Which TDI has the best robust engine type?

Just curious what year model of the TDI jetta has the best reputation for a solid, less costly in repair, robust engine type? I have read the 2009 model should be avoided for its design and problems, true? others?

The ALH, sold in this country from 99-2003. My daughter just wrecked the 2001 I bought new with 370k miles on the engine & trans. She was able to sell it for parts and it will go into another car to live on. There was a guy here in Texas with over 800k miles on his ALH.

tditom said:

The ALH, sold in this country from 99-2003. My daughter just wrecked the 2001 I bought new with 370k miles on the engine & trans. She was able to sell it for parts and it will go into another car to live on. There was a guy here in Texas with over 800k miles on his ALH.

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Glad she is okay!

rcracer said:

Glad she is okay!

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Thanks. This is the second tdi (and third VW diesel) she's disposed of! This girlz got skillz!

Our 2013 Passat TDI has the engine VW designates "CKRA." It's a common-rail injection design, with all the latest diesel emission controls, including an AdBlue system. We have about 22K on the car, it's our first diesel and we really enjoy it.
There are people on the forums who recoil in horror at the complexity of the new clean diesel technology, but unless you're into buying legacy technology and keeping it running, there's no going back....

They all have their quirks. I'd say later ALHs (2001-2003) are probably best but they'll be suffering from other "old car" issues by now. The problem with diesels, especially in my part of the world (rust belt) is that the engine is good for wayyyy longer than the body. Very early ALHs had a ton of issues not all TDI related like coolant migration along the main wiring harness; short timing belt life (not sure if newer belts resolve this). However any '99 still on the road has likely had these issues shaken out by now... but it still remains a 16 year old car.

The PDs have issues with cam wear if the incorrect oil was used, and the 2.0 PDs in the Passat have the notorious balance shaft/oil pump chain issue, but once modified they're solid except for the cam issue if incorrect oil was used.

The 2009-2014 CRs have problems with the HPFP and intercooler condensation. The former won't destroy the engine but will cost an arm and a leg to fix when VW stops covering them in the US (they already don't cover this issue in Canada beyond the basic warranty but we've had fewer failures up her presumably due to better quality diesel and perhaps fewer people mis-fueling before fuel guards were put on because VW diesels have been more popular in Canada than the US for many years). The intercooler issue can cause water ingestion, hydrolock, and bent rods.

Jury is still out on the Passat CKRA; blown turbos have been an issue, but the rest seems solid. Lower fuel rail pressures than the Jetta/Golfs so HPFP doesn't seem to be as sensitive. The newer Golfs and Jettas with the EA288 engines may turn out to be the best of the lot with water-cooled intercooler, lower fuel pressure due to urea for emissions, etc.... time will tell.

ALH

This current crop of Common rails will be ones to avoid in the used market.

alh , I have sold about 600 tdi's in my life time, and alot of my customers have over 400,000 miles on them, and me too! lol.

I suspect the ALH's prime is past, though, simply due to vehicle age. The BEW and BRM might be better nowadays, once you replace the camshaft and ensure a steady diet of 5W40.

bhtooefr said:

I suspect the ALH's prime is past, though, simply due to vehicle age. The BEW and BRM might be better nowadays, once you replace the camshaft and ensure a steady diet of 5W40.

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A BHW with the balance shaft replaced with a geared unit/deleted should also be pretty good, taking into consideration the camshaft issue as well.

Problem is that it's also attached to a car that is now at best, 10 years old, one that has quite a lot of complications attached to the car itself: very expensive front suspension design that's $$$ to repair, CV joints/axles, and the automatic transmission/torque converter which are all potentially expensive weak spots.

I just had mine at the body shop today to have it evaluated for further rust repairs. So far they've done the two front fenders, the two front doors, the trunk deck and rear left 1/4 panel repair. Now it needs the back doors, both rear 1/4 panels, and the trunk deck one more time (the weak spot is around the licence plate lights). Thank God for VWs 12-year rust warranty, the only reason I'll put up with VW ownership quirks as I live in the rust belt on a dirt road. This round should pretty much get me a like-new car

I agree with you that the ALH is past its prime. They're all a least 12 years old now, and most of them around here seem to have around 400k km or so. They almost all have various degrees of rust. Might be a good buy as a beater/hobby car for your kid but I wouldn't buy one if I needed a long-term daily driver except maybe to tide me over a tight spot until I could get what I wanted (for example if our 2013 wagon was totalled and we needed a car until the 2015 wagons hit the showrooms, and if we didn't have the Passat as our beater).

