Should I sell my Jetta TDI wagon or refurbish it?

[Dark Ages]

I have a 2004 Jetta TDI wagon that I absolutely love, but it is seriously falling apart. It has 192K miles on it and the engine is a champ - its just getting started. I really want to keep it since it gets incredible gas mileage and drives wonderfully, but there are a thousand annoying things that are making driving it very unpleasant.
1) the upholstery on the top is falling down and sagging, making it feel like I'm in some kind of tent that could collapse at any moment.
2) the insulation from the A/C shoots into the cabin as little dust particles and big chunks every time I turn on the fan.
3) When I lock the doors, more often than not every door locks except the driver's door, meaning that when I open the door the next time the alarm goes off. Even using the physical key usually doesn't solve this problem. You can often see me standing by my Jetta for 5 minutes, occasionally blurting out an expletive or two trying various ways to lock the car when I arrive at a location. It's quite embarrassing.
4) The interior upholstery has to go. Waaaay too many soft drinks, ketchup packets, and various other food/beverage items have been spilled on nearly all of the seats.
5) When it rains heavily, water seeps into the cabin somehow. I've been trying to figure out how it gets there and pools up in the lowest spot of the cabin but have not been able to figure it out yet.
6) Many other annoyances similar to the above that I can't think about right now.

My question to this group is: I am considering buying a Volvo V60 and junking this Jetta despite my love for it. I would have to spend about $23K for the Volvo and then end up with a vehicle with far less fuel efficiency. Has anyone refurbished a vehicle in such a bad state as mine? Would I come out ahead if I refurbish my poor Jetta? What kind of a shop even could do all these kinds of repairs? I'm in totally uncharted territory here. Someone please HELP! Thank you.

 

[ekincaid]

I have a 2003 Golf that had several of those problems. It is such a joy to drive and I didn't want to give it up.

The headliner is not that hard to fix if you got a little time and patience. I did both the headliner and door panels for about $100. Plenty of Youtube videos showing how to do it. Looking at your list nothing looks all that difficult if you got the time. Of course that's an issue all to itself. Most of us don't have nearly as much as we would like.

The leak sounds the most difficult to me. I know what I would do.

 

[kennethsime]

Great question.

I bought my 2004 Jetta Wagon about two years ago with 130k on it for less than $4k. I've since spent maybe $2,000 on it, and will spend another $3,000 or so on it before the end of the year. It's a good 10-footer, but a reliable daily driver and super fun. I honestly wouldn't rather be driving anything else I could've bought for $10k.

I think if you love it, it's worth fixing. Mine certainly is! I also had a 2003 ALH sedan for years that I loved, so I already know how to do quite a bit of the work on it. I'm probably going to drive it until I can't any longer.

If you don't love it, it's probably not worth it. Even old VWs cost a lot to fix, and if you can't or won't do the work yourself you're probably better off buying a newer car with fewer problems. I've seen cars like yours listed on FB Marketplace for $7,500 recently. Not sure what they're really selling for, but that's a really remarkable price for such an old car. If you're considering selling, now seems to be a great time.

 

[Metal Man]

This probably largely depends if you're doing the work yourself or paying someone. It sounds like you're looking to pay someone else to do it, so that may be hard to justify.

 

[pedroYUL]

1) the upholstery on the top is falling down and sagging, making it feel like I'm in some kind of tent that could collapse at any moment.
2) the insulation from the A/C shoots into the cabin as little dust particles and big chunks every time I turn on the fan.
3) When I lock the doors, more often than not every door locks except the driver's door, meaning that when I open the door the next time the alarm goes off. Even using the physical key usually doesn't solve this problem. You can often see me standing by my Jetta for 5 minutes, occasionally blurting out an expletive or two trying various ways to lock the car when I arrive at a location. It's quite embarrassing.
4) The interior upholstery has to go. Waaaay too many soft drinks, ketchup packets, and various other food/beverage items have been spilled on nearly all of the seats.
5) When it rains heavily, water seeps into the cabin somehow. I've been trying to figure out how it gets there and pools up in the lowest spot of the cabin but have not been able to figure it out yet.
6) Many other annoyances similar to the above that I can't think about right now.

1. Cheap and easy: tack it using pins (what I did); cheap and harder: remove and re-glue; expensive and hard: remove and replace (dealers still sell the headliner).
2. Search is your friend, it has been discussed ad nauseum in this site, there is a way to access the blend door and tape it with metalized tape, the one for HVAC repairs.
3. You need a new door lock mechanism. Pretty common after so many years, potentially also need the pass side: https://www.idparts.com/front-door-lock-module-left-a4b55-3b1837015as-p-10092.html

4. Detail it, or find a swap for a leather set from a wrecked car.
5. The tray that attaches to the windshield at the bottom (outside) is either broken or just not in the groove, check it.
6. Think of the annoyances, then search this site or myturbodiesel and if no thread satisfies then ask again.

