The 300k mile club!

pugman

Veteran Member
Joined
May 24, 2004
Location
Ky, U.S.A. & Ft Knox, Ky
TDI
Jetta SW, 2003, Reflex Silver
Joining in with two! First is the wife's 03 JSW auto w/341K. Then my 03 Jetta Sedan w/5sp at 321K. We hope to get to 500K or more before either of us have to replace (or rebuild the engine).
 

UhOh

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Dec 24, 2014
Location
PNW
TDI
2000 & 2003 Golf GLS (2005 Mercedes E320 CDI)
pugman, how are are the cars performing? I was excited to have purchased a used 2000 Golf that had just over 2k miles- I'd never thought I'd be excited to buy something with "high" mileage! My wife's Golf now has 205k miles and, other than me needing to bump the IQ, is running stronger than it ever has. My Golf, also running better than it ever has, is still in diapers- 165k miles.
 

pugman

Veteran Member
Joined
May 24, 2004
Location
Ky, U.S.A. & Ft Knox, Ky
TDI
Jetta SW, 2003, Reflex Silver
pugman, how are are the cars performing? I was excited to have purchased a used 2000 Golf that had just over 2k miles- I'd never thought I'd be excited to buy something with "high" mileage! My wife's Golf now has 205k miles and, other than me needing to bump the IQ, is running stronger than it ever has. My Golf, also running better than it ever has, is still in diapers- 165k miles.
To tell the truth, I tried about two years ago to get the wife in a newer Jetta SW but she would have none of it. She said that her SW was running just fine and did not want a car payment on a car that got about the same fuel mileage. She agreed that the newer ones were nice but she liked hers. It has had only one major issue, the 01M was replaced by OH as it would not go into gear about 9yrs ago. The new trans is still working just fine.

Mine has only had the ALT replaced last week as the voltage regulator was starting to go out.

For both, the only things that are happening is a few spots of rust that need to be taken care of and the occasional deer strike on the wife's drive to/from work. The deer seem to try to climb into the passenger side of her car. :confused:

I hope that answers your question.
 

UhOh

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Dec 24, 2014
Location
PNW
TDI
2000 & 2003 Golf GLS (2005 Mercedes E320 CDI)
Yeah, that speaks volumes! Oh, and my wife really likes her car after I refreshed the suspension and put in a new clutch. One tends to appreciate these engines more when the rest of the car is in good repair:D

Holy smokes! I somehow missed vtpsd's post. Towing a tractor!:eek:
 

hey_allen

Veteran Member
Joined
Nov 25, 2006
Location
Altus, OK
TDI
2000 Jetta TDI
I hadn't seen the 300k club before today, so I'll put in my membership application, a month or two after the fact...

My 2000 Jetta is now at 303k, and purring right along.
I bought it at 242k, in November of 2014.
Multiple little fixes have been done, but typical things expected of an older car with a few miles under it's belt. Just did the timing belt (with a swapped in 11mm pump while I was there), suspension a year or so ago, and replaced the alternator voltage regulator around the same time.

If I could justify it to myself, I'd be shopping for another ALH, maybe a wagon...
 

Scobi-wan

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 18, 2016
Location
Niceville , Florida
TDI
2006 Jetta tdi 5 spd , slightly modified.
Just hit 300 K this morning ! Bought my white 06’ Jetta 5 spd back in November 2015, it had the camshaft upgraded to a colt cam and a small stage 1.5 tune. Purchased with 260 K. I’ve Replaced th in-tank fuel pump, tandem pump, the suspension, tires , timing components, new headlights and tail lights , new clutch/flywheel . Anyways the car is running great and I’m happy I didn’t sell it off to someone before I got all the kinks worked out . Here’s to another 100K and hopefully more !
 

1.4TDI PD

Well-known member
Joined
Jul 12, 2017
Location
slovenia
TDI
2.5TDI V6, 3.3TDI V8,3.0TDI V6,1.9TDI PD100
just seen this post i have a 2004 audi a4 2.5TDI with 320000miles on the clock and it"s runing nicely i have it for a year now.
 

Geordi

Veteran Member
Joined
Jan 4, 2002
Location
Somewhere between Heaven and Hell. But it is reall
TDI
14 JSW DSG, 03 Wagon 01M, 400k and IPT performance auto!
I'm about 10k away from 400k right now... Not long, as I have a trip to NYC in a few days... Makes my fifth long trip (St Louis twice, Wva once and Vermont) since Thanksgiving!

