Does the 2.0l TDI Sportwagen make a good commuter?

I've been in Europe the past 4 years and have loved driving a plethora of diesels. I think of all the rental cars I borrowed, only one was petrol. But all good things must come to an end.

That being said, we're moving back stateside and only bringing back one car (my wife's X5 3.5d). So when we get back, I'll need to be looking for a car for myself and I have found a love for wagons, so this seems like a natural choice.

But with the VW lawsuit going on, am I asking for trouble if the car is even a good fit?

I am perfectly happy driving the 6spd manual, and it will most likely be my car, but if it were an Automatic and for some reason my wife ended up doing the longer commutes, then she'd have no excuse not to drive it!

This will be a commuter car for us, so budget is a concern as I am trying to save my pennies for a new superduty truck! But I would rather pay a little more for something well kept, than a fix'er upper!

Any insight would be much appreciated!

Yes, and I am assuming when you use the phrase "commuter car" you are driving more than 10 miles each way to work.

I commute 30 miles each way into Boston in very heavy traffic on a daily basis. I average about 36 mpg on my 2011. While I think that the TDI is a great commuter car, given some of the recent issues and the current pricing & MPG available on the new Jetta 1.4t and 1.8t I would probably go the gas route if I was trying to keep things cheap and simple.

Commute is unknown, but given our criteria for living space, we will likely be driving in excess of 20 miles each way. And I might be doing that twice a day.

I'll dig into emissions laws in our new location and see if they would impact my situation, but in reality a new car is out of the question.

Thanks for the help thus far!

It would be a great commuter car.........if you knew that you can keep it. I would look for a beater until everything blows over.

Donald

I second the commuter car.
i drive 25 miles each way at about 55 mph and get 45 MPG.
It starts lower, but the longer you drive the mpgs come up.

dmarsingill said:

It would be a great commuter car.........if you knew that you can keep it. I would look for a beater until everything blows over.

Donald

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I need to get up to speed on this lawsuit thing. But I don't care for the idea of losing money on a beater hoping that a resolution is made with VW. Whatever I get needs to be comfortable and reliable for my family of 4.

I have 160 round trip commute each day and LOVE my JSW TDI. My commute is exactly why I bought this car. Diesel will last forever, great MPG, excellent ride quality.

jesus_man said:

I need to get up to speed on this lawsuit thing. But I don't care for the idea of losing money on a beater hoping that a resolution is made with VW. Whatever I get needs to be comfortable and reliable for my family of 4.

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I thought you were bringing the BMW over?? That would be the reliable family car. My daily driver is 14 yrs old. My toy is 15 yrs old with 190,000 miles. We keep 3 cars at all times to avoid being without a car when one is down. I guess "beater" was being too harsh. I meant to say a boring, drive the wheels off, kind of car. (Honda, Toyota, ....)

Donald

jesus_man said:

I need to get up to speed on this lawsuit thing. But I don't care for the idea of losing money on a beater hoping that a resolution is made with VW. Whatever I get needs to be comfortable and reliable for my family of 4.

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The 2009-14 Jetta Golf and New Beetle are equipped with The EA 189 TDI engine and they do not have an SCR system......these are the Cars most likely to be bought back by VW because they would be most expensive and complex to repair and chance are if the are repaired the would be more expensive to operate......the cars with an SCR system already installed will be less of a problem to repair and the 2015 With the EA 288 engine and an SCR system install will be the easiest to repair personally I would not buy any TDI but a 2015 model if you want one at this time

dmarsingill said:

I thought you were bringing the BMW over?? That would be the reliable family car. My daily driver is 14 yrs old. My toy is 15 yrs old with 190,000 miles. We keep 3 cars at all times to avoid being without a car when one is down. I guess "beater" was being too harsh. I meant to say a boring, drive the wheels off, kind of car. (Honda, Toyota, ....)

Donald

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Yes, but my wife will also be commuting. So she'll use hers, I'll get something for myself that can be cheap, but sips fuel, is fairly comfortable, and reliable. The Superduty will be the backup to the commuter. Or my 43 yr old toy (bronco). It just makes a horrible commuter!

tomo366 said:

The 2009-14 Jetta Golf and New Beetle are equipped with The EA 189 TDI engine and they do not have an SCR system......these are the Cars most likely to be bought back by VW because they would be most expensive and complex to repair and chance are if the are repaired the would be more expensive to operate......the cars with an SCR system already installed will be less of a problem to repair and the 2015 With the EA 288 engine and an SCR system install will be the easiest to repair personally I would not buy any TDI but a 2015 model if you want one at this time

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So that's what appears to be the case - VW to buy back these EA 189 engines? I don't want to be shopping again for another car in 6 months. But I don't think a 2015 would meet my criteria for a secondary commuter due to price.

