Volkswagon Turbo Diesel

[BRUTUS]

Fastcat?

OK fatcat

You were two minutes faster with your reply.



I just got a 2002 Jetta TDI for my daughter's 18th birthday.

Reliability, longevity and good milage being the main motivators.

Kinda like the same reasons we chose our longevity except a little more appropriate for a young girl.

Only thing is that due to the hurricane induced shortages and it being laborday weekend, there is no diesel fuel available in our area at any price.

 

[mhenon]

My 2004 Jetta TDI is quick. I think it would take my 2004 Dodge off the line to 40mph. It has never been below 40mpg since new. The wife drives it 30 miles each way to work in traffic and loves it.

Our Jetta is real quick. I think I can blow the doors off my Pickup. I had the Jetta up to 100mph in cruise control and it felt like it could stay there all day. Oh. . It had more rev's too. . I just chickened out at 100.

Freds TDI web-page has all the info you need to keep the VW TDI going strong. They're a bunch of fanatics (like us with the Cummins) and know their stuff.

As the fuel prices soar higher. . buying the Jetta seems like the smartest thing I've ever done. The poor ol Dodge drives me 1 mile to work and back and then sits. Ever once in awhile I drive it 5 miles down the road just to warm it up. Too bad but I can't afford to pay these fuel prices.

Mike

 

[cruiser_2]

I have been driving VW cars and Mercedes vehicles for many years now... most of them diesel ( I am an ASE Certified master) and presently have 275000 miles on my 79 MB 300D. Got rid of a VW Jetta Diesel (85) with 400,000 miles (head job at 250,00). I 've worked on many of the later model TDI and they are very reliable. I am now looking for an affordable Jetta ECO Diesel.



___________

1998 2500 quad cab totally stock 4. 10 452,000 miles and still going strong

 

[RT66DOC]

Cruiser, thanks for the input.



Anybody know the difference between the Jetta GL and the GLS? Looks like the GLS is a couple thou more. Is it just a trim thing?

 

[BDanner]

Note to self: Never buy an older Mercedes again. There was a reason it was traded. Part$. The car was an '86 300SDL owned by the service manager of HBL Porsche Mercedes in Tysons Corner Virginia. This car was driven by his wife and had been maintained as needed and more. When I bought the car in '98 with 200 K miles it had a shiny injector pump, new hood blanket it was beautiful.



45 K later it all began showing itself. First a starter, easy to replace with 1 choice a rebuilt Bosch $485 or new $895! Did not matter if it was purchased at the dealer or internet parts shopping same $$. https://www.turbodieselregister.com/forums/newreply.php#

EEK!



Next was the A/C which pukes out at regular intervals as I discovered. Compressor, condenser and lines installed about $2000!



54 K later it was the suroof cable that goes from the motor in the trunk forward. I just lived with it closed.



Now came the rubber suspension bushings and shocks. This active suspension became very active! Left it alone.



Power window switches that corrode on the console I replaced.



The final straw was another starter. I called Purple heart and donated the battleship for a $6000 tax credit. https://www.turbodieselregister.com/forums/newreply.php#

Big Grin



To summarize it is a great engine, easy to work on due to the space under the hood, but the peripheral luxury items and parts costs make a CTD look inexpensive. I guess if you had a parts car to canabilize this would alleviate some of the wallet discomfort. Look through the loyal Mercedes threads on the internet and you will compile more stories like this. On occasion you hear of one going 300 K with just oil and filters, but this is not the norm.

 

[erobb]

Last spring we purchased an '87 mercedes 300Diesel-Turbo for $3000, the engine ran well but the rest of the car needed some TLC, after new tires and having a local mercedes specialist adjust the transmission (because it was shifting harshly) and replace the timing chain and misc other repairs, we are into it for around $4500 now. However the mechanic says its good for another 200k miles (showing 190k now), and if we decided to sell we could get our money back tommorrow. It commutes 80 miles round trip to work each day with the wife. This car has excellent performance and is a 6 cyl turbo, (remember German cars are designed to perfrom well on the autobahn at sustained speeds over 100 mph) so it only gets around 25-27mpg, mind you this is on the 4 lane highway running 75+ mph. Slowing down to 60mph highway I'm sure would bump it up to around 30mpg. With todays fuel prices I would take less performance in favor of better mpg.

 

[DEM123]

I have a 2002 Vw Jetta wagon tdi, 35,000miles on it and never spend a dime on it other than routine filter and oil changes. 35-52mpg with a 5 speed manual trannie.

it is my third diesel vw. they are terrific.

 

[KBennett]

Here is a recent post I made in this thread:

https://www.turbodieselregister.com/forums/showthread.php?t=137105



I picked up a used 2001 TDI Beetle 5-speed from a friend in May. It is going to be my daily driver when I get finished moving to my new position in outside sales.



I like the car but I am concerned with the electrical. So far I have had to fix the fuse for the air conditioning, repair the third brake light LED panel, and the check engine light is on because of a glow plug harness fault. I am an electronics engineer so the electrical doesn't bother me and maybe they have improved this on the newer models.

I forgot to mention that this car has 125K miles.



I recently found another electrical problem, the fuse holder for the AC fuse has gotten hot and started to melt causing the AC to work intermittantly. I fixed it by cleaning the contacts.



Overall I really like the car. The handling is awesome, mileage is great, and the power is good.