New (to me) Golf, complete with issues

Powder Hound said:

These parts would probably be a great gray market opportunity, if one could figure how to do it and get the connections established to make it possible.

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Maybe, maybe not. Makes me think of people who are still driving W123 Mercedes. Parts are becoming unavailable, but the owners aren't willing to spend any money on those cars.

"Normal" people won't spend any money on their cars. If the bill gets too high they will just buy and finance a new one. We throw things away way before they are actually used up. I have seen this many times and taken advantage of it.

oilhammer said:

Yep, the A4 TDIs, especially the ALHs but to some extent also the BEWs, people will often invest money to get them back into tip top shape. And even though they may spend up to $5k on the car, it ends up in great shape and is easily just as good as anything new you could buy and for far less money.

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I'm one of these people...lol. I specifically sought out a 2003 Golf TDI with no sunroof. I wanted the newest ALH car I could get, so I grabbed this one when I had the chance. I have probably spent $5000 on it, but the car has been reliable and works like new. I throw a few bucks at it every other payday, and although I still need to spend a little bit more on it, I do intend to drive it for many years to come.

Like you guys mentioned above, I just love the little Mk4 cars (I prefer the Golfs). Simple cars that are good on fuel. We have a lot of Mk4 VW's here...heck, the road I live on is barely a mile long, and there are three other Mk4 TDI owners that live on it...lol.

oilhammer said:

I only wish I had the foresight (and the money) to hoard Transporter parts when I could have.

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My brother in law just laid his very last T4 Transporter to rest a few days ago. RIP...lol. We had the T4 diesel cargo vans in Canada from 1993-1997...2.4L, 5cyl, non-TDI, non-OBDII, with about 75 HP...lol. He had 4 of them, and had been milking the last '97 trying to get a few more years out of it. Off to the junk yard it goes.

$109/hr? I'm in the wrong business!

It's alive!

After a very, very long time the Golf is running! Mr. Chill put it together last week, I gave the ECU to Jeff for RC3/ASV, and it's up and running with a loaner ECU. Here it is in front of the IDParts warehouse where I was picking up new nozzles for it this afternoon (and a few other things )


Engine has just started its break-in, Chill drove it about 70 miles this morning at varying RPMs to seat the rings. It's smooth, makes good power, and rides and handles great. The problem of it quitting that the PO suffered with for months seems to have been corrected by a new engine speed sensor. And it seems the water leak is coming from the passenger door mirror, cabin filter, evaporator not draining, or all of the above.

It has a few other things to sort out: ABS fault that I think is a wheel harness, sloppy shifter which seems to be a bushing adrift in the shift box, A/C doesn't work, needs a door lock module, hatch won't open, nor will the glove box. And it needs a headliner. And a major detailing. I may pull the interior and make sure it's all dry and shampoo the carpet.

It has a shudder that comes and goes at idle, can't tell if it's fueling or the (original 245K mile) flywheel giving out. I found a VW boxed OE LUK Clutch and flywheel kit in the warehouse recently, so if it needs one that's going in. It's getting new nozzles so we'll see if that sorts things out, too. And the ECU should be back soon so with the right tune things may get better as well.

Exhaust is a little loud for me, but I think when it's running the right boost it might get better. I may get a GTI rear valence and tips that go past the bumper, which helps a lot. If that fails I'll add a resonator.

Then there are all the things I want to do: Wheels and tires (black wheels, possibly), headlights, rear sway bar, maybe H&R Sport springs, and remove the hitch. It has factory NAV which I don't think has a lot of usefulness in it (maps are obsolete) but I have a new head unit to go in. It's got to get a boost gauge.

And of course there's paint. The front clip needs it, hood has some scratches, driver's fender was replaced and paint isn't great, rockers have the slightest bit of rust starting I want to catch now. I'll see what the shop says about painting the whole car or just the front clip. I wanted to wash it today to get a better idea of the car's condition, but it's been pouring rain all day.

Car has 243K on it, lowest overall mileage of any of my TDIs. Built in 8/98, pretty early for an A4. Feels really tight. Handles great with the Koni Yellows. Seems to be a keeper.

Awesome!!!

Picked these up yesterday.

I have a set of black 16s I was thinking of putting on the car, but after driving it I decided to stick with 15s and OE wheels.

Had to chuckle at all of this. I recall a thread in which you were pitching wagons as the best, and I advocating for the hatchbacks. And here you have a Golf. Oh, and only last Saturday I shelled out for a 2003 Jetta wagon for the wife's kids

Now I'll be able to compare

BTW - A local dealer was selling a 2003 Golf for $9k! Only 61k miles on it! (they listed it as an automatic but the pictures clearly showed it was a manual- hey, what's that third pedal doing in my automatic car? [and why is there a manual shift pattern on that shifter with a boot?]) Other than a Jetta wagon, this was the highest price I'd see (over the course of the last couple of years). Also the lowest mileage.