ALH. Buy a good chassis with it. Keep off the winter salty roads. Drive for another decade easy. Or two.. or three

The perspective of people living in the salt belt or drive on gravel and dirt roads is different from people who live in relatively salt free areas. My 2003 has no rust. It has no corrosion on any aluminum. OK, there are wee bits of corrosion here and there that you may see when pulling a CV joint but no pitting where aluminum or steel is gone. No part on the car has been difficult to service due to corrosion. As Courier Guy suggests you get a car that is solid and enjoy the next few decades if you can avoid foul corrosive weather.

I was figuring on 600,000 miles for my car but I may take it to retirement which might get it closer to a million miles and 25 years old. We shall see if I survive the commuter NASCAR known as I20 and I75. Unless they come up with mass transit that works for me which is unlikely given the not in my backyard mentality of many voters. They would rather suffer gridlock than mass transit.

BEW's are as good as ALH's. Yes, you can have cam issues with incorrect oil, but it wasn't all the cars (unlike the BRM), and ALHs have an injection pump that can give trouble.

I love the MKIV platform and with 3 ALH's in hand, I just got a rust free 04 BEW with intentions of at least another 10 years of solid service. Plus I can mix and match parts and pieces as the years go by.

yatzee said:

BEW's are as good as ALH's. Yes, you can have cam issues with incorrect oil, but it wasn't all the cars (unlike the BRM), and ALHs have an injection pump that can give trouble.

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+2 for the PDs. I have one, yes, and I love it. But I think they are underrated, and frankly not as respected as they should be within this forum, in my opinion.

ALH all the way .... my daily is a BEW and it's in excellent shape with over 360k miles on the original cam, however the PD has too many fail points and injectors that are prohibitively expensive to service as well as the fatal wear they can induce into the head, injector harnesses that go crappy, intank pump that can fail, tandem pump leaking and filling the crankcase with diesel, turbo that divorces itself from it's compressor, upper boost pipe that leaks, butterfly valves that break off and wreak havoc on top of the pistons, camshaft wear is a biggie on PD's and the economy is generally lower than an ALH ... find a rust free clean ALH, catch up on all the maintenance and enjoy a long user friendly service life

The problem is, by the time you've caught up on all the maintenance on an ALH and got it to the point where you can leave it alone for a long service life, you damn near could've bought a couple year old CR. And, sure, they've got their own powertrain issues, but the rest of the car will be a decade newer AT LEAST, and that goes a hell of a long way.

Or, you could've bought a nice reliable 5 year old gasser and enough fuel for about 30k mi.

The ALH is probably the best all around engine for what the OP asked, however as has been stated in this thread, the age of the car it is bolted into can now become just as big of an issue in some respects than the newer more complex engines.

However, I still feel that if you can fine a nice, clean, solid, well cared for example of an ALH powered A4 chassis car, especially a 2000-2003 model, you CAN have it last almost indefinitely with minimal fuss so long as it is properly cared for and necessary parts remain available.

I resurrected my 2000 Golf a few years back, at 383k miles. I just passed 483k miles last week... and it is still humming along quite nicely.

bhtooefr said:

The problem is, by the time you've caught up on all the maintenance on an ALH and got it to the point where you can leave it alone for a long service life, you damn near could've bought a couple year old CR. And, sure, they've got their own powertrain issues, but the rest of the car will be a decade newer AT LEAST, and that goes a hell of a long way.

Or, you could've bought a nice reliable 5 year old gasser and enough fuel for about 30k mi.

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hmmm $3-4k for a used ALH or $9-12k for a used CR ... $6-9k in DIY catch up maintenance for an ALH ? i don't think so... and even if the CR was comparable in price i'd still rather have an ALH ...you can keep your dpf, your dsg, and your hpfp

Turbo, pump, injectors, clutch, suspension, right off the bat. And consider labor, because most people can't do that themselves (granted, the pump could be done at the same time as a timing belt, reducing labor), so DIY isn't always the answer.

Then you get into more stuff that's specific to the condition of the vehicle. Rusty fenders that didn't get covered under warranty, fogged up headlights, a heater core's gonna result in a big bill and a rattly interior...

