Does anyone still daily drive an AHU

Lubb

Member
Joined
Aug 13, 2018
Location
Lubbock Texas
TDI
None Yet
I have a another thread in the TDI 101 section asking opinions about some TDIs I’m looking to buy as a commuter car. I found a super clean 98 Jetta 5speed for sale near and I’m curious if anyone still daily drives one and they have held up. The one I found only has 125,000 miles on it and appears to be very well maintained. I’m taking a new job that will have a 120 mile round trip commute 4 days a week at almost all highway speeds of 75mph.
Thanks for any input y’all have
 

oilhammer

Certified Volkswagen Nut & Vendor
Joined
Dec 11, 2001
Location
outside St Louis, MO
TDI
There are just too many to list....
Rust is an issue with the A3s, one from Texas is not likely to have that issue.

If is is in good shape, and you are prepared to keep it that way, and know that it may involve some time and parts hunting (since most of the car is obsolete), it can be a decent car. Mechanically it will hold up indefinitely.

Make sure the word "total" is in the cluster with the odometer.

Personally, having owned both, I'd pick an ALH car over an AHU car to drive every day.
 
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oilhammer

Certified Volkswagen Nut & Vendor
Joined
Dec 11, 2001
Location
outside St Louis, MO
TDI
There are just too many to list....
The real miles. These odometers in the A3s reset to zero after 300k miles, and the word TOTAL goes away.

So a car without the TOTAL displayed, that shows 123k miles, actually has 423k miles. ;)
 

kzoc

Veteran Member
Joined
Sep 9, 2008
Location
Austin
TDI
97 A3 Jetta 1.9 TDI, and 6 Volvo's!
I have a 97 Jetta with the AHU. While I do't really daily it, it's ready to go and in good running condition.

It migrated from IL about 10 years ago, and the rust has seemingly stopped. I have had some rust related mechanical issues (1 brake line and 1 power steering line), but overall it's a great car.

I still have some mechanical to catch up on (tie rods and ends, A/C), but I would take a long road trip tomorrow if needed.
 

Steve Addy

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Aug 7, 2002
Location
Iowa
TDI
97 Mk3
Daily drive AHU transplanted to B3 Passat back in 2015, put back on the road spring 2016. Currently at ~28k miles on the install which makes total engine miles ~268k. Chassis suspension completely redone at the time of the engine install. Body just crossed the 200k mile point. I've done very little since then except for oil changes.

As much as a lot of the specific parts from VW have been obsoleted the aftermarket for the A3 is still very strong. The Mk2, Mk3, B3 and B4 share so many things that there are plenty of parts suppliers still around. If you're picky and only want dealer parts you'll be in trouble, but if you're ok with the aftermarket you'll be fine for a while.

I've always concluded that VW never made the parts anyway so what does it really matter if what you're buying is reasonable quality.

I also have a 97 Mk3 tdi that I would daily if necessary and did as recently as 2015 when the Passat was in the garage being worked on.

I don't really think there's any reason why you can't daily an AHU powered car, they're pretty simple to keep on the road. If the maintenance has been kept up I don't see any reason why a person can't do it, in fact I see a lot worse flying down the freeway where I live.

Other than Texas interiors getting crispy I think the body will do just fine. In fact if I ever do a Mk3 GTI TDI 20th Anniversary clone I'll be looking for a rolling chassis down your way.

Steve
 
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My_name_is_Rob

Veteran Member
Joined
Apr 27, 2012
Location
Mexico 🇲🇽
TDI
2013 A4 Quattro
I still daily my 97. The body is far from minty but it has approximately 685,000 kms on it, so I suppose that is to be expected. But it is still one of my favorite cars to daily.



 

rallywagon

Veteran Member
Joined
Sep 19, 2007
Location
Western NC
TDI
'98 Jetta, '00 Jetta
I daily my 1998 5sp TDI with 265k miles. Just watch the fluids. I replaced my struts and some suspension bushings last year, but they were not horrible yet. Wheel bearings went at 225k miles. A very affordable daily driver if you keep up the occasional replacement of aging parts like suspension bushing, water hose, wheel bearings. Mine seems to resist rust pretty well, too.
 

TDI97

Active member
Joined
Jun 18, 2018
Location
Anaheim
TDI
97 Jetta
As soon as I get the parts needed to fix it, I'll be daily driving my 97 Jetta. I did for a little while until I started having issues. Gets better gas mileage than my Tacoma or 4runner so that's definitely a bonus.
 

Stromaluski

Veteran Member
Joined
Oct 23, 2013
Location
Greenville, SC
TDI
'67 Deluxe Bus, '80 Rabbit Truck, '92 Corrado, '10 Cup Edition
I daily drive my '98 TDI. Make sure you keep up on maintenance (the whole car, not just the engine), and it'll be fine.
 

