TDI FTW
Member
EDITED today Tue. Sept 19, adding 3 things:
1) Updating title to indicate that the car's been (lol) "sold"
2) Adding pics of the car being taken away:
As you can see from the newly added pics, the car has headed off to its next destination:
forums.tdiclub.com
forums.tdiclub.com
forums.tdiclub.com
forums.tdiclub.com
forums.tdiclub.com
2) Providing info on where the car went:
In case anyone wants to go after it, it went to Ajax Auto Dismantlers in San Francisco:
2895 3rd St San Francisco, CA 94107
(415) 821-3100
www.salvage-parts.com
EDITED today Monday Sept. 18, updating 3 things:
1) IT NEEDS TO GO NOW. Let's figure soething out or it's either going to scrap or going to support a nonprofit charity. The mechanic has been very gracious, but he needs the car gone now. But he gave me til the end of the day tomorrow Tue. Sept 19 to have it out of there. I'm in the process now of finding someone to take it away by then. If you want to consider taking this car, now is the time
2) Now have pictures:
Here's a few intro shots:
forums.tdiclub.com
forums.tdiclub.com
forums.tdiclub.com
forums.tdiclub.com
Here's the whole album
3) Updated title to include "228,118 miles" because when I went to take pictures today that's the current odometer, apologies for giving the wrong figure previously.
TL;DR: It's a decent car all around and well cared for by people who know what they're doing. It needs the head pulled and a valve job done. While you're at it, might as well give it a new water pump too.
Hello fellow TDI fans and friends. Very, very sad to be letting this car go. But for various reasons I just can't take on the project of fixing it. I would like it to be purchased by someone who really sees its value and potential and I'll be really straightforward here about both me and the car. I can't upload pictures right now because I kinda foolishly forgot to take pictures of it yesterday before it got locked in the TDI mechanic's yard, which is pretty far from my house, so I can't just go over there and take pictures today. But in a sense, if you've seen one silver Jetta wagon in decent-not-knockout shape, you've seen them all, so for now let's just go with the twin powers of your imagination + my description.
Here's the deal on me:
I've owned this car for 9-10 years and have put ~90k miles on it. I've been reading TDIClub for a lot of years but not chiming in because I'm not a wrencher. But I'm a reformed wrencher, going back to when I was a kid who had a lot of time and curiosity and who had a lot more access to funky-clunky machines (including air-cooled VW's) than I had access to money. So I do know my way around vehicles and motors fairly well, but don't claim to be an expert. On this particular car, aside from some really basic small things up to and including doing a brake job a few years back and more recently replacing the serpentine belt and alternator (replaced it from the top, not from the bottom, and I'm not sure I'd recommend that to anyone else), I've never done any wrenching on this car. But I've always had legit TDI mechanics do the work on it, names you'd recognize from these forums but I won't mention them by name because I haven't asked for their permission to mention their names). I LOVE this car, and I love TDI's--especially ALH, and if I had my way and could find another one like it that was running well and in good shape and with a lot fewer miles on it, I'd turn around and buy it in a minute. Sob. Sniffle.
Here's the deal on the car:
First off, DUDE! WTH! HAPPENED! WITH! YOUR! TIMING! BELT! (please don't lecture me Dad). Short story is that it was simply, and for lack of a better term, bad timing. I'm not an idiot and neither is my awesome TDI mechanic. A few weeks ago the car was in his shop for a checkup and some diagnostics--including a legit checkup on the timing belt, and at that time me and my awesome TDI mechanic both agreed that, even though the timing belt was within wear spec and passed muster, it would be changed next time I brought it in, which would be at the end of my busy season (aka right about now). But the timing belt just had a different plan. And ka-pow! So, yeah, it was plain bad timing. And now it's exquisitely bad timing. C'est la guerre.
When the belt went out it didn't take me long to figure out what had happened. Got it towed, the mechanic removed the valve cover and saw some bent valves, but saw no cracks etc in the head itself. So it's going to need a valve job, and that's the project that I just can't take on right now. I wish I could, but I can't.
