Would you buy a mk7 TDI?

Hey guys,

Long time mk4 owner, but looking to upgrade the old whip. I see a lot of discussions about emissions related things on the new TDI's.
But not much discussion about reliability comfort oververall MPG's.

Or if anyone would still buy one!?

Looking for advice from mk7 owners and anyone else that is thinking about getting one.

You can find some decent prices on lease return 2015 SEL golf sport wagons for under $20k with less then 30k miles.

Thanks Nick!

If I could afford another one - YES !!

prepare for advances since your A4 <G>

No. not with the diesel emissions scandel. Porsche anounced they are stopping the TDI lines and Audi is following suit. Mercadies has been rommored to drop from the usa market on all diesels and its a matter of time before VW does as well with all the hightened regulations and mandated updates. you have no idea the hell that this has caused and its taking value away from our older diesels. in my mind VW messed up big and has still not paid for it in the consumers pockets and hearts.

Point im trying to make is that TDI's had a high life hey day and thats over now. Even if you did an engine swap the car would still have to be updated with the same emissions standards.

VW is not a very good car when it comes to "quality" i mean the feel of the car, ever step into a car not made of cheep painted plastic? older cars just tend to last longer as the parts were for the most part beefier.

Sad to say, no i would not recommend, not from a financial outlook or even a TDI outlook.

and dont think that older cars are immune to this VW TDI emissions, its just now that they got caught.

Mongler98 said:

VW is not a very good car when it comes to "quality" i mean the feel of the car, ever step into a car not made of cheep painted plastic? older cars just tend to last longer as the parts were for the most part beefier.

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What kind of cars are you describing? My 2002 still looks really great for being almost 17 years old this year. A new Ford Taurus was hit in the parking lot and the rear bumper cover came off. This cars are meant to never be taken apart for one. I'm curious what high quality cars you're talking about? A Benz? Yeah, I agree with that. American cars are pretty junkily put together and have a 80s-90s feel to them inside. My father in law has a 2017 Corvette and I think the interior sucks for a 60k+ car.

I've had less issues with my 10 JSW than my 2000 Beetle at about the same mileage point. I'm just over 120k on the JSW and looking towards keeping it at least through the end of the dieselgate warranty, about another 50k miles. At that same point, I was pretty much done with owning the Beetle. The single biggest thing was the alarm system that would decide to go off while driving down the road off without any reason. The car just decided that I needed more attention.

Back to the OP. Yes, I would buy a MKVII but VW isn't putting diesels into the ones I would consider. I'd jump at the Alltrack with a diesel or even consider the Atlas. If I have to buy a gasser, there are other choices than VW. I looked at swapping out the JSW for a GSW but thought the prices on a two year old new car were out of line.

Rrusse11 said:

No.
I'll keep my MkIV going till it, or I, drop.

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lol I'm in this boat , currently at 392,xxx miles.... my original alt just went.

kjclow said:

At that same point, I was pretty much done with owning the Beetle. The single biggest thing was the alarm system that would decide to go off while driving down the road off without any reason. The car just decided that I needed more attention.

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Just a door latch or hood latch.

I think it more related frayed wires. In addition to the alarm going off from time to time, the glow plug harness had a bad ground. Not really an issue in NC, especially since she sat in the garage most nights.

POWERSTROKE said:

What kind of cars are you describing? My 2002 still looks really great for being almost 17 years old this year. A new Ford Taurus was hit in the parking lot and the rear bumper cover came off. This cars are meant to never be taken apart for one. I'm curious what high quality cars you're talking about? A Benz? Yeah, I agree with that. American cars are pretty junkily put together and have a 80s-90s feel to them inside. My father in law has a 2017 Corvette and I think the interior sucks for a 60k+ car.

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Best quality car i have been in to date was a 2017 Porsche cayenne, all the Tesla, Benz, and a few of the other Porsche's all felt cheep and low quality. worst one i was in was a 2007 ford focus, within 3 months of use and only 5K miles the plastic was flaking off and parts were breaking.

VW is really low on the list when it comes to well built cars.



they have always been lower than standard acceptable limits. i will drive my tdi into the ground, then buy a shovel, dig it up and keep driving it until diesel fuel is banned world wide and then ill still drive it and take the fines and run off veg oil or some boot leg fuel. the only reason im into VW is the TDI.

My 2010 now at 200,000 miles, still pulls hard and in excellent condition while delivering fuel economy rivaling all of ICE cars. It still is on its original brake pads front, rear. In contrast, my 2003 Camry [sold it] needed brake pads at 90K while my wife's 2015 Rav4 at only 40K now requires new front pads!!
VW vehicles may have an unappreciated value in US market, however in my opinion with little maintenance they can last forever and fun to drive vehicles.

I'm going gas once my 06 dies. It will not be revived.

nick-w said:

..................................
Or if anyone would still buy one!?......................

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Yes, then in a year or 2, chip tune maybe.

Mongler98 said:

No. not with the diesel emissions scandel. Porsche anounced they are stopping the TDI lines and Audi is following suit. Mercadies has been rommored to drop from the usa market on all diesels and its a matter of time before VW does as well with all the hightened regulations and mandated updates. you have no idea the hell that this has caused and its taking value away from our older diesels. in my mind VW messed up big and has still not paid for it in the consumers pockets and hearts.

Point im trying to make is that TDI's had a high life hey day and thats over now. Even if you did an engine swap the car would still have to be updated with the same emissions standards.

VW is not a very good car when it comes to "quality" i mean the feel of the car, ever step into a car not made of cheep painted plastic? older cars just tend to last longer as the parts were for the most part beefier.

