- Location
- Riverton, UT
Do they make a 4x4 TDI?
Volkswagen TDI talk
- Thread starter Greg
- Start date
- Location
- Grand Junction, CO
Actually, yes... VW builds an SUV, the Touareg with a TDI engine, but it's very different than the car engine. The older one is a V10 and makes 550 ft/lbs of torque! It's considered a 'pig' and only gets 20 MPG and is very difficult to work on for the average Joe. There is a newer model Touareg with a TDI V6, it gets better mileage and still makes 500 ft/lbs. I don't know much about it though.
If I was in the market for a Eco-box I'd have a hard time not getting a civic. Not hating on the V-Dubs, they're just more expensive to maintain for only a few mpg's better mileage. My friends (and my wife's old civic) with civics get 40 hwy. The fact that diesel is also more expensive makes it seem like a wash to me. Personal pref I guess.
Spork
Tin Foil Hat Equipped
- Location
- Saratoga Springs, UT
Well, 60k miles can be pushed out a bit... 80k is as much as I'd feel comfortable though. As mentioned previously, there are timing belts you can get that have a service life of 100k miles if you prefer. As for the cost, if you're averaging 20k miles a year that's 4 years of driving a car that gets 45+ MPG, so you've saved that much money over that much time. Mine is paid off, so $1200 every 4 years is more than reasonable IMO.
As far as 'other things', my TDI Jetta has been very low maintenance. I've put a battery in it, 2 sets of glow plugs and 2 sets of tires over several years and 100k+ miles. Other than an oil change, air filters and fuel filters, it's been quite affordable to own. I'm very happy with the return on investment.
I've replaced my Alternator twice. Both times it was the pulley/bearing unit on the front that went out. I replaced my battery and I replaced all my glow plugs and I replaced the serpentine belt tensioner. I'll be swapping the clutch as soon as I get the ambition up, I found other things to do today. not too bad for 200k miles on it. I had a period of blinker light issues but found that was just bad connections, I ended up bending the contacts a little and haven't had any issues since.
What's funny is I'm my original set of brake pads. I'm kind of amazed with that.
- Location
- Grand Junction, CO
I just recently had to do rear brakes, only because one of the calipers locked up Still haven't needed front brakes after 100k+ miles!!
Interesting. I wonder how purchase price compares.
I just see all the VW's running around with lights out and giggle a little. One of my best buddies has a Jetta and he is very tired of us telling him his taillight is out (it totally is) and he's a mechanic. He also had to replace his water pump at like 60k and his clutch before 100k and both required stupid, special tools. My Honda hasn't had any mechanical issues and it has a timing chain and non-interference engine.
I'm always interested to hear who is a VW fan and who has actually worked on them and if it's the same person.
My neighbor had an old merc diesel that was rusted to pieces and still ran like a champ. Those things are sweet.
I just see all the VW's running around with lights out and giggle a little. One of my best buddies has a Jetta and he is very tired of us telling him his taillight is out (it totally is) and he's a mechanic. He also had to replace his water pump at like 60k and his clutch before 100k and both required stupid, special tools. My Honda hasn't had any mechanical issues and it has a timing chain and non-interference engine.
I'm always interested to hear who is a VW fan and who has actually worked on them and if it's the same person.
My neighbor had an old merc diesel that was rusted to pieces and still ran like a champ. Those things are sweet.
- Location
- Grand Junction, CO
Sorry, my math was wrong... not the first time.
I deleted my post... here's the correct info. I looked at a Civic several years ago when I was also looking at a TDI cars... at that point, even with the higher cost of diesel it was less expensive to drive a diesel due to the better mileage.
Matter of fact, lets do the math based on current fuel prices. These are from my local station.