My wagon isn't going anywhere. I originally bought this car to save it from a crueler fate, but have grown to like it after seeing it at my guru's shop for the past year while it waited for me to decide what I wanted to do with it. And now that I've disposed of my CR Golf I'm pleased to have another ALH.

This will become my second car, replacing the Passat in that role. I'll keep the Passat, but may not drive it as often. And maybe it'll give IBW a break now and then. I still seem to be driving through a 700 mile tank of fuel every week to ten days.

I took the Golf to my local body shop yesterday for a paint quote. I haven't heard back yet, but I suspect I should be sitting down when I get the email.

Yeah, didn't figure you'd give up your namesake

And my Golfs aren't going anywhere either.

This is an amazing thread. I just read all three pages. Having driven my wife's 2015 Passat again, I find the 2000 Jetta more comfortable and roomy. Having added a nice stereo with bluetooth and backup camera, I feel I have a better vehicle than hers. (Although her back seats actually have legroom, and the 1.8L GDI engine can move that thing!)

Thanks for all the information. Also, good job on the Red Golf.

Perfectreign said:

(Although her back seats actually have legroom, and the 1.8L GDI engine can move that thing!)

Thanks for all the information. Also, good job on the Red Golf.

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An older car with no considerations for the demands of the car buyer today ie larger and more leg room with the demands of the EPA sic. What are you gonna do when it wears out, or don't you think it will? The only constant in the world is change!

Haha! I'm just glad my diesel doesn't have to go through regen like the newer CR models do. Don't want flames shooting out of the back in the desert area I live in.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FDyQZishJWw

After 14 years and 326K miles my wagon is still fine. Oilhammer has 500K on his Golf so I'm not sure they will wear out. Just keep driving until parts are no longer available.

I swallowed hard and ordered a headliner today. I had this hope it would go on close out with VW but got tired of waiting.

Headliner on the wife's car was stained from the rear washer leaking around the C pillar. Managed to clean it all up pretty good using a simple cleaner: "Awesome," I think maybe the carpet stuff (red bottle). I was looking around at headliners but found it hard to track down a decent used one: that was before I discovered that the existing one tended to clean up pretty well.

With the good roads I have in my area I figure that my Golfs will be able to run for a long time. Suspension is stock on the wife's (PNW) car; it has 171k miles on it and still feels good. My car's suspension was pretty much shot when I got it with 114k miles (Minnesota roads!): ball joints had been replaced at 71k according to records).

IndigoBlueWagon said:

After 14 years and 326K miles my wagon is still fine. Oilhammer has 500K on his Golf so I'm not sure they will wear out. Just keep driving until parts are no longer available.

I swallowed hard and ordered a headliner today. I had this hope it would go on close out with VW but got tired of waiting.

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You spend a lot of money keeping old technology running because it is your hobby and you run a parts store (that I patronize for parts for my 2014 Passat) to keep you in good supply of said parts. Sorry the rest of us don't live in your world. If we did there would be no new cars eh?

Edit: you made a post about a year ago or so in a discussion about Koni warranty you told us that you changed out your FSD dampers for Reds I believe, and sent the FSDs back for warranty. I asked about the frugality of that and your comment was "when I get the replacement FSD dampers back I will return them to our stock" I guess that means you would resell them for full price to some one like me. Must be nice but the rest of us don't live in that kind of world.

IndigoBlueWagon said:

I swallowed hard and ordered a headliner today.

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What was the damage?

MichaelB said:

Edit: you made a post about a year ago or so in a discussion about Koni warranty you told us that you changed out your FSD dampers for Reds I believe, and sent the FSDs back for warranty. I asked about the frugality of that and your comment was "when I get the replacement FSD dampers back I will return them to our stock" I guess that means you would resell them for full price to some one like me. Must be nice but the rest of us don't live in that kind of world.

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You write this as if there is some impropriety here. IBW runs a business which focuses on TDIs and he and the other key members of the staff use parts from their business to further their expertise and experience with the parts that they represent. All businesses have the goal of knowing as much as they can about their products and how their customers use them.

Yeah, I can't go grab a new set of nozzles but then again, IBW can't go back and grab an 24" ultrasonic liquid flow meter for measuring the flow of liquid and gas through an oil refinery pipe like I can.

It's true that the parts business gives me advantages. I still have to pay for stuff, but I am able to locate things that others may have difficulty finding, such as the OE VW boxed LUK clutch and flywheel that will go in the Golf. Regarding the Konis, If I didn't do what I did I could have bought Reds and sold the FSDs here. Or kept FSDs in the car. I liked them enough that I'd certainly run them again.

