TDI's are History

wilder11354

Well-known member
Joined
Jul 27, 2014
Location
Montrose, Pa
TDI
2014 SE passat 6dsg
guess with all the buybacks, and very few keepers, VW diesels will be like a Pontiac ferio...nice for a while but junkers delight in a few years due to no factory support. Did you keep or swallow deeply to money whore it to demise?
 

MichaelB

Veteran Member
Joined
Aug 11, 2009
Location
SE Wisconsin
TDI
2014 Passat SE DSG
Did you keep or swallow deeply to money whore it to demise?
I kept mine. Yes the BB money was tantalizing but I bought the car not because it was eco-friendly, I wanted a TDI! Could not justify a Jag, MB, or BMW. If I accepted the BB what would I be driving? Probably not a TDI. So as it turns out I took the fix............I still want my car and the money returned to me is just icing on the cake. I don't know what else to say. I don't know what car I will be driving in the future when my TDI finally meets its maker. Anyway, I am very happy with my Passat TDI. Nuff said I guess.
 

RuneTDI

Veteran Member
Joined
Dec 16, 2007
Location
Hudson Valley, NY
TDI
2013 Passat TDI SEL Premium, 97 passat tdi (SOLD)
i kept mine. Yes the bb money was tantalizing but i bought the car not because it was eco-friendly, i wanted a tdi! Could not justify a jag, mb, or bmw. If i accepted the bb what would i be driving? Probably not a tdi. So as it turns out i took the fix............i still want my car and the money returned to me is just icing on the cake. I don't know what else to say. I don't know what car i will be driving in the future when my tdi finally meets its maker. Anyway, i am very happy with my passat tdi. Nuff said i guess.
+1 ^^^^
 

turbobrick240

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Nov 18, 2014
Location
maine
TDI
2011 vw golf tdi(gone to greener pastures), 2001 ford f250 powerstroke
Do the only logical thing- transplant the heart of the tdi into a Pontiac fiero. Seriously though, they'll be around for a long time.
 

jrm

Veteran Member
Joined
Jul 24, 2013
Location
Oregon
TDI
2013 Passat SE with nav (totaled)
I had to keep mine as the buyback money offered was only $20K and I paid 28K for the car.
 

New Mickey

The user formerly known as mickey
Joined
Jun 6, 2017
Location
Utah
TDI
2015 Passat
I just bought mine. Someone else's loss is my gain.

VW will never sell me a car that lacks a diesel. If I'm driving a gasser it has a Honda badge on it.

-mickey
 

ZootsAlures

Veteran Member
Joined
Jul 6, 2013
Location
Windsor, CT
TDI
2012Passat SE TDI
I kept mine. Yes the BB money was tantalizing but I bought the car not because it was eco-friendly, I wanted a TDI! Could not justify a Jag, MB, or BMW. If I accepted the BB what would I be driving? Probably not a TDI. So as it turns out I took the fix............I still want my car and the money returned to me is just icing on the cake. I don't know what else to say. I don't know what car I will be driving in the future when my TDI finally meets its maker. Anyway, I am very happy with my Passat TDI. Nuff said I guess.


Tell me about the $ paid to you after the fix. Was it 2/3 then 1/3 payouts over the two step process? I had my AirBag replaced last week. In conversation with the service manager he said the only fix avail for my 6SpM was the new Air box Snow Door. And I had believed that it was just going to be Firmware/Software then DEF Tank
 

Jetta_Pilot

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Apr 14, 2005
Location
West Hill, Ont.
TDI
2015 Passat Highline TDI Candy White (SEL Premium) long gone 2002 Jetta TDI
guess with all the buybacks, and very few keepers, VW diesels will be like a Pontiac ferio...nice for a while but junkers delight in a few years due to no factory support. Did you keep or swallow deeply to money whore it to demise?
Typical narrow minded thinking for someone who may not have traveled the world.
Just because relatively speaking there are few Diesels in North America, the rest of the world uses more Diesel powered vehicles.
 

