Did the 2003 Jetta TDI Wagons have ESP?

mrfiat · Apr 16, 2018

Does anyone know if the 2003 Jetta TDI wagons came with ESP (traction control)? I know my 2003 Jetta sedan has it, but none of the wagons I'm looking at seem to have ESP. I was thinking maybe because they were built in Germany, they didn't get that option?

gforce1108 · Apr 16, 2018

Some do - some don't. My coworker and I both have 03, ALH 5sp wagons in reflex silver. Both GLS models with sunroof and heated leather seats. His has ESP, mine doesn't.

McGuillicuddy · Apr 16, 2018

How can you tell?

jokila · Apr 16, 2018

McGuillicuddy said:
How can you tell?

Big ol ESP button to left of the hazard switch. If you have a TDI engine and don't have it, the button will be blank. There was no ASR for the TDI equipped MK4s to my knowledge.

Rxfire · Apr 16, 2018

To the left of the hazard flasher button is a blank (that means no ESP)

If it has ESP, that blank has ESP on it, and that is a switch to switch it off if needed

gforce1108 · Apr 16, 2018

jokila said:
Big ol ESP button to left of the hazard switch. If you have a TDI engine and don't have it, the button will be blank. There was no ASR for the TDI equipped MK4s to my knowledge.

As I mentioned above, my coworker has it in his 03 wagon. Original owner. From what I understand, it became an option in 02 or 03?

Genesis · Apr 16, 2018

I own(ed; kid owns it now) a '03 GLS MT, no ESP.

jokila · Apr 16, 2018

gforce1108 said:
As I mentioned above, my coworker has it in his 03 wagon. Original owner. From what I understand, it became an option in 02 or 03?

For sure in 03. I really don't recall any 02 with it and it wasn't that common back then. It was the only option I didn't get on my sedan. I wished I had it but didn't want the car in a different color. It was inexpensive, maybe like 150$ more to have it.

mrfiat · Apr 16, 2018

Thx! From what I have read, ESP did not come on 2002 cars at all. You can retrofit it, but it is a pain.

Genesis · Apr 16, 2018

I ordered my '03 from Wolfsburg and I don't remember if ESP was available at all (perhaps not in those that were in the build cycle when I ordered it) or it simply was more money than I was willing to spend for something that I considered to be of marginal value (I live in a no-snow state, after all.....)

jokila · Apr 16, 2018

Genesis said:
I ordered my '03 from Wolfsburg and I don't remember if ESP was available at all (perhaps not in those that were in the build cycle when I ordered it) or it simply was more money than I was willing to spend for something that I considered to be of marginal value (I live in a no-snow state, after all.....)

ESP helps with even dry road conditions. Suppose you get a flat tire, start to lose control of your car due to oversteering because the rear end of the car wants to swing around, ESP would be there to help control the vehicle better than you on your own.

I think all cars should have it. The subset feature of ASR is good to have, but ESP can be practically a life saver.

jokila · Apr 16, 2018

Genesis said:
I ordered my '03 from Wolfsburg and I don't remember if ESP was available at all (perhaps not in those that were in the build cycle when I ordered it) or it simply was more money than I was willing to spend for something that I considered to be of marginal value (I live in a no-snow state, after all.....)

ESP helps with even dry road conditions. Suppose you get a flat tire, start to lose control of your car due to oversteering because the rear end of the car wants to swing around. ESP would be there to help control the vehicle better than you on your own.

Helps in stabilization after hydroplaning recovery too.

I think all cars should have it. The subset feature of ASR is good to have, but ESP can be practically a life saver.

bbexotics · Apr 17, 2018

Mine doesn’t either.

oilhammer · Apr 17, 2018

It was optional in 2003. It is a gov't mandated thing now on everything.

Not sure when VAG started making it standard, but I know it was still an option on the 2005 TDI Jetta wagon, because a friend of mine ordered one that way and got tired of waiting for it to show up so he bought an otherwise identical in stock one without it. A week later, his ESP equipped one showed up... another friend bought that one.

However, my stripper 2005 New Beetle (2.slo, manual, no fogs, no sunroof, steel wheels) had it. And I seriously doubt someone would have actually ordered that car that way, but maybe they did.

Both my 2004 Passats have it, and I am pretty sure it was standard on diesel Passats that year.

McGuillicuddy · Apr 17, 2018

jokila said:
Big ol ESP button to left of the hazard switch. If you have a TDI engine and don't have it, the button will be blank. There was no ASR for the TDI equipped MK4s to my knowledge.

Ah. In that case my 2003 Wagon does not have it. Alas.

steve6 · Apr 17, 2018

I had a 03 wagon 5 speed with it, and a sedan. both had sun roofs, leather, the center console cup holder and seemed to be late 03's.

dphoenix1 · Apr 17, 2018

mrfiat said:
Thx! From what I have read, ESP did not come on 2002 cars at all. You can retrofit it, but it is a pain.

Not sure about TDIs, but I have an '02 1.8T wagon (GLS, 09a auto, cloth int, moonroof, alloy wheels, monsoon audio) that DOES have ESP. Would seem to me it would stand to reason they would've offered it as an option across all engines, but then again VW was (is?) weird with stuff like that.