When I was talking to the body shop about painting costs I walked away with a bit of sticker shock. But then I thought about what I'd pay in sales tax, excise tax, and insurance on a new VW. With those costs in the first year of car ownership I can pay for painting the Golf. And insurance will be under $500/year, excise about $25, sales tax was $125. So even when I have to pay like anyone else for work the older car is less expensive. And I haven't even mentioned depreciation. My '12 Golf depreciated about $8K in 3.5 years and 28K miles. That's a lot of shocks. Or clutches, or paint.

MichaelB said:

You spend a lot of money keeping old technology running because it is your hobby and you run a parts store (that I patronize for parts for my 2014 Passat) to keep you in good supply of said parts. Sorry the rest of us don't live in your world. If we did there would be no new cars eh?

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I'd say there are quite a few members on here that spend a lot of time and money keeping "old technology" running because it's their hobby, and they don't run a parts store...lol.

I don't run a parts store but still manage to keep my 2002 Jetta hot rod, 4 B5.5 Passats, a 2004 Jetta (all TDI's, all 5 speed manuals except for one Passat awaiting conversion and the 04 Jetta) and an 06 Touareg gasser in tip top shape. Granted, I don't pay labor since I work on all of them myself, but as everything in my stable is paid for I have no problem spending money on parts when needed.

My Touareg has the least amount of miles of all at 155k.

IndigoBlueWagon said:

With my wagon I've gone a long way past what's reasonable in the money I've spent on the car relative to its value.

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MikeS_18 said:

Yeah, I can't go grab a new set of nozzles but then again, IBW can't go back and grab an 24" ultrasonic liquid flow meter for measuring the flow of liquid and gas through an oil refinery pipe like I can.

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Yeah great if we needed an ultrasonic flow meter to repair and maintain our car, but that has absolutely nothing to do with how many miles or how many years you can drive your car. Theoretically you could still be driving a 56 Chevy to work and back as there still is a abundant supply of new parts for them. Would you want to? I guess if I worked for one of the part supply houses that sell those parts I would but that just is not the way ordinary people view their cars.

I'll add another analogy. Way back when the PBS series This Old House was first produced they rehabbed an old Victorian home and bought all new stuff. The restoration was magnificent. They concluded in the end that you could have built a new one for less money than they spent and it would not be sitting on a rubble stone foundation.

IndigoBlueWagon said:

IIf I didn't do what I did I could have bought Reds and sold the FSDs here.

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If you sold them here would you have been able to charge full retail price and shipping? I doubt you would have had much success with that.

dogdots said:

I don't run a parts store but still manage to keep my 2002 Jetta hot rod, 4 B5.5 Passats, a 2004 Jetta (all TDI's, all 5 speed manuals except for one Passat awaiting conversion and the 04 Jetta) and an 06 Touareg gasser in tip top shape. Granted, I don't pay labor since I work on all of them myself, but as everything in my stable is paid for I have no problem spending money on parts when needed.

My Touareg has the least amount of miles of all at 155k.

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Another vendor hawking their goods and services via this website as opposed to just a guy trying to keep their TDI alive and wondering if it's worth it.. You profit from their problems. I know somebody has to do it. It might as well be you. http://kansascitytdi.com/

Rembrant said:

I'd say there are quite a few members on here that spend a lot of time and money keeping "old technology" running because it's their hobby, and they don't run a parts store...lol.

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And there are a lot of members here that don't make a hobby out of an old car they just want it to run for the least amount of money and effort. All hobbies cost money unless its is something like bird watching. And even they like a new pair of binoculars as opposed to repairing the old ones, newer and clearer optics.

Michael, I don't think either of us is right or wrong, we just have decided to choose different transportation. I've owned lots of new cars over the years, and for many of them I did none of my own work. In the late 80s/early 90s I drove a Peugeot 505 diesel that was completely cared for by a local guru. I didn't even do oil changes. That car was dead reliable, believe it or not, and not terribly expensive to maintain.

When I bought my wagon I had no reason to believe I'd treat it any different from previous cars. Dealer or independent mechanic maintained, drive it about 100K and trade it in. It didn't work out that way for several reasons: I found this community; got involved in the parts business; met a group of great experts; and, most important, because I enjoy the car. I've never owned any daily driver this old or with this many miles. And as others here have discovered, MKIV cars with ALH engines are about as good as VW's diesels get. They work for me.

If I set the clock back 20 years, or even 14 years when I bought IBW, this wouldn't be true. I would not have the time or flexibility to care for an older car. If I had continued consulting and traveling 200 days year IBW would be long gone.

Attending to an older car (or cars) isn't for everyone. But it works for me.