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
IIRC there were about 11,000 unsold 2015s when the fix was approved which are now mostly in new owners' hands. That's 50% more TDIs total that VW had to sell in '02, when I bought my first TDI.

Estimates vary, but approximately 270,000 Gen 1 cars have been bought back or are scheduled for buyback. VW sold 480,000 of those cars. That means there are 200,000 or so that are still in the fleet and may get fixed.

VW sold over 100,000 Gen 2 cars (2012-2014 Passat). Fix is approved. Not sure of the buyback statistics, but if they're similar to the Gen 1 cars then approximately half of them may remain in the fleet.

And this doesn't include sales of previously bought back cars that can be fixed. VW is already selling bought back '15s, and will most likely get permission to fix and sell Gen 1 and Gen 2 cars once they've made a dent in fixing the ones in operation.

Long story short, you'll see TDIs around for a while.
 

Fastbird

Veteran Member
Joined
Oct 12, 2013
Location
Fort Wayne, IN
TDI
2012 Passat SEL, 2015 Sportwagen SEL
I kept mine. Bought it literally 9 days before Dieselgate dropped. Buyback wasn't as advantageous vs me having it fixed. I did better fixing it because I'd have gotten the same amount of pocket money but had to find another car if I did the BB.

Personally, I see the TDI's having a VERY large cult following. After all the dust has settled, and the supply for these cars slowly dwindles are they make their way to the parking lot in the sky (wrecks, buyback crusher, etc), I see them holding their value VERY well. These are very popular cars, and the 09+ cars are so well optioned and built for what you pay that they really can't be beat IMO.
 

tdiatlast

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Jan 21, 2009
Location
Fort Worth, Texas
TDI
2009 Sportwagen (boughtback); 2014 Passat TDI SEL (boughtback)
Fastbird: I really would like to agree with you, but I think you're dreaming. There are just too many valid options to TDIs in the "real world" outside the VW cult.
Reliability will continue to be questionable, in my opinion, and experience.
 

Fastbird

Veteran Member
Joined
Oct 12, 2013
Location
Fort Wayne, IN
TDI
2012 Passat SEL, 2015 Sportwagen SEL
Fastbird: I really would like to agree with you, but I think you're dreaming. There are just too many valid options to TDIs in the "real world" outside the VW cult.
Reliability will continue to be questionable, in my opinion, and experience.
What other options are there where you get such a balance of build quality to price? Especially in the Passat Segment? Sure with the Jetta/Golf you could compare the Chevy Cruz Diesel, but I'd take a VW over that remade Cavalier any day, and that's coming from someone who's been a GM guy his entire life. But seriously, in the US arena, there's really not a lot of options for a Diesel car. Couple of BMW models, maybe a Benz sprinkled in, and you're going to pay dearly for those as well as reap lower fuel economy. Move into a hybrid segment, and you're contending with future battery issues, and those do better in city driving than they do highway, opposite of our cars here.

Reliability is subjective. I've been an auto tech and I don't see the TDI's being any less reliable than regular gassers. The electronics in the cars are the same, the only differences are the motors and fuel system typically. You may on the surface see a higher rate of failures, but you've also got to account for the fact that most TDI's are purchased with one major intent to them: Drive the ever living crap out of them. They usually rack up FAR more miles than a typical gasser, and factoring that in, of course more issues are going to show up as the vehicle ages. Then factor in neglect for maintenance factors, and that' just expounds it (a lot of failures are neglect driven, not checking things, allowing minor things to go on far past a point to where other things are affected, etc).
 

Jetta_Pilot

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Apr 14, 2005
Location
West Hill, Ont.
TDI
2015 Passat Highline TDI Candy White (SEL Premium) long gone 2002 Jetta TDI
Adding to Fastbird's comment. If you think your VW is expensive to repair, then don't even consider a BMW or Mercedes or Audi !