Gasoline - $3.68 @ 40 MPG = 10.8 cents per mile
Diesel - $3.89 @ 46 MPG = 11.8 cents per mile
So currently it costs 1 cent more per mile to drive a diesel VW getting 46 MPG, than a gas Civic getting 40 MPG. I can live with that, considering the amount of torque, how fun the car is to drive and that this engine will last well past 400k miles without needing any internal work. IMO once the car is paid for, that's when you start seeing your return on investment. A quality diesel engine will last longer than a gas engine all day long. I've also become a fan of German engineering, VW's, Audi's, Mercedes... all VERY well built and built to last.
This is a big variable since I've never driven one
- Location
- Grand Junction, CO
It's seriously fun, boost comes on quick. It's a blast to drive in the mountains, I drive to Denver about once a Quarter and it seriously scoots up and over the mountains... it doesn't slow down like NA cars. Funny thing is, when I go over the mountains I get 52-53 MPG. I think the car is fairly efficient going up, but then do you a lot of coasting on the way down and that makes all the difference. Last drive I made to Denver and without trying to get good mileage, I got 640 miles out of the tank. That was with the A/C running too!
I had mine 'chipped' for a little while... had to pull it off, as I was wearing out the front tires way too fast. The car was seriously quick. I want to do some more mods on mine, bigger injectors and a larger turbo would be fun.
kellerexpress
Active Member
- Location
- Spanish Fork
Was happy to see this thread as i have been considering picking one of these up for daily driver purposes. What years are the best to buy?
- Location
- Grand Junction, CO
Early 2000 to 2004, IMO. Those cars use the ALH engine, which is what mine has. After 2004 VW used the PD engine, the ones from 2004-2006 (IIRC) are 1.9l and 2007+ are PD engines are 2.0l that make great torque, but are known to have injection pump failures. I don't know how wide-spread the issue is, but there are enough owners out there that have had problems that I'd stay away. My bother had a 2006 TDI Jetta and while he did have some issues, none were very serious.
kellerexpress
Active Member
- Location
- Spanish Fork
Sweet thanks for the info. What kind of gains did you you see from chipping your tdi?
But you certainly wouldn't get anywhere near that kind of mileage if you're enjoying the power.
glockman
I hate Jeep trucks
- Location
- Pleasant Grove
My son has a 2002 GTI with the 1.8T. It is THE biggest pile of shit I have ever had the displeasure of owning. I don't know if his is a lemon but it really is the worst car I have ever been around, and I have owned 3 Jeeps and 20 something Fords, so that's saying a lot.
My brother bought the car with 20K miles on it and took pretty good care of it. It now has 160K on it and every electronic component on the car is going bad, or has been replaced. The oil pressure sensor has been replaced 3 times, the oil pan, pump and pickup were replaced, The timing belt was replaced, the coolant level sensor was replaced, the cooling fan control unit was replaced and is acting up again. It leaks oil from just about every place two parts are bolted together and contain oil. It has had 2 clutches (the slave on the first went bad around 60K miles). The check engine light has only been off for a few weeks a year after spending a few hundred dollars in sensors to get it to pass inspection/Emissions. The wheels seize onto the hub after about 200 miles and require a 5lb dead blow hammer to remove even with anti seize on both the wheel and hub. Lug bolts instead of lug nuts are pure evil and could only come from a country capable of producing Hilter.
The car gets great mileage and is pretty fun to drive. It is just ridiculous the amount of money we have put into keeping it running. Every day when I wake up I look out the window hoping someone stole it.
End Rant.
I'm glad you guys like your Jettas.
My brother bought the car with 20K miles on it and took pretty good care of it. It now has 160K on it and every electronic component on the car is going bad, or has been replaced. The oil pressure sensor has been replaced 3 times, the oil pan, pump and pickup were replaced, The timing belt was replaced, the coolant level sensor was replaced, the cooling fan control unit was replaced and is acting up again. It leaks oil from just about every place two parts are bolted together and contain oil. It has had 2 clutches (the slave on the first went bad around 60K miles). The check engine light has only been off for a few weeks a year after spending a few hundred dollars in sensors to get it to pass inspection/Emissions. The wheels seize onto the hub after about 200 miles and require a 5lb dead blow hammer to remove even with anti seize on both the wheel and hub. Lug bolts instead of lug nuts are pure evil and could only come from a country capable of producing Hilter.
