Finally got my TDI!

Freonite

Member
Joined
Aug 11, 2010
Location
Minnesota
TDI
2001 Golf TDI
Hey all,

After looking for a couple months, I finally got a good deal on a 2001 Golf TDI with 91k miles. I found it in Texas and was on the phone within the hour that it was posted on AutoTrader. It was at a Honda dealer and I am not sure that they knew exactly what they had. I ended up getting it for $7000 with new brakes and timing belt kit/water pump. They sent it out to an independent shop that knew diesels for the timing belt.

The catch was that I had to be there to pick it up before Nov 30th in order to get the deal. We made the deal on Thanksgiving. So I rented a car and my brother in law and I power road tripped down to Texas.

The car was better than advertised and they said that I was lucky that I got the car for that price. They said right after the deal was made, they got a flood of phone calls and every salesperson in the place had at least one person waiting to hear if the deal falls through.

I was surprised when I filled the tank that it only took 11 gallons. I was under the impression that all of the TDI golfs had ~16 gallon tanks. Maybe I missed something. Well that tank of gas went 600 miles on the trip back to Minnesota. The car did not so much as groan the entire 1000+ mile trip. Thats more than I can say about the Nissan rental that we took on the way down.

It appears that the dealer armor all'ed the entire dash and it made the bottom panels of the dash all sticky. Is there something that you guys would recommend to clean that with so I don't ruin the finish?

Also I have been looking at oil filters and found a couple deals on ebay for buying them in quantity. Do you guys have any experience buying them that way? Here is set I am looking at:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/10-V...Q5fTruckQ5fPartsQ5fAccessories#ht_1932wt_1165

Thanks in advance!
 

CStone

Veteran Member
Joined
Apr 12, 2006
Location
East TN
TDI
2003 Jetta ALH 5sp.
Congrats! Sounds like you got a good deal on a good car.

Hope it works out for you and welcome to the forum!
 

Namakan

Veteran Member
Joined
Apr 18, 2010
Location
Minnetrista, MN
TDI
2002 Golf, 2011 JSW (gone), 2004 Jetta (gone)
Freonite:

Congrats on the find! I almost drove from MN to TX for a car last spring but was finally fortunate enough to find a low mileage 2002 Golf locally.

By the way are you the one that kept flagging the 159,000 mile title jumper car on CL? If so, way to go and I see it's still listed for sale. lol

Justin
 

Freonite

Member
Joined
Aug 11, 2010
Location
Minnesota
TDI
2001 Golf TDI
Yeah that was me. I went and drove that car. After driving a nice TDI it is apparent that the one he is selling has issues. I don't think the turbo was working on it at all.
 

Namakan

Veteran Member
Joined
Apr 18, 2010
Location
Minnetrista, MN
TDI
2002 Golf, 2011 JSW (gone), 2004 Jetta (gone)
Did the guy have a thick Russian accent by chance? I looked at one down in that area (Burnsville or Savage I believe) from a guy I could not understand on the phone. Came to find out he was buying salvaged TDI's and rebuilding them.
 

cfm56

Veteran Member
Joined
Apr 26, 2007
Location
97068
TDI
2014 Jetta TDI SportWagen
he mentioned 11 gallons of fuel, maybe he basing his mileage off of that number.
To the OP, do the ventectomy mod on your fueling port and you'll be happy with how much you can put in it. Use the search option to find the threads to do this. Or check out the "how to thread" in the 101 section if its in there
 

TonyJetta

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Sep 15, 2005
Location
Tucson, Az
TDI
'15 Jetta TDI SE / '06 Jetta TDI DSG Pkg0 / '96 Passat TDI
I would not buy the oil filters, much less anything else automotive replated, off of ebay.

Spend a little extra and get genuine VW or quality aftermarket parts. You and your car will be happy for it!

Two suggestions:
1) Get the timing belt and assiciated parts replaced ASAP. You don't know how long that timing belt had been in service (time or miles)!
2) Install a skid plate (dieselgeek.com)

Trusted tdiclub suppliers:
boraparts.com; Call Aaron!
Franko6 (Cyl hear repair link in my signature)
http://1stvwparts.com/ Auburn Wa VW dealer; Excellent pricing and customer service
worldimpex.com
metalmanparts.com
autohausaz.com
metalnerd.com; Aftermarket VW tools
dieselgeek.com

HTH

Tony
 

jasonTDI

TDI GURU Vendor , w/Business number
Joined
Apr 26, 2001
Location
Oregon, WI
TDI
20' RAM 3500 CCLB dually HO/Aisan. 2019 Cherokee 2.0T
I would not buy the oil filters, much less anything else automotive replated, off of ebay.

Spend a little extra and get genuine VW or quality aftermarket parts. You and your car will be happy for it!

Two suggestions:
1) Get the timing belt and assiciated parts replaced ASAP. You don't know how long that timing belt had been in service (time or miles)!
2) Install a skid plate (dieselgeek.com)

Trusted tdiclub suppliers:
boraparts.com; Call Aaron!
Franko6 (Cyl hear repair link in my signature)
http://1stvwparts.com/ Auburn Wa VW dealer; Excellent pricing and customer service
worldimpex.com
metalmanparts.com
autohausaz.com
metalnerd.com; Aftermarket VW tools
dieselgeek.com

HTH

Tony
www.idparts.com is another good choice.

He said the belt was done. But have a guru inspect it for correct install and all the rightr parts replaced.

Low mileage cars like that are getting hard to find.
 

Freonite

Member
Joined
Aug 11, 2010
Location
Minnesota
TDI
2001 Golf TDI
Thanks guys! The ventectomy is on my list of things to do. I also noticed that the resume on the cruise control is not working. I read that there is a possibility of that being fixed with contact cleaner, so I will have to try that as well.

Any advice on getting the gunk off the lower part of the dash?

Thanks!
 

cmitchell

Veteran Member
Joined
Jun 8, 2002
Location
Central Oregon
TDI
2002 Jetta GLS black / black leather
Any advice on getting the gunk off the lower part of the dash?

Thanks!
Search "soft touch". That @#$%^& Volkswagen put in the cars is their worst feature. Plus putting Armor-All on it most likely made it worse. I wish I could just "clean" mine off!
 

Steve-o

Veteran Member
Joined
Jul 13, 1999
Location
Saint Paul, Minnesota, USA
TDI
2003 Jetta Wagon
Freonite, you might want to check out a melamine-foam sponge. The "Mr. Clean Magic Eraser" is the one most people recognize; I feel duty-bound ('cuz I work there) to mention that 3M sells a ScotchBrite equivalent. I've used the 3M sponge on the dash and other plastic interior parts and it does a nice job of cleaning off cruft without "erasing" the soft-touch or whatever texture is on the part. (Just don't be rubbing it like a genie's lamp! :p )

Oh, and congrats on the new ride. Maybe we'll see you at a future GTG?
 
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