Now on to the background and current condition of the car:
9-10 years ago, a really good friend, who's an active TDI Club member and also an avid & accomplished wrencher, hunted this car down for me. It took him a good amount of time to find it, and I was very, very fortunate to have him hunting for the car rather than me looking for it. He found it on ebay. It was a New York car and he got it shipped to California. Upon arrival he did a bunch of basic and deferred maintenance on it, including installing a metal skid plate, and then I started driving it and it's been my only car ever since. I've averaged 10k miles per year.
As mentioned above, I've had it regularly serviced by good TDI mechanics. During the time I've owned it, the only really serious work it ever needed was a new clutch, back in 2016 (~70k miles ago). At one point, due to an intermittent electrical issue, I got an engine wiring harness replaced.
Leather seats. Gray Interior. A non-smoker car. During the time I've owned it, I was pretty much the only person ever in the car, so only the driver's seat has significant wear--but it's not too bad really. The shotgun seat has slight wear from previous owner and the rear seats are basically pristine. I took out the right rear seat bench because it gives me a little bit of extra cargo space and sleeping room (heck yeah I'm 6'1" and I go literally car camping in my MkIV Jetta wagon!), but of course I saved the seat bench and it would be easy-peasy to put it back in. The carpeting and the rest of the interior is in good shape, carpeting isn't too worn and no staining. All floor mats are present and in good shape. Again, since I've pretty much been the only person in the car during the time I've owned it, the only carpet which has gotten any use is the driver's floor, but it's still in good shape. Even though I had the car professionally cleaned inside and out a few weeks ago, the interior is dusty right now because I live on a smooth dirt road and at this time of year it's impossible to keep the dust down.
The sun roof and moon roof both work. No leaks and it all drains well as long as you keep the drain channels cleaned and cleared.
On all-highway journeys using cruise control set to 60 mph, I've always (including last week) gotten at least 52 mpg. Most of my miles are on hilly highways, and I've never felt a loss of power on the hills or when using passing lanes. The car has never burned oil, and I've always used the correct fully synthetic oil for it. Last oil change was about a month ago.
It passed California smog test in August 2022. The injection pump seal has been replaced (the $300 fix!) but as far as I know, the current injection pump is still the original one.
The car has really good tires which are about a year old, with very few miles on them because I just haven't driven much at all in the last year: Hankook Kinergy PT (H737) [860 A A]. Quite highly rated by Consumer Reports, and Consumer Reports predicts that they're good for 85k miles. Here's the Consumer Reports entry:
www.consumerreports.org
The battery is also only about a year old, it's an Interstate.
And the new alternator, that was about a year ago too. I got the extra juicy one because I wanted to be able to easily drive a bigger fatter subwoofer.
The oil pan is also a year old. Because on a mountain highway coming around a blind curve in the middle of the night, there was a big rock in the middle of the road, so rather than risk swerving and tearing out the front end and/or running off the cliff, I just aimed for it dead-center and let the kick-ass metal skid plate take it. Which it did, but the oil pan wound up needing to be replaced.
(Hmm, looking back on it now, I guess the past year has been a pretty interesting one)
Control arms were replaced with OEM a couple years ago, and one front wheel bearing was replaced at the same time.
Some of the windows are tinted. The rear windshield tinting is failing. The way-back side windows' tinting is still good. The back seat windows used to be tinted but (go Oakland!) on 2 separate occasions the car was broken into via smashing a window, and I didn't bother to tint the new windows on the theory that, maybe if the thieves could easily see that there was nothing worth stealing, they'd maybe quit breaking windows. That strategy appears to have worked well enough (knock wood), since I haven't had a newly broken window for a few years now.