At some point I should probably fix that slight drip from the front crank seal, but the car has to not be moving for me to do that! I'm keeping it full though, I know exactly what the leak is, I caused it myself by using that crap PTFE seal when upgrading the oil pump a few months ago. I just don't want to take it apart again, that was a messy job.
 

Water4fire

Well-known member
Joined
Sep 26, 2006
Location
San Antonio
TDI
02 Jetta TDi
I have 400k on mine. It was all original, but I hit a rock and split oil pan, so I did a clutch rear seal and oil pan with intake cleaning. Pretty dam good IMO.
 

scooperhsd

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Aug 19, 2003
Location
Kansas City KS
TDI
NB, 2000, RED(5 Speed conversion) 2015 Golf SE
No skidplate here either - we did have one instance where a toy car battery had fallen out of some trash and the wife cracked open the original oilpan. Fortunately, I have smart wife who knew to kill the engine immediately and coasted into the Sheetz she was coming up to. The oilpan was replaced with the aluminum / steel one from a gasser. Been trucking along ever since - now at 363K miles, time for new timing belt, and the heater core / blending compartment needs checked. The Airconditioning compressor may also need replacement.
 

IndigoBlueWagon

TDIClub Enthusiast, Principal IDParts, Vendor , w/
Joined
Aug 16, 2004
Location
South of Boston
TDI
'97 Passat, '99.5 Golf, '02 Jetta Wagon, '15 GSW
Never had a skid plate on any of my TDIs. Never broken an oil pan either, nor have my sons. Probably close to 750K miles in TDIs between us.
 

cbman18j

Veteran Member
Joined
May 29, 2015
Location
Savannah
TDI
03 Jetta TDI (First Diesel)
I have 309K on my 2003 Jetta. The first 194K were put on by previous owners before I got it in September of 2015. I had the task of catching up on all the neglected maintenance, for a 12year old vehicle. I had to replace the IP due to a mistake I made which brought about its premature failure. The other items like alternator, starter,suspension, 2 timing belts, turbo actuator, and glow plugs were expected. The jetta is running well and I am on to 400k but I will probably need another turbo before to long.
 

Geordi

Veteran Member
Joined
Jan 4, 2002
Location
Somewhere between Heaven and Hell. But it is reall
TDI
14 JSW DSG, 03 Wagon 01M, 400k and IPT performance auto!
Never had a skid plate on any of my TDIs. Never broken an oil pan either, nor have my sons. Probably close to 750K miles in TDIs between us.
Peter, that is staggering. I decided skid plates were mandatory after the second oil pan crack on my first TDI, an 01 Jetta. Got the steel plate back then, and it was an absolute rock crusher.

My second TDI is the 03 wagon, and taking that to The Grand Canyon I had to stop at an intersection that was frequented by tour busses - The aluminum skid plate paid for itself RIGHT THERE at that stop sign b/c I high centered the car!!! This is about 50 miles from anything that might be considered civilization, so getting trapped there with a dead car would have been an entire CRATE of suckage.

Third TDI was the Jetta that my sister was driving for a while - the aluminum skid plate and the car came back to me with a LOT of scrapes on the plate from NY, but the engine is still perfect.

All it will take is one poorly positioned pothole or high manhole.

--Jim (That Jeep guy)
 

red16vdub

Veteran Member
Joined
Aug 26, 2013
Location
(617) City of CHAMPIONS
TDI
03 JSW 5spd
Never had a skid plate on any of my TDIs. Never broken an oil pan either, nor have my sons. Probably close to 750K miles in TDIs between us.


I have to second this ^^^ .
Like I said many times on this forum, if you have the OEM plastic skid plates, I think your money could/should be better spent elsewhere. Unless of course you tdi is slam or you off-road the thing.


Bajan
 

BobnOH

not-a-mechanic
Joined
May 29, 2004
Location
central Ohio
TDI
New Beetle 2003 manual
I have to second this ^^^ .
Like I said many times on this forum, if you have the OEM plastic skid plates, I think your money could/should be better spent elsewhere. Unless of course you tdi is slam or you off-road the thing.


Bajan
High speed urban drive is the worst. Crap falling off trucks, junk on the road. But it's really only about a 1 in 10 chance you'll break the pan in maybe 10 years.
I just bought an '03 NB, before I drive much I must put on a timing belt kit and something metal underneath.
 