The car gets great mileage and is pretty fun to drive. It is just ridiculous the amount of money we have put into keeping it running. Every day when I wake up I look out the window hoping someone stole it.
End Rant.
I'm glad you guys like your Jettas.
Unimog
Eric
- Location
- Stansbury Park, UT
Yea, I did the ventectomy the first year I had mine. Makes it much easier to top off.
Unimog
Eric
- Location
- Stansbury Park, UT
Most of my problems have been minor elec issues like door switches. I'm still on factory brakes front and rear at 230k. I do mostly highway, though.
- Location
- Grand Junction, CO
I used a cheap chip, all it does was fool the ECU into timing the the injection differently. No additional boost or fuel. My mileage went down, but I was on the throttle way more often because it was fun.
The proper way to 'turn up' a TDI would be bigger injectors, bigger turbo and then a real ECU tune that matched all the components. If you do it that way, you'll still retain great MPG's but have power when you need it.
Opening it up every now & again doesn't effect MPG's that much. And I'm not saying it's fast and I don't drive it like I'm racing everywhere, but the boost comes on down low and the car makes plenty of torque, which makes it fun to drive. At the worst, when I've driven on the throttle pretty hard, I've gotten as low as 38 MPG. At best, 52-53 MPG... and I don't really try to get awesome mileage.
My son has a 2002 GTI with the 1.8T. It is THE biggest pile of shit I have ever had the displeasure of owning. I don't know if his is a lemon but it really is the worst car I have ever been around, and I have owned 3 Jeeps and 20 something Fords, so that's saying a lot.
My brother bought the car with 20K miles on it and took pretty good care of it. It now has 160K on it and every electronic component on the car is going bad, or has been replaced. The oil pressure sensor has been replaced 3 times, the oil pan, pump and pickup were replaced, The timing belt was replaced, the coolant level sensor was replaced, the cooling fan control unit was replaced and is acting up again. It leaks oil from just about every place two parts are bolted together and contain oil. It has had 2 clutches (the slave on the first went bad around 60K miles). The check engine light has only been off for a few weeks a year after spending a few hundred dollars in sensors to get it to pass inspection/Emissions. The wheels seize onto the hub after about 200 miles and require a 5lb dead blow hammer to remove even with anti seize on both the wheel and hub. Lug bolts instead of lug nuts are pure evil and could only come from a country capable of producing Hilter.
The car gets great mileage and is pretty fun to drive. It is just ridiculous the amount of money we have put into keeping it running. Every day when I wake up I look out the window hoping someone stole it.
End Rant.
I'm glad you guys like your Jettas.
Obviously the 1.8T is a gasoline engine... I don't know much about them. The only reason I DD a VW is because the TDI engine.
Sucks to hear about his problems, I know every car manufacturer has it's lemons. Sometimes it's best to just walk away! I had to do that with my '03 Dodge.
If you want a truly tuned diesel Keith is the guy to talk to: http://greendieselengineering.com/goPage.do?method=perfCompVW
He looks at the whole package and not just advancing the timing and jacking the fuel. Been very happy with his products and service.
He looks at the whole package and not just advancing the timing and jacking the fuel. Been very happy with his products and service.
Unimog
Eric
- Location
- Stansbury Park, UT
Good to know. So do you have the vagcom required to reprogram my remotes? My "comfort control module" went south so I just got a salvage one off eBay.
zukgod1
Senior crawler
- Location
- Utah County
What I like to do is this.
You search RossTech for what's needed to do what you want to do then give me a ring and we will set up a time to meet at my shop where I will let you use my system (under my direction).
I've found with most cars that you need to go to the dealer to get a "new" key programmed to your car, they require a special code that the dealer won't give out any more.
If you already have a fob that works and the second fob that's easy but with a completely different module I suspect a dealer trip is in your future.
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