I’ve came across “ the beast” in the summer of 02 at a Toyota dealer ship where my wife’s van was being worked on.
The next day I walked out with a used 01 auto 4 doorTDI golf with a moon roof with 31,000 miles on it.
I put 110 miles a day on it and my other car was a Toyota Tundra that I was filing up every other day.
This car has been amazing, it’s the longest car I’ve ever owned, currently on 17 years of ownership.
Granted there was a learning curve with it , as when the autos were acting up a few years after owning it.
This was how I found this great community of knowledgeable people that were willing to help.
I was part of the auto to manual swap as it was progressing and never regretted it, only wish the 6 speeds were available then. Car had 121,xxx miles at the time.
I’ve done the 2” lift kit , asr mod, Malone stage 3 with egr delete, running stock turbo with sprint 520’s.
Just did the tb for the 4th time along with a head changed , smoky first start and broken GP for 12 years.
Car has 416,xxx miles on it currently, taught all 3 kids to drive stick on original vr6/g60 clutch when auto to manual swap done.
All 3 kids have mk iv tdi’s manuals, all have asr mods , all have 2” lift kits.
1 has a stage 2 Malone tune with egr delete and dynamic idle. It’s a 02 NB bought from a member on this forum. Bought with 212,xxx miles on it.
1 has a Malone eco tune , egr delete and dynamic idle. Also an 03 NB saved from salvage yard with some rh front end damage.
My son has an 00 2 door golf , 2” lift , asr mod waiting for me to do his 3rd timing belt, he has 300,xxx miles on it and he refuses to get rid of the car as it almost doesn’t cost him anything, he has a lease car that’s a Subaru and that he needs as he’s a 911 dispatcher in the county he lives in.
And my bastard child that I just got off jacks after being in the air for almost 2 1/2 years .
It had more damage than was told to me.
But it’s back together for the most part , runs beautifully, still have to finish the back end 2” lift and install an asr abs module. This car also has, Malone Stage 2 with sprint 520’s. It has 299,xxx on body and 166,xxx on engine.
It keeps me off the streets and out of bars.
Owes me nothing, haven’t had a car payment in 10 years.
Happy to invest $500-800 a year to keep my car going. It’s what 2-3 car payments.
It’s my hobby.
And it doesn’t have all the whistles and wiz bangs that all the newer cars have that
( a) cost a fortune to troubleshoot
( b ) cost a fortune to replace
( c ) refer to both a&b above.
Plus if it wasn’t stated IT GETS GREAT FUEL ECONOMY!!
I’m sure there’s more , but I want other members to post too. ; )
Plus I’m cheap, almost forgot to add that