Any old-timers left? (I joined in 1999.)

Johhny04

Veteran Member
Joined
Feb 21, 2006
Location
Markham, Ontario
TDI
2003 Jetta TDi
I joined in 2006. Had a 2004 Jetta which after a couple of years, then switched to a 2003 when my brother wanted to sell his Jetta. 18 years of community chatting and learning with great people. It's funny, this site and community has been one constant in my life while I've been through 5 different employers and family growth.
 

AndyBees

Top Post Dawg
Joined
May 27, 2003
Location
Southeast Kentucky
TDI
Silver 2003 Jetta TDI, Silver 2000 Jetta TDI (sold), '84 Vanagon with '02 ALH engine
I joined in 2006. Had a 2004 Jetta which after a couple of years, then switched to a 2003 when my brother wanted to sell his Jetta. 18 years of community chatting and learning with great people. It's funny, this site and community has been one constant in my life while I've been through 5 different employers and family growth.
Your circumstances are pretty much the same as mine. Until my brother introduced me to a TDI in 2001, I had been keeping MK1s going (1980 diesel Rabbit, 1984 Diesel Jetta, 1981 Diesel Jetta, etc.). I retired over 16 years ago, thus, the mileage on my TDIs dropped off considerably considering I had an 85 mile daily commute and at least 1k miles monthly on the job driving. However, I check in here almost daily. Lately, my '84 ALH TDI Vanagon has been my focus...., getting it back on the road.
 

tomo366

TDI Lifer, Member #68
Joined
Jun 30, 1997
Location
Kensington, Maryland USA
TDI
2015 Jetta SEL TDI
I had 1981 Chevy Caprice Wagen Diesel then a 1986 Jetta Turbo Diesel and a 1991 Vw Jetta Eco Diesel before my 11 TDI’s still have my 2015 Jetta SEL TDI and 3 Other Diesels Loved evey Minute
 
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MAXRPM

Veteran Member
Joined
May 7, 2008
Location
US
TDI
00 Jetta and 99.5 Golf, 2015 Passat TDI,BMW 2
Joined in 2002 started posting with a different nick name then i switched to this one, ever since I started driving i bought only diesels, from Isuzu I mark diesel 5.7L, 6.2L,to 7.3L Ford , vw caddies,1.6L jettas, Toyota SR5 pick up (rare),,AlHs, Beamers 335D, 540D, VW comon rails, even Isuzu 16 ft box truck.

It has been fun learning and sharing thoughts on fixing diesels here, it definitely way less members posting now, before your posting would get hits with a lot of responses, now I see more members not getting involved in answering so I guess they do not go and fix cars themselves or mod their cars, let me tell you as an old timer here and rest of you guys. There were so many members with a lot of knowledge quite a few from Europe, and we shared experiences here, I'm glad that I joined and learned here a bit.
 

AndyBees

Top Post Dawg
Joined
May 27, 2003
Location
Southeast Kentucky
TDI
Silver 2003 Jetta TDI, Silver 2000 Jetta TDI (sold), '84 Vanagon with '02 ALH engine
MAXRPM, I think the FaceBook groups are taking away interaction here in the TDI Club. And, year by year, there are less and less TDIs to own.
 

d24tdi

Veteran Member
Joined
Jan 6, 2019
Location
MT
TDI
BHW, BEW, ALH, AHU, 1Z, AFB, AKN, BCZ
All "real" forums like this are getting their lunch eaten by crappy Facebook groups and others (whatever is the latest now I don't even know... discord, etc). Membership and activity in decline is the universal trend. TDIClub is actually in far better shape than most, thanks to a robust membership and many frequent posters (including the great vendors who are active here) who really help folks out answering questions and keep conversations going. Plus, although it's true that now that the newest TDIs are almost 10 years old, there are still enough of these cars out there to maintain a high level of interest and keep new folks joining the communities when they get their hands on a car. As the cars age there are fewer of them out there, but on the flip side they become more of an enthusiast commodity and those who do still have them are almost guaranteed to be folks who want to have discussions about them. Plus now many of the engines are finding their way into swaps.

