Jetta reliability?

[gjs1]

I have been researching VW TDi's and found most reviews to be quite unfavorable. All kinds of reliability problems. I was doing research on Carsurvey.org - Car Reviews I know many here have them, and was wondering what experience people have with them?

[superchargedpsd]

We do not have a Jetta TDI but we do have a Passat TDI (slightly larger engine wise and car wise) and we love it! Great mpg even when speeding badly. It handles and runs like like a dream, only reason we did not go with the Jetta as both of us are bigger people and wanted a little extra room that the Passat offers.

As far as reliability issues, we have had none. We now have 70,000 km on it and have had one glow plug go out on it (warranty), thats it. Remember most people don't write in and say how great somethhing is, they look for help when they have trouble.

[DieselFan]

We have a 2003 Jetta TDI 5-speed. Found a cream-puff with 30K in Greenville, SC for 16K. Still had a year of warranty left plus 2 years for the certified used VW program. The car was ilke new.

And I did a lot of research before we started looking. 2003 was the latest year that looked to offer good reliability and outstanding mileage. I noticed that all the reviews of the 2003 VW Jetta TDI in the car survey site you mentioned were favorable with only one complaint about a leaky window seal. Thus far we've put over 30K on the car and no problems. It has been on several long trips including my 20 yr old son has been from Nashville to Dallas and Nashville to Atlanta. Driving conservatively yields an average of 60 MPG. According to consumer reports who bases their past-year reviews on subscriber responses, the gas models do have problems.

But this TDI has it's own quirks as well which I knew about going in. Timing belt has to be changed every 100K, intake parts gets plugged up with a goo created by a combo of soot from the EGR and oil vapors from the CCV after a while. But all in all, I really like the little car. I keep the mtce up and it in turn gives me outstanding MPG and has never left me stranded.

Would I buy it again? Absolutely. Check out Fred's TDI Page. TDIClub.com. VW TDI Enthusiast Community for more info on these little oil burners.

[JKitterman]

You really don't have much of a choice for diesel cars right now. Consumer Reports rates them as having more problems than average after a few years. I just picked up their vehicle ratings magazine at the store.

[DieselFan]

In the latest auto issue, Consumer Reports doesn't break TDI's out from the gasoline models in any of the surveys and lists. You have to look at previous CR annual auto issues and CR road tests to slice and dice what years/types/models are better than others.

[nberchem]

The only thing I know about Jetta TDI's is that I've seen a lot of them for sale with rebuilt engines and not that many miles.

Nick

[Westro]

I have had 4 of them at a time.

At 25% premium for diesel right now, why are you looking at a diesel when fuel alone is on par with a high mileage gas.

I bought my TDIs for economy and now the cost per mile is more than a gas.

After saying all that, the motors run great, I have over 500K miles on them. Its the little things that are getting me as I roll up towards 200K on them. Timing belts and water pumps seem to be replaced all the time.

And my 2002 manual has averaged 48.3 mpg over 165K miles. And I prefer the 2003 and older non PD motors. From what I see the special oil PDs have cam wear issues due to the high pressure injectors.

[tdiman04]

My 2000 TDI has been in my family since it was new. We've had no major issues with it other than wheel bearings and MAFs. Some of the early MKIV issues everyone talks about never happened to this car, which has 118k on it now.

Throughout my 6 years of driving the car and putting 104k of the miles on it, I've been very pleased. My car's had a harder life and it's only left me stranded once, which wasn't it's fault; it was my brother's fault for not properly torquing the half shaft bolts.

We purchased a 2003 Jetta TDI new and we weren't as lucky with it. It was in the shop for 8 months straight for motor work. 2 days after it came out when they said it was fixed, it completely scattered.

[cccmachine]

06 here with 40k on it.

DSG trans went out at 5k.It took the dealer less than 3 days to replace the trans.Best automan trans out there.Smooth as silk,when right

The rubber buttons on the radio started to peel off.Removed and replaced in a day. Other than that-no problems.

Steady 40 mpg to and from work.45 hwy

Wouldnt trade my early 99 with 250k and wont trade the little vw.

[Texascadillac42]

We bought a 2000 Jetta with 264k on it, and a bad throwout bearing. Only paid $3400 for the car. Put a new clutch on it, and its been one year since we bought it and it now has 290k on it. Averages 45mpg in town driving it like I stole it, and 54mpg on the highway at 75mph with the AC on. Havent had one single problem with the car since we bought it. We just put money down to be one of the first to get the new 2009 Jetta TDI Sportwagen this summer....

[klhansen]

My daughter's 01 TDI has had a few issues, but overall has been a pretty good car. The dealer's service dept drives her up a wall with their incompetence, though. She bought it used and has had a turbo start puking oil out the exhaust (warranty), cooling system problems when the dealer didn't get the temp sensor seated correctly, a window that came out of the regulator and couldn't be closed a couple of winters ago, and the perennial intermittent taillight problems (whoever designed the lamp sockets should be taken out and shot). Oh, yeah, a set of glow plugs that we replaced. She's just out of warranty now, and as far as I know plans on keeping it for a while longer.

[blackout]

TDIClub Forums - Powered by vBulletin for all kinds of info on VW TDIs. I have an 01 auto. Get the manual version. Educate yourself and change the timing belt, pulleys, and tensioner as soon as you can. There is a 100k mile kit available. You can play with them too, just like the big boys. I agree with wanting the non-PD engines. Get a car with a good body and suspension because these engines are real easy to rebuild.

[sheepman]

I had a 06 Jetta TDi the Car was great however it cost a lot to maintain the car. If you want a Jetta TDI get an 04 or older they cost less to maintain. There is no need to blow the money you save on fuel to keep it manintaned for the 05 and newer.

With the price of diesel right now A TDI will cost just the same or more the a gasser VW per mile.

Start looking at the cost per mile, that will tell you more about how much fuel you will use. If you drive a lot, lets say 100 miles a day or more then a TDI maybe better for you do to the fact you can put more mile on the motor compared to a gasser.

Right now with Diesel pushing 5 bucks a gallon, forget the TDI and get a gasser.

If you make your own Bio then by all means do it! If you want to run a Vegi-TDI they do great running on Vegi too.

[DieselFan]

And as the saying goes, YMMV. Our 2003 Jetta TDI averages 60 MPG which is roughly twice as good as the gasser version. And a gallon of diesel still has a ways to go before it's double the price of regular gasoline.

I agree with those who are dissatisfied with VW dealers. And I thought F*rd was bad. Our 2003 is still under warranty and there are two irritants that I'm about ready to go to the mat over.

1. Timing belt squeaks. For some unknown reason the timing belt has migrated so that the edge rubs on the lip of the idler pulley. This was discovered by squirting belt silencer first on the ribbed belt to see if it was the problem, then spraying the timing belt only to have it stop squeaking.

2. Injection pump has developed a noticable tick. A number of owners who have had this happen swear this is the start of pump failure. VW admits it's making a noise but said it shouldn't cause a problem.

On both of these, the dealer says to wait until it fails. That they will replace the motor/pump if it happens. So will it fail a week after the warranty expires, or strand my wife or kid in the middle of nowhere late at night?

[96STROKE]

Well, I have a '86 jetta in the back yard that I finally parked. It runs, still gets approx 40 MPG, but IMHO, VW are pain to work on, parts are pricey, and ours is so old that its always needing something fixed.

I recomend a 35-40 MPG gas car, japanese or domestic.
My 2 cents.