Are diesels more expensive to get maintenance etc done on??
VWs are a bit particular about their maintenance, but they are not more expensive. The only quirk of the TDIs is that they have MUST have their timing belt done on or nearly on schedule. You risk the engine's life if you don't. It's NOT a big deal, it just needs to be done. Secondly, you need to have a good shop that's familiar with TDIs to do it, or you risk the same fate. Again, not a big deal, it sounds far scarier than it is. But, the TDI club board will help you find someone local. The timing belt should have been changed at 60k miles. The replacement belts sold today are designed differently and are good for 100k. (If yours has already been replaced and you don't know which type it was replaced with, you need to assume it was a 60k belt to be safe.)
ok, maybe those of you w/ a tdi can help. I registered and tried to post a question on the tdi forum, but it won't let me post.
I called about a local 2002 jetta tdi. Seems to be a good price, 9,000 for 95k miles.
She did say that she only gets 40mpg and doesn't know how people get more, as she has tried. She says the diesel fuel is really foamy and maybe that's why she can't fill it up all the way??
Is it an automatic? They get lower MPG. Also, they upped the torque and horsepower on the 2002 model, so it gets lower MPG, either way. The 99.5-01 got the highest mileages, the best of those being the chipped manuals.
ALso, on the tdi forum, there is a thread,"Why do vw's suck?" And that really scares me. This car MUST last us at least 6 years, when I can go back to work as I'm a sahm now. We have no extra money laying around if this car doesn't work out. What do you think??
I haven't read the the thread, sorry...haven't been on TDI club in a while. Yep, VW dealers suck as bad as the rest of them. Especially with the above timing belt issue. They'll charge too much and aren't trustworthy.
I have the station wagon so it doesn't get the same mileage as the sedan. It supposed to get around 40. We were getting around 40 or a little more in the summer. In the winter we get a little less maybe mid 30s I think. We have some really cold spells in Alaska.
The wagon has about 2-5 mpg less than the comparable sedan. But, since the torque/hp stats and emissions details are different on each model year, it's hard to compare them directly across years. Here in TX, we get much better MPG in the winter. Cold, dense air is more efficient and in the summer, the AC really tanks the MPG. Any car that runs THAT efficiently is affected drastically by any changes like outside air temp/accessories running/things like roof racks, etc.
I only had my car a year but the carfax was also clear and we had people we know look it over. I haven't heard anything bad about the reputation and talked to some of the local biodiesal/veggie oil guys who know a lot about diesal cars. We hope to get at least ten years. You do have to keep up good maintance and get good oil. Repair costs are a little higher with the diesal.
We bought our 2001 in 2003 with 30k on it. We have run ours on regular diesel, bio diesel, and on another alternative fuel. It did great! We have 160k+ miles on it. We're getting ready to fix it up. It has been pretty neglected the last three years. It needs a bunch of work, but just consumables, like tires, timing belt, etc. There's nothing wrong with the car itself, with one exception:
VW electronics are notoriously quirky. They mostly are fine, but they tend to have intermittent problems. When we bought ours, the climate control lights (the ones in the dash that light up the heat dials and stuff) worked mostly. Within a year, they worked sometimes. A few years later, they worked rarely. I haven't seen those lights on in years now.
But, I know just where the dials are after that amount of time in the car and don't even notice the lights are out until I am talking VDubs.
I've written this post in bits and pieces over the last six hours. My apologies if it doesn't flow well or if I've missed something.