81dzlcaddy

Member
Joined
Apr 5, 2015
Location
gettysburg pa
TDI
caddy idi 1.6
I have two Daily driver ahu jettas. 320k on one and the other 206k (Although currently down for repair). Never have many issues other than Rust (PA is hard on these cars). I do however service the cars regularly, run synthetic oil, repair rust and check all components and replace as needed before its an issue. I have done trips to the ocean with the one with 320k but it does short commutes daily and the wife drives the 206k long commute 45 min/30miles for her job. Both will do 75 all day long. Wifes has been modified so it gets to 75 faster lol. Great trunk space! If you get one upgrade to the o2J shift tower and shifter. After my wifes shift tower broke I upgraded hers and it is so much nicer to drive daily. Clean shifts and firmly know what gear you are moving two. My daily has the old shift tower that i keep repairing and it is sloppy at best.
 

TDIDaveNH

Left Lane Coal Roller at Large
Joined
Feb 17, 2009
Location
North Conway, NH
TDI
'97 Passat x2
I still daily my B4 around....engine is at 538K and body is at 304K. Trick is to be overwhelmingly proactive about maintenance and be a world class parts hoarder. Stacking on the milage never hurts either :cool:
 
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paulschmid07

Active member
Joined
Dec 1, 2014
Location
Central Illinois< US
TDI
1998 VW Jetta TDI
We are second owners of a 1998 TDI Jetta and wouldn’t trade it for anything!
She’s got roughly 225,000 and with a little TLC and a few upgrades here and there, reliably gets 56-60mpg if we keep our foot out.
It’s got the general rust problems underneath from being driven in Illinois winter and road salt all it’s life. But we like the car enough we will probably spend some money on body work to fix that in the next couple years.
My wife and I both drive this car and both agree that All of our other vehicles will be traded off or sold before we give up this car. We’ll drive it till we wreck it or we die! Anything else can be fixed!
 

tbones

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Joined
Dec 22, 2005
Location
Annapolis, Maryland
TDI
1996 Passat wagon tdi, 1991 Corrado TDI (sold)1983 Vanagon 7pass.GL 1.6td 1982 Westy;THE PHOENIX 1.6na(NOW JX/5speed) my partner's 2014 Jetta Sportwagon 6spd manual AND MY NEW TOY/PROJECT... Sunny, a bright yellow 87 syncro Westy with 1Z TDI motor
Are you kidding?! My 96 passat wagon is my newest vehicle! It only has 260,000 miles on it, so mechanically it will be fine.

Rust is your only major factor in this car...plus parts availability.



I’d say go for it for really cheap long-distance commuting vehicle
 

sootful

Active member
Joined
Aug 15, 2013
Location
Ottawa, IL
TDI
1997 Passat TDI, 2002 Golf GLS TDI
I would love to use my b4 Passat TDI to do my dd. It needs some more mechanical love before that can happen. It's got lots of newness under the hood but still needs a replacement IP to run again. After I get it going wll again, off to a body shop to get some rust issues addressed.
 

BadMoonRising

Member
Joined
Mar 28, 2018
Location
NJ
TDI
96 Passat Wagon
My husband drives our b4 to work every day about 75 miles per day. He's a big dude and his only complaint is it is small and when in NJ traffic it can get uncomfortable.

Sent from my VS501 using Tapatalk
 

KLXD

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Aug 22, 2009
Location
Lompoc, CA
TDI
'98, '2 Jettas
My '98 is pushing 400k. Only reason I'm not continuing my 300 mile round trip weekly plus 25 miles a day is that I retired.
 
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thechoochlyman

Vendor , w/Business number
Joined
May 7, 2015
Location
Campbellsville, Kentucky
TDI
1997 B4 Sedan
I daily my '97 B4 about 350 miles per week. It's nice only having to fill up once every two weeks. The engine has been running like a sewing machine, the rest of the car has been more hit and miss. But after three years and 100,000 miles I think I've got mostly everything in the best condition possible, except for the AC which is now wanting a new compressor.
 

BadMoonRising

Member
Joined
Mar 28, 2018
Location
NJ
TDI
96 Passat Wagon
The engines never seem to quit, but I do find myself replacing suspension parts a lot. They're finally fixing some of the roads, but parts of 78 and route 9 are like swiss cheese half the year [emoji35]

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Steve Addy

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Aug 7, 2002
Location
Iowa
TDI
97 Mk3
The engines never seem to quit, but I do find myself replacing suspension parts a lot. They're finally fixing some of the roads, but parts of 78 and route 9 are like swiss cheese half the year [emoji35]

Sent from my VS501 using Tapatalk
That's the case all over, state governments are "strapped" and so the hit doesn't come to salaries, it comes to services. Iowa gave IADOT a 10 cent per gallon addition to the fuel tax a couple years back only to have IADOT a year later say it wasn't enough to do anything with. Yeah, it wasn't enough to do anything except give everyone at IADOT a salary increase.

