Thinking about a TDI

[The patriot]

Forgot... my wife got another 300 off. :-laf

 

[Regcabguy]

No Passat wagon I guess? Didn't they have one in the past?

 

[The patriot]

jetta yes, passat no.

#ad

 

[BILLUA]

Very Nice! Congrats

 

[The patriot]

Thanks!Oo. Oo.

 

[HBarlow]

That's a nice a car. My choice would be white like your wife's.

 

[Jim W]

Very nice car. Hope your wife enjoys the car as much as my wife does?



Now all you need are splash guards for the car to protect the paint from stone chips or that 3M clear tape to protect against stone chips.

Jim W

 

[mwilson]

Very nice car. Hope your wife enjoys the car as much as my wife does?



Now all you need are splash guards for the car to protect the paint from stone chips or that 3M clear tape to protect against stone chips.

Jim W

They don't have rocks in Jersey, it's all paved over... ...



Nice car, good choice! Congrats!!!



Mike.

 

[Jim W]

They don't have rocks in Jersey, it's all paved over... ...



Nice car, good choice! Congrats!!!



Mike.

Don't they use cylinders to cover the roads when it snows out? This is away to get rid of the cylinders and clinkers from all those coal plants on the east coast.

Jim W.

 

[The patriot]

Topped it off after 2 weeks. It still had 1/2 tank in it.

It took almost 9 gallons and we had 301 miles on the odometer.

33. 5 mpg's LOCAL DRIVING!

That would have been a full 20 gallon tank in the old Chrysler.

I can get used to this. :-laf

 

[AHarris]

High Pressure Fuel Pump

Anyone who purchases a 2009 or later VW TDI should be careful and be aware that driving one without a warranty is a ten thousand dollar risk. The Bosch High Pressure Fuel Pump (HPFP) is prone to failure... as my wife found out on Saturday on the way home from Louisiana, when it stopped our 2010 Jetta Sportwagen in its tracks and almost caused a major accident.



Thankfully, VW is covering it all under warranty--will cost $9K to repair! Not only will be without our car for 2 weeks while the source the parts (on national back-order) to fix it, but I get to drive 600 miles down to St Louis to return the rental car they gave me and pick up the damn thing and bring it home!



When this marvelously German engineered pump goes, it sends metal particles all the way through the fuel system. The entire fuel system forward of the gas tank has to be replaced: lift pump, fuel lines, injectors, etc. Turbo and head are removed to inspect for damage in case any metal got through. Gas tank is dropped and drained.



There are numerous complaints all over the web of these fuel pumps failing. Most are lucky like me and get it fixed under warranty. Others are not so lucky and have had to eat the cost of a repair 1/2 the value of the car.



I won't talk about the two recalls, numerous nitnoid electrical problems, crappy factory tires that lasted 23K miles, and the design problem in the weather stripping that caused the spare tire compartment of our Sportwagen to fill up with water during a heavy rainstorm.



VW TDI Jetta Sportwagens are wonderful, delightful machines to own and drive when they work. But when they break, they break bad. They are also ridiculously complicated, over-engineered, and unreliable. Unfortunately, I can no longer recommend one... I wish we would have gotten the Prius instead.

 

[The patriot]

Sorry to hear that.
I heard they fixed that pump problem.
My nephew has a Prius, he rides the shyte out of it. South jersey to jersey city daily. I dont believe he's ever done an oil change either.
At the 3-4 year mark his cars basically fall apart, then he cries how shytty they are. :-laf

 

[Tractorat]

10 grand for a pump ? Whew !!!! A friend of mine has a 2005 Toureg gasser (with only 82k miles on it) that he just had fixed on an extended warranty. I dont remember what he had replaced, but I think I remember it would have cost him about 10 grand had he paid for it himself.



I think I would stay away from VW. Right now those cars may still be valued at or above $10k. But what about a couple of years from now when they are worth much less ? And the part still costs $10k or more ? Crazy.

 

[AHarris]

As soon as we get it back, we're trading it in for a Jeep Grand Cherokee. Thankfully, Jetta Sportwagens hold their value well!

 

[rscurtis]

The question that comes to my mind is how does metal in the fuel system get into the cylinders? It certainly won't go through the holes in the injectors.



