The 400k mile club!

If your car has crossed the 400k mile marker, add your name (and photo) here!

No offense, but talking about high mileage tdis is like talking about red apples. We know.

But...But...Apples can be green!

I'm in!

(photo deleted due to excessive size...)

Sorry about the picture size- I don't know how to make it smaller...

She's still pretty!

1999 Beetle, just turned over 486,000 miles. Original engine & head, original turbo, original trannie, original clutch. Bought it from the first & only owner with 130,000 on it. Use it for work everyday, Springfield, MO to KC & back. It still gets down the road pretty good actually real good all things considered!! Interior is getting a little rough from being in it all day. Drivers seat is worn pretty good. I may put it in semi-retirement when i hit 500,000 & try to find me another one This is what it looked like when I first brought it home.

408k as of this week:



That is an old pic, though.

Not a TDI, but still a VW diesel! 427,000+ miles

I'll post a picture when I get home.

My Golf, currently at 430K miles.

cz75Fan .............that's what I like to see in a write-up........ besides the number of miles, what's original, what has been replaced, story about the car, commute, etc. Thanks for the detailed info!

I have an '81 Jetta Diesel with 466k miles on the odometer ...very impressive, but thoes miles are not all on the same engine!

I'm getting very close to 300k miles on my basically OEM 2000 Jetta!

AndyBees said:

cz75Fan .............that's what I like to see in a write-up........ besides the number of miles, what's original, what has been replaced, story about the car, commute, etc. Thanks for the detailed info!

I have an '81 Jetta Diesel with 466k miles on the odometer ...very impressive, but thoes miles are not all on the same engine!

I'm getting very close to 300k miles on my basically OEM 2000 Jetta!

Click to expand...

I would have put more details in my post if I didn't think that all of you are getting tired of hearing about my original everything (nearly) ad nauseam already.

Ditto! For as long as I've been posting, I thought everyone knew my car by now!

-Rich

Well, there are hundreds and hundreds (according to Fred, 3,000 regulars) that post here almost daily, but that doesn't mean they all know the CARS!

Yep, mine is about 100% original too!

Those of us with babies never tire of reading about the geezers!

We hope to have geezers one day.


Tim

cz75fan said:

1999 Beetle, just turned over 486,000 miles. Original engine & head, original turbo, original trannie, original clutch. Bought it from the first & only owner with 130,000 on it. Use it for work everyday, Springfield, MO to KC & back. It still gets down the road pretty good actually real good all things considered!! Interior is getting a little rough from being in it all day. Drivers seat is worn pretty good. I may put it in semi-retirement when i hit 500,000 & try to find me another one This is what it looked like when I first brought it home.

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You drive 300 miles a day and spend four hours in the car wow

MonsterTDI09 said:

You drive 300 miles a day and spend four hours in the car wow

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Most of my miles were put on when I was driving 400 miles per day and spending 8 hours a day in it! I can't say enough good things about the seats or the ergonomics. I never got out at the end of the day with a sore back.

I was just asked to "join" this thread and tell about my over- 400k car. I bought my '00 New Beetle used in '07 from a dealer with 85k on it. I drove it about 100,000 to 150,000 miles a year while working as a courier. I drove it 18 months on a route from Hartford CT to northern VT, 550 miles a day, 6 days a week. My next route was another 18 months, Hartford to Virginia, 3 days a week at 825 miles a day. I sold it last year with 468,000 miles on it, and all it needed was an alternator. Still running fine. Only sold it because I had two TDI's andI changed jobs so I no longer need both.

Over the years I replaced the entire suspension twice, 7 sets of tires, replaced the original clutch at 350k, replaced the nozzles once at 180k with sprint 520's, the cam at 250k, Never had the head off or touched the IP.

I'm about a year away from joining the 400k club with my '98 jetta if I keep workin my current route!

Ok finally! I'm happy to report that last week I was able to get with Tom (Ninedee_Golf) to perform the 400,000 mile timing belt service. All went well, the high mileage kit I got from ID Parts well put together, I think there might have been one thing missing, but Tom seem to be well stocked with parts. I also changed the alternator pulley, the oil pump chain and tensioner. Tom even let me do some of the dirty work, like removing and cleaning both the valve cover and the oil pan. I even got to change the oil and filter myself for the first time. I always thought it was kind of tricky because I have a bypass filter system, but no it was easy. Tom and Turbo taught me a lot during every visit.

