TDI model comparison (mpg based)

So I was looking into a TDI when I joined a year ago. I still haven't bought one but the opportunity may be coming back around soon. I'm wondering what the mpg and reliability differences are for jetta MK4 vs MK5 and passat. I like the styling of the interior on the 5 but I want a wagon and the sportwagen is out of what I'm looking to spend. I read the 4 gets better mpg. I'm planning to buy something cheap and get good mpg out of it is my main focus. Not going to mod much beyond a tune. I drive about 40 miles a day mixed city and hwy. Also I'm going to try for a manual but the wife wants me to get an auto since I've been having issues with my left knee lately. What mpg difference is there on average between the auto and manual?

Opinions will vary but the auto will cost about 10 mpg or more.
Our '02 auto has never gotten better than 38 mpg in 200k miles driven.
If you are looking for an automatic, start with the 2004 MKIV.
Our other MKIV is a manual and the clutch pressure is very light.

if your willing to do some work yourself, you can buy a old mk4 and do a few mods and maintenance, can easily get into 55+
my ahu (mk3 jetta) can get up into the 62 to 63 pen and paper MPG but if i drive it at a track i can get as little as 8 lol

basically some good nozzles, nice efficient turbo with lots of boost, and some other supporting things with a tune, lots of maintenance and your on the road to 700miles per tank easily

the catch here is your buying a nearly 20 year old car.

FWIW, i would just go buy a hybrid for $4k and neglect it, you will spend about than doing the mods to a early TDI and maintenance with the cost of the car but your time might be worth more to you. these old cars (unless you gt a gem) require a good amount of maintenance (compared to a newer car or more reliable honda. not to say its a lot, but by comparison, yea

if you can, ride a 250cc motorcycle, my old gn250 would get 65mpg if i rode it like a lune, but strait commuting i would get about 70.

That's what I was afraid of that it really cuts the mpg having an auto. To keep the high mpg I'm afraid if I was forced to go auto I'd have to lean more toward hybrid than tdi. I'm not sure I'm ready to possibly Invest $2000 into a hybrid battery since most cheap ones are 200k mile range in my area. It's not entirely out of the question. Despite liking the Honda more the prius has alot of room beinf a hatch with a fold down seat. I really like my diesels tho. My primary vehicle is a 99 ram cummins so this would be my fuel sipper. My aim is upper 30s, 40 plus. If the clutch is soft it wouldn't be so bad tho

Doing the cost per mile at 40mpg on the tdi in my area is equivalent to 32mpg running regular so anything better than 40 would be great

If cost per mile is the biggest concern then a TDI probably isn't the best choice.

Doing the cost per mile at 40mpg on the tdi in my area is equivalent to 32mpg running regular so anything better than 40 would be great

flee said:

Opinions will vary but the auto will cost about 10 mpg or more.

Click to expand...

NOT necessarily true! A DSG transmission is a MANUAL transmission that is auto shifted. NO drop in MPG, especially if you manually shift at lower RPMs than the auto shift would do.

Hybrids do not need a battery upgrade, your talking about all electrical. Hybrids can get 60mpg

It's pretty apparent that you are looking at old cars. The Mk4s are older. Let's assume for the moment that manual transmission is out of the question.

A Golf/Jetta Mk4 used the hoary old failure-prone 01M 4 speed automatic through 2003. Those were the old rotary-pump TDI engines. If I remember right, the wagon body style only showed up at the very end of that run. Still, those 4 speed automatics were ticking time bombs - and they killed fuel consumption. IMO now, with those being 16 year old cars, if you happen find one cheap enough that seems to have been taken care of, "it's a cheap car that runs". Fuel consumption is the least of your worries. How the car has been taken care of, is the biggest one. How many more ticks does that ticking time bomb have left before it goes boom? The timing belt (and the tensioner and the water pump) is the other big question mark. If you can find one cheap enough and in decent enough running order, that if you get a couple months out of the car you are ahead of the game, why not.

Once in a while, as with any such older car, you might find that rare gem that has been kept in good nick and with service records and with a knowledgeable owner ... and then it won't be cheap.

The Mk4 switched to the "pumpe-duse" engine for 2004 and 2005 (and 2006 in Canada for wagons only). With that, came a switch to a quite different 5 speed automatic transmission, which I have heard very little about.

All Mk5 TDI automatics use the "DSG" dual-clutch transmission (no torque converter). From the end user perspective "it's automatic". Internally it is quite different. They've had their share of DMF and clutch issues (the clutch is automatically operated, but it's still there). For 2005.5 and 2006 it still uses the P-D engine but this one is vulnerable to camshaft and lifter issues. I never had any trouble with mine (and I put 430,000 km on it, and to my knowledge the car is still on the road) but plenty of people did have trouble; it seemed more prevalent in warmer climates (i.e. thinner oil). These are still 13 - 14 year old cars, and condition will be all over the map, everywhere from beaters to cream puffs. Pricing will reflect condition ...

These are not the best old cars for non-knowledgeable people to drive and own. The problem with a 15 year old car is that even if YOU consider yourself to be knowledgeable, it may have passed through two or three owners before you who weren't, and who knows what has happened in the meantime.

