School me on TDI's......

I bought my wife an 04 Jetta Tdi for her 100mi round trip commute. It's all stock, auto w/120k. So far so good. She loves it. Car gets 44-43mpg almost always. Kerma recommended Schaeffer's 5-40 so it got the nod & getting ready to send in first UOA. Also Kerma rep said that the tiptronic autos were actually a pretty good/stout trans which Porche helped design. IDK We have had it just long enough to change fluids,filters,do tires (Bridgestone Ecopias) delete the muffler, and drive the wheels off of it. (Side note: Funny thing about the muffler. It aparently did nothing, was heavy, and took up a shart load of room doing it. Exhaust tone changed almost inaudibly when it was removed and replaced with a piece strait pipe & a turndown. Little things like LRR tires make a marked improvement in fuel economy with these little babies. Also I've heard it mentioned more than a few times over on the tdi clubs that the factory air filtration/intake system is more than capable of keeping up with a modded TDI). Also other than visual inspection I my understanding is that the best way to tell if your cam is going is regular UOA's and keeping a close eye on mileage. Mileage goes to heck= Order cam :Cheer:
 
And that is exactly how i knew. The mileage has tanked and required throttle for the same maneuvers has changed.
I worry about the rockers and whether to swap them or not

Monkey Fist Rage
 
Fukk......now I don't want a duramax.....

evujumy3.jpg
 
I think the golfs with huffs and gli trim on them are the sexiest tuner car on the road. I think its the gli nose i like anyway

Monkey Fist Rage
 
We spent a good two hours at our local veedub dealer, drove a few 2014's, an 09 jetta, and that black 2012 jetta with a 6 speed manny. The new cars are so damned nice, and that diesel engine has some giddyup for only being a 2.0. I'm seriously seriously considering that black 2012.
 
We bought my wife a new '03 Jetta when she started college. Changed the timing belt at 100k and around 120k the anti-chirping clutch wore out on the alternator. Replacing the alternator on the '03 was a real pain. We sold the car at 175k (regret) when the dual mass flywheel came apart.

Since then, we have recently purchased an '04 jetta for the daughter. The alternator sets on the top side on this model and can be changed very easily. The '04 definitely has more power than the '03 did. (Both are 5-spd).

I'll give a testament to the 5-spds in these cars. Lets just say the tranny fluid was drained and was never refilled before a 10hr drive to the beach. Once at the beach, the car was used all week to run hear and there. The car made it the 10hr drive back home and the problem was not noticed until the next morning when she wouldn't move.

I love the little cars and IMO they can't be beat. We are currently looking for another as my son has decided to go to college. Anyone selling????????
 
I will never own another black vehicle. They look like trash any time they aren't wet

Monkey Fist Rage
 
Hey guys I'm looking at an 02 jetta with 189k miles for $3000. Haven't seen it yet but the pics look good. With almost 200k on it I would be planning on doing a timing belt. It's got an auto, If down the road it goes out are the autos in these really that expensive to rebuild? How do these start in cold weather? It would sit outside at work for 12 1/2 hours without being plugged in. Mon its supposed to be -30 but that's a little extreme, usually its above or around 0. It's either this or a cobalt for the same price. Obviously I want the tdi but I'm going to have to jump through hoops to get it so I just want to make sure its going to be worth my trouble. Any input is appreciated
 
VW TDI's rock, but beware, if you buy a higher mileage one, you will be doing a lot of wrenching on small stuff. Fine if you have the skills and tools to do it yourself, but could be extremely expensive if you took it to th dealer for that stuff.
 
tatersalad said:
http://www.autotrader.com/cars-for-sale/vehicledetails.xhtml?zip=61480&endYear=2014&fuelCodes=DSL&transmissionCode=MAN&maxPrice=8000&transmissionCodes=MAN&mmt=%5BVOLKS%5BJET%5B%5DBEETLE%5B%5D%5D%5B%5D%5D&modelCode1=JET&makeCode2=VOLKS&modelCode2=BEETLE&showcaseOwnerId=0&makeCode1=VOLKS&startYear=2000&searchRadius=500&minPrice=1&listingId=352905441&Log=0

is it frowned upon if a guy owns a TDI bug lol???
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I'm still confident in my manliness, even has a rose in the vase! actually it's my wife's but doesn't stop me from having a blast in it. New modded injectors, new south bend clutch, turbo and tuning pilling up for it. Just trying to find time to install the stuff.
 
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the cam issues werent only paticular to tdi's . my mother has a 2.0t gli that also ate a set. i think they had some quality issues in their manufacturing process.
she hates the car because of nickle and dime small stuff,that i would take care of my self. my folks bring it to the dealer anytime theres an issue though and that would put a bad taste in anyones mouth.
ive owned many vw's i loved them all but they all had quirks. its not like a honda where you feel disconnected from it. for me vw has always provided an enjoyable feeling while driving. they have a ton of feedback and are capable with cheap suspension upgrades. ive had wiring issues, windows mostly ,they decided when they wanted to work. i had a g60 corrado and that had some major gremlins. i havent heard to many complaints from the mk4 chassis though . vwvortex is a great resource for any vw info. op might want to do some research on chassis / electrical known issues with the mk4 models.
 
If you own a vw, do your research and don't bring it to the dealer, otherwise it won't be an enjoyable experience. Those early 2.0T motors had HPFP cam follower issues, the "fix" to that was to replace the cam follower frequently and it wouldn't eat cams. The problem later mostly went away with the roller followers in the newer motors.
 
Hopefully its not a mistake to buy this one, its an 06 with 124,000 on it. Timing belt done at 95,000 and they have paperwork, standard trans, always serviced with synthetic oil since new. They're asking 11k but I'm going to try and talk them down
 
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