That being said, my '02 TDI sedan (GLS?, 02j 5-speed, leather int, moonroof, alloys, standard audio w/ 6CD changer) does NOT have ESP, however (though the gauge cluster does have the little ESP disabled indicator + backing LED in there).

[NB: Figured I'd list the options for comparison's sake. I bought both of these used and neither came with the original sticker, and idk if VW did some sort of package deals with options like they do now, or if it was all a-la-carte.]

[EDIT/CORRECTION: I'm an idiot. The wagon has ASR, not ESP. Sorry for the confusion. Back to your regularly scheduled programming.]

sawmilldon · Apr 17, 2018

My 2004 TDI Wagon has it.

mrfiat · Apr 17, 2018

Thanks everyone. Looks like we do have a 2002 with ESP, but no TDIs so far. I haven't seen a 2002 with ESP yet.

dphoenix1 · Apr 18, 2018

mrfiat said:
Thanks everyone. Looks like we do have a 2002 with ESP, but no TDIs so far. I haven't seen a 2002 with ESP yet.

Ah crap. I was 100% wrong, my wagon has ASR, not ESP. It's been so long since I've driven it regularly that I got the acronyms mixed up. Dunno where my head was yesterday. Sorry about that.

jokila · Apr 18, 2018

dphoenix1 said:
Ah crap. I was 100% wrong, my wagon has ASR, not ESP. It's been so long since I've driven it regularly that I got the acronyms mixed up. Dunno where my head was yesterday. Sorry about that.

ASR was an option on the 1.8T (and probably the VR6) sedans and wagons which is stands for anti slip reduction. It's all about preventing your car from losing traction due to too much power at the wheels. I don't believe it was ever offered for a TDI.

ESP was an option for the TDI probably as a mid year 2002 release.

oilhammer · Apr 19, 2018

ASR (from German: Antriebsschlupfregelung 'engine slippage regulation')

ESP has ASR as part of its function. There is also EDL as part of its function, and of course ABS.

The Monroney tags have all this listed generally.

compu_85 · Apr 19, 2018

ASR and ESP became options for the TDI starting with the 2003 model year. You could have your 2003 car with just ABS, ABS + ASR, or ABS + ASR + ESP.

-J

gforce1108 · Apr 24, 2018

I noticed another difference between my 03 wagon and my coworkers this weekend when I did his brakes. He has the center console cup holders where mine has the dash mounted. 1/03 build date on his, 6/02 on mine. I knew the console changed in 04 - didn't realize late 03s had them as well.

oilhammer · Apr 24, 2018

Yep, 2003s got the better console with the lifetime cupholders that the Passats had already enjoyed for a few years by that time.

I deleted the in dash cupholder on my 2000 Golf as soon as I got it untooefed and roadworthy (it had already been replaced, and already broke again) as I did not want my wife tempted to use it.

I had anticipated getting a later center console... but then recently discovered the tan late type GLS center console with cupholders has been obsoleted and no longer available.

ToxicDoc · Apr 24, 2018

oilhammer said:
Yep, 2003s got the better console with the lifetime cupholders that the Passats had already enjoyed for a few years by that time.

I deleted the in dash cupholder on my 2000 Golf as soon as I got it untooefed and roadworthy (it had already been replaced, and already broke again) as I did not want my wife tempted to use it.

I had anticipated getting a later center console... but then recently discovered the tan late type GLS center console with cupholders has been obsoleted and no longer available.

Looks like it could use a cleaning, but available used...

https://www.ebay.com/itm/VW-Volkswa...ash=item1ca6df201e:g:W5sAAOSwOJJaqrAm&vxp=mtr

jokila · Apr 24, 2018

oilhammer said:
Yep, 2003s got the better console with the lifetime cupholders that the Passats had already enjoyed for a few years by that time.
I deleted the in dash cupholder on my 2000 Golf as soon as I got it untooefed and roadworthy (it had already been replaced, and already broke again) as I did not want my wife tempted to use it.
I had anticipated getting a later center console... but then recently discovered the tan late type GLS center console with cupholders has been obsoleted and no longer available.

For the record, cupholders move was a mid 2003 model year change.

oilhammer · Apr 24, 2018

jokila said:
For the record, cupholders move was a mid 2003 model year change.

Depends on final assembly, too, as there were three different ones and not everything changed at the exact same month. Which is why ETKA is chock full of VIN splits, LOL.

gforce1108 · Apr 24, 2018

oilhammer said:
Depends on final assembly, too, as there were three different ones and not everything changed at the exact same month. Which is why ETKA is chock full of VIN splits, LOL.

I can imagine that would make things interesting! I've been through that before with my 95 Audi 90 V6.

oilhammer · Apr 25, 2018

Yep, but it generally isn't any different than any other manufacturer. VIN splits, build dates, serial numbers, calibration codes... all kinds of variables for all kinds of things.

What REALLY sucks is when a dealer looks something up wrong, and you get the wrong part, and install it. Case in point: a 2004 E250 van, 5.4L V8 engine. Some of those have a 3-wire cam sensor, some have a 2-wire cam sensor. The cam gear inside the engine is different, too. And if you try to install an engine with a 3-wire type in a van that uses a 2-wire type, you find out it won't start... and then you get to do it all over again.

The outside of the engine is 100% otherwise identical.

Did the 2003 Jetta TDI Wagons have ESP?

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