Well, the white Passat is at about 415K right now. When Rich did the timing belt last, he did some tweaking too,and the car is running tops, and getting about 51-52mpg! This car had 68,000 when we bought it in 1998. It is my daily driver, with a commute of about 45 miles. It has been all over New England, and has made several round trips to Virginia (Norfolk area). I've replaced a lot of little parts over the years. It still has original turbo and IP though. Replaced the driver's door regulator about 7 times (grrr). I hope the newer models have taken care of that little issue, once I decide its time to replace her. This pic is not really recent, but I like it.

In the 400's!

Hello all! I am Brian and I live in the Omaha, NE area. My Jetta is in the 400's and getting closer to the 500's everyday! I generated all of these miles from being a bank courier running cashed checks from town to town. I averaged 500-800 miles a day Monday - Friday. That was back when it was new. I did that from 2002 to to 2005. Now days I drive a 636 mile route on Saturday's only delivering medial supplies from Omaha, NE to North Platte, NE. It is a 9hr route when it is said and done. Helps pay the bills....you know how it is. I love that I can be in this car for 9+ hours and get out of it like I just sat down. Never gotten a back ache...ever! The seat seems to fit me like a glove. I like how I can fill it up in Omaha and drive all the way to Rapid City, SD without having to stop once provided my bladder will allow it. It is bone stock. Everything except the manual 5spd transmission is original. It lost 5th gear around 440K. The shocks and struts were replaced with OEM parts when it had 150K on it, but now it needs it again BAD. It is SO bouncy. It drives terrible. Go over some rail tracks and in the back you hear "BOOM BOOM BOOM!!" The shocks are so bound the tires are slamming up and down. It has had 7 timing belt jobs, intake removed and cleaned 4 times, been run on Amsoil since day one and has tore though 10 sets of tires over her life. It is starting to make a tick, tick, tick noise under the hood that I believe could be an injector causing it. See for yourself>>>

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2uRbaTdg8AE

As soon as I get my tax return this year, I will get her all fixed up. New windshield, front brakes, clutch, injectors, ECU tuning, re-tint the windows and replace the burnt drivers seat from when the heating element caught it on fire. This has been the best car I have ever owned for reliability though! In all 486K miles it has only left me stranded twice. Once when the instrument cluster quit communicating to the key so it wouldn't start and once when the ECU died. Other than than, she has been great! When it was new it would give me 53-55mpg. Now days she has fallen back into the 30's. :-( I am hoping with re-installing a missing belly pan and doing the injector replacement /ECU tune that I can bring it back! If you would like to read the whole story on the car, you can here>>>

http://forums.tdiclub.com/showthread.php?t=205281&page=24

And if you would like to watch a recent video of going from 0-111 MPH (TOP SPEED) you can watch it here!>>>

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ASIazQ8VNy0



Thanks for reading about my TDI!











I LOVE my 55W HID Projection lights.....this is my car sitting next to my wife's Civic running Silverstar halogens in it. You tell me which you would rather have!!

Had a long time customer come over yesterday for a timing belt and injector update.....

And, only 556,000 miles!

Drivbiwire said:

Had a long time customer come over yesterday for a timing belt and injector update.....

And, only 556,000 miles!

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LOL, Yeah, ONLY 556K!


I was asked to add any words of wisdom....Hmm....