I'm just gonna put it out there, I've probably actually spent $10k on purchasing, and then doing age/mileage-related repairs for my ALH (not counting routine maintenance), some things being DIY, a lot not, and it keeps asking to be fed money.

bhtooefr said:

Turbo, pump, injectors, clutch, suspension, right off the bat. And consider labor, because most people can't do that themselves (granted, the pump could be done at the same time as a timing belt, reducing labor), so DIY isn't always the answer.

Then you get into more stuff that's specific to the condition of the vehicle. Rusty fenders that didn't get covered under warranty, fogged up headlights, a heater core's gonna result in a big bill and a rattly interior...

I'm just gonna put it out there, I've probably actually spent $10k on purchasing, and then doing age/mileage-related repairs for my ALH (not counting routine maintenance), some things being DIY, a lot not, and it keeps asking to be fed money.

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OP asked for the most rugged engine design and i provided my opinion ...OP is also in california, so no rust issues to worry about ... even with your list on a rust free platform your still under budget and none of the common rail issues to deal with.... i bought my first TDI, a y2k bug almost ten years ago for $3k and in the nearly eight years i drove it i spent more on fuel than it took to maintain it ... even after a five speed swap, two timing belts, suspension rebuild and pump reseal, it was still a solid little car (zero rust) when i sold it with over 320k miles...i don't think any CR owner will ever be able to claim as low a cost to maintain their complex, emmission control "rich" platforms ... rust or no rust

There is a MAJOR difference between doing catch up maintenance and fixing repairs. One is a known cost factor and benefits from general excellent design and longevity with simplicity
(ALH) the others are always ticking time bombs... with complex emissions, inability to run cheapest grade diesel or vegetable matter and cost thousands more right out the box. I had a BRM, 2 of them.. and that cam issue was always on my mind. Part of me hated that no matter what I using for oil, it would always be wearing down.. Also, the fuel mileage was never that great.. always got 43 no matter what I did.. that and the stupid speedo was off by 3-4 mph and the dumb MFD was waaaaaaaay optimistic

The best TDI isn't a particular type. It is mostly likely to be the fully mature version of each type. As the engineering flaws get exposed with use they get corrected. It is a process of continuous improvement. This is true for any mechanical system. So the 2015 version of the CR is going to be much more reliable than the first years and perhaps of equal reliability to the ALH or PD.

Except the 2015 CR engine is a new design with a lot of new technology, built in a new VW engine plant on a new continent for VW diesel engine manufacturing. I've driven a couple of '15s and the EA288 is sweet, but I would call it a new generation of engine, not an evolution of an existing engine. Most of it is different from its predecessor.

To answer the OP's question, ALH all the way. I did wear out my ALH in my wagon, but making twice stock power for 150K might have been the cause. With its new long block I prefer it to my common rail. I just bought a '99.5 Golf which might replace the '12. Yes, it needs catch up maintenance and has some significant issues because of an incompetent repair shop, but when it's done it'll cost a fraction of what the CR is worth and I'll still prefer to drive it. And the more evolved components for the later ALHs will go on the early one, so a 99.5 can be as durable and reliable as an '03.

Part of what I like about the ALH is that it's in a MKIV platform. Rust prevention is far better than earlier (and some later) VWs, and IMO the car is the right size, handles well, is simple, and incredibly durable. My wagon will hit 300K miles in the next week or two and I plan to drive it at least another 200K.

My vote is for the ALH

I guess that I am a guinea pig then

Hard to find, but western US ALHs have no rust, and if protected from the sun, factory paint still looks great. I purchased mine in San Diego at 74k miles, has only ~112k on it now. Its practically new!

Come to our wrecking yards and buy shells for all those ALH engines that are outliving their shells!

I occasionally browse CL in LA and Phoenix for an A3 gasser to swap my son's '98 AHU into. But I don't think he's as interested in it as I am.

Truth is that with reasonable care the A4 platform is pretty rust free. I had to have the rockers repaired on my wagon because one of the pinch welds had been folded over. And the fenders because I neglected to clean out behind the liners at some point. But the underside of the car is clean, even after 13 New England winters.

Resurrecting this old thread. Just wondering why no one recommends the AHU / A3? I daily drive mine....up to 275k so far with basic maintenance. A little easier to work on than my son's 2000 ALH. The AHU is not quite as powerful, but it seems like a great long termer.

AHU is a good engine, but unfortunately the cars they're in is not as good as the later MKIV cars. And most of the A3s have returned to their natural state by now, sadly. My son's (two posts up) is one of them. He now drives a MKIV.