The paint is in good shape, with some wear and scratches about like you'd expect for a car of its age. The car has some white pinstripe detailing ooh-la-la. Sometime before I bought the car, it had some body work done. My TDI mechanic easily identified that the hood isn't original and I think he said one of the fenders was a replacement too. I don't remember much more about it because there was never any problem with any of it so I quit thinking about that years ago. I'm assuming it was the right fender which had been replaced because the left fender has what I've been told is "the typical 2002 rust" right above the wheel, and I've been told that this is because the original 2002 manufacturing process included piece of foam rubber just behind the fender metal, and the foam rubber absorbed and held moisture, leading to the fender rotting out right in that spot. Sure enough, when the rust hole opened up, I was able to tear the foam rubber into small pieces and pull it out. But as far as the body goes, I've damaged it a little: I've scraped the right fender via a column in a parking garage, and I've creased the left rocker (just below driver's door) by backing up along a hidden wooden post. And I've dented the rear bumper by backing into a big rock which was too low for me to see (the bumper could be pulled out, I just never bothered).
Other things to note: The headliner is detaching. I'd scheduled to get it fixed next month but I guess we can hold off on that now. It has a small exhaust leak, my mechanic says it'd be a cheap and easy repair for a muffler shop. ABS light is on, mechanic diagnosed it and concluded the ABS module is fine but a wheel speed sensor is needed. It's going to need new struts soon. The driver's door interior door grab handle is gone--that plastic part broke when I had to remove it on a very rainy night because the driver's power window switch broke and I really needed to get that window to roll up. The center arm rest latch spring is gone so I keep it closed with a little velcro strap--that's a bummer, I know, but the fact that the back seat has a cup holder AND an ashtray more than makes up for the armrest, because, hey, we all know that sometimes your toddler in the back really won't quit squawking til you get her a cup o' joe & a good smoke.
Yeah, so, other than the above, the car is sitting in the mechanic's lot (thank goodness for righteous vee-dub mechanics, lemme tell ya), waiting for you to come get her. Hopefully soon. I mean, the mechanic is cool and I'm chill, but no one has infinite time or infinite space, not even for a sweet MkIV ALH Jetta Wagon like this.
Thanks for sticking with me through my descriptive narration. Let's talk.
1) Updating title to indicate that the car's been (lol) "sold"
2) Adding pics of the car being taken away:
As you can see from the newly added pics, the car has headed off to its next destination:
IMG_20230919_142136_663.jpg
IMG_20230919_142149_281.jpg
IMG_20230919_142230_853.jpg
IMG_20230919_142237_432.jpg
IMG_20230919_142508_545.jpg
2) Providing info on where the car went:
In case anyone wants to go after it, it went to Ajax Auto Dismantlers in San Francisco:
2895 3rd St San Francisco, CA 94107
(415) 821-3100
Ajax Auto Dismantlers junk yard - Auto Salvage Yards
Explore the info on Ajax Auto Dismantlers junk yard, which is stabished in San Francisco (California). They deliver scrap metal and car parts to its loyal visitors.
EDITED today Monday Sept. 18, updating 3 things:
1) IT NEEDS TO GO NOW. Let's figure soething out or it's either going to scrap or going to support a nonprofit charity. The mechanic has been very gracious, but he needs the car gone now. But he gave me til the end of the day tomorrow Tue. Sept 19 to have it out of there. I'm in the process now of finding someone to take it away by then. If you want to consider taking this car, now is the time
2) Now have pictures:
Here's a few intro shots:
IMG_20230918_110827_156-FLT.jpg
IMG_20230918_110844_399-FLT.jpg
IMG_20230918_110814_396-FLT.jpg
IMG_20230918_112441_937.jpg
3) Updated title to include "228,118 miles" because when I went to take pictures today that's the current odometer, apologies for giving the wrong figure previously.
TL;DR: It's a decent car all around and well cared for by people who know what they're doing. It needs the head pulled and a valve job done. While you're at it, might as well give it a new water pump too.
Hello fellow TDI fans and friends. Very, very sad to be letting this car go. But for various reasons I just can't take on the project of fixing it. I would like it to be purchased by someone who really sees its value and potential and I'll be really straightforward here about both me and the car. I can't upload pictures right now because I kinda foolishly forgot to take pictures of it yesterday before it got locked in the TDI mechanic's yard, which is pretty far from my house, so I can't just go over there and take pictures today. But in a sense, if you've seen one silver Jetta wagon in decent-not-knockout shape, you've seen them all, so for now let's just go with the twin powers of your imagination + my description.
