Talked to a salesman today, How to use TDI?

[goosegunner]

One of my brothers best friends is a VW salesman. I talked to him today about the tdi passat. It was kind of funny because I told him that I might look at one of the new chevy Malibu's. He said if I buy one of those he will come to my house and slap me around for buying a bad car. He said he would take care of us on the price.

I expressed my concerns about maintenance problems with TDI's that my mechanic told me to consider(clogged EGRs and intake).

He thought maybe a 1.8 turbo would be a better choice. He said the problems people are having with the TDI's are usually related to short trips. Thing is I'm not buying a VW if it is not a TDI.

We don't do many city miles because we live in the country.

What do you think, Is a TDI a good choice for our driving?

We live about 8 miles from town and put on about 25,000 miles a year on each of our 2 vehicles. My wife makes the trip to town several times a day and several trips a month to see her family 50 miles away.

I drive 100 mile round trip to work about 90 days a year, plus many trips to town.

My thinking was use the passat for the most driving. It would be my wife's primary car but I could use it to commute to work some of the time.


gg

 

[jrivers804]

I have a 1998 Jetta TDI that I bought new. I live in the country, until the end of 2002 I was drivng about 500 miles per week. I drive much fewer miles now, but (and hopefully I don't jinx myself) I've never had a problem with the intake manifold. The TDI is excellent if you live in the country or do a lot of highway or interstate driving. If VW gets around to importing a new Passat TDI with a manual tranny, I would replace my 1998. But, unfortuneately for them, my 1998 is still going strong and until they bring a product I really want, I'm in no hurry to buy a new car.

 

[Leseid]

When we lived in the country I would have died for a car like this! THese would make the perfect farm car--holds a lot of stuff, excellent on fuel and tough.

Just my .02

 

[Jerry]

I had a badly clogged intake at 48K miles, but I used the car daily on a commute with many stops and starts. It might have made the problem worse.

 

[GoFaster]

Please note, the Passat TDI has the PD engine. It's a different animal. Theoretically, due to the much higher injection pressure and better combustion (and much more accurate control of the EGR and fuel), it shouldn't be affected as much by the intake clogging issue. (Too early to tell for sure, though.)

I think you're doing enough long trips that it should be fine.

The 1.8T gasoline engine is a gas hog ... and it wants premium, too.