 

[Nuje]

The cost of hardware for each of those repairs (unless you go with the brand new OEM headliner) is substantially less than one month's car payment on a four-year payment plan ($500 x 48mos. = $24K)

• Headliner repair: button/tacks - $20
• Blend door fix kit: $20
• Seats: $100 (FB marketplace / craigslist)
• Door lock mechanism: $70 (decent aftermarket; I've gone with $30 versions from china that continue to work just fine, too)
• Leak: probably nothing - just requires tracking it down and cleaning out whatever is clogged; check behind the front wheel well liner, sunroof drains, the plenum tray at base of windshield.

Budget one month car payment for the hardware, 2-3 more months to pay some enthusiast to do the work - drive happy and cheaply!

(Keep in mind, a $23K V60 is obviously used, and it's going to have little things that go wrong and need repair, too - and those parts are going to be substantially more than what we pay for our Mk4 parts - a car platform that was used for close to 15yrs. around the world).

 

[Loafing]

on 2015 Golf, just had dealer fix water leak on rear door, attributed to the seal between speaker & door panel. Had left side fixed, now rhs leaking & plan to fix myself after finding you tube video. Maybe same problem on yours???

 

[IndigoBlueWagon]

I've repaired (or had repaired) all the things you mention in MKIVs, but done it as they've occurred as opposed to all at once, which is less painful.

1. You can get a new headliner at a local dealer. I believe it costs about $500, probably about half that to have it installed. You can also re-cover yours, but you might not save much.
2. The insulation is from the blend doors in the heater box. Unfortunately repairing this properly requires removing the dash. Not a small job. You can ignore it, and the foam will stop eventually, but the heater and A/C is less effective without the foam.
3. New door lock module will fix this
4. Look for seats in a wrecking yard. You might be able to find some nice leather ones if that's appealing. GTI, Jetta sedan, or Golf front seats will work. The rears are Wagon specific, but you can swap out the covers onto the Wagon frames if you can't find the right ones.
5. Water leak could be sunroof drains, or it could be coming in through the cabin filter. Sunroof drains can get clogged or disconnected from the roof drains. There's a plastic cover over the cabin filter that can break or might be missing.

None of these items other than the foam are that significant. If you address these and other issues, and have the car detailed it may feel much newer to you, and at a fraction of the cost of the Volvo. The big issue for these cars as they age is rust and/or paint failure. If you're good on those counts (maybe your headlights are fogged, however), then the rest is relatively simple.

I like my Wagon enough that cost is no object when keeping it in good shape. After 19 years of ownershp I can't imagine it's more expensive than repacing it with something newer, no matter what I spend on it. But if you aren't in love with the car the expense and effort (which you won't get back if you sell) may not be worth it.

 

[JB05]

I can relate to all of the above. After fixing the electrical problems I am more at ease and glad I did not give up on my '05 Golf which I bought new. Headliner twisters worked well for me; used about 30 bought on line. I don't do as much of the work myself such as the AC and suspension parts, but I can still handle the smaller items such as the new PB cables I recently installed. I do minor body work to keep the rust at bay. From far away the car still looks good and drives very well also. I owe most of my knowledge gained from here on Fred's. My advise is not to give up on your Jetta.

 

[BobnOH]

This is a car forum populated by folks who fix 'em up, keep driving. Anything short of a blown engine or wrecked body, we fix it. None of your issues are extreme, though the blend door thing (it will eventually stop spitting foam bits) is time consuming and paying someone to do interior repairs is often pricey.

 

[Nevada_TDI]

Vintage TDI's are worth keeping as you can see above. Even if you need to spend $500.00 that is way less than you will make 2 payments on a new car. You say you enjoy driving it, and would rather not drive something else.
Please re-read your post, you said you enjoy driving it, isn't that enough said?

 

[VWdrummer]

Let me know if you decide to sell it...

 

[merk]

We faced the same question a few months ago.. In this used car market we decided to fix the 03. A combination of DIY and guru repairs added up to 5-6k. Won't get that back, but compared to a 15-20k Tacoma with 160k miles on it as a replacement, it made decent sense to keep the wagon on the road. But we replaced more major items like clutch, exhaust, turbo, manifold cleanout, shocks, front end, valve cover, vacuum pump, bushings, etc... We got a beautiful pair of leather seats too, that may have really made all the difference )