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Just read about a long term test of the 2013 Volkswagen Passat TDI.

Surprisingly to me, it was almost completely trouble free. This is not in line with my personal experiences and with what I hear on this forum.

Maybe they need to go another 40k miles. They did say you need about 80k miles for the diesel to pay for itself versus the gas engine...
 
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Originally Posted By: SteveSRT8
Just read about a long term test of the 2013 Volkswagen Passat TDI.

Surprisingly to me, it was almost completely trouble free. This is not in line with my personal experiences and with what I hear on this forum.

Maybe they need to go another 40k miles. They did say you need about 80k miles for the diesel to pay for itself versus the gas engine...

80k is not that much...
But how much maintenance does it require compared to the petrol engine.
 
I ironically just had this conversation yesterday about VW/ Audi TDIs and their longevity.

The results aren't in line with what I have read here either, but I too would be interested to see if they would go the additional 40k.

Also curious on the maintenance costs.
 
If you search the forum, I reviewed my 2013 Passat TDI. (http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubb...Pass#Post341787) So far , trouble free and I am getting up to 58 mpg highway at about 63 mpg on a trip from central PA to around Staunton, VA and almost as much from here to western Ohio

I received three years of free maintenance (oil changes with filters, fuel filters, air and cabin filter as well as topping off the DEF. I DO NOT hyave to pay $25-30 annually in PA for an emissions sticker (nice savings there)). I did buy a large container of DEF (about 2 gallons) from a VW dealer for $12; hardly a major expense as this should last two years if I add it myself. I have it just in case I need it.

Oil is a Castrol Syn made in Austria that is VW 507 certified and is good for 10,000 miles. Like German Castrol? You;ll love this 5W-30 oil.

I am interested to see if I have issues with the turbine but a warrant extensiohas been issued. Last winter, I drove it on day at night when it was -9F. Car started right up, ran well but did take a while to get to operating temps.

Frankly, I will have trouble ever going back to gas. Likes it so well I replaced nmy truck with a Jetta Sportwagen TDI.
 
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I've had three VW TDI's. The first two were great. The last one, a 2005.5 Jetta, was towed multiple times and should have been painted lemon yellow. Things may have changed since then, but their dealer service is horrible at best and the support from VAG is still questionable in my mind.

Then again I own to GM products whose corporate integrity is just as questionable, but the service at the local dealership is great.
 
It shows they made two good ones atleast! That said I'm sure I'd be very happy with a Passat wagon if it held together, and they sold them here...
 
Originally Posted By: SteveSRT8
Just read about a long term test of the 2013 Volkswagen Passat TDI.

Surprisingly to me, it was almost completely trouble free. This is not in line with my personal experiences and with what I hear on this forum.

Maybe they need to go another 40k miles. They did say you need about 80k miles for the diesel to pay for itself versus the gas engine...



Since you're a Chrysler guy, I had to post this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tMfB70VtsP0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SPEM-_b3eu8
 
Pilot/Flying J truck stops sell DEF right at the pump for $2.899 a gallon. The DEF TDI's are more efficient than their non DEF counterpart. VW underrates their diesel MPG due to the EPA cycle.
The EPA highway cycle for example is tested on a cold engine running 765 seconds. Diesels warm up slower than gas engines and the test is biased for gas engines. Drive more than 12.75 minutes and the highway mpg number improves a lot.
 
Urine has some urea in it...too bad that wouldn't work. You could really recycle in a big way on long road trips.

45.gif
 
Originally Posted By: Smokescreen
Urine has some urea in it...too bad that wouldn't work. You could really recycle in a big way on long road trips.

45.gif



BRB, going to go to the local ford dealer and test that theory!
 
Originally Posted By: Miller88
Having to buy urea constantly ... no thanks.


It seems annoying, but friends say it's a trivial issue.

"Having to buying windshield washer fluid constantly ... no thanks."
 
Originally Posted By: djb
Originally Posted By: Miller88
Having to buy urea constantly ... no thanks.


It seems annoying, but friends say it's a trivial issue.

"Having to buying windshield washer fluid constantly ... no thanks."


If you run out of windshield washer, the vehicle doesn't just die on the side of the road.
 
I'm no VW defender. My wife's 2000 Beetle has been a grade-A piece of isht since it was only a few years old. Electrical problems left and right.

But I will say, it seems VW is more reliable in many respects than they were in the 1990s and 2000s. They still have a big image problem, though. Many people still believe they're unreliable, but stupid VW has a short warranty like Toyota and Honda, which have the perception (right or wrong) of reliability. VW needs to increase their warranty as a way of saying "really, we fixed the reliability issues."

VW still does some stupid stuff and refuses to fix certain problems, like failing door latch mechanisms that affected VWs for years and years.

Other than the decontented Passat and Jetta sold in the U.S., VWs generally have very nice interiors and very good driving dynamics compared to other vehicles in their class. In some cases they're more like a semi-premium make in their class.

My 2010 Jetta is the last year of the MKV and it has a really nice quality interior and very good driving dynamics compared to other small-ish cars.
 
My aunt has 15k miles on her 2013 TDI Beetle. Only problem so far was the driver's side power window motor wasn't tightened properly and it was rolling up and down weird. Other than that no issues and 38-39 mpg driving it pretty hard.
 
Honestly...it uses a Bosch CP4 HPFP, which means it is a hand grenade with the pin pulled. Not on a bet.

Also...honestly, the DSG scares me.
 
Originally Posted By: Smokescreen
Urine has some urea in it...too bad that wouldn't work. You could really recycle in a big way on long road trips.
45.gif



Funny, C&D said the exact same thing in the review!
 
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