2006 Jetta TDI Help

Good day to all! I’m new to the forums and i’d figure you’d all be some help. I recently purchased a 2006 VW Jetta TDI 1.9L, I’m 18years old and many people it was one of the most economically cars i could buy and a great first car. It was roughly 190,000 miles on it so I have many questions.

-how long should my jetta last me (how many miles can she last before I should buy another car?)
-in terms of service and repairs should I go to a dealer or a local mechanic to get it serviced? (the engine light, abs light, and steering light are on; but still works fine)
-any tips on maintenance and keeping the car 100%?

thanks in advance, new to cars and so far loving TDI’s as a whole, hopefully it lasts after i graduate college in 2022 so I can put more money into making it a sweet ride!

Welcome to the forum & tdi ownership.

I'll try to answer your questions as best I can.
1. Can't really tell you how long your car will last, but my 200,000 mk5 should be good for another 200,000 miles unless rust takes it off the road. I'm guessing you won't have a rust issue.
2. Probably neither a dealer or local mechanic unless the local shop knows TDIs. These cars are very sensitive to exactly following procedures & torque specs. Most mechanics assume it's just another car & down the rabbit hole you go with throwing parts at the car.
3. Tips. Since you might not have much maintenance history on the car, I would just do the 190,000 mile oil change (yep, special oil) & do all the major maintenance at 200,000. That's going to include Timing belt service, Transmission service, Oil change & all filters (engine air, cabin air, Fuel).

If I were giving my 18 YO self some advice on the car I would say, Don't throw a lot of money at the car until you learn more about the car. Do that be reading everything you can on this forum.

One last thing. You need to get or find someone with VCDS to scan your car. This will give you the starting point for fixing you trouble lights.

These are wonderfully engineered cars, but very complicated, which means that way too many things can interfere with successful use.

I would not even consider owning one of these without also owning and using a VCDS
http://www.ross-tech.com

Think about your car as being a few computers simply controlling mechanical components. Yeah, that is what these are. In my opinion, 95% of the engineering is fantastically great, but the other 5% is ***?

You might even be able to get a million miles out of it if you become a student of its idiosyncrasies.

In my case, I have concluded that all of the money I save on fuel, I more than have spent on repair parts, that with me doing the work. That said, driving this car is great, and compensates to a large degree its annoyances.