What it comes down to it that DOT engineers don't want to be involved in repairs because that's not glamorous and it doesn't give them the support they need for their existing position. The only thing they can do that protects their job is the designing of new roads, which we don't need anymore of, and the new ones are **** anyway.

My claim to representatives is that we need to maintain what we have and screw the rest. Otherwise it's just misspending on a massive scale.

As for NJ, you guys are close to bankruptcy last I read, as are several other states out there in the union. I don't know if I would expect your road situation to get any better in the near term unless you get your state government reps replaced with people of better sense.


In this case it would matter little what car you drive if the paving is not being maintained.

You have my sympathy...

Steve
 

genscripter

Veteran Member
Joined
Feb 18, 2008
Location
Los Angeles
TDI
98 Jetta
I drive my 98 Jetta daily since 2007 when I got it. Close to 300,000 miles now.

No rust, but I live in Socal. The only appearance issue with my Jetta is the clear coat disintegrated 5 years ago. Also, I have a carbon fiber hood, so that stands out. I keep putting off my plans to give the Jetta a new paint job. Maybe someday.
 

Mark Dempter

Veteran Member
Joined
Jun 7, 2012
Location
Caesarea Ontario, Canada
TDI
2002 MK4 TDI Golf, 1997 MK3 Jetta
I daily my 1997 Jetta AHU here in the Canadian climate (-22C here today) .. Other than rust issues, and typical wear and tear items these are great little cars to drive. use Synthetic oil as mentioned and typical age stuff will need replacement (Injection pump seals, timing belt, etc.) With good maintenance they are strong cars.
 

Giberish33

Veteran Member
Joined
May 30, 2017
Location
Montreal, Qc
TDI
1997 Jetta TDi 1z
I daily drive my 97 1Z Jetta here in eastern Canada (regularly about -15c or colder) and really have no issues other than not having quick heat when leaving work at the end of the day (can't plug in). I currently have 260,000kms (161,000 miles) on the original everything except nozzles which I just changed before the winter for .216's. Only regular maintenance and the normal wear and tear. Most recent being drivers side outer cv and last summer control arm bushings.

There really isn't anything wrong with daily driving an AHU or 1Z except maybe for people who deal with lots of snow a LSD would be nice and although they are available I'm not trying to spend almost $1000 on an LSD vs spending it on patching up some rust holes on the underside or other maintenance items. Like others have said the only thing to look out for with these cars is rust, gas filler area rust out very quick because there is no plastic fender liner in the rear and the tires sling mud, dirt, snow, etc straight onto the filler area and it sits if you don't regularly wash the wheel wells.
 

rallywagon

Veteran Member
Joined
Sep 19, 2007
Location
Western NC
TDI
'98 Jetta, '00 Jetta
Daily Driver

My '98 Jetta has 274k miles. I have had it about 12 years. It has had quite a few items replaced since passing 200k miles; therefore, I believe that was the original engineers' target life.

- Wheel bearings all the way around.
- Struts and mounts all the way around.
- Control arm bushings.
- Oil cooler seal...that was a close call...blew out on a cold morning last week dumping all the oil.
- A couple of plastic coolant lines/connectors.
- Relay 109. Almost stranded me, but I played with it to get home.
- Timing belt and water pump.
- Injector nozzles.

But throughout, I have always gotten at least 43 mpg. A very enjoyable daily driver.

Scott
 

aslspiderman

Veteran Member
Joined
Jan 9, 2011
Location
Lexington NC
TDI
98 Jetta
Since this thread was started about 5 months ago, not sure if you're still looking for a MK3 or if you picked one up. But for what it's worth, I'm daily driving my 98. 262k miles, runs like a top. Lots of part replaced but I really like the simplicity of the MK3.

Just got back from a 1000 mile round trip to SoCal. 70% freeway, 30% in town driving. 48mpg.
 

Starion_slider

Well-known member
Joined
Dec 28, 2018
Location
CT.
TDI
1996 B4 sedan
Im still rockin 96 passat as my everyday daily. Drive it to and from work usually 6 days a week. Shes got 360k and runs like a top. My absolute favorite car ive ever bought. Just did all the bodywork and paint on it and a fresh winshield. Everything works on the car including heated seats and ice cold AC. It has had basically every normal b4 prob in the book but i just wrench on and move on and she pays me back everyday with 47-48mpg in warm weather and like 45mpg in winter. Ive owned it since 2012 and i cant imagine not having it. Best car ever. It can be a battle to keep going when problems arise but im young enough and smart enough to keep it alive. They are not for everyone but it’s perfect for me.
 
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