Edumakate me on VW TDI

[scottmandue]

Probably be getting the wife a used car in about a year... she has made it know that she lovers the VW new beetle.

A quick autotrader search of my area shows TDI beetle, Golf (my preference), and Passat.

Most have the 1.9 and some are over 200K miles so may I presume that is a solid engine?

However here is the sticky bit... transmissions... wife is good with a manual so no problem... however if we find the perfect car with an auto should we go for it? I see there is more than one auto available, is one better than the other?

Live long and prosper!

[kaisen]

Originally Posted by scottmandue

Probably be getting the wife a used car in about a year... she has made it know that she lovers the VW new beetle.

A quick autotrader search of my area shows TDI beetle, Golf (my preference), and Passat.

Most have the 1.9 and some are over 200K miles so may I presume that is a solid engine?

However here is the sticky bit... transmissions... wife is good with a manual so no problem... however if we find the perfect car with an auto should we go for it? I see there is more than one auto available, is one better than the other?

Live long and prosper!

The engine depends on the year. How new are you considering?
The transmission does not. The automatics are not known to be good. Buy a manual, both for fun, fuel economy, and longevity. You'll quickly notice that manuals command a big premium.

[scottmandue]

Year would be a function of price, I'm guessing once we pay down the credit cards we will be shooting at $10-15K and under 100K miles. Right now that would put us in a 2000-2006 Passat with a manual (again looking at autotrader).

[kaisen]

Passat is a very different animal, with a longitudinal layout and an Audi transaxle (still the same bad guts, if automatic).

The ALH motor of the 1999.5-2003 Golf/Jetta (98.5-2003 Beetle) are considered to be better than the PD (Pumpe Duse) motors when it comes to reliability, fuel economy, tuning, and running alternative fuels.

The holy grail is a 2003 Jetta Wagon with a manual transmission and low miles. They bring the moon and the stars.

Honestly, I'd spend my $10-15K on a MUCH newer car with lower miles, but not a diesel.... have you done the math?

[Esel Mann]

I have a 2005.5 Jetta TDI. I have had the regular service intervals every 5k miles.

As far as engine/tranny issues:

tranny - I have not experienced any issues with the automatic tranny. One thing to note though, in the owners manual service section, it indicates that the automantic tranny is not to be serviced. Ever. VW did in fact change their mind about this and issued a bulletin to service the tranny every 40,000. Which is what I have done. Knock on (insert your favorite material here), no issues thus far.

engine - The big thing I experience with the engine is about every 35-40k miles the EGR valve gets clogged and (I presume stuck open) and the car stalls and cannot be started. I have been told that this is related to bad quality of diesel fuel. I cannot say either way as to whether I believe or disbelieve that particular reason given to me. Also note, that every 40k is the "big service" this is related to the fact that the engine is a TDI. Such service is more involved versus a gas engine and thus as a result it is more costly than normal gas engine servicing.

As far as other issues:

I'll preface this with: "I live in FLA and the sun is very harsh". The headliner is receeding in several places where it meets with for example the roof lights. Additionally it has separated from the foam in the rear. My best guess, because it gets really, really hot in the car when sitting in the sun, is the heat forced the shrinkage as well as separation. Also whatever material they use to coat anything which has a backlight on it, like window switches and radio knobs seems to be coming off now. Again I think the most likely culprit is the heat.

As far as expected mileage, with a bike rack (drops mpg by ~ 2-5 mpg depending), I average somewhere around 42mpg. My driving is mixed city highway, about 50/50 I'd say. On the highway I typically do 80. So if you driver slower, your mpg will noticeably be better. I do however use the cruise control at every opportunity. It's the only cruise control I've seen out there which is responsive enough to even use in city traffic, bumper to bumper traffic excluded of course.

[ben parrish]

I looked at the diesels before I bought my Jetta (2009 gas model). Could not make the numbers work out on the extra up front cost of the diesel..would take like 380k to break even on the costs..love my gas model and I get around 27-28 mpg driving it hard in the mountains.

[6e0ff]

My wife had an 02 Gofl TDi since it was new and just recently traded it on an 11 Jetta Sportwagen TDi. Both the old Golf and the new Sportwagen are manual transmission. She didn't even want to look at any other cars before she bought it. There is nothing wrong with the automatic trans, but you will lose some MPG. The manuals command a premium for a reason. The EGR is a known weak point of the cars, as was mentioned. There are various fixes for this, that may not be entirely legal from an emissions point of view, but fix the problem. The only other issue that we ever had with the Golf was a glow plug going out, but it was replaced under warranty. I would recommend checking out the forums at www.tdiclub.net . It is the best resource that I have found for all things TDi.

