I want to get a diesel vw. Something 10 years old or newer. What would be the best to get for mileage and reliability? I am thinking of a jetta 2.0 with a stick. Any info on different ones or years to get would be help full. I have decided not to get a bug. I also want to be able to flat tow it. I would love all wheel drive but the mileage hit I believe to be to great.

Any good forums for them?
Thanks

 

Best place on the net for info on VW TDI's is the following:
http://forums.tdiclub.com/
mishkaya

 

i have an 04 tdi. paid 14k for it.

thing no EDIT you gets 45 mpg. but im paying a premium for the fuel so it probably breaks even with a gasser or maybe a little better.


everything for the car is expensive. the oil is expensive, the parts are expensive.

The fuel filter is god **** 16.00 dollars at discount, usually around 20ish.


Dont know if i made the right choice, but ive put 5,000 miles on the TDI since i bought it, and it runs great with no problems yet. hopefully it stays that way.

 

Is it a jetta you bought? Stick auto? Thanks for the info.

 

I would get a pre '03 TDI if I were you. I "think" that '03 and newer require some special oil that is awful expensive. I don't know if you can even get it at parts houses yet; it is(was) dealer only. It costs me @ 50 for an oil change with 10K intervals so it's pretty cheap to maintain. Get a Bentley service manual and if you can swing it a VAG-COM, or hook up with a local who has one. Be sure and do the timing belts and follow the service schedule and you will be good to go. The dealer quoted me 900 dollars for a timing belt job but I located a "trusted mechanic" through TDIclub.com who charged me $50 labor and a pizza, of course I bought the parts (100K mile belt kit). He also scanned my car with the VAG-COM and tweaked the timing just a little.

Oh yeah, best mileage so far has been 52 with normal mixed is @47.

 

is it 04 they they went to the smaller tdi?

 

My dad had a 99 jetta TDI (bought new) and it was an electrical nightmare. 3 sets of door wiring harnesses @ 225 a piece and another 200 to put in each time. Speedometer and temp gauge quit, $1400 to fix that, last winter at -25, the windows all rolled themselves down, the horn started blowing and the engine shut itself off. Good thing he was in town and not on the highway, that one was $1200 to fix. The CEL was still on, it said the glow plugs were bad, but they were not. The engine, transmission and body on these cars are great, but the electrical is brutal. The jetta got sent down the road this spring and now he drives his 2005 1 ton dodge.

 

Sounds like he got a lemon. The only thing that I've had to do to mine is fix my door lock switch. These cars have electronic sensors on the doors instead of the old tried and true switches like on our Dodges but it only cost me 45 min. of my time and $10 in parts from Radio Shack. Thanks to TDIclub.com for the info on the fix because a replacement door lock is over $200.

 

Catch up maintenance can be VERY spendy.

I bought a '96 Passat TDI. Ugliest car; best MPG. In the winter I get 38mpg; summer (heavy AC use) ~34 all city MPG. If I did more freeway driving, it would be closer to 44-50.

Buying used is all about buyer beware!

Tony

 

I will do all my own repairs and maintance. I just want something as reliable as possible with long life. I would like a lot of creature comforts. I would also like all wheel drive but I am unsure if I will take the mileage hit for it.

 

No AWD models offered in the states, even the most recent Passat was only a FWD model with the TDi. Even if you do all your own work, it would be a very smart idea to get a relaible import shop to give it a thorough look-over prior to makeing a descision. Having owned several German & Swedish cars, it's worth the time & hassle. Little things get really expensive on these cars quick.

 

Not sure how valuable this post is gonna be, but I just went through the same thing you are looking at.

My round trip to work each day is 80 miles. My wife was driving a mega-cab with a Hemi and we were riding together. I looked into us parking her truck and buying a tdi - she did not want to give up her truck. My best friend has a tdi, and the problem with them is they are bringing so much both new and used now I could not come out ahead in buying one and that was back in March when gas was still in the lower 3 bucks range here. I would image they are higher now.

We ended up biting the bullet and trading our mega cab in on a Toyota Camry with a 4 cylinder. Its the sport model, 5spd auto, and has plenty of pep and gets 32 MPG on our commute including a small portion of city driving. My fuel bill in March was $1197 bucks. This so far this month its $279.

 

the oil change for me to do myself is $35 dollars pretty much. 5$ for oil filter, the rest is 6$ a quart oil.

that the "special VW" certified oil.

the 04 and later supposedly require this because the cam is under intense pressure in this engine and needs uber lubricity :/

or some bs marketing.

a guy on tdiclub has 50,000 miles on his car with just running mobil delvac 1 in his 04. no problems yet.

its not a huge cost for me to care about so i just stick with the VW bs.

I have a Jetta.

And my car has annoying electrical problems as well.

My driver seat needs to be fixed, the seat heater is broken, have to check but im pretty sure its a bad solder job on it.

 

mine is a 98 five speed jetta...It has 220k on it and runs like new…all routine maintenance and suggested service intervals have been followed since it was new…
I have mileage and power sucking emissions stuff eliminated and a few tweaks here and there…it does about mid-40’s in town and mid to upper 50’s on the highway if I drive sensible…

 

I looked into one of these and for what you get they are just way too much money. I would be afraid when the mileage went up the maintenance would get ugly. Electrical problems can get very expensive. I decieded to pass on a TDI.