2.0 tdi. Any good?

[qkoop]

I’m looking at buying a 2011 TDI wagon. Haven’t owned a Volkswagen diesel since my 2002. 10 years ago I sold it. Anyways, not very knowledgable on the 2 L.
so I’ve been trying to research the problems on them. As the one I’m looking at is Bone stock with 100,000 miles.
I was looking at the HPFP upgrade. I was thinking to put an upgraded CP3 on before the original CP4 takes a craP.
I was also wondering if you guys were dialling down the EGR with a vag com or doing a full delete ? I
Was also worried about the small oil pump, shaft failure.
it will be used off-road only so I was wondering about the upgraded downpipe that bypasses the big exhaust trouble box. Is it worth doing. ?
also thinking while I was doing it all to do water pump and timing belt.
so, with all these upgrades, not sure which software to go with. My main thing is I want good economy. But I like the power to but I don’t wanna smoke The stock clutch. What are my options?
PS is there anybody on the West Coast Canada that runs a shop that can do this for me.? i’m a heavy duty mechanic, but you know how it goes when you don’t do something every day.
Thanks in advance for any insight or things I might be missing. I just want to make this a super reliable mileage machine.

 

[Iowa TDI]

The dpf system will fail and its big money to fix,$2000-4000. Depending on your moral compass and the need to pass emissions, deleting that whole system might be an option. From what I have gathered,99% of the CR engine tunes availible(which you will need after deleting), vary very little. They are all overpriced at $600+ for a cut and paste tune, but thats whats out there. Dpf delete range from $350-1100. I would say that dpf and timing belt are 2 main things and then just keep an eye on everything else. I took went from a 1999 1.9 TDI to a 2014 2.0TDI. Been a learning curve and all the emissions garbage makes parts alot more expensive than the alh stuff.

 

[Lightflyer1]

With all the money you're talking about pouring into it and possibly more if the emission system goes out and needs to be replaced and or deleted, economy is a false goal. Even worse if you have to pay somebody else to do your mechanical work for you.

 

[IndigoBlueWagon]

Timing belt is due at 120K miles, but it's also 13 years old at this point, so I'd change it. I wouldn't worry about the HPFP: failures on these are exaggerated, in my experience. The DPF will fail, probably sometime between now and 150K miles. However, they cost about $1,100 these days (USD), about the same as a delete downpipe.

If you don't have to worry about emissions testing I'd do the timing belt service and do a delete and tune. FE will bump up, and the car will be both more fun to drive and components like the turbo will last longer.

My son has an '02 Golf and an '11 JSW. The JSW is a much more refined, roomy, and comfortable car, but there's nothing like simplicity and durability of an ALH MKIV.

 

[qkoop]

With all the money you're talking about pouring into it and possibly more if the emission system goes out and needs to be replaced and or deleted, economy is a false goal. Even worse if you have to pay somebody else to do your mechanical work for you.

I don’t agree. The work I’m talking about having done will extend the service life of this car drastically. I look at it as preventative maintenance. And at the price of vehicles and fuel, the math will work for me anyways.

 

[Lightflyer1]

Only the owner can determine if this is true for them. For the average person, this is not the case. I understand the savings of buying a used car. My impression from your post was that you wanted economy out of the tune to offset your fuel mileage. This would take a very long time to offset. Unless you're going to own the car for years and years, you probably won't ever balance out.

I have routinely bought older cars that were in decent shape for low cost. Although I don't do any work to them other than what's required to keep them roadworthy and safe to drive. No upgrades or anything of any kind. Anything major happens, It's cheaper to get rid of the car and find another than it is to have anything done, especially if you have to hire a mechanic to do your work.

I would never recommend one of these cars to anyone that isn't fully up to speed on them, fully prepared to work on them, and ready to Shell out some money if needed to get work done by someone else.

 

[IndigoBlueWagon]

One other thing to keep in mind is that, unless deleted, Sportwagens don't get great fuel economy, especially the DSG transmission ones. From what I hear you'll be lucky to see 40 MPG in normal driving. My son has a tuned manual JSW and he gets mid-to high 30s on his 100 mile round trip commute. There are gasoline powered cars out there that will do that well, if not better, these days.

 

[oilhammer]

A customer of mine has a pair of TDIs, a 2011 wagon, and a 2014 sedan. Both DSGs. Both deleted. He lives out by me and is elderly, so I take his cars into the shop for service when they need it. His wagon's fuel economy (MFA recorded) for my 100 mile drive jumped from 43 to 51 MPGs. That's my only personal experience before and after with any repeatable credibility.

But I've gotten as high as 52 on the MFA in my stock 2010 sedan, which is also a DSG. It's got 17s, too. So there does seem to be some variance.

Honestly, though, this customer's wagon spent much of its first 100k miles with the MIL on for something or another. Post delete, MIL hasn't been on once, and it's covered another 150k miles since. No limp modes, no frozen intercooler, no hiccups at all. No wonder he wanted the wife's sedan deleted right away.

This was my 2009 post delete first long trip:

But still, I agree with IBW, if fuel economy is your only driving force, there are other cars out there that can do pretty good. Even VAG's own 1.4L and now 1.5L gassers can get into the middle 40s on regular 87 octane gasoline, and have plenty of power.

 

[Iowa TDI]

I recently acquired a 2014 TDI and since I have owned it I've done nothing more than preventive maintenance(fluids,filters,tires,timing belt,water pump)After dpf delete and tune I will have almost $4000 invested since getting it and I have done all of the work myself. It adds up very quickly. Had I paid for this car what it was worth when I got it, I would be way upside down.
Just some food for thought.