tdi owners?

mckeddie · May 7, 2015

Anyone have a vw tdi? Had a guy offer to trade me a 2000 jetta tdi w 272000 miles for my z3. Z3 needs some frame work, but runs and drives perfectly. Tdi needs either turbo rebuilt or a new turbo. I've always wanted one, and I drive 150 miles a day for work. The bimmer is a **** box w 180,000 miles, and the body is 3 different colors. I was gonna redo it and give it to my daughter for her first car, but she wants an old beetle instead (already found a 69 beetle I'm picking up next week)

Anything I should look for in particular on the jetta, or things to look out for? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

lowbudgetjunk · May 7, 2015

Re:

Electrics and door handles are junk. Make sure all windows, door locks, etc are good. Timing chain needs to be replaced every 60k, forget the injector pump schedule, but that is important too. Just make sure it has decent service history.

My Passat would do 53.5 mpgs @800 mpt....miles per tank on the highway. Put oil in it and diesel and rack up the miles. Mine had almost 300k when I sold it and besides one door handle and a power window motor, everything still worked and was a joy to drive in stock form. If you baby it and try to hypermile, you can get close to 57......for me it was too much effort, not on the gas, coasting down hills, not braking unless absolutely required. Made my head hurt for a mere 4mpgs.

Kel Lawrence

Eddyj · May 7, 2015

Wife had one. Replace timing belt if it breaks it bends valves.

grcthird · May 7, 2015

I like the vw stuff, but everyone I have seen with any age or mileage on it was a total piece. Like Kel said, watch the windows, switches, and handles, electronics will drive you crazy and broke when they go out. CV boots and front suspension parts are frequent wear parts. They get awesome mileage, but if you are like me and can't stand a million little things being wrong, then you'll probably hate it.

lowbudgetjunk · May 9, 2015

Re:

Yep....shits always broke, just gotta hope its something small. I worked on mine all the time, bit it was easy to work on and I enjoyed it. Cheap to work on too.

Kel Lawrence

The Luke · May 9, 2015

Re: tdi owners?

Buddy of mine has a 2010. Recently started shifting to neutral randomly while driving. Mostly while doing 70+. Turns outs it's the mechatronics unit in the trans. Cheapest I've found the part is $1500. Local shop quoted 2500 out the door.

The Luke. Lebanon, TN

TURNEROFFROAD · May 9, 2015

Re: tdi owners?

Good info in here! Thanks

mckeddie · May 9, 2015

I've had alot of vw's, just always 2.0's or 1.8t's.

FM5332FF · May 9, 2015

I had a 2012 TDI Jetta, I planned on keeping It, but the high pressure fuel pump started to fail at 73k miles. It was out of warranty and the parts alone due to there being metal shavings in the fuel system would have been over $7000.00 therefore it was traded in for a 2014 silverado.