Volkswagen TDI- I like it

[rshunter]

Originally Posted By: Quattro Pete
Originally Posted By: Vizzy

They are actually judging the MK5 version called the Rabbit, however because the Mk6 is more so an evolution (based heavily on the MK5) than a from scratch model they are giving it the tentitive thumbs up.

Yeah, but that's a big assumption. The whole reason why MK6 came out so quickly after MK5 was because it turned out MK5 was just too expensive to produce. So, as they made it cheaper, god only knows how this will affect reliability in the long run. Let's hope VW only cut the right corners...

The MkV was not quickly succeeded, despite popular opinion. The typical lag, between international and North American model introduction, was drastically reduced with the MkVI.

 

[rshunter]

Originally Posted By: ls1mike
Man, which of you has acutally owned a previous gen TDI? Just curious.


Me.

 

[Vizzy]

Originally Posted By: rshunter
[

The Polo is due to be introduced here later this year. Perhaps as soon as this summer!


I too am much more interested in a sub Golf class car. The current Golf class is too big/expensive for my needs...the Diesel Polo as sold in Europe would be perfect for me. It would also have the segment of that market all to itself in the USA....could VWoA appreciate that...not likely, they are as dull as the proverbial 4 watt light bulb.

The big question is will the US spec Polo be the same great product that the Europeans get? Or some dumbed down offering...with VWoA (stupid US distribuitor) in charge who knows.

 

[rshunter]

Originally Posted By: Vizzy
Originally Posted By: rshunter
[

The Polo is due to be introduced here later this year. Perhaps as soon as this summer!


I too am much more interested in a sub Golf class car. The current Golf class is too big/expensive for my needs...the Diesel Polo as sold in Europe would be perfect for me. It would also have the segment of that market all to itself in the USA....could VWoA appreciate that...not likely, they are as dull as the proverbial 4 watt light bulb.

The big question is will the US spec Polo be the same great product that the Europeans get? Or some dumbed down offering...with VWoA (stupid US distribuitor) in charge who knows.

I've heard nothing about a TDI variant, unfortunately. Personally, I'd love a 90hp/170lbs-ft 1.6 TDI. I'm guessing we'll see gasoline power exclusively, at least at first.

The eternal optimist in me is hoping for the incredible 1.4 TSI, but I can't help but lament the possibility of some archaic 1.6 lump. God knows VWoA has managed to drive a spear through my heart before, more than once.

 

[ls1mike]

Originally Posted By: rshunter
Originally Posted By: ls1mike
Man, which of you has acutally owned a previous gen TDI? Just curious.


Me.

Well is it good to you? Mine...80,000 miles 2 automatic transmissions, 2 sets of glow plugs, 1 set of injectors, 2 injector or glow plug wiring harness I can't remember which, 2 front wheel bearings, Twice with carbon build up in the intake (I fixed that myself the dealer wanted close to 800 bucks), 4 neutral park safety switches which left us stranded each time, both heated seats and a bunch of other stuff I don't care to remember. I know for a fact I am not the only with those problems on the Jetta. Worst car I have ever owned. It was babied as I drove it very rarely; it was wife’s with 80% highway mileage. 5000 mile 505.01 oil changes, proper G-12 Coolant. To top it off before I got rid of it I had the water pump start to leak so I had the Timing belt and water pump done. 900 Bucks. No car I have ever owned has cost me that much for "Normal Maintenance"
Plus both VW Dealers I tried made my local GM service department seem like the Promised land.

When I got the second wheel bearing fixed under warranty (thank God the wife bought an extended one on that, I don't buy them) I rode with the Mechanic who had been working at this dealership for 15 years.
He said that they were the dealerships biggest service money maker. I told him I was going to be rid of it soon; he said best choice I could have ever made. I would say it is just my car, but I know that is not true. I went to TDI fest here in Seattle twice and most of the folks there had similar issues but they loved car and the Gas Mileage enough to get around it. I never loved it and the gas mileage just was not enough for me to keep dealing with it. We traded it on a CTS. 140,000 miles... Oils Changes, brakes, one crank position sensor and all on Dex Cool. So I decided I would never buy another VW.
I usually stay away from VW threads because the people who have them love them with a passion. Some can't see past the problems they do have. I saw it all the time with the TDI guys.

Sorry for the Rant, I just think some people should know what could happen if they step into one.