MichaelB, I am often confused as to the mild hostility some people have towards people such as IBW and myself who enjoy the car hobby and also use that as a segway to earn a living. Is it so awful to have an occupation that you truly enjoy? I always tell people I do not have a job, I have fun with a paycheck.

I am sorry if I read you the wrong way, but it sure sounds like there is too much negativity in your last few posts in this thread.

There are a few of us that really try and do our best to keep these cars on the road for others so that they needn't spend so much on their transportation in the long run. And there are quite a few people who do benefit from this. Making a $20k car last 20 years and cover 300k+ miles is always going to cost less money than simply buying a new car every five years.

Case-in-point: My sister has been able to turn her 30 year mortgage into a 15 year mortgage... she is turning 40 this year, and will have her house PAID FOR, largely because she has only had three cars her entire life, and has enjoyed not having any car payment for most of that time. Her current vehicle, a 2006 Sienna, is closing in on 250k miles, and I take very good care of it for her. Her friends cannot understand how or why she would drive something that old (LMAO, like 10 years is "that old" ) let alone something with a "2" in the first digit of the odometer. But you know what? All of her friends live eyeballs deep in dept. FWIW, her previous car was a '96 Jetta GLX. The only reason she moved on from that was that #3 child was on the way and she wanted a minivan. She wanted a Volkswagen, too (she loved her Jetta, and she loved her Rabbit before that). The Eurovan was NLA here in 2006, so she bought the Sienna, then sent a copy of the invoice to VoA to inform them they missed a sale... LOL... that's my sister.

Sorry, I'd rather drive my half million mile Volkswagen payment free that fork over 11ty dollars a month for a new one. And I would like to help others to be able to do the same. It is just a more responsible way of living. Living "below" your means. But yes, it does sometimes mean you have to expect the unexpected. Because no matter how well you care for a car, sometimes stuff just can break. One of the reasons I like the ALH/5sp cars so much is because there simply is not that much TOO break. But I still keep a close eye on everything, and I do have extra cars if need be.

Regarding the headliner: I've had our local interior guy do my Golf and more recently did my 2005 New Beetle. They were able to match the material pretty much spot on and it looks perfect. I took the headliner down myself in the Golf, cost me $170 for them to redo the material. Didn't have the time to mess with the NB so they did it all start to finish and it cost me $395. I was always afraid to even see how much a factory headliner cost.

Good post, oilhammer. I have to say that I drive my older cars first because I like them, but they also are economical. And the combination of no payments along with low insurance and taxes really helps. The family across the street from me have a Q7 and a Range Rover Sport, both less than two years old. I can't imagine what their monthly payments are for leases and insurance. But that's their preference. They probably look at my old Jetta and shake their heads in disbelief.

I don't do a lot of the work my cars require myself. Filters and fluids, brakes, sometimes suspension...that's about it. With 5 TDIs to care for (my three plus my two sons'), I basically have my local guru on retainer. Without him I'd be lost. If you have access to someone with skills and experience similar to oilhammers, an older TDI can perform as well and be every bit as reliable as a new one. And like oilhammer's sister, my son has had two cars in 12 years, a '98 Jetta which he replaced last year because it became too rusty to be safe, and now an '02 Jetta which I think he fully intends to drive for at least 10 years.

I've purchased four cars with specific intentions to replace my wagon. Low mileage A3 and B4V, a new '06 Jetta, and a new '12 Golf. They're all gone, but the wagon remains. That's just preference.

MichaelB said:

Another vendor hawking their goods and services via this website as opposed to just a guy trying to keep their TDI alive and wondering if it's worth it.. You profit from their problems. I know somebody has to do it. It might as well be you. http://kansascitytdi.com/

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This comment is wrong on a few levels, the least being what do you have against a business making a profit? Or any person making more than what they paid for said item? Would you criticize the local parts business for profiting from their customer's problems? Is that the perception you draw from that arrangement?

What you really miss out is that the consideration that a vendor like him has to the community via this forum. If you search on this site you will see IBW helping others without so much as promoting his business as the solution. He's here helping others with his knowledge like the rest of us. Case in point. Check out this post. He could have said I can help you by selling you the part, but not once does he. I couldn't help myself than point out on that post the irony of the OP not knowing that IBW could sell him the part and mentioning Amazon.

You should really retract your statements that are opinionated and don't further the truth.

One could argue most any job is able to profit from problems.

Tree trimmers (if trees didn't grow, they'd not be a problem).

Road crews (if roads didn't age, they'd not be a problem).

The whole maternity ward in any hospital (if people wouldn't... you know... make babies, there would be no problem of childbirth).

I think there are just folks that are just sour grapes over just about anything they choose to be sour over. Life is too short for that.