A few years back I had Mercedes CD300 Coupe. I took it in for something. When I got the car back in addition to the cost of what I needed done I was also hit with a $ 60.00 UNREQUESTED wiperblade change !
 

tdiatlast

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Jan 21, 2009
Location
Fort Worth, Texas
TDI
2009 Sportwagen (boughtback); 2014 Passat TDI SEL (boughtback)
I knew I was striking a nerve. No car is perfect. (Edit: Options to Passat TDI do require some compromises...we don't always get what we want! I LOVED my TDIs. I have reluctantly accepted some sacrifices, but so far, I'm not disappointed. Yeah, I know, "see you in 150k miles" HAHA)
However, with the MPG improvement of gas engines, and known reliability of other (non German) makes, there are options. That's my only point. Check out the "found my Passat replacement" thread.
My concern is the nagging QC issues of the 2009 >>>TDIs, and the oft-spoken thought that VAG is building cars for a 150k lifespan. The consensus of most (ALL?) here is that newer VWs just don't have the build quality of previous years, especially the NMS Passat.
Also, IMO, removing federally mandated emissions equipment to assist reliability/longevity isn't an option, although many here have gone that route.
Sigh...as with any purchase, caveat emptor!
 
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Fastbird

Veteran Member
Joined
Oct 12, 2013
Location
Fort Wayne, IN
TDI
2012 Passat SEL, 2015 Sportwagen SEL
Nah, didn't really strike a nerve, just opened up room for some friendly debate.

I won't dispute that gasoline economy is coming along nicely. My problem with it is that the cars getting the good mileage are typically the sub-compact to compact range. You start moving into larger heavier cars and that economy starts taking a nose dive. And if it's a domestic, the build quality is as expected (though far better than 15-20 years ago for sure).

I'm personally in love with my NMS Passat. I think it's build quality is excellent for it's price point. Sure I have a couple of rattles on the inside randomly, but other than that the car is nice and tight even at 123K miles and holding up wonderfully. Now.......I had a 2005 Audi A6 with 178K miles when I sold it, and yeah, that was leaps and bounds above the Passat, but we're also talking about twice the cost too.

Personally, I look at the cars on the road today, and I think ALL manufacturers are building for a 100-150K mile lifespan. For instance, our 2005 Chrysler Pacifica we have, the transmission as stated in the owners manual is "lifetime service" and says 120,000 miles in parenthesis right next to that. Essentially Chrysler was saying "we expect this trans to live to 120K." They sure don't build them like they used to anymore. Cars rusting out at 4-5 years old, etc.
 

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 EA288 TDI timing belt is a "lifetime" belt. We wonder if, as miles accumulate on these cars, VW will recommend a belt change interval. We've seen that with other vehicles, especially with transmission service intervals. We suspect "lifetime" is 150K miles.
 

tdiatlast

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Jan 21, 2009
Location
Fort Worth, Texas
TDI
2009 Sportwagen (boughtback); 2014 Passat TDI SEL (boughtback)
Fastbird: "...For instance, our 2005 Chrysler Pacifica we have, the transmission as stated in the owners manual is "lifetime service" and says 120,000 miles in parenthesis right next to that. Essentially Chrysler was saying "we expect this trans to live to 120K." ...

120k mile "lifetime service", warranted to what...60k miles? I thought Chrysler minivan trans life was around 90k miles?

Thanks for lively discussion.
 

Fastbird

Veteran Member
Joined
Oct 12, 2013
Location
Fort Wayne, IN
TDI
2012 Passat SEL, 2015 Sportwagen SEL
Fastbird: "...For instance, our 2005 Chrysler Pacifica we have, the transmission as stated in the owners manual is "lifetime service" and says 120,000 miles in parenthesis right next to that. Essentially Chrysler was saying "we expect this trans to live to 120K." ...

120k mile "lifetime service", warranted to what...60k miles? I thought Chrysler minivan trans life was around 90k miles?

Thanks for lively discussion.
Sadly, I think it was just the 3/36K at the time. But yeah........"Lifetime." :D Hey, FWIW it's still going strong at 228K now.
 
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