I help manage a forum focused on old Volvo diesel cars and that one has almost completely died now. We go weeks without an active thread. Similar dynamics at play, except in that case, the population was always orders of magnitude smaller and older (both the vehicles and their owners, LOL) so we had much less of a group to begin with. The cars are pushing 40 years old and almost all have fallen victim to attrition at this point. Still, sad to see it. I keep maintaining the site and renewing the hosting every year because every now and then we still get a good conversation going, and just as importantly, there are decades' worth of historical threads archived and that represents a huge information resource that we don't want to see lost.

And that right there is exactly the value of a forum like this one vs a FB or Discord group. Not only can you have a conversation today, you can also get useful info from a thread from 20+ years ago. Info is organized in a good way, preserved indefinitely, and easy to search for answers in. None of the "alternatives" offer any of that. That is the biggest tragedy of the short-attention-span shift from proper message boards like this to social media platforms.

Nothing will change it unfortunately, it's "PROGRESS" and sells more ad revenue to the social media companies, so you better believe the trend will continue.

But it's a reminder of the value of this place and how important to preserve it -- through donations of course to keep it online and ad-free, but above all else by continuing frequent participation and encouraging new members to join and be active. So far TDIclub is weathering the storm better than the average.
 

IndigoBlueWagon

TDIClub Enthusiast, Principal IDParts, Vendor , w/
Joined
Aug 16, 2004
Location
South of Boston
TDI
'97 Passat, '99.5 Golf, '02 Jetta Wagon, '15 GSW
Been here since '04. Bought my Jetta Wagon (IBW) in '02, followed by 12 more TDIs for me and family members. Still have 5. This site also introduced me to a great group of people and found me a new career at IDParts, which is now 18 years old.
 

AndyBees

Top Post Dawg
Joined
May 27, 2003
Location
Southeast Kentucky
TDI
Silver 2003 Jetta TDI, Silver 2000 Jetta TDI (sold), '84 Vanagon with '02 ALH engine
d24tdi, I agree with your assessment.

My speculation is that many first-time TDI owners end up on FB forums because that's where they hang out the most. And, considering the FB Marketplace has a lot of autos for sale, likely that's where they found their TDI. There are so many websites (if not all) that use Cookies to track what we do, how we shop, etc. I've received suggestions to join different FB automotive groups. I've suspect most of those suggestions were due to me looking at a VW TDI part online.

I have a FB account separate from my personal account. I use it for all of my VW stuff, not just TDIs... mostly a place to "park" photos. Sometimes when doing a maintenance job on one my TDIs or one in the family, etc., I'll post things as they unfold. I rebuild VW Bus transmissions for the local mud buggy crowd. I post some of my work there. I have less than 25 friends there and none of them are related to me or even in my local community. (the user name is: Andy VanDubya)

I do refer folks in the FB groups to the TDI Club with their problems

As for the traffic here. There are a lot of old user names that are inactive. You can click on most of their names and see the last time they visited. Some folks that become members well over 25 years ago no longer visit here. Many of us are getting old, naturally.... LOL

I belong to a VW Tiguan forum. It sold or was taken over from the original person who set it up. Now, the Pop-up ads will drive you nuts there. The traffic there is like the Volvo forum you mentioned, very inactive. I've not checked in there in almost six months. In the case of the Tiguan, a FB group is far more helpful than that forum.

Well, back in the early days of the TDI Club there were some awesome annual TDI Fests. I wish there could be at least one more.
 

CantWrite

Veteran Member
Joined
Jun 8, 2021
Location
Placerville CO
TDI
2005 Passat Wagon (BHW/5-spd conv, 03T). I keep in touch with the (2) ALH's I sold.
I started lurking in 2015 when I first found out about ALH TDI’s. My neighbor had a ‘02 NB that I bought from them for $350. Anuthee at diesel land went through it and I put 70k trouble free miles on it to 350k.

I also have a 7.3 IDI, a couple 6.2’s, sold a 24v and will be buying my neighbors ‘97 12-valve.

@tomo366 I grew up in a Caprice Classic Wagon. 1982 or 3. Burgundy with burgundy interior. Dad and mom loved that wagon and did great in South Dakota being NA.
 
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