VW TDI jetta's

zstroken

zstroken

For $$$ your name here
Joined
Sep 27, 2006
Messages
23,151
Contemplating the purchase of one. Looking for one under 100K miles(well under probably 75K or less)
What years have what problems.

I would say I won't be going any farther back than an 02.

Order of preference

1. Jetta Wagon
2. Passat Wagon
3. Jetta
4. Passat
 
Company wide we have 8 TDI's, all of which get between 42-47 MPG. the 02-04 versions have about 200,000 miles on them and the 05-06 have about 150,000 miles. They get about 1-3 MPG less on average. the older ones are alot like 12 valve cummins, very simple and reliable ( maybe alittle short on power) but nothing that rocket chip cant fix. the newer ones have a cam problem which colt has a fix, costs about $600 dollars if you do the work. Newer ones are abit nicer of a driving car but either is very nice ( think BMW with a different name). They are not the answer to everything but overall if you dont have to get them worked on at the dealer they are a nice addition to the fleet. All need timing belts on 100,000 mile intervals.:Cheer:
 
I have a 2012 I purchased around four or five months ago, it has 16K on it so far and not a single issue. I will say when it goes into regen it kinda stinks, though. I have kept track of every single tank I've put through it and my overall average is 46.1MPG. My worst tank was going up the Rockies and back for a trip, and that was still 43.9MPG.
 
You know I actually have been looking into the VW TDI's as well but I am leaning a little more towards the Gold TDI just cause I already got the family hauler (wife's car) and this would just be my dd so I could do some serious work on my truck.
 
If you're going to back to 2002, might as well go back to 2000 on the Jettas,

Passat only was available in 04/05, auto only.
 
Just picked up an '11 tdi jetta last night, very impressed with the twin clutch trans, and it has more pep than I expected. Also found out the passat and toureg use urea, the jetta does not.
 
Have an '06 stick and '12 with DSG, both TDI jettas. When warmer weather gets here doing a full egr delete and cooler removal on the '06. Have put 12K miles on the '12 and not a problem so far. '06 has 170K miles and still running strong.
 
The Mark 4 Jettas and Golfs (2000-04) are as said earlier like a 12-valve Cummins very reliable and simple... The cars are smaller though so if you have a family or take long trips you might like the Mark 5 models better like the red one I own and did several articles in Diesel World on. They were available with the PD engine for 05.5 and 06 then no diesel until 09 when the CR engine with DPF was used.

The automatic transmissions in the older models are something to worry about, especially if you increase the power at all!!! The newer 5 and 6 speed autos are better but the Manual is still the way to go. South Bend makes a clutch and flywheel kit for them that replaces the DM flywheel and will hold more power as well!!!

The PD engines have a cam wear issue so plan on spending the money to replace the cam and change the timing belt shortly after purchase. Some last well over 100K with no wear while others show wear at around 80-100K miles. You can pull the valve cover and look at the cam lobes and lifters, but to be safe budget around $1000 into the purchase price on these models.

The newer CR engines make more power but also get worse mileage...

I really like our 06, but I am having a leak that is driving me nuts and letting water into the trunk.

There are a lot of euro based performance parts available for the TDI but not a lot of performance parts like what we're used to on the truck side. There are some turbo guys with more stuff coming down the pipe soon for the PD and CR engines so we have hope of more power soon!!!
 
I will be buying a '13 Passat TDI in the near future. I've joined the forum over at tdiclub.com and have been reading all about them.
 
My 06 is deal reliable now that the EGR is deleted. The EGR valve stuck open on my back in April last year with 129k on it and would not let the car start. We disconnected it and pushed it shut and no issues since. Plan on doing the EGR delete with the EGR cooler soon if you get an 05-06. 06 have a known wear issue with the cam, it is worse if you drive more of around town. Mine has 156k on it now and my cam is just starting to show some wear. It will be replaced when I do my next timing belt at 200k. The DMF can come apart, but you will feel the difference in your pedal well before it lets loose. I replaced mine at 148k and it was still OK, but I wanted the piece of mind of not having it in there anymore.
 
DSG trans tune plus engine tune = awesome :D

People are getting mid to upper 40's on the new CR TDI's.
 
I have a mk4 golf 5 speed that I love. Highly recommend the alh motor, zero BS and highly tunable.

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2
 
I have had a bunch of these cars and know how to do just about everything to them. I suggest mk4 just like others said simple and reliable. Do you self a favor and when you get clean intake delete cat egr and ccv. Also very important is timing belt. See when it was done and who did it. It is not like doing a timing belt on a regular car it requires special tools and a vag com to do it correctly and 90% of the bolts are one time use. As far as dmf yea they break when you pound the hell out of them but idparts sells a real nice quiet clutch smf kit for 350. I just did one last week and its real nice. Any questions dont be afraid to ask
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top