Geordi

Veteran Member
Joined
Jan 4, 2002
Location
Somewhere between Heaven and Hell. But it is reall
TDI
14 JSW DSG, 03 Wagon 01M, 400k and IPT performance auto!
Driving in The South... I have encountered ladders in the road (thankfully not in my TDI) but HAVE met with a palletized liquid tote (250 gallon plastic jug in an aluminum pallet and cage) in the fast lane of I-20 in Atlanta - managed to miss that one thankfully! It was around a corner and I had no visibility of it until I was almost on top of it b/c this was also at night.

Same trip, my skid plate protected *most* of the engine as I crested a hill in the left lane again in Tennessee... And plowed right through either a sofa or chair of some sort and a chunk of wood punched a hole in the plastic bottom of my SMIC. That was amazingly the only damage other than a fair amount of stuffing jammed in places.

Different trip, minding my own business in Texas when suddenly the truck in front of me swerves wildly... Because the truck in front of him had lofted a MATTRESS right into the travel lane. No way to avoid, ran right over it. Guy behind me tried to avoid it, slammed his brakes, and got pounded in the trunk by the car behind HIM. Other than the swerving truck, I was the only one to be able to drive away after the troopers cleared me.

Driving out West on 40, had a construction zone close part of it so I swapped to Route 66... Over the course of about 20 miles, 5 giant jackalopes attempted crossing the road (no warning) in front of me. 3 made it. :( Skid plate at least made it quick for them.

I drive probably about 40k miles a year, maybe more. No way a plastic skid would put up with the amount of crap in the road that has been shrugged off by the Panzer Plate.

I don't off-road my TDI. The plate looks like it has been used for dragging my TDI without tires. Y'all are way braver than I am, running without shields.
 

IndigoBlueWagon

TDIClub Enthusiast, Principal IDParts, Vendor , w/
Joined
Aug 16, 2004
Location
South of Boston
TDI
'97 Passat, '99.5 Golf, '02 Jetta Wagon, '15 GSW
The first plastic engine cover on my wagon lasted about 12 years. Finally enough attachment points wore out that I replaced it with one of our (thin) aluminum ones. My '99.5 Golf has an OE plastic cover on it. My younger son cheats a little: He drives on a lot of dirt roads but his Golf has a 2" lift. I think it's saved his oil pan more than a few times.

My first '99.5 track day Golf was lowered, but not a huge amount. I drove that all over the eastern US and Canada without a problem. And my son's first Golf (I guess we each get two) was on GTI suspension and even then he never broke an oil pan, even in a fight with a snow plow and an off road excursion. But his belly pan wasn't in the best shape.
 

Andyinchville1

Veteran Member
Joined
Apr 7, 2016
Location
Virginia
TDI
2003 Jetta TDI wagon, 5 sp, 226K miles
I made it !! :)

I just turned 300K the other day....

Pretty much a stock car except for the addition of a scan gauge, led lights (phillips headlamp bulbs tho) , tinting the windows and getting a malone stage 1 tune awhile back....I did start running 205 70 R 15 Ecopias after my first set of smaller Ecopias wore out ...now the speedo is accurate, rpms at highway speeds are lower and I get a tad more ground clearance....I like the way the tires fill in the wheel wells more too.

I'll probably get DLC 1016 injectors next (I have a set or cores already).

Other than oil changes every 15K or so miles, one trans fluid change, one head light set change, the tires above, and the air filters, Ive only had to do the timing belt one time (shortly after I got the car) , reseal the injection pump once, and do the rear control arm bushings (they were torn)....Pretty low maintenance but then again I mostly drive highway long distances so not too hard on the car

Hoping to take it at least 200K more

Andrew
 
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UhOh

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Dec 24, 2014
Location
PNW
TDI
2000 & 2003 Golf GLS (2005 Mercedes E320 CDI)
And I've lived MANY decades and have not gotten cancer! I think I'll continue smoking!:rolleyes: (actually, I don't smoke)

It's about insurance, risk mitigation. If one doesn't sense a need to mitigate a risk then fine; however, I would not tell another what their risks are and what their mitigations should or shouldn't be.

My wife has a significant back-roads commute. I've seen the impacts on our skid plates. Do I KNOW that had I not had the skid plate that the oil pan would have been trashed? It's kind of a like proving a negative.