 

[rshunter]

There was a recall done for the brake-light switch. The one warranty issue I had turned out to be a faulty relay. Occasionally it activated the throttling valve when starting the car, causing the engine to immediately stop. At first, due to it being virtually impossible to re-create the issue, they replaced the injector pump believing it to be the issue. After some time on the tech-line, and others beginning to have the same issue, they were able to narrow it down to a run of defective relays.

Other than that, it has been faultless. Mind you, that's nothing less than a miracle considering the crash my mother was involved in while driving it. A full-size, body-on-frame, Chrysler sedan slammed into the right rear. It threw the car into a multiple rotation spin, flinging it some 80-100 feet up the road, down an embankment, up the other side and onto a set of railroad tracks. The car was then drug off the tracks and back onto the road.

Amazingly, my mother came out without a scratch and I was able to drive the car back home. It actually didn't feel bad to drive, believe it or not. The car required the replacement of the right rear quarter, hatch, rear bumper and structure, the rear axle assembly, the charge-air cooler and a number of other bits-and-pieces.

The Chrysler? It was utterly destroyed, as the front end was laying on the ground, with the frame-rails and engine being the only recognizable chunks left ahead of the firewall. They had to drag what was left of it onto the back of a roll-back recovery truck.

The Golf is still moving along with that TDI clatter...

 

[Vizzy]

Mike you owned an MK4 TDI correct?

It is well known that the MK4 Golf/Jetta were the most compromised versions of those cars ever from VW. It is little known by the car buying public that the last TRUE VW platform was that of the MKIII version and they were pretty bullet proof if they were reasonable maintained. The MK4s (an Audi platform) were fantastic to look at, had a amazing interior and the cars were a amazing deal. In order to have the car at this price point Dr Piech ordered that costs be cut, and they were in all the wrong places...from window regulators to coil packs ...thus the cars were a guarnteed disaster from the debut...it really wasn't that the cars themselves weren't good...it was the cost cutting ordered that killed the basic goodness of the product.

I think VW has finally regained their correct priorities once again with the MK5 and 6....now the only problem that remains is getting rid of VWoA and replacing it with a distributor that wants to actually succeed in the marketplace and not be some car haven for eccentric metrosexuals.


I seriously can't wait until those annoying "sign and drive" ads are GONE!!!!!!!

 

[rshunter]

Originally Posted By: rshunter
Originally Posted By: Vizzy
Originally Posted By: rshunter
[

The Polo is due to be introduced here later this year. Perhaps as soon as this summer!


I too am much more interested in a sub Golf class car. The current Golf class is too big/expensive for my needs...the Diesel Polo as sold in Europe would be perfect for me. It would also have the segment of that market all to itself in the USA....could VWoA appreciate that...not likely, they are as dull as the proverbial 4 watt light bulb.

The big question is will the US spec Polo be the same great product that the Europeans get? Or some dumbed down offering...with VWoA (stupid US distribuitor) in charge who knows.

I've heard nothing about a TDI variant, unfortunately. Personally, I'd love a 90hp/170lbs-ft 1.6 TDI. I'm guessing we'll see gasoline power exclusively, at least at first.

The eternal optimist in me is hoping for the incredible 1.4 TSI, but I can't help but lament the possibility of some archaic 1.6 lump. God knows VWoA has managed to drive a spear through my heart before, more than once.

Okay, I just did a little checking. The latest info is that the Polo will be available in the 5-door configuration. Power will be provided by the 1.4 TSI and the base MSRP will be $16,200...

 

[ls1mike]

It was an 02, my interior was nice, except the plastic had something that kept peeling off. We finally gave up and just kept the pieces that were peeling after they had been replaced ma few times and mind you I am not picky I have 20 year old truck a 12 year old Buick and 10 year old Trans Am so there are things I will let slide. The Truck's and the Buick's interiour have held up well, having the T-tops hurts the Trans Am's interior.

 

[rshunter]

Originally Posted By: Vizzy
Mike you owned an MK4 TDI correct?

It is well known that the MK4 Golf/Jetta were the most compromised versions of those cars ever from VW. It is little known by the car buying public that the last TRUE VW platform was that of the MKIII version and they were pretty bullet proof if they were reasonable maintained. The MK4s (an Audi platform) were fantastic to look at, had a amazing interior and the cars were a amazing deal. In order to have the car at this price point Dr Piech ordered that costs be cut, and they were in all the wrong places...from window regulators to coil packs ...thus the cars were a guarnteed disaster from the debut...it really wasn't that the cars themselves weren't good...it was the cost cutting ordered that killed the basic goodness of the product.