Well for sure, I think it has made it this far because it was well maintained. Don't buy one if you cannot afford to give it the love that it needs. I changed my oil using Amsoil HD Diesel oil 5W30 every 10K. I didn't know at the time that I was supposed to be using the 5W40 5.01 oil, but once I figured it out it was at 450K. I have NO lobe wear so I am continuing to use it. Also, every 10K I would change out my fuel filter and blow out my air filter. Every 60K religiously I replaced my timing belt, t-belt tensioner, water pump, rollers, flushed the power steering system, changed the gear lube with Amsoil 75X90, flushed the coolant system, replaced the thermostat and gave her some Moly Diesel Purge. Everyone says not to let it warm up. They also say never let it idle excessively. Well, I do both. I start mine up in the morning and then go back inside for 5-10 minutes even when it is warm out. I don't ever shut it off or less I am going to be inside a store for a while or I am at home for the day or work for the day. Hundreds of times this car has been run from 5Am to 10PM because it was cold and I wanted to keep the interior warm while I was away for 5-60 minutes. In the summer, it would sit and idle for two hours keeping me cool while I waited for my next route to start. I would sit there and take a nap or play on my computer to pass the time, all the while it was idling away. Sometimes I will be on my way home from a courier run and get caught in a snow storm and have to pull off at a rest area or exit ramp. I will let it idle the entire time. There was one night I became stranded outside of Des Moines, IA, I stopped at a rest area to prevent a crash because the blizzard was so bad. Well, that was around 7PM. I didn't get back on the road until 8AM the next day. That was 13 hours of idling!! And guess what? I have NEVER had a problem with the car. The injection pump is original, as well as the injectors and turbo. Any time something has started to break, I will fix it. I won't put cheap after market parts on it either. I buy OEM parts for everything. Well, almost everything....I use aftermarket brakes! My oil, air and fuel filters and even my Bosch warning indicator wiper blades are all bought from the dealer. I have a connection there so I use it! 25% off anything I need!

My only big complaint on the car is the lack of being able to align it. This car will tear a tire that was supposed to last me 80K in 50K. I was told by shop after shop and even the dealer that they cannot adjust the "camber" alignment setting on the front. Because of this, it makes my tires lean slightly inward. The result is the tires go bald on the inside tread. The rear tires have a problem too. There is not ONE SINGLE change that can be made to the rear end. Because of this, it makes my tires become "feathered" on the outside tread. I rotate frequently, but after 20K you can start to hear the "wa wa wa wa wa wa" sound from the feather tires and after 30K it becomes hard to balance them perfectly with the inside tread being so warn out compared to the other side of the tire. Bottom line, if VW would have made it possible to make changes to the alignment where they needed to be, I could prevent this from happening! It drives straight down the road, no problem! But DAMN does she tear tires up!

The timing belt used to make me mad too. Having to dump big money in it every 60K upset me. However, I just now found out about the new 100K t-belt from a TDI mechanic in Sioux Falls, SD. Now that I know this, I don't feel so bad having to spend the money.


As for things wearing out....Here is what I can remember:

Struts and shocks @ 150K
Clutch @ 375K
Manual Transmission @ 440K (5th gear went out)
Instrument Cluster @ 360K
ECU @ 370K
Fan blower motor resistor replaced like every 100K
Heated seat element has caught on fire three times over the last 9 years. Results in trip to dealer for new fabric/heating element and switch every time it happened.

That's really about it! I can't complain. When I bought this car new in 02, gas prices were $1.40 and diesel was $1.22 a gallon. My Nissan pickup was giving me about 20mpg. I didn't have a car payment on the truck, but I got into one with the Jetta. Funny thing is, this car was free! SERIOUSLY! Even after having a car payment and higher insurance, I STILL saved money every month because diesel was cheaper and I went from 20MPG to 50-55MPG. Gotta love it!!! I have kicked the idea around as to selling it because it is starting to "feel" wore out. I'm sure it has plenty of life left in her.....and every time I get close to doing it, I change my mind and kcik myself for even considering it...lol

Well, that's my story and "wisdom". Please feel free to PM if there is something else you want to know. Also, please click on the link in my original post so you can read the story on my car!

435,000 and counting. Original head, turbo, engine. Third 01M but have a replacement 5 speed at home ready to install when I get home.

Turned 420,000 miles today.

tonystdi said:

Turned 420,000 miles today.

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Sweet!!!

Currently @ 403,000 and My baby and daily driver
MK3 1998 JETTA TDI AHU engine

<a href="http://www.freeimagehosting.net/zez9u"><img src="http://www.freeimagehosting.net/t/zez9u.jpg"></a>
http://www.freeimagehosting.net/zez9u

Tuxthepenguin said:

Currently @ 403,000 and My baby and daily driver
MK3 1998 JETTA TDI AHU engine

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Kudos!!

I'm at 392K now, should hit 400K by July!

Don't jinx it~!

One more month and I will have to say goodbye to the 400K club!!!

Well I hope you will have some glamour shots of your ride when you do.