I seen on somebody's sig. they have one of these. I am kind of looking at one for my wife any info on these would be great. As of now we have a '99 Grand Am GT V6 aprox 30,000 miles (see "the family" pic. in my photo gallery). If we got one we would have to trade this car in. Would this be a good trade or do you suggest keeping the Grand Am? Thanks.

 

I've read that they have a lot of problems. But that could only be year-specific, I don't know. 50mpg is hard to pass up, though!

 

I helped my dad find a really nice 2002 Jetta TDI. As far as I know, they have been very reliable. The car rides and drives great, is very quiet for a diesel, and gets 45 MPG with an automatic trans. Cold starts in northern Minnesota were not a problem either. The car also has a great factory warranty. He has had it for about a year and has been very happy with it. I have driven it several times myself (I'm 6'2" and 250 lbs) and couldn't give you a single complaint.

 

That is one of my concerns is being able to fit (6'4")

 

Don't get me wrong, it's not a Suburban, but I think it is very comfortable for a mid sized car. The seats are firm and supportive, and have a pretty long travel backwards. I don't like overly soft seats. My suggestion would be a test drive. If it is too small, I think the diesel is also offered in the Passat, which is a little larger.

 

My wife has an 02 Jetta with the standard 4 banger in it. We are quite displeased with the over all quality of the vehicle. The door handles are falling apart, the paint is not holding up very well and the engine burns 4 quarts between oil changes, customer service stacks up there with Ford. They have told us the the peeling paint is from bird poo the door handles are not a warranty item and the oil burning is normal.
On the plus side the car is a lot of fun to drive and is quite comfortable for a car. We are going to trade here car for something else and will not go back to a VW.

 

A buddy of mine has a 2001 VW Jetta station wagon with the TDi/auto. He's been very pleased with quality and reliability.

MikeyB

 

I own a 2001 TDI. Had VW repaint the hood on warranty had the door seals replaced on warranty (they froze to the door and the felt pulled off) both window regulators replaced on warranty replaced back pads they wear twice as fast as the fronts. oil filters are expensive. Just pulled off the intake manifold to clean out the EGR and blowby gunk(two cups out of a 12in long 1.5inch pipe). Vw wants $370-900 Canadian to do this, they say they are aware of the problem???? Reprogrammed my EGR not to open. All this in 80,000 kilometers and the car cost $30k canadian. Well I like the car but won't buy another one as I find VW of America hard to deal with.

 

That would probably be me, lol. My 98 has 114k on it and I have had zero engine problems, aside from a faulty fuel filter that left me stranded (easily fixed with a new filter). My dad's 2003 (32k miles) has had no problems either except for a faulty radio. Most of the power window issues were solved by 2003 (My 98 has manual windows). I have had no intake issues in the 98 I think due to the EGR being dialed down, and the fact that I shift at higher RPM's and drive mine rather hard. It also helps that we have access to some very high quality diesel fuel.

The newer 2004 engines are different (unit injectors instead of the rotary pump) and I have no idea of their reliability. The Passat is going to use a new 2.0 DOHC TDi engine but I don't think it will be out until 2005.

 

Do some reading here. Like any vehicle, they have their ups and downs. I looked very seriously at a 2003 Jetta Wagon TDI, but it is too small for me (three kids ages 5,2, and 1 all in car seats). Wifey-Poo drives a 2001 VW New Beetle (1.8L gasser) and it has been a reliable, though quirkey,car. We are lucky to have a good dealer. I would buy one if everyone fits.

BTW, the Passat is not currently available with a TDI, but should be out within a few months. Some guys are already ordering them. That would be a very nice car.

 

My other vehicle is a '03 TDI wagon, auto trans., leather. Have 11,000 miles and no problems. Car is tight and mileage is 41 city, 45-46 hwy. Rides and handles very well. Also had a '96 Jetta 2.0 gasser. Never had a problem with it either. Would definitely buy another one.

 

We bought a VW Golf a few months ago.... and i absolutely love using it for a commuter car, it's like driving a go-cart..very peppy and manouverable. We did quite a bit of research on the VW's before we bought one as this was our first VW. It seems that the Jetta's, Golfs etc were plagued with minor problems in the late 90's up to 01. They seem to have worked out most of the bugs(excuse the pun) by now...

Vw's seem to be notorious for consumming oil and all Vw's service advisors will claim it to be normal, even from new through and after the break-in period, also VW uses a water based exterior paint on their vehicles so as someone already mentioned make sure ya get the bird poop off pronto! Other than that, the'yre great fun to drive and seem pretty dependable.

 

RS-TX you said:
BTW, the Passat is not currently available with a TDI, but should be out within a few months. Some guys are already ordering them. That would be a very nice car.


heres TDI on ebay from 96 and I have seen a lot of years of passat that is TDI

1996 Volkswagen Passat 4 Doors
1996 White Volkswagen Passat TDI Diesel

Mileage: 161791 VIN: WVWGG83A7TE070101
Get the Vehicle History Report
Number of Cylinders: 4 Type of Title: Clear
Transmission: Manual Interior Color: Gray
Warranty: None Exterior Color: White

 

passat had the tdi from 96 till the "new" body style came out (99 I think) then they dropped it in the passat

my mom's got a 97 jetta TDI she bought new .......has 280,000km and still runs fine .......she's now on her second set of brake pads & shoes, they last about 125,00km per set

 

The B5 body (98+) was all set to be equipped with the TDI (in fact, there are rumors that a few were actually delivered to dealerships AND sold!), but VW pulled the plug at the last minute. The same thing happened in 1995 when VW pulled the plug on the A3 body Golf TDI, even though all the promotional literature put out before the 1996 release clearly showed the Jetta, Golf and Passat as being available with the TDI engine.