Proud New Owner of a 2002 Jetta GLS TDI!

Hello!

I have been lurking these forums and looking for a TDI that I could call my own for a while now. After a couple of years looking for a nice TDI, I have finally made a purchase! I am a proud new owner of a 2002 Jetta GLS TDI with 54000 miles on the clock. Here it is:







It has taken me so long to buy one because of my picky-ness. I finally found one with low miles and a price that I thought was a good deal: $9150.

What do you guys think? What should my first mods be?

manual swap? I'm just saying...

how about some nice 17 '' longbeaches

chudzikb said:

manual swap? I'm just saying...

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thats what I was gonna say

Im doing mine right now, just need to get through this snow so I can bolt the 5-Speed up tomorrow.

Other than the auto, the car looks great! Congrats!

may karma rule

Congrats to riddleyo for for your purchase and many happy years to you.

Let karma deal with cheap shot takers trying to pop your bubble.

This forum should be about support? Taking negative directive toward a gentleman who obviously did his homework doesn`t fit.

Even if the automatics are that bad a decent forum shouldn`t be blasting a new owner. Let him enjoy.

You could go with PP520 nozzles and a stage 2 Rocketchip, for more grunt...

I would change the timing belt, water pump, and rollers, due to the age of the belt.

A Frostheater coolant heater will make the morning cold starts easier, though I see you have heated seats (I don't ).

A Dieselgeek Panzer Plate will protect the oil pan from stray woodchucks. Don't ask how I know...

Nice car. You did well. Good luck with it!!!

lowflyer said:

Congrats to riddleyo for for your purchase and many happy years to you.

Let karma deal with cheap shot takers trying to pop your bubble.

This forum should be about support? Taking negative directive toward a gentleman who obviously did his homework doesn`t fit.

Even if the automatics are that bad a decent forum shouldn`t be blasting a new owner. Let him enjoy.

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No disrespect intended. Not a cheap shot to suggest that the auto is a weak part of these cars, facts are facts. Car looks great buyer did his homework. I just wish the autos held up better.

chudzikb said:

manual swap? I'm just saying...

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You can expect the automatic transmission to fail at some point. Whether that will be at 70,000 miles or 170,000 miles is anybody's guess. I haven't studied this closely, since I have a manual transmission, but from what I've read on this board, it looks like getting one of these automatic transmissions rebuilt isn't a good option, as they don't tend to hold up after a rebuild.

If you're happy with the automatic transmission, I would recommend that you just drive it until it shows signs of impending failure and do a manual swap at that time. As the miles accumulate, you can make a project of accumulating the resources to do the swap yourself or get it done by a TDI guru.

Best wishes,
Jerry

lowflyer said:

Congrats to riddleyo for for your purchase and many happy years to you.

Let karma deal with cheap shot takers trying to pop your bubble.

This forum should be about support? Taking negative directive toward a gentleman who obviously did his homework doesn`t fit.

Even if the automatics are that bad a decent forum shouldn`t be blasting a new owner. Let him enjoy.

Click to expand...

sootwagen said:

A Dieselgeek Panzer Plate will protect the oil pan from stray woodchucks. Don't ask how I know...

Nice car. You did well. Good luck with it!!!

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Thanks for the kind words! I think I am going to get a Panzer Plate to start off with! Next I'm going to deoxidize the cloudy headlights and tail lights. Timing belt it probably next and maybe a chip. If anybody else has any ideas for must-have mods, let me know.

Jerry Freeman said:

If you're happy with the automatic transmission, I would recommend that you just drive it until it shows signs of impending failure and do a manual swap at that time. As the miles accumulate, you can make a project of accumulating the resources to do the swap yourself or get it done by a TDI guru.

Best wishes,
Jerry

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Thanks. As far as the automatic goes, I researched the O1M before buying the car and I accepted that risk. I don't plan on touching the transmission aside from the usual fluid and filter change whenever I buy a used car. When it starts to go, I will start thinking about a reman valve body, Sonnex mods, DIY Transmission Cooler, or maybe a manual swap. Until then, I'm gonna drive the hell out of the trans.