Here's the deal on me:
I've owned this car for 9-10 years and have put ~90k miles on it. I've been reading TDIClub for a lot of years but not chiming in because I'm not a wrencher. But I'm a reformed wrencher, going back to when I was a kid who had a lot of time and curiosity and who had a lot more access to funky-clunky machines (including air-cooled VW's) than I had access to money. So I do know my way around vehicles and motors fairly well, but don't claim to be an expert. On this particular car, aside from some really basic small things up to and including doing a brake job a few years back and more recently replacing the serpentine belt and alternator (replaced it from the top, not from the bottom, and I'm not sure I'd recommend that to anyone else), I've never done any wrenching on this car. But I've always had legit TDI mechanics do the work on it, names you'd recognize from these forums but I won't mention them by name because I haven't asked for their permission to mention their names). I LOVE this car, and I love TDI's--especially ALH, and if I had my way and could find another one like it that was running well and in good shape and with a lot fewer miles on it, I'd turn around and buy it in a minute. Sob. Sniffle.
Here's the deal on the car:
First off, DUDE! WTH! HAPPENED! WITH! YOUR! TIMING! BELT! (please don't lecture me Dad). Short story is that it was simply, and for lack of a better term, bad timing. I'm not an idiot and neither is my awesome TDI mechanic. A few weeks ago the car was in his shop for a checkup and some diagnostics--including a legit checkup on the timing belt, and at that time me and my awesome TDI mechanic both agreed that, even though the timing belt was within wear spec and passed muster, it would be changed next time I brought it in, which would be at the end of my busy season (aka right about now). But the timing belt just had a different plan. And ka-pow! So, yeah, it was plain bad timing. And now it's exquisitely bad timing. C'est la guerre.
When the belt went out it didn't take me long to figure out what had happened. Got it towed, the mechanic removed the valve cover and saw some bent valves, but saw no cracks etc in the head itself. So it's going to need a valve job, and that's the project that I just can't take on right now. I wish I could, but I can't.
Now on to the background and current condition of the car:
9-10 years ago, a really good friend, who's an active TDI Club member and also an avid & accomplished wrencher, hunted this car down for me. It took him a good amount of time to find it, and I was very, very fortunate to have him hunting for the car rather than me looking for it. He found it on ebay. It was a New York car and he got it shipped to California. Upon arrival he did a bunch of basic and deferred maintenance on it, including installing a metal skid plate, and then I started driving it and it's been my only car ever since. I've averaged 10k miles per year.
As mentioned above, I've had it regularly serviced by good TDI mechanics. During the time I've owned it, the only really serious work it ever needed was a new clutch, back in 2016 (~70k miles ago). At one point, due to an intermittent electrical issue, I got an engine wiring harness replaced.
Leather seats. Gray Interior. A non-smoker car. During the time I've owned it, I was pretty much the only person ever in the car, so only the driver's seat has significant wear--but it's not too bad really. The shotgun seat has slight wear from previous owner and the rear seats are basically pristine. I took out the right rear seat bench because it gives me a little bit of extra cargo space and sleeping room (heck yeah I'm 6'1" and I go literally car camping in my MkIV Jetta wagon!), but of course I saved the seat bench and it would be easy-peasy to put it back in. The carpeting and the rest of the interior is in good shape, carpeting isn't too worn and no staining. All floor mats are present and in good shape. Again, since I've pretty much been the only person in the car during the time I've owned it, the only carpet which has gotten any use is the driver's floor, but it's still in good shape. Even though I had the car professionally cleaned inside and out a few weeks ago, the interior is dusty right now because I live on a smooth dirt road and at this time of year it's impossible to keep the dust down.
The sun roof and moon roof both work. No leaks and it all drains well as long as you keep the drain channels cleaned and cleared.
On all-highway journeys using cruise control set to 60 mph, I've always (including last week) gotten at least 52 mpg. Most of my miles are on hilly highways, and I've never felt a loss of power on the hills or when using passing lanes. The car has never burned oil, and I've always used the correct fully synthetic oil for it. Last oil change was about a month ago.