Sad to say, no i would not recommend, not from a financial outlook or even a TDI outlook.

and dont think that older cars are immune to this VW TDI emissions, its just now that they got caught.

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I'm going to have to disagree with the Mangler on VW quality. Perhaps his car is at the end of its life cycle and feeling abused- but the build quality of my mk6 is quite good. The solid build quality and upscale interior(for it's price bracket) in addition to the tdi powertrain are what attracted me to the golf. I drove Volvos for years and really appreciate cars with a solid, substantial feel to them. I would buy a mk7 tdi if the price was good.

turbobrick240 said:

I'm going to have to disagree with the Mangler on VW quality. Perhaps his car is at the end of its life cycle and feeling abused- but the build quality of my mk6 is quite good. The solid build quality and upscale interior(for it's price bracket) in addition to the tdi powertrain are what attracted me to the golf. I drove Volvos for years and really appreciate cars with a solid, substantial feel to them. I would buy a mk7 tdi if the price was good.

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JD Power rating, lower than Subaru.
still a good car, dont get me wrong but VW are substandard cars. if you ever drove a Lexus or Porsche, or even a Toyota, you would not be saying that. My car, yes, its been driven into the ground and i like it that way. but as for quality? no i dont think VW has a good reputation. vr6 engines were supposed to be life time timing chain, NOT, TDI's failed and were being falsely reported by the makers, cheep plastic parts, electrical issues out the wazoo, lots of lying on VW's part to make the cars seem worth buying but when you get the miles on them, they brake down and have big repairs that were supposed to not happen.
Older TDI engines are the saving grace for VW and what put them in the radar for fan clubs, also the look of most VW are very attractive, the bug, mk3 and most mk4 and beyond all have a very fun look to them that makes you feel like race car or fun car.
You can dump money into a VW and make them great but at that point just buy a Porsche and be done with it. The money i have put into my MK3, i would have gotten a used 911 and had WAY more going for it from the get go.
Like most car brands, the sports versions are fun, fast, attractive, and are a great overall purchase for the intended use. However, for a daily driver, my family has put more miles on Subarus with less failures than VW.

I've driven plenty of Porsches and owned several 'yota's- not many folks are cross shopping a $20k tdi with a $60k Porsche. I loved my Toyota pickups, but their economy cars definitely have a feeling of cheapness to them. Subarus are great for their all wheel drive, and I like the BRZ, but they also have a cheap feel to them, imo. My high school buddies with Subies were constantly swapping motors and replacing head gaskets. And they always sounded like the valves were rattling around and about to crap out.

I have an 05 Corolla. I'd still rather drive my 2000 Beetle (if I still had it) than the Corolla. Under powered, cheap fabric, steering wheel has been crumbling apart since just out of warranty, most uncomfortable seats of anything I've owned. The only positive thing about the Corolla is that it can't be killed. My daughter's goal is to make 200,000 miles.

If you think a Porsche is cheaper to keep on the road than a VW, you must have bought the ripest lemon out there. My friend won't drive his Boxster because of the maintenance costs. He says he doesn't drive it so that it appreciates but I know better.

I picked up a "new" not titled GSW in April last year. But I kept my '02 Jetta Wagon, because I still love it.


The GSW is a great car, quite different from the ALH. And with a tune it drives really well. I'd get one, if only because odds are you won't find another small diesel wagon in North America anytime soon.

not saying that the maintenance is less on them, they are crazy when it comes to maintenance, just using it as a compare on quality vs cheep.

I think a lot depends on your tolerance for high repair costs once it's out of warranty.

On my MkIV I can repair anything myself.

On the MkVII there are problems that might be challenging, particularly relating to the wonky electronics.

I say wonky because of a recent incident in which the ignition switch apparently went bad, but instead of anything obvious happening the car just went crazy instead.

For example, the fog lights wouldn't work when turned on from the switch, but they work when the car was put into reverse. The headlights would turn on, but none of the advanced features would work, like auto headlights.

The information display would show messages like "Starter system fault" and "Lighting fault" but meanwhile the engine would start just fine.

It was a confusing array of symptoms. Fortunately it was fixed under warranty by VW after days of diagnostics. Their conclusion was the ignition switch was faulty and replacing it did fix all the problems. They put hours into this repair and it would have been very expensive.

Had I done it myself I would have started with trying to replace the convenience control module that controls the lights, because this seemed like a light control issue. That would have been a waste of time and money. I'm not sure how or when I might have concluded it was just the ignition switch itself, since that actually seemed to work normally and none of the codes I pulled with VCDS related to that switch.

When things like that happen out of warranty it's going to be a fun time for sure. I guess similar things could happen to any newer car when a part goes haywire, but it seems like the VW electrical system is rather special to have a faulty ignition switch cause seemingly unrelated systems to go haywire.

Mk vi & Mk VII build feel is better quality in regards to interior, road noise and power, but Mk IV is better in reliability, affordable fixability, and imo road feel in regards to transmission and suspension. Not to say mkiv is cheap, but the interior is cheaply made in comparison. Subaru is good, h6 for example, has a high end feel and good reliability but road feel is not great unless the road is straight and flat. All Subarus have reoccurring issues such as pulleys wheels, frequent brakes, or head gaskets. Toyotas run, but drive terribly and have cheap interior. Porsche? Wouldn’t know. A couple stopped in a Cayenne to save my broken down mess in the middle of the road recently, a very rare sight for me. I Wouldn’t even know what the interior of one smells like. I’d say mk iv is the best vw will ever do, but comparing new cars, I’d still get a vw. Volvo would be good, I just prefer the torque and maneuverability of vw. Just pretend the new vw is a good deal on an Audi, so you feel good when the new one needs a very expensive repair.

Rusty and burn oil pretty much describes most subarus in NY.