/I'm the one with 20 year old daily driver in his pocket...

[aigel]

I had the 30k service today on my TDI. I spoke to the jr. service guy and he knew nothing about fuel pump failures. But he only was on the job for 8 months. He went and inquired with the Sr. service guy. That one apparently had heard. Their policy (verbally) is that they will repair a blown fuel pump under the drivetrain warranty. He did mention that the tank pump will not be covered if affected. So, this sounds like a 80% covered under warranty policy.

What I also got is a bunch of new stickers. VW had sent these about 6 months after I bought the car with the instructions to install them. I ignored it, as I am the only one ever filling up my car. Now they apparently check every TDI at service time and get you the stickers installed! This is a strong indication that VW doesn't just make an excuse for failed fuel pumps when claiming that the affected cars were fueled with gas, they apparently try to reduce the false-fueling with these stickers.

Anwyay, I am TDIng away and will re-evaluate the situation at 60k / 5 years.

G

[Outback Porsche]

We've changed our filler caps on all our diesels so that they can't be misfueled.

Grab one of these, or something similar.



Caparo RightFuel — RightFuel is a revolutionary new device that prevents motorists putting the wrong type of fuel in their cars

[dean]

The dealer finally got our car running. The high pressure fuel pump exploded. It took the lame dealer 10 days to figure it out after taking the cyl head off and finding nothing wrong with it. The dealer doesn't know how to read trouble codes yet.

The bill came to @ $2100. VW would take $300 of the pump job and the dealer would take $300 off the cyl job. I told them since they misdiagnosed the problem I shouldn't have to pay for the cyl job. I argued with the idiot service writer for a short time and then I told him to buy the car from us. So they did. The Time Bomb/Death Trap is gone. We were very sad to see it go. The car fit us very well. I love the low speed torque of turbodiesels. And the size of the JSW was perfect for us. But VW's stink in terms of reliability. At least the last two Jetta's that we had were terrible in terms of reliability.

It was hard to find a replacement car that fit us. We ended up with a Ford C-Max hymen. I hope we like it. We pick it up today.

[kaisen]

Originally Posted by dean

We ended up with a Ford C-Max hymen. I hope we like it. We pick it up today.

I hope that one doesn't break.....could be messy.

Once you get the first time out of the way, it will be smooth sailing.

Good luck!

[scottbombedout]

Originally Posted by kaisen

I hope that one doesn't break.....could be messy.

Once you get the first time out of the way, it will be smooth sailing.

Good luck!

Yeah it will only need breaking in.

[911boost]

Is it a tight squeeze getting in?

[Steve Carlton]

Built Ford-tough!

[dean]

Got the car. I have nicknamed it the C-Hair. For some reason the wifey doesn't like that name and she calls it Maxipad.

[aigel]

Update -

VW now installing fuel necks that don't allow the gas nozzle in the diesel car. I am going to get mine soon. If nothing else, this really will help if the pump goes and VW claims it was misfueled.

Volkswagen TDI diesel to get modifications to prevent gasoline misfueling - Autoweek

From that article:

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration started an investigation into several diesel-fueled VW models in February 2011 after receiving dozens of complaints about cars that stalled, often at highway speeds.

These complaints were typically linked to a failed fuel pump. VW told NHTSA investigators that 90 percent of the fuel samples from vehicles involved in the complaints had substantial amounts of gasoline in their tanks.

To date, NHTSA has received 160 complaints and field reports, many of them submitted by VW, according to the agency's official log of the investigation.

Read more: Volkswagen TDI diesel to get modifications to prevent gasoline misfueling - Autoweek
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Cheers,

G