Someone recently posted that he was rebuilding an engine following splitting open an oil pan: figured that since he was needing to do a bunch of work he'd go ahead and do a rebuild. Seems that there are always posts like this...
 

maxmoo

Veteran Member
Joined
Jan 19, 2011
Location
Lakefield, Ontario, Canada
TDI
2000 golf, 2001 golf, 2000 beetle, 2003 wagon, 2004 golf, 2004 jetta, all diesels
I just picked up an '03 manual ALH GLS wagon with 930,000km (578,000 miles) on it.

Bought it for parts from the original owner who was a salesman who traveled alot.
Aside from the usual suspension and brake wear parts the only things replaced on this car were:
-timing belt kit, numerous times
-alternator 1x
-clutch 1x
- both front fenders and the hatch, by vw

The engine and tranny have never been touched, head has never been off.
This car never had the starter or the turbo or the inj pump replaced or any injector work done!
All maintenance and repairs were done at one vw dealer (Pickering,ON).
Full synthetic oil always.

He finally parked it 2 yrs ago because it needed another clutch and had a bad miss at idle, (but runs perfect over 1500rpm).

When I went to pick it up it had not been running in 20 months.
Put a new battery in it and it fired up in about 8-10 seconds of cranking!
Rear brakes took some pounding to free up but within 1/2hr I was driving it.
Other than the miss at idle it runs perfect, accelerates normaly and dosen't smoke other than the first few seconds on a cold start.
The body is about a 7 out of 10, rockers are still good just a few minor dings and paint chips missing, and the interior (heated black leather) is a 9.

I bought it for parts but it seems like a shame to take it off the road.....it would be interesting to see how much further it would go.
 

Geordi

Veteran Member
Joined
Jan 4, 2002
Location
Somewhere between Heaven and Hell. But it is reall
TDI
14 JSW DSG, 03 Wagon 01M, 400k and IPT performance auto!
Put that back together!

When I bought my wagon at 250,000 miles, it had also only ever been serviced by a dealership. The list was very similar, and what I discovered was that the injection pump needed to be rebuilt because the quantity adjustment spring was broken and that it also needed a set of nozzles. Even though it ran just fine, performance was not what it should have been.

What came out of the automatic transmission looked like coffee, and did not smell very good. However, several fresh changes later and the transmission happily continued running until I elected to swap it with a performance rebuilt from IPT because I had the opportunity.

These ALH wagons are amazing. First time replacing the starter was just now, and the original starter still functions fine it is only the Bendix that is acting up. I mean, I only got 400,000 miles out of it, where is the quality? LOL


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

Rob Mayercik

Veteran Member
Joined
Dec 19, 2001
Location
NJ, U.S.A.
TDI
2002 Jetta GLS, Baltic Green/Beige
Never had a skid plate on any of my TDIs. Never broken an oil pan either, nor have my sons. Probably close to 750K miles in TDIs between us.
You're one lucky clan, then - I switched to an evolution skidplate when my plastic one broke about 5 years into ownership, and I'd never dream of going without armor down there.

not long after getting it, I was driving to work and hit an ice/snow chunk on the highway - big enough to feel the car lurch over/crush it, but was in traffic and had neither anywhere to dodge to nor sufficient warning to slow down (and probably would have been rear-ended if I had, this was in NJ) to allow for an evasion. I try not to think what that would have done to my oil pan.
 

mk3

Veteran Member
Joined
Sep 13, 2005
Location
Wisconsin, USA
TDI
03 Jetta GLS 5-speed
just over 300k!

went past last week. This is the daily driver for my wife and I drive the Prius.

We bought it with 90k on it. It's had some repairs but here is some stuff that has NOT been touched.

I've not touched the clutch - I assume the original owner didn't either.

Never have touched the turbo, not even the actuator, not even the vacuum line on it.

The timing belt change is due now and I also have to consider if I should do some other PM while it is out of service.
 

RabbitGTI

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Jul 20, 1997
Location
Wisconsin
TDI
B4 Passat Sedan
Erwin, my green B4 sedan has 321,400 miles on the clock. He's a little ratty, but keeps on rolling. Could probably drive it 500k plus miles, but I have spent enough time sitting in it, so he's about to be semi-retired.
 

h.ubk

Veteran Member
Joined
Sep 23, 2016
Location
Idaho
TDI
1997 Jetta TDI with 1Z Engine
I'm at about 365K miles right now. The odometer stopped at 356K. I'm planning to swap the engine into a Samurai or Geo Tracker when I'm ready.

h.ubk
 
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