New member here, hello everybody. I currently drive a 2006 Rabbit... I still want a TDI, and I would like opinions from the new TDI owners (2010 and on) regarding reliability and general opinions about the VW clean diesels.
Welcome aboard. The TDI (Turbo Direct Injection) CR (common rail) "Clean Diesel", is a great engine, and the Golf, Jetta, Jetta Sportwagen, Passat are great handling nice looking and appointed cars. There is a Touareg with a bigger TDI engine. With that said all German cars, including Audi, Benz, BMW and VW have reputations for being expensive to own than Japanese or Domestic brands. It is a reputation that is mostly deserved. Also VW in particular has a reputation for having lousy dealers and dealer service, as well as being hit and miss in the quality control or reliability, earned or imagined. Just look up the JD Powers, Consumer reports etc. etc. and so on. VW is not on top of the best list (or even top 10). My theory is part of that involves the people who buy Honda, Toyota, Nissan are less critical and just want transportation. People who by German cars, who pay thousands or tens of thousands more, are more likely to be very demanding, and a minor issue in a Honda will go with out complaint. A $80K Benz driver will want the most minor flaw fixed. With that said there is no other car on the market like these VW TDI sedans/hatch/wagen.... Keep in mind it is under warranty for 36K/36 months. The TDI keeps stupid high resale, so bailing out under warranty will not take too big of a bite out of the wallet. I never owned a modern VW (had air-cooled) until 7 months ago. I had talked to many people and it was a LOVE it or HATE it deal, or it was a LOVE HATE relationship with the same person. No one wants major car repair bills. Fact is parts are expensive and dealers are expensive and incompetent way too much. That is just a fact. If you are mechanically handy, advanced level in skill, knowledge, have the facilities and tools, plus patients and time to do your own work all the better. I am doing all the routine maintenance on my car, which is still under extended warranty. The dealer changed my oil. Put a quart too much. Dealer did the 40K service, left the both battery cables loose... on and on. I am never bringing it back there if at all possible. Oh yea to make up for the above they agreed to mount my 4 new tires for free. They put two on backwards, had to go back. So LOVE LOVE the car, drives like a dream, has crazy power (torque) just where you need it, handles fantastically and fits like a glove with all the right amenities. Dealer has tried to spoil that.
I am looking at a 2 door Golf TDI, manual transmission, probably a 2013 model. It would be my daily driver, commute to work, city and highway driving, occasional out of state trips. Just trying to do my homework before deciding to buy. Any major problems ? Older TDI-s had problems with clogging.
Plunk down $25K and it is yours. The BIG SCARE that you either worry about or not, is the High Pressure Fuel Pump (HPFP) in the early (2009-2010) TDI (CR) that seemed to fail early and with out cause. Cause would be putting gasoline in the tank. That said the real truth is the percentage of HPFP failures is low. With that said if it happens you are screwed. It is very very expensive to fix and the collateral damage of sending metal down the fuel lines (at high pressure) is not pretty. Under warranty no big deal; however I am of the mind I would rather a reliable car that never needs warranty repair. Out side the warranty (36/36) you are on your own. Again it freaks people out but do your home work. There are massive threads on the topic. If you are a reactionary panic type person you will get worked up. If you look at the facts, chances are that you car's HPFP will go the distance and never disintegrate. However I have about 15K left on my extended warranty. You better believe I will go through the fuel system very carefully before it expires. Remember diesel acts as a lubricant and if you put bad contaminated fuel in the tank or gasoline, you run the risk of ruining your fuel system. The other issues in the past, were the dual mass clutch flywheels (manual trans) and there is always grumblings about the DSG, which for all intents and purposes is pretty awesome in my opinion, both in operation and reliability.
The DSG cost a lot to service it (oil and filter) every 40K miles. I will do my own when it is time and the cost will be nominal, well under $100. However the dealer charges about $400-$500 (not sure). It only cost that much because you have to jack the car level with front wheels free to turn. Then you have to get the oil in. It is the most convoluted PIA thing I have seen in a long time. You need some special tools, but you can make these hose and adapters fairly cheap (if you can fab parts). Last you need a laptop, software and a VAGCOM cable to measure temperature of transmission. So the dealer has most people by the short hairs. There are youtube videos on this maintenance procedure. Again if this is not up your alley, DON'T DO IT.
Currently I am using AMSOIL for my Rabbit, I see AMSOIL has a recommended compatible oil for the new TDI-s, anybody used AMSOIL consistently on this car ? Would you recommend it ? I am planning to do my own oil changes.
You have to use very specific oil with the VW 507.00/504.00 specification. End of story. This is synthetic low ash oil and it is unique to the newer TDI's.
What is the reliability of the turbo in this engine ? Any owners out there at, or over 100,000 miles on the new TDI-s, and what is your opinion ?
+200K on several. However remember these came out in late 2009 I believe, so 2.5 years is not a lot of time to drive 200K. However the body and running gear, all have their roots back to the Golf and Jetta.... that there are countless ones made having a total of millions of miles. The body and interior are pretty awesome. Now an Audi A3 TDI has a nicer interior, with real stitched leather.
Can I install a short ram intake to get rid of that engine cover ? I did this on my Rabbit with positive results. I don’t care about chipping, just think that the intake design was/is bad in these cars, SRI is a definite improvement. My Rabbit needed a MAF insert to bring the trims back to spec.
LEAVE IT THE HELL ALONE. First it is designed just right and any changes you make will only serve to waste your money and do very little or be detrimental. Under warranty, you can't do anything. Please leave it alone. If you want to hot rod I suggest an old TDI and you can do all kind of things to it. The newer TDI have a very extensive exhaust after-treatment.... BTW the new TDI Passat uses Urea injection.
What would be other important maintenance issues that I would need to keep an eye on ? Appreciate any input. Thanks
I suggest you get in touch with your bank account (how much do you want to spend). Min price of admission for the TDI is about $25K. There are a lot of nice cars that get very very good mileage for under $25K and look and handle nice. Go test drive them all. Bring a note book and ask questions and test drive them ALL! The thing that brought me the to TDI was mileage with power, handling, styling-fit finish and amenities. I considered a Ford Focus Hatch, Hyundai Accent Hatch and several other cars. Don't laugh if you have not test drove one. I had a Ford Focus Hatch I rented for 5 days on vacation and put 1000 miles on it. I averaged 36-38 mpg and I think the styling in many ways is better than the Golf. The Hyundai with 100,000 miles and 10 year warranty and 40 average highway MPG is also pretty cool. The VW wins in fit, finish and handling, but not by that much. My car lists for almost $27,000.00. You can get into these two cars for $18,000 to $21,500 NICELY APPOINTED. However the VW is a cut above and you get what you pay for. Also resale will be higher with the VW TDI by a country mile. Never the less, there are many great cars in the Golf category.
I bought a CPO (Cert Previously Owned) VW TDI JSW for under $22K, 18 months old with 39K miles and a fresh 40K service, plus factory 24mo/24mi extended warranty. The car has been a dream except for the crud dealer service. They mean well but I think they farm out oil changes and tire changes to lower paid help. Any way no regrets but then I have another 15K miles and 18 months to go on the warranty. I might keep it, might sell it... for now it is all goodness and joy. Last if you have independent German Import car service shops in your area, that are competent, have fair prices then that is where you should take it after warranty. For warranty I think you have to go to the dealer, because the 10K, 20K and 30K services are paid for by VW.