I think VW has finally regained their correct priorities once again with the MK5 and 6....now the only problem that remains is getting rid of VWoA and replacing it with a distributor that wants to actually succeed in the marketplace and not be some car haven for eccentric metrosexuals.


I seriously can't wait until those annoying "sign and drive" ads are GONE!!!!!!!

The transfer of MkIV production to Curitiba didn't help any, either. My Golf was among the first '00s in the country, having been special ordered it was delivered with the remaining '99.5 MY inventory. It was also one of the limited number of '00s to be built in Wolfsburg. Everything after that was Curitiba sourced...

 

[Tornado Red]

Originally Posted By: Dually
I was at a Volkswagen dealership and I wanted to see their TDI diesel.I must say I was impressed.The Jetta/Golf with a manual transmission gets 31/41 miles to the gallon....


My '03 Golf TDI was built in Curatiba Brazil and has been a great car. (L_Sludger: it has been very reliable and runs better now than when it was new. It is not stock, however.)

I have not heard of any problems with the newer Jetta TDIs that can be blamed on their assembly in Mexico. Passats have always been built in Germany and those had a lot of problems in some model years. (rjundi is correct)

The 2010 Golf TDIs are built in Germany. There are no stripped-down models, they have far more features than the base Jetta TDI and start at around $22k. But they are in short supply and will likely have a very strong resale value.

There is still a tax credit, $1700 I think, for purchasers of VW TDIs. That is good until VW sells a total of 60,000 of them, which will probably be some time this year.

Yes, CRW, there are no coil packs in the TDIs.
The EPA mileage number for new TDIs are very conservative. And after the initial break-in period the fuel economy gets even better.
Current Jetta and Golf TDIs are certified for all 50 states.
All VWs built since 1999 have a 12-year anti-corrosion warranty.
duaneb9729: if you drive enough miles, a VW TDI will pay for itself. But if you don't drive that much then you won't save enough fuel to be worth the price.

Originally Posted By: Quattro Pete
The whole reason why MK6 came out so quickly after MK5 was because it turned out MK5 was just too expensive to produce. So, as they made it cheaper, god only knows how this will affect reliability in the long run. Let's hope VW only cut the right corners...

They wanted to reduce the number of man-hours required to assemble the Golf, and in this I think they were partially successful. I don't know that the components were cheapened. VW's biggest problem is the weak exchange rate against the Euro.

Automatic transmissions in VWs before 2004 were terrible, never buy an AT VW from 2003 or earlier. But the newer ones are strong and the DSGs are not bad. The 6-speed manual transmission is really the way to go, however.

 

[Mr Nice]

lots of unhappy folks over at myVWlemon.com

I was thinking about buying a TDI for highway mileage but decided against it due to the higher cost of diesel.

 

[JHZR2]

I got a ride in a co-worker's 09 jetta diesel. He has a white with tan interior model.

My good friend's 01 GTI has a tan interior. I noticed that some materials in it seem to have different shades of tan from the seats to the armrest to the dashboard.

My wife's 08 rabbit doesnt show such a variance between materials. It looks great.

My coworker's 09 jetta has that mismatched color like the GTI. Not sure if it has to do with mexican made cars, or VW's tan colors, but something isnt right...

 

[Vizzy]

Concerning that variation in the tan interiors....that could be, and probably IS deliberate...I rememeber various models of Golf and Jetta throughout the years having a number of blended shades of beige or tan..While the black interiors generally are...well black with no dark grey or a similar variation...You see this kind of thing with VW or other European imports with light interiors, it is done to break up the monotony of certain colors why it can't be done with black (dark grey) I don't know.

 

[JHZR2]

It looks to me like some parts fade faster than others to me...

 

[Vizzy]

It is possible but I definitely have ALWAYS seen this in certain VW, Audi, Peugeot, BMW, Mercedes, Renault.

Of course I will say that in Europe still to this day that black and dark (very dark grey) rule the interiors over there....I've never been a fan of light interiors because of the reflections that light colored parts can cast on windows and back into my eyes directly from the material...my eyes are very sensitive to that kind of thing.

 

[Tornado Red]

Originally Posted By: LT4 Vette
I was thinking about buying a TDI for highway mileage but decided against it due to the higher cost of diesel.


The cost per mile was slightly higher during the spring and summer of 2008, when diesel reached $5.00/gallon in California and nearly that high elsewhere.

But other than that period, which resulted from special circumstances, the cost of fuel per mile is generally less with diesel cars and pickups. I bought my TDI because I anticipated driving lots of miles and I wanted to save money on fuel. I have.