It is really not known at this point but those are the biggest offenders and it appears they will cost the most to fix.....it is a decision you would have to make.....I had a 2010 Jetta wagon it was a wonderful car and from what I have heard from the 2nd owner still is....

Calculated risk I suppose. We will see what transpires over the next couple months...

jesus_man said:

Calculated risk I suppose. We will see what transpires over the next couple months...

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I tend to buy a new TDI every couple years because I love to check out the new stuff ! I tend to miss the problems because of this and maintain + equity
I don't think this will happen with my 15 and my EX 13 Jetta Hybrid had a horrendous resale

jesus_man said:

So that's what appears to be the case - VW to buy back these EA 189 engines? I don't want to be shopping again for another car in 6 months. But I don't think a 2015 would meet my criteria for a secondary commuter due to price.

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I suppose you could go for a Passat TDI. They *should* be a easy fix since they employ SCR to reduce NOx emissions. Only bad thing with the passat is that they didn't have any wagons on the current generation.

My 2010 TDI JSW has been a great commuter vehicle. I drive around 40 miles per day and average 42 MPG. I just hit 100k on the odometer and the car runs/looks like it was new. I'm a little bit jaded by the diesel gate situation, but keeping an open mind as the car has been paid for years ago and has given me 6.5 years of trouble-free service. The biggest annoyance I've had is leaking due to clogs in the sunroof drains, but I've resolved most of that. My advice would be avoid one with a sunroof.

I am not sure if you can find better commuter car than TDI's in USA particularly if you're going put a lot of highway mileages. A single tank lasting 600 miles or more per fill up is a big convenience. Plus as other indicated, with proper simple maintenance they would last many years with no significant issues. I am at 153K and it still delivers 44-45 combined avg mileages on 10% city and 90% highway driving.

Argh internet issues caused me to lose my response... here I go again.

I'm about 6 weeks out on pulling the trigger on a commuter. I've been looking online and not finding much local to where we are moving, especially considering wagons. I like the idea of a wagon for the times we drive home the 14hrs to see grandparents. But I could settle for the right sedan.

Anyway my budget is about 10k and I'm looking in the st.Louis area. Any help appreciated!

More details about whatever resolution is being agreed upon in the courts should be coming out in two weeks. Hold tight if you can.

tomo366 said:

my EX 13 Jetta Hybrid had a horrendous resale

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Were you otherwise happy with the hybrid? VW claims they get comparable mileage to our wagen but I'm skeptical.

I've got a couple weeks. Thanks for the update!

I'm looking at this car quite seriously
http://www.bbcmotorsinc.com/mobile/mdetails.aspx?VID=259527905

My notes from tests drive are:
Slight vibration at 50 mph
Body good
Aftermarket pioneer radio ipod bluetooth
134k
Airbag light

Any input of air bag light? He's seems firm on price but I think I can do a little better with green paper.

I will be in the area again on Friday.

That vibration would concern me and you'll need a VCDS to diagnose that airbag light.

probably needs a timing belt???

Personally I would walk as far away from this car as possible.....

I'll call the guy with more questions. I meant to ask about timing belt but slipped my mind. Had a sleeping child in the car and my wife waiting with her. So was hurrying.

Bizzle - why concerned? Feels like a wheel to me but...

Tomo - why?

Basically because of Dieslegate.....chances are VW will not get a fix for this car and they want them off the road.....plus is has problems even before the buy back begins.....
Like I said before I loved my wagon but I got rid of before any of this stuff.....
I am Probably going to let VW but back my 2015 Jetta and move on from VW and I have own 13 VW Diesels since 1994.....

A timing belt was due at 120 ,000 way past if not done , the airbag would scare me as well , plus at that mileage a cracked DPF is not out of the question , mine just went at 127,000 dealer wants $2600 for this maintance item

Dieselgate isn't too much a concern for me. I don't want it "fixed". I dont have to test for emissions. I am concerned about the airbag light and the timing belt. I'll know more today.

jesus_man said:

Dieselgate isn't too much a concern for me. I don't want it "fixed". I dont have to test for emissions. I am concerned about the airbag light and the timing belt. I'll know more today.

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Understand that you don't want it fixed.....but the EPA does and as part of the settlement VW is required to have 85% of these cars fixed or off the street by a certain date.....and EA 189 Gen1 cars will be mostly the ones gone.....