500,000 miles on a 1.8T Jetta!

K5ING · Apr 30, 2012

While a half-million miles on a TDI is nice, this guy did it with a 2001 Jetta with a 1.8T engine. VW did an autopsy on it (after which the car was parted out

) and the results surprised even VW.

Car Scoop's article.

Owner's autopsy report.

Abacus · Apr 30, 2012

Why would you junk it just becasue it reached 500k?

VeeDubTDI · Apr 30, 2012

Because they had removed and disassembled the engine and the owner was probably ready for a new car at that point?

I suppose they could have put it all back together and sold it for practically nothing, but at that point it's probably worth more in parts/scrap.

Pretty impressive for a 1.8T with an automatic transmission. I wonder if it was the original trans or if it has been replaced along the way.

JFettig · Apr 30, 2012

How many transmissions?

oilhammer · Apr 30, 2012

I wonder how long the MIL was on?

That is pretty good for that engine. What I would be wondering is if the timing chain and phaser were original. That seems to be the weakest link on that engine, but can be replaced without too much drama. Even cars that get perfect service still seem to have that need attention eventually.

Used Castrol Syntec, too. Same stuff I have used on my cars for years.

TomJD · Apr 30, 2012

not enough wear on the armrest...

compu_85 · Apr 30, 2012

oilhammer said:
What I would be wondering is if the timing chain and phaser were original.

Post the question on his blog

-J

RabbitGTI · Apr 30, 2012

THose *******s Kevorkianed the car, that pisses me off.

Why not drive it until it pukes?

PDJetta · May 1, 2012

If that was mostly highway miles, I can see how it made it to half a million miles.

This is probably why the car was retired: VW probably paid him enough to get a new car and VW gets to use his car for promotinal testament to longevity, so both win.

--Nate

oilhammer · May 1, 2012

Meh, Volkswagen usually seems to have no interest in this sort of thing. I am somewhat surprised they were involved at all, to be honest.

My buddy had a 569,xxx mile 1987 Jetta (1.8L GX gasser). We were at their HQ in Auburn Hills one year for a big car show, and the VOA folks there seemed totally uninterested, unimpressed, when we talked about it. His car was not present at the time, however I had my 1991 Jetta there... and they seemed ashamed it was a diesel. This was around 1994, when we had nothing but gassers, and most of those were crap. B3 Passat, Corrado, early Eurovans... junk, junk, junk.

pleopard · May 1, 2012

What was the specified OCI for the 2001 1.8T? He says he changed the oil every 5000-7000 miles. Was this more often than recommended by VW?

compu_85 · May 1, 2012

IIRC the oil change was 7500 miles.

-J

pleopard · May 1, 2012

Found a Bentley Publisher link. Apparently it's 5000 miles, so it sounds like the guy just stuck more or less with the recommended factory intervals with the standard dealer-supplied oil. At 45,000 miles per year, most of his miles were likely highway, which surely helped.

oilhammer · May 3, 2012

Most VW-branded cars with 1.8t engines sold in the USA have an interval of 5000 miles, with an oil spec of 502.00 5w40 (which the Castrol Syntec products meets).

Audi-branded cars, even with the same engine, are often 10k miles but will have an oil level sensor and SRI in the Instruments.

Keeping the oil topped up, and using a good filter along with the proper oil, is key for these engines. They have very little tolerance for neglect, especially in B segment cars where the longitudinal mounting of the engine truncated the oil sump capacity due to the shape of the oil pan (which is why those applications now call for the larger oil filter, to help add some oil capacity, as per a TSB from some years back).

compu_85 · May 3, 2012

I'd be interested to see what's going on under the valve cover of my father's 1.8t... he changes the oil with 5w40 every 5,000 miles (I turned on the fixed OCI reminder when he brought it home so it gongs and dings at him to remind him). Really the only problems he's had with the car are over-tightened spark plugs (the timesert kit works great

), a bad fuel pump, and a bad SAI pump.