So in reality a 5 speed mk4 would be the easiest car to deal with when problems arise not "if" more so less problem prone if maintained decently. I've heard each engine that generation ALH and BEW both have different issues. I've seen quite a few on the market with new timing belts and a few other issues dealt with recently. I'm going to fight getting an auto car as much as I can at least if I do tdi lol Seems too problematic. I thought nissan CVTs were bad. Even tho I can rebuild them in my sleep by this point

IMO ALH and AHU are both about the best TDI to work on, ALH is better for a few reasons (mainly parts availability now and a few other things but i prefer the AHU because the timing belt and the water pump are not related to each other and this is by far the biggest reason i keep to the AHU. BEW has head issues over its age but its not a deal breaker like the rest of them.

there are many pro's and con's for each but the reality is that if you keep up on them with quality parts, dont go nuts on mods, and plenty of clean fluids and proper service intervals, they all will run for a very LONG time, 500K is a easy mark to get to with care.
its worth it to do a few power mods as you will increase fuel econ as a direct result, but you have to saw off your lead foot!

So really it doesn't matter which tdi mk4 I get? They'll all give me the same runaround. Mpg included? And yea I'm not planning to mod much. Just a tune and fix what breaks upgrading with focus of more mpg. I drive a tuned SRT4 caliber. 330hp at 22psi fwd you develop a feather foot. Even feathered highway driving I get 25-26. City 24. Premium non ethanol fuel only so another reason to consider a tdi lol

Sounds as if it basically comes down to budget.. A 2000- 2006 tdi might run you $3000-5000, and yeah you might get lucky, but this will have 250 ,000 miles on it , with corresponding maintenance / repair costs. A 2010- 2015 tdi will set you back $10 -12000 and with a bit of looking should be able to find a low mileage unit.

And if you've really got an open mind. A hybrid Hyundai Sonata. 2012 - 16 is a really nice car, WITH A 10 year warranty. Avoid the 2009 -2011 models, Budget price $10,000 depending on mileage and location.

2012 2dr golf tdi 6 speed 88k

What's your budget? I have a 2003 wagon that I might be talked into selling for a decent price.

I'm the traveling CRD tech, this was my highway cruiser to go see Jeep Liberty owners for a number of years. I'll try to remember everything this has:
PP520 Kerma DLC nozzles
Malone tune stage 1.5
Dieselgeek racepipe
Bypass oil filter (Dieselgeek setup)
All-aluminum side mount intercooler
Panzer Plate skid plate
External transmission cooler
NEW performance auto transmission from Import Performance Transmissions in NJ - John does amazing work, it only has about 30k miles on it.
Current on timing belt and water pump, replaced as part of upgrading cylinder head
Cylinder head from Frank06 - upgraded with larger ports, new high MPG camshaft, decked, the works.
About 2500 miles or so on the timing components since the head upgrade.
All synthetic fluids, oil changed every 5k miles, transmission every 40k.
Coolant lines upgraded with manual-transmission outlet pipe (metal not plastic) and 200k mile ELC coolant
Upgraded (AHU) oil pump for more flow.
Upgraded turbo oil supply line
ALH injection pump rebuilt and blueprinted to Bosch specs by Everglades Diesel
ARP studs on the head
NEW tires from Costco - around 1000 miles on them.
Upgraded springs and shocks all around from IDparts
Air lift bags in the rear springs to help with towing.
Class 3 (2") receiver hitch.
HID headlamps in new projector housings, crystal clear lenses with fog lights
Euroswitch with actual parking light controls, no DRL.
Full interior LED lamp conversion
Light grey cloth velour interior, NO RIPS OR EXCESS WEAR inside.
All that rubber crap that gets sticky removed from the interior parts, all nice and clean now.
Functional and not-broken armrest (you know how rare that can be) AND a non-broken glove box too.
Radio upgraded to Pioneer double-din head unit, although you likely will want to upgrade that again to something with Carplay.
NOT ONE SPEC OF RUST on the car. No dents.
Reflex Silver color
Tinted windows, although the Florida heat has blistered some of that a bit and the back hatch tint was removed b/c of that.

Now the extras....
I don't have an itemized list at the moment but suffice to say: You will get EVERY bit of ALH parts that I have collected (and that's a lot) along with the car. A nearly-complete spare engine. Those big 18-gallon storage tubs with the yellow tops that they sell in Costco or Home Depot? Yeah... I've got like 4 of them filled with spares. Lots of engine mounts, at least one AC compressor, I think there's an alternator in there, a spare turbo...

I want this car to go to a good home, someone who will appreciate it. I drive a LOT and just about all of it is highway, this car was delivering a steady 35mpg to me at 85mph. So yeah it doesn't SOUND spectacular, but that's at high speed! I die of boredom at slower speeds, even with the increase in mileage. I had it down in the Florida Keys to Key West... And that is 150 miles at no more than 50mph.... I did a mileage check just because, and IIRC it was like 48mpg.

I parked it a few months ago after using it to move a trailer around and it started up instantly when I asked it to. I'd jump in it and drive it anywhere tomorrow if I needed a ride. Email or PM me an address and I can send you pics. I'm not unreasonable about the price, but as you might expect I'm not giving it away... But I also recognize that it is a 16 year old car... But nobody would expect it to blow their doors off on the highway. This sucker is FAST.