Actually I live in the Westside of Cleveland and work in the Eastside. I cruise I-480 every day racking up 75 miles. I noticed in the past, that sometimes my Beetle lacked pep while accelerating or passing on the highway. I sort of dismissed it thinking that maybe I was going up a hill and it cleared up after a few miles. Right after it happens, the check engine light goes on. Last week my son drove to Chicago to see his girl friend. Obviously he wanted to make good time. He called and told me the car would not go over 50 mph. This happened on and off during the weekend. It happened suddenly while driving 70 to 75, which really ticked off the truckers behind him. This has now become as dangerous as fuel gelling on I-480 or I-90 during rush hour (happened 2 times before I started adding kerosene). Dealer says the Turbo is bad, which seems impossible since the car drives great most of the time. My friend who is a great GM mechanic drove the car and it happened to him. He unplugged the MAF and it ran great. Then he plugged it in and it still ran great. He showed me the trick to unplug the MAF and I did it several times. Since then the car runs great. I am thinking either the MAF is going bad or the connectors may have had a bad connection to the MAF, which I read can happen. Is there a dealer in Ohio that knows TDI's? My Beetle is a 2000 with 120,000 miles and 5 speed.
Suggestions other than payng the dealer $1,600?