Blue Moon's 2003 Jetta GLS TDI 5-Speed

[Blue Moon]

While this is my first post I’m sure like many that observe from the sidelines the knowledge that the tribe provides is greatly appreciated. With that in mind I wanted to thank everyone that posts their TDI experiences and generously shares their knowledge.

My quest to add a preowned TDI to the stable has been ongoing for months. Yesterday with the sunroof cracked open I accelerated through the gears while heading up the interstate homeward bound with a smile on my face and a purr in my ears.

The original owner, a young professional non-smoking female, pampered the Jetta and for the first 110,000 miles the Jetta served her well but alas, after a timing belt mishap she decided it was time for a BMW she had her eye on. She sold the Jetta to a mutual friend of ours, a certified VW powertrain mechanic.

After some horse-trading, a factory new engine along with a host of other new parts birthed new life into the 2003 Jetta GLS TDI. She’s silver with a sunroof, heated cloth seats, power everything except seats and everything works perfectly. Original Monsoon sound system works great and the interior is exceptionally clean.

With just under 2000 miles on the new engine my hope is that she’ll serve my family for a long time. Hopefully I’ll get some good shots this weekend but for now here are a few before we had a chance to clean her up.

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[aja8888]

Welcome to Fred's! Nice looking Jetta.

 

[shizzler]

Clean! Inside and out.

The perfect canvas for modification (once the new engine gets nice and broken in).

 

[rocketeer928]

Excellent find for a used car. Was the odometer put back at zero with the new engine, or was it a new "used" engine? Be sure to get an aluminum skid plate to protect her belly.

And, welcome to TDI Club...

 

[dadsdiesel]

Congrats!

I think us '03 ALH owners are the luckiest yet to have the prime year for the TDI.

I love your wide-angle shots - as a matter of fact, the one of the interior has made me think - I thought my e-brake handle was centered over the console - I'm going to go out to the barn and take a good look at mine right now.....

 

[Blue Moon]

Thanks for the warm welcome. While this is my first TDI, I’ve been a big fan of efficient travel most of my life. As a teenager I was very fortunate to have a mentor and close family friend that was deeply involved in the birth of the space shuttle program and was also was building a highly efficient homebuilt aircraft designed by Burt Rutan called a Vari-Eze.

The Vari-Eze was built over a three year period; as was my own character. Being exposed to a project where foam, fiberglass, and glue combined with a lot of sanding, transformed into a flying machine was an amazing life lesson for me as a young man. Motivated by the experience along with a decade of hard work, I eventually reached my goal of flying my own Rutan Long Ez. I chased speed and efficient flight for years before I got serious about aerobatics and built an unlimited aerobatic aircraft that fulfilled a dream to be a modern day barnstormer.

The Vari-Eze and Long Ez were both very efficient by design. It was easy to achieve 50 MPG cruising around 120 MPH but I normally throttled up to 180 MPH cruise and still managed nearly 40 MPG in the Long Ez and 170 MPH at 46-48 MPG in the Vari-Eze. Clicking off 3 miles a minute instead of two was usually worth the extra fuel cost however unless a speed trophy was on the line then it was usually difficult to justify the expense of traveling 4 miles a minute at the 240 MPH top cruise speed of the Long Ez as my fuel flow, and thus my cost to operate, would nearly triple between 180 MPH to 240 MPH.

Over the years I spent a lot of time, energy, and hard earned cash on modifications before I realized what I enjoyed most about being a flyboy was actually flying, exploring new places, visiting friends & family, and sharing the gift of flight with others. Wrenching for hours between flights chasing a new record didn’t rate as high on my passion meter.

With that in mind I’m more than a tad hesitate to race down the TDI modification path without first understanding the pros and cons regarding how each mod impacts reliability and efficiency and then if it is justifiable with ROI in mind. Has anyone created a mod roadmap that speaks to reliability and efficiency? If not it seems like it would be a great resource for those of us considering options and burdened with the nagging question,” why.”

The motivation to add the Jetta to the stable was to provide an efficient alternative means to travel when we don’t need our 4x4’s to haul or tow as is often the case. Thankfully stock, the Jetta seems to meet our primary goal so in that regard I’m more inclined to consider mods that help with reliability or efficiency.

While I’m perhaps modification shy, the skid plate for additional underside protection is one that I’ll certainly consider since we often make a 250 mile round trip between the city and the country where I’m slowly building a small cabin in the woods over-looking secluded spring-fed water. The final couple of miles of farm road is paved but not always in great shape. Of course it’s never a problem for the 10 MPG 4x4 ranch trucks but I’m concerned about the underside protection of the stock Jetta based on the little bit of reading that I’ve done so far.

Regarding the questions about the engine, it is factory new, not rebuilt, however the odometer was not rolled back and shows approximately 112,000 miles. I’m not a car guru but the flyboy in me appreciates the way you track the history of an aircraft with separate log books for the airframe, engine, and prop. That allows you to keep track of total time since new (TTSN) for all the components and goes a long way towards following a reasonable maintenance routine.

Thanks again for the warm welcome. I’m looking forward to learning from your TDI experiences.