[kaisen]

Originally Posted by 6e0ff

There is nothing wrong with the automatic trans........ I would recommend checking out the forums at www.tdiclub.net

I agree, spend A LOT of time on TDIClub.com (.net will get you there, but it's .com). Do a search on automatic transmissions. You'll learn to stay away from them. There are even dozens of threads on converting blown up automatics to manuals.

Just type in '01M' (the option code for the automatic) into the search function. Dozens and dozens, if not hundreds of threads on critical, terminal problems with the automatics. Stay away.

[peppy]

Between my brother and I we have 4 TDIs, (2) 2001 and (2) 2011, all Jetta and manuals except for my brothers new Jetta has the DSG.

I agree with kaisen, the ALH is a proven engine, the PDs have had their problems with camshaft failures, and the new CR engines have a fuel pump issue.

With all of the TDI engines the maintenance costs are very high(We have a VAG-COM and do all of our maintencance on the older cars)

a link to the forums
TDIClub Forums - Powered by vBulletin

New jetta $9K fuel system repair
11 Jetta TDI fuel failure - TDIClub Forums

[scottmandue]

Originally Posted by kaisen

Honestly, I'd spend my $10-15K on a MUCH newer car with lower miles, but not a diesel.... have you done the math?

Uh... no... but reading all this, first I wouldn't get an auto (fortunately wife drove a Nissan pickup with manual so that is not a problem).

And yes maybe a diesel is not the way to go.

What got me going was seeing a diesel, beetle, stick, advertised in Portland claiming 50 mpg. However we could only find three gas stations near my wife that sold diesel.

But in L.A. most gas stations have diesel, so once she moves down that would not be a problem.

Thanks guys... don't think the TDI is for us.

[911boost]

My neighbor had a manual Jetta TDI 2006ish, maybe it was his driving style, but he needed to replace the clutch and it was going to be very expensive. He ended up trading it in on an auto Honda Civic.

[t951]

Wife and I are in sales and just got a TDI. 2011 Jetta TDI. We have had it 2 months and have almost 11000 miles on it. The car has been perfect.

Lots of torque, and it gets down the highway nicely. Love the torque!

We get around 40mpg with it, but I'll be honest, i drive the snot of it.

Oh, and we have the DSG tranny which has been good.

[LSA]

Fwiw dad had a TDI golf 2002 I believe bought it used with something like 60k miles put something like 120k miles on it in a couple years ran like a top averaged 45-50 mpg and it was an automatic once got just shy of 55 really babying it. No engine or tranny problems gave it. Became my sisters car she beat the hell out of it, completely mistreated like turning on without waiting for glow plugs to warm up then flooring it cold smashing it down the driveway through the gutter and away she went. She had multiple accidents including rear ending her bf traded it into the dealer with lots of body damage and 200k+ miles for 6k towards a new beetle.

Pretty damn good cars imo.

[6e0ff]

I would trust the reliability of the TDi over the gas powered VWs.

[GothingNC]

My brother had a 99 TDI Jetta manual, purschased for $4,500 with 120,000 miles on it.
Came with a refreshed suspension, brakes, new timing belt and water pump.

Drove it for a few years and sold it for $5,000 with 180,000 miles still on the original clutch. Only item outside of routine maint. was tires, vacuum lines and a cooling fan.

My wife had her 04 TDI with the PD-BEW motor (BEW are not known to have cam shaft issues) with the tip-tronic. Sold it with 94,000 miles for a 2011 TDI Sportwagen.
Only issues with her car was a cooling fan; EGR coolant hose that developed a leak and the drivers door light switch stopped working.

Sold it with 94,000 miles for a 2011 TDI Sportwagen.

[nostatic]

Well, I just bought one albeit a new one (Jetta Sportwagon). From what I understand the DSG has proven fairly reliable - only downside is that you have to do a service every 40K miles. Don't know about the other auto transmissions.

[oldE]

2006 TDI (PD) here. I hope the camshaft issues noted for some of these engines are related to high RPM operations. I have 144,000km on mine with no issues, but I seldom see the high side of 3000rpm, the thing has a nice torque delivery which makes for effortless driving and great milage.

The place where I service my car used to be a VW dealer, but was too small to continue. They discovered how easy (and cost effective) it was to convert failed VW automatics over to manuals and have done several. The transaxle, shifter and pedal cluster swap is very straightforward and a few minutes with their laptop tells the computer it is now a manual transmission car. The only problem is if someone is looking up the car's VIN for parts sometime down the road.

If you are doing some serious mileage with your car, the diesels are well worth it. If you are just puttering around, don't bother if you are not in love with the cars.

Les