My other car is a MR2 Turbo with a 5 speed. So I get all of my shifting jollies on the weekends with that car. I can live with an automatic on the VW as my daily driver (for now!)

riddleyo said:

As far as the automatic goes, I researched the O1M before buying the car and I accepted that risk. I don't plan on touching the transmission aside from the usual fluid and filter change whenever I buy a used car. When it starts to go, I will start thinking about a reman valve body, Sonnex mods, DIY Transmission Cooler, or maybe a manual swap.

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You know ...

As time passes, more options develop for the various things we want to do with these cars. By the time you're ready to do something about that transmission, it may be that the various more sophisticated rebuild configurations people are doing will have been well proven, and rebuilding one of these will become routine and reliable. Time is on your side.

Best wishes,
Jerry

cfa5 said:

how about some nice 17 '' longbeaches

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Is that a joke?

Congratulations on your Jetta. I have a 2003 with 120,000 trouble free miles and mines an automatic also.

That looks like a very clean car! I just added a 02 Jetta to my stall w/ 134K Auto $6000 in only fair shape. I got a P0740 trany code shortly after I brought it home. Had my mechanic do 3 Amsoil changes and its working very nice right now. The VW bean oil in the slush box needs to go. I have a Golf auto for 8 years now and any Auto Trans that spends so much time out of TC lock up is going to wear out quicker with non synthetic. It was VW's plan to sell replacement tranies with this "Life time" trany service BS. Amsoil ATF completely fixed the famous jutter shutter Torque Converter problems in my 05 Honda Odyssey even tho I had a fresh Honda trany service done before hand (w/ Honda Z1 ATF bean crap). Bean oil cant take the TC heat = more friction= more maganet fileings pumped through the valve body, bearings ect. Im willing to bet if you do regular synthetic Trany services with your low milage Auto, you will be surprised how long that auto will last.

Congrats and welcome! All seriousness you might want to start saving for a manual swap if you plan on keeping it past 120K.

A Dieselgeek Panzer Plate will protect the oil pan from stray woodchucks.

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I chuckled at that. Yes I also know what happens to a small animal when you hit it at 55mph. A poor badger met it's fate on US34 last summer in Iowa thanks to my Taurus X. Going back that route tomorrow so I'll be sure to watch for stray animals while we wait for our pans to come in on both Jettas

Congrats!
Panzer Plate will be at top of my list when I add another one to the garage.
PP357s were great bang for buck (even without a tune!), but that was before I realized I'd be swapping out the trans (which I did at about 80K).
You might consider doing Kerma's line pressure mod if you're hoping to keep it auto, - I can't say how it affects longevity, but I have heard it improves shifting.

Panzer Plate will be at top of my list when I add another one to the garage.

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Sure wasn't on mine and still is not.

cfa5 said:

how about some nice 17 '' longbeaches

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Might be?

Nice ride, with frequent oil changes the automatic gearbox is not that bad.
The guy who was taking en bringing work for my lab, had a passat with 680.000km on the clock, with the auto gearbox repaired at 300k km.
He never changed the oil/filter and the traffic here in the Netherlands is not like the american highways.

The car has probably started a second life in Poland.

yal

sootwagen said:

You could go with PP520 nozzles and a stage 2 Rocketchip, for more grunt...

I would change the timing belt, water pump, and rollers, due to the age of the belt.

A Frostheater coolant heater will make the morning cold starts easier, though I see you have heated seats (I don't ).

A Dieselgeek Panzer Plate will protect the oil pan from stray woodchucks. Don't ask how I know...

Nice car. You did well. Good luck with it!!!

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I would not reccomend any performance mods that are going to increase torque with an Automatic Transmission. Other than the engine I would concentrate on creature comforts an indash Sat Nav, upgraded stereo, etc..

Great looking car!
It looks identical to the one I just bought last month, except mine is the all black interior.

Your probably going to make another thread in the next two weeks asking why your mileage is so crappy....

do a manual swap.