I believe he has almost 270,000 miles on it now.

-J

oilhammer · May 3, 2012

Good engines if properly cared for. I've got several 1/4 million mile + customer cars with them. One car I actually desludged at 65k, and it is now approaching 200k after I showed them the contents of their owner's manual.

FloridaJohn · May 7, 2012

VeeDubTDI said:
Pretty impressive for a 1.8T with an automatic transmission. I wonder if it was the original trans or if it has been replaced along the way.

JFettig said:
How many transmissions?

According to this post on his blog, it is the original transmission, too.

"... the Jetta still has its original 1.8 turbo engine and automatic transmission. Neither one has ever been worked on by a mechanic, and I’ve never changed the transmission fluid."

Ski in NC · May 7, 2012

Part of the demise of a car is miles accumulated, part is due to calendar age. Cars that log lots of miles per year can rack up amazing numbers, but that is only half of the equation.

I bet pretty much any car can rack up a zillion miles if it is put into a near constant running condition.

pleopard · May 7, 2012

This is why I never shut my car off. When I go to work or to bed, I give it to a guy I've hired to drive it in circles around town. I insist that the oil never stops flowing and heat cycling (from cool down and warm up) never occurs!

TriviaSteve · Jun 18, 2017

i'm getting closer!!! https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?...213257.-2207520000.1497830561.&type=3&theater

TriviaSteve · Jun 18, 2017

in case you can't see that picture, it's 488,888 miles! I expect to hit 500K within the next 5-8 weeks.

Oberkanone · Jun 20, 2017

pleopard said:
This is why I never shut my car off. When I go to work or to bed, I give it to a guy I've hired to drive it in circles around town. I insist that the oil never stops flowing and heat cycling (from cool down and warm up) never occurs!

How much is the cost for the employee and the fuel?

whitedog · Jun 20, 2017

Oberkanone said:
How much is the cost for the employee and the fuel?

That doesn't matter. The only thing that matters is that the engine lives to a million miles.

RabbitGTI · Jun 20, 2017

Regarding labor cost. Find a group of teenage boys to drive your car around all night, they will do it free of charge.

El Dobro · Jun 21, 2017

RabbitGTI said:
Regarding labor cost. Find a group of teenage boys to drive your car around all night, they will do it free of charge.

And some will do it without even being asked.

New Mickey · Jun 22, 2017

Properly cared-for I think most cars and trucks will do that these days. My daughter is still driving my 2007 Honda Accord with 250K on the clock and it doesn't burn a drop of oil. The sum total of unscheduled repairs to date: The cruise control switch had to be replaced ($20) and the factory radio died so I put in an Alpine.

That's it.

I expect that from ANY car, and won't tolerate any more shenanigans than that. Hondas may be boring, but the reliability spoils you.

-mickey

oilhammer · Jun 22, 2017

New Mickey said:
Properly cared-for I think most cars and trucks will do that these days. My daughter is still driving my 2007 Honda Accord with 250K on the clock and it doesn't burn a drop of oil. The sum total of unscheduled repairs to date: The cruise control switch had to be replaced ($20) and the factory radio died so I put in an Alpine.
That's it.
I expect that from ANY car, and won't tolerate any more shenanigans than that. Hondas may be boring, but the reliability spoils you.
-mickey

Calling BS on the oil burning. No way ANY car, even (or especially) a Honda, can go its full 10k mile service interval with 5w20 oil and not need it topped up at least a little.

PlaneCrazy · Jun 27, 2017

oilhammer said:
Calling BS on the oil burning. No way ANY car, even (or especially) a Honda, can go its full 10k mile service interval with 5w20 oil and not need it topped up at least a little.

We had a '98 Odyssey van, the original 4-cyl one (well not quite, that year it went to a VTEC engine). We put 300k km on it. I NEVER had to top up the oil on it. However the recommended change interval was 6k km for "severe" service (for which our winters qualified), and 12k km for regular service.

500,000 miles on a 1.8T Jetta!

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