Reliability of VW vehicles

[naters1308]

I have a '13 Sportwagen TDI. It's amazing. I had a Prius previously and another german car before. This is the best car I've had. I've got 60K+ miles on it (I do about 25,000/year) and it drives like a dream and with the stick I get 48 MPG. Fits all my kite gear and the dog. Right now I've got an 80G fuel tank that I'm moving.
Will probably be my car (or a newer one) for the rest of my life.

The problem is if you want the TDI with a stick only 5% of the cars come off the line like that so you can either hunt around (which I did for 4-5 months) or just call Cartelligent and have them deal with it (what I did).

Overall, great car. Can't recommend it enough.

[friggin old guy]

My 84 VW camper has at least 245,000 miles on it with the original engine. Don't really know because the odometer stopped working. The speedometer reads 10% faster than I'm really going, which with 87 horses is maybe a good thing unless you're behind me on that hill in Pacifica......

[countervail]

Before I bought mine I did some research on http://tdiclub.com/ .

Up to 2003 and the engines and drive trains are supposed to be better (those with the ALH engine and prior). I think the general consensus among VW owners, that I've read, is that the engine and drive trains are solid, but everything else false apart around it; the inside plastic parts and switches, etc.

In general, if you don't mind doing your own basic repairs, the older models can work out. But if you prefer to have a shop do all the work that comes up, they can burn a hole in your wallet.

The 96' TDI B4V wagon gets about 45-48 mgp and will hold 26 gallons. Just went from the Bay Area to Hood River to Seattle on less than one tank.

Would be interested to hear how the new VW e-Golf is.

[shred_da_gorge]

My wife inherited my Mom's 2002 Jetta 1.8T (gas) and has had nothing but problems with it. Check engine light seems to be glued on, and she just went through (expensive) hell getting it to pass smog. She longs for the Civic she had with 225K on it before thinking the 50K Jetta was a better idea.

Me, I have a love/hate relationship with my 2001 Audi S4 Avant. I love to drive it, but I hate to pay for repairs: it's needed a new clutch, two oil pumps, and countless electrical and control doohickeys. My wife hates being a passenger in it so it's banished to Oregon.

There's a guy who windsurfs Third Ave with an '01 S4 Avant who had over 180K trouble-free miles on it when I spoke with him years ago, so you just never know when you'll get a lemon, or a 'star.'

I came close to getting the TDI wagon but was a little put off by some stuff I read about ULSD. Remembering how well my Integra treated me (up until my friend totaled it at 344K miles), I ended up with an inappropriately named Acura TSX "sports" wagon (yawn). It's a great car, though, and my only complaint is that I have a hard time shoe-horning my XL bikes into the back due to the shock towers (the Jetta wagon uses trailing A-arms, like the Volvo wagons, so the trunk is huge).

If you get a TDI, consider filling the tank from time to time with "B5" biodiesel, as it supposedly has better lubricating qualities for the engine's interior. The '5' is only 5% Ethanol, from what I understand, and there are grades up to B20 available at select locations around the bay area. (There was a web site showing where, but I don't have the link).

Good Luck!

P.S. I average ~36 MPG in the Acura on trips between Hood River and the south bay.