85_305 said:

Your probably going to make another thread in the next two weeks asking why your mileage is so crappy....

do a manual swap.

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Hahaha. Nice prediction. I just created a fuelly account which is in my signature. My first fill up: 41mpg. Even though it was a short fill up, I don't think that is too shabby. I think I will stay with my O1M and see how long I can make it last. Yesterday I changed the oil filter, oil (to Mobil 1 Turbo Diesel Truck 5w40), cabin air filter, air filter, installed new headlights, and cleaned the snow screen from all the bugs and leaves. So hopefully with this small tune up, I will see better numbers next time. Next up is transmission flush and a skid plate! Oh and I'm going to de-oxidize my headlights - I have duplicolor clear coat to prevent future yellowing.

Things are going good so far and I love the Jetta!!! Working on this thing is so simple - my first oil change was so easy. Thank you VW engineers! I was really loving how there is a trap door behind the snow screen that allows a bypass if the screen is clogged. And how I don't have to make a mess changing the oil filter because it is right there at the top of the engine bay.

No power mods to begin with. I am happy putt putting around so far.

stroken04 said:

Great looking car!
It looks identical to the one I just bought last month, except mine is the all black interior.

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Thanks! Congrats on your purchase!

I would change out the fuel filter also, it's quite easy and might restore some power. My Passat feels much happier now after a filter change, but it does have 400k miles on it.

I would buy some Bosio PowerPlus 520 nozzles as your first mod. Have someone VAG COM your IQ as they like to be out from the factory. Clean up the intake/check it for snot.

Euro headlight switch:thumbup: disable the day time running lights to extend the life of your bulbs, oh and a 3 spoke steering wheel swap from a GTi !

Your 2002 TDI looks great. I suggest you should not undertake any modifications because doing so will not make much performance improvements other than throw money in the pit. The performance as it exists, based on my experience since I have one, is more than adequate if you were to compare with the older 1.6 powerplant and the Corollas of today. Your car has 54k miles that would meant any problems that were supposed to have occured, have occured and taken care by the previous owner (seller). So hopefully, there should be no issue coming immediately. To prolong the life of your car, do oil changes between 9,999 to 10,001 miles interval by using the recommended synthetic oil that you can now buy from Walmart, PepBoys, Autozone, and Kragen. You can get filters from these places or directly for Bleached Bora and other reputed vendors on this site. Do oil extraction thru dip stick method to remove oil so that you do not cross the oil drain plug threads. Regarding transmission, I believe if you drive gently when pulling from dead stop, it should last long. In addition, after starting the car, let it warm up a minute or two. This should help warm the transmission and make components movements within transmission smooth. Mine now has 105k miles without any transmission issues. The timing belt is recommended at 80k. I recommend Harveaux (Wild Rose Motors) even if you have to travel to see him to do this (replacing timing belt and related components) job. To ensure that there is no exhaust clogging, occassionaly undertake long drives at the speed of 70-75mph. This will burn and the unburnt carbon sticking in the plumbing. A cardinal rule to keep this car and others in good shape is not to tinker something that is working. Tinker only when there is an issue. Tinkering something when there is no issue is to create one that did not exist before. Always keep this in mind.

41mpg in this Northern cold, with an auto, is pretty damn good.

I was quite happy with my '00 auto and put 155k miles on it with a tuning box. I also would have preferred the manual but it was the deal that came along. I've shopped new TDI's twice in the last five years....and every time I'm disappointed in the complexity and reliability issues. The '99.5-'04 just seems like a proven design.

I'm looking at a near mint 2002 with 80k miles. It's a friend that keeps it in climate controlled garage and only uses it for long trips. It's also an auto but given the circumstances I'm not going to let that hold me back. I always averaged 40+ with mine in routine driving and that's pretty darned good in my book.

I would check the maintenance history for timing belt change as the 2002 is an 80,000 mile or 5 year belt. You know the risk of the transmission, and this risk is even higher.

It is very low miles as I have a 2002 with 198,000 miles on it.