It passed California smog test in August 2022. The injection pump seal has been replaced (the $300 fix!) but as far as I know, the current injection pump is still the original one.
The car has really good tires which are about a year old, with very few miles on them because I just haven't driven much at all in the last year: Hankook Kinergy PT (H737) [860 A A]. Quite highly rated by Consumer Reports, and Consumer Reports predicts that they're good for 85k miles. Here's the Consumer Reports entry:
Hankook Kinergy PT tire - Consumer Reports
No one tests tires like we do. Get ratings, pricing, and performance on the Hankook Kinergy PT tire based on the features you care about.
The battery is also only about a year old, it's an Interstate.
And the new alternator, that was about a year ago too. I got the extra juicy one because I wanted to be able to easily drive a bigger fatter subwoofer.
The oil pan is also a year old. Because on a mountain highway coming around a blind curve in the middle of the night, there was a big rock in the middle of the road, so rather than risk swerving and tearing out the front end and/or running off the cliff, I just aimed for it dead-center and let the kick-ass metal skid plate take it. Which it did, but the oil pan wound up needing to be replaced.
(Hmm, looking back on it now, I guess the past year has been a pretty interesting one)
Control arms were replaced with OEM a couple years ago, and one front wheel bearing was replaced at the same time.
Some of the windows are tinted. The rear windshield tinting is failing. The way-back side windows' tinting is still good. The back seat windows used to be tinted but (go Oakland!) on 2 separate occasions the car was broken into via smashing a window, and I didn't bother to tint the new windows on the theory that, maybe if the thieves could easily see that there was nothing worth stealing, they'd maybe quit breaking windows. That strategy appears to have worked well enough (knock wood), since I haven't had a newly broken window for a few years now.
The paint is in good shape, with some wear and scratches about like you'd expect for a car of its age. The car has some white pinstripe detailing ooh-la-la. Sometime before I bought the car, it had some body work done. My TDI mechanic easily identified that the hood isn't original and I think he said one of the fenders was a replacement too. I don't remember much more about it because there was never any problem with any of it so I quit thinking about that years ago. I'm assuming it was the right fender which had been replaced because the left fender has what I've been told is "the typical 2002 rust" right above the wheel, and I've been told that this is because the original 2002 manufacturing process included piece of foam rubber just behind the fender metal, and the foam rubber absorbed and held moisture, leading to the fender rotting out right in that spot. Sure enough, when the rust hole opened up, I was able to tear the foam rubber into small pieces and pull it out. But as far as the body goes, I've damaged it a little: I've scraped the right fender via a column in a parking garage, and I've creased the left rocker (just below driver's door) by backing up along a hidden wooden post. And I've dented the rear bumper by backing into a big rock which was too low for me to see (the bumper could be pulled out, I just never bothered).
Other things to note: The headliner is detaching. I'd scheduled to get it fixed next month but I guess we can hold off on that now. It has a small exhaust leak, my mechanic says it'd be a cheap and easy repair for a muffler shop. ABS light is on, mechanic diagnosed it and concluded the ABS module is fine but a wheel speed sensor is needed. It's going to need new struts soon. The driver's door interior door grab handle is gone--that plastic part broke when I had to remove it on a very rainy night because the driver's power window switch broke and I really needed to get that window to roll up. The center arm rest latch spring is gone so I keep it closed with a little velcro strap--that's a bummer, I know, but the fact that the back seat has a cup holder AND an ashtray more than makes up for the armrest, because, hey, we all know that sometimes your toddler in the back really won't quit squawking til you get her a cup o' joe & a good smoke.
Yeah, so, other than the above, the car is sitting in the mechanic's lot (thank goodness for righteous vee-dub mechanics, lemme tell ya), waiting for you to come get her. Hopefully soon. I mean, the mechanic is cool and I'm chill, but no one has infinite time or infinite space, not even for a sweet MkIV ALH Jetta Wagon like this.
Thanks for sticking with me through my descriptive narration. Let's talk.
Last edited:
