VW TDI's are they any good???
 

so i sold my daily beater and my g/f and i are trying to find us a nice tdi vw from at the earliest year of 2000...are they any good...specifics are 2000 and up golfs or jettas in automatic cause my g/f doesnt like stick...i drive over 150 kms a day so i want good fuel mileage and an engine that will last longer than me...ive heard that auto transmissions in vws are bad but those were supposedly in the older ones...can anybody tell me about these...im not looking into doing mods on this car cause it will be for only the shitty parts of the year when my suby is parked...all info is appreciated and even reccomendations on other small cars...my budget is 7500

the vw tdi's are fine if your only looking for economy, but you can really hear and feel the difference, although the regular rabbit 2.5's aren't very smooth either. They aren't anything like the mercedes diesels in term of smoothness though, but they are very popular in europe.

My friend has a gas 2000 golf and the auto in that is pretty rough, but not sure if the diesel has different one.

How about an 03-05 ish corolla, my 03 went over 220,000 kms and nothing went wrong with it, still ran healthy and smooth as long as you keep servicing it, fuel economy is pretty good and engine feels powerful. proven reliability, but they are all over the place...

Echo hatchbacks are pretty cool cars if they're not too stock, but not as smooth as a corolla

for this price you can easily get a newer integra (DC), probably with parts still available, sporty looking car with a good reputation

tdiclub.com is probably your best bet :thumbsup:

never been to that website, but seems like they'll be a bit biased towards TDIs, although I like 'em too, nothing wrong with 1000k to a tank!

thanks for the feedback ilvtofu...my g/f and i arent that big of fans towards the corollas...the yaris and echo hatchbacks are awesome but we cant find one in our pricerange and we dont like the echo sedan. i think my g/f is biased to the vw's too and i like the Tdi so i think eventually we will go that direction...keep the feedback coming tho

I was looking at 1999 - 2000 jetta or golf TDI when I shop for a car 6 months ago.
I end up to stay away from diesel and VW, because here in NA I think GAS is more practical and rumors about vw problem

if you want a safe bet , and avoid headache in the long run then stay with the boring car such as yaris or corolla

I end up taking a riskier bet and bought a subaru :P

Read http://www.fourwheeler.com/featuredv...tes/index.html
Gasoline: The Superior Fuel
Diesel: the obvious choice

the older jetta wagons r rlly good.. stay away from sedans - electrics are not your friends.

Actually the automatic transmitions are bad around those years 2000-2004. My buddy is selling his Golf TDI. 90,000km on the body of the are only like 3000km on the brand new engine and turbo. The car is of course a 5 speed. Let me know if you want more info. I think he's asking around 13k.

Why were the engine and turbo replaced at such low mileage? Those engines can easily go half a million km before needing that type of work.

My first car was a 2000 tdi golf. It was a little rough compared to gas counterparts, but the mileage was more than worth it. You can drive it hard all day and still get near 1000km from a 50L tank. However the little annoyances like the constantly breaking interior bits and annoying electrical issues got to me and I traded it for an Xterra. Sure do miss the mileage haha.

^
Same with my co-worker's 2002 Golf automatic. Motor and tranny went together resulting in a $5k repair bill.

yeah dont worry i have a subaru pumping 325 awhp and its a headache too

Stay away from all VW"s they are all shit! My family ownes 2. Look into Honda's

:lol

I've owned probably close to a dozen Volkswagens and the only ones that failed were those that weren't maintained properly (save for the B3 Passat that was simply a piece of shit from the second it rolled out of the factory).

There's nothing wrong with the TDI's in the MK4 generation, provided that's the style you're looking for. As for visiting ClubTDI, while they'll obviously be biased towards the TDI engine, they'll also be the absolute best place to ask when it comes to common problems with said engine.

thanks lomac....a lot of ppl seem to think the mk 4 isnt the best...and as for the mk5 i cant afford anything near there so maybe we'll go mk 3

You're an f-ing moron..

I've owned my share of old, and new VWs.. It's called "ensuring to do your bloody maintenance work on time." I did all the usual waterpump/timing belt stuff on my vehicles, and routine servicing before the recommended date. PPL say MK4s are the worst built cars. I've owned 2, and they were 100% trouble free. I had misc rattlin'/interior issues only because my car was an ex-sound off competition vehicle.

P.S. Get an Mk4 Jetta TDI wagon if you can find one. They're built in Germany, and are uber rare and expensive...

My buddy bought an '06 TDI brand new, and while it's good on gas mileage he's always having dumb electrical problems. I can't remember how many times now his check engine light has come on.

well....it seems that i cant find an auto tdi for a good price anyways...we're not in a rush to buy and i just wish my g/f would want to learn stick and that would open up so many mor possibilities

I hade a 2003 diesel wagon jetta, It is pretty anemic factory, but when I added a tuning box for the ALH motor, I was pushing 130 hp and around 235 tq at the wheels. Be careful though, the automatic's can't handle anything above that power torque range. I found that out when I had my tranny hard shift into 3rd..Good thing that cowell covered it under warranty. 8000 dollar bill.

I would just avoid the gamble and get a nice reliable japanese sedan or something like a 2000 ish accord coupe.

Talk about a gamble right there, the roulette wheel turns with the transmission built with glass( for the v6).

Not sure if you would want this exactly, have you looked into the Yaris sedans? My friend owns one and the mileage is phenomenal. Hes put about 72k on it over the past 2 years and a half years and the only work hes done is regular dealer check ups and oil change. No problems with the car so far. Only drawback is that its not as nice as the Golf or Jetta.

I'd probably get a 4cyl accord neways, I don't see the point of the 6 its not even that fast.

I'm sure if u kept a yaris maintained it should last for quite a while, but I don't think he's into yarises? yarisi?... and he did say he just couldn't find one with price range, but 72k is nothing for a yaris.

TDI is good on gas...but diesel is more expensive than gasoline nowadays

You cannot shove gasoline in a diesel's tank. Anyway it may be more expensive, but, the milage offsets the costs in the long run.

Uh diesel is 0.87-0.89 right now and gas is 0.97+