Perhaps you could wait a while on the Jeep and try out their new diesel when it becomes available. It's going to be a VM and is supposed to be more economical than the Mercedes engine used in the past.

 

[AHarris]

The question that comes to my mind is how does metal in the fuel system get into the cylinders? It certainly won't go through the holes in the injectors.

Perhaps you could wait a while on the Jeep and try out their new diesel when it becomes available. It's going to be a VM and is supposed to be more economical than the Mercedes engine used in the past.

I thought about the same thing when they told me that on the phone. I would really prefer they don't take off the cylinder head unless they have to.

I think I'll just go for the gasser Jeep with the new Pentastar V6--I've heard good things about this motor and the mpg's aren't too bad.

Still kicking myself in the arse for not keeping the perfectly good 2003 JGC with the awesome 4. 0 inline 6 that I gave up for that damn VW.

 

[The patriot]

I may sell my 98 to get one of the new (2013-2014)JGC diesels.

I'm thinking about it... ... ...

 

[BILLUA]

We have 65k on our 06 Liberty with the VM diesel engine. It has been great, getting almost 30 mpg in mixed driving as well as being a little torque monster.



I would love to see either this engine or an updated one in a new 4 door wrangler...

 

[AHarris]

We have 65k on our 06 Liberty with the VM diesel engine. It has been great, getting almost 30 mpg in mixed driving as well as being a little torque monster.

I would love to see either this engine or an updated one in a new 4 door wrangler...

If Jeep would put a robust little diesel in that Wrangler (instead of that thirsty and underpowered 3. 7L V6), they would sell them by the truckloads!

For that matter, Chrysler's decision to stop fitting the incredibly awesome and bulletproof 4. 0 L6 in Jeep products makes me scratch my head, and say "WTF?!"

 

[HBarlow]

Anyone who purchases a 2009 or later VW TDI should be careful and be aware that driving one without a warranty is a ten thousand dollar risk. The Bosch High Pressure Fuel Pump (HPFP) is prone to failure... as my wife found out on Saturday on the way home from Louisiana, when it stopped our 2010 Jetta Sportwagen in its tracks and almost caused a major accident.

Thankfully, VW is covering it all under warranty--will cost $9K to repair! Not only will be without our car for 2 weeks while the source the parts (on national back-order) to fix it, but I get to drive 600 miles down to St Louis to return the rental car they gave me and pick up the damn thing and bring it home!

When this marvelously German engineered pump goes, it sends metal particles all the way through the fuel system. The entire fuel system forward of the gas tank has to be replaced: lift pump, fuel lines, injectors, etc. Turbo and head are removed to inspect for damage in case any metal got through. Gas tank is dropped and drained.

There are numerous complaints all over the web of these fuel pumps failing. Most are lucky like me and get it fixed under warranty. Others are not so lucky and have had to eat the cost of a repair 1/2 the value of the car.

I won't talk about the two recalls, numerous nitnoid electrical problems, crappy factory tires that lasted 23K miles, and the design problem in the weather stripping that caused the spare tire compartment of our Sportwagen to fill up with water during a heavy rainstorm.

VW TDI Jetta Sportwagens are wonderful, delightful machines to own and drive when they work. But when they break, they break bad. They are also ridiculously complicated, over-engineered, and unreliable. Unfortunately, I can no longer recommend one... I wish we would have gotten the Prius instead.

That's disappointing news but news that I need to read. I have a serious lust for a VW TDI.

The reliability and longevity of the old MB diesel engine used in large, heavy MB sedans for years was legendary. Wasn't it a Bosch fuel system also?

A few months ago when I drove and considered a new Golf TDI I decided I just could not justify buying a new one to sit in my barn alongside my rarely driven Dodge while I ride a motorcycle but told the salesman I'd like to be notified if he got a nice used one in as a trade. Well, a day or two before I was scheduled to leave home on my long planned motorcycle adventure to New England he called. He had a very clean '05 Jetta TDI w/113k miles they had just traded for. I stopped by and looked at it and later called and made an offer but I was home packing for my trip and had too much on my mind to look carefully at the car and buy it the afternoon before I left. I would like to have it and have some regret that I didn't buy it. The VW dealer GM called me back with a counter offer that wasn't bad but they claimed to have the service history on the car and I didn't have time to drive back to Lubbock to read it to determine the real history of the car. I may have passed on a very nice one owner car.