Another car in the driveway now...

audiobliss

I can't believe it. We bought another car. :eek: Gas prices have just kept going up and up, and Dad has been talking about getting a more economical car. Until now, we've only had a Suburban (17-18mpg), my '95 Cherokee (16-18mpg), and Mom's Chrysler Town & Country (18-20mpg).

Now we have a car that gets at least 50mpg on the highway: 2002 VW Jetta TDI. My first impression: man this thing is scratched up! It's an '02 with 44,521 miles on it, and it has a ton (well, maybe exagerrating a little here; I like my cars perfect) of scratches. Also, the little electronic switch for adjusting the side-mirrors is broken and the finish is coming off the driver's door panel. The dealership ordered the mirror switch and will replace it, so that's good. I'm thinking maybe picking up a new door panel from a junkyard or something.

I must say that, given this is a German car with 'superior quality' and such (as I truly believed they had), every plastic panels gives way more than I'd like it to. Anyhoo, we have it, so I'll stop complaining.


It's actually pretty peppy. Hopefully I'll know a little more about that (and the way it handles and stops and such) after I've driven it a little more. So far, I've only driven it for about 3 minutes.

I sat in it last night and listened to a few songs on the Monsoon (sp?) stereo system. Considering how fed up I got over trying to install a system in my Jeep because of not finding stuff that was 1) in my price range, 2) that I liked, 3) (the biggie) that Mom would approve of, I don't think I even want to do anything to the stock stereo. It actually doesn't sound that bad. I mean, I can go down the highway with the windows down and turn it up loud enough to hear that; I can't say that about my Jeep system.


So, what all do y'all know about these Jetta TDIs? Any comments? Suggestions? How about performance? If this turns out to be pretty much be 'my' car, I might be looking to do stuff to it. However, it could end up being Dad's, Mom's, or just everybody's right now, so I don't know. I stumbled across a site last night that listed some performance parts for it (namely, an aftermarket ECU). www.stealthtdi.com


I'll fill in some gaps (and hopefully post some pictures) after a while.

audiobliss

bobman1235

If you gave me a VW for free, I'd drive it immediately into the ocean.

They're great until they start to break, and then they're useless money pits. They drive like a dream, don't get me wrong - I loved my VW when it worked. Then it broke. And then everything went wrong one by one. The electrical system was ALWAYS effed up (as it seems to already be with yours), and the engine all but fell apart at 120K miles. Like, bent cams and pistons. Ridiculous things. After I sold it, I talked to some mechanics - even the mechanics AT THE VW DEALERSHIP said VWs are a pain in teh **** and impossible to fix.

Not to diss your new purchase or anything... I'm just prejudiced against the Germanmobiles. Good on your for saving gas at the very least.

audiobliss

Well, thanks for painting such a horrible picture, lol. Our electrical system is already gone? Not that I know of. The switch is 'mechanically' broken; like, someone broke the knob off it so it's now flush with the door panel.

ND13

For the most part, the VW diesels are extremely reliable and efficient engines. Just maintain the car as the manufacturer suggests and you should be just fine. I wouldn't worry about all the little trim parts and ****, they're cheap to replace from a salvage yard and easy to install. Them breaking can't really be attributed to the car, but more to the previous owner's negligence.

VR3

Audiobliss requested, in IM that I bump this thread up for him. So I am now bumping.

Bump.

He also asked me to immitate one of his post...

So here goes...

"ROFL"

"HAHA"

"Thats Funny!!"

Now back to the thread (which I havn't read).

Your welcome Mike! *high five* *misses*

audiobliss

*low five*

*with a fist*

*hits mark right in the gut*

VR3

Listen here buddy... This is really your new car...

audiobliss

Nope. See, we actually traded that in on the new Jetta.

ND13

I'd love to have that old bug. It would be a blast during the winter months.

audiobliss

There is something unique about the old bugs. Rear engine, rear wheel drive, have that sound of the fan...

ND13

If you notice, it sure looks as though, they have turned that one into a 4x4. It has lock-out hubs on the front end and an axle.

Sure would be fun in a ralley race.

audiobliss

That is, if it's not as top-heavy as it appears to be. Though I must admit the lift, aggressive tires, and white wheels work well with the body to make it look almost maybe good even perhaps sort of. lol

heiney9

bobman1235 wrote:

If you gave me a VW for free, I'd drive it immediately into the ocean.

They're great until they start to break, and then they're useless money pits. They drive like a dream, don't get me wrong - I loved my VW when it worked. Then it broke. And then everything went wrong one by one. The electrical system was ALWAYS effed up (as it seems to already be with yours), and the engine all but fell apart at 120K miles. Like, bent cams and pistons. Ridiculous things. After I sold it, I talked to some mechanics - even the mechanics AT THE VW DEALERSHIP said VWs are a pain in teh **** and impossible to fix.

Not to diss your new purchase or anything... I'm just prejudiced against the Germanmobiles. Good on your for saving gas at the very least.

LOL...I can't get into this discussion too much :eek: . I have a '91 GTI right now with 190K and it's still going strong, albeit some oil usage which I could fix but choose not to. I'm driving her till she dies.....I've only owned VW or Audi and there is some truth to the money pit thing, but Bobman I'd say maybe you had some bad luck also. Generally speaking German cars on the whole have higher repair bills than Japanese cars, but for every horror story you find about them there are equally as many about other brands as well. A well maintained VW is likely to give very little trouble.....that's been my experience anyways. Parents have a Passat....brother has VR6 GTI....friends have Jetta's all with relatively minor repair bills. This is only from my perspective. However....I have owned or known people who've owned over 20 VW's early and late models and I have never seen what Bobman describes. Not to say that didn't happen to him. I've never personally experienced it.

Your mileage may vary (and it probably will)

H9

ND13

audiobliss wrote:

That is, if it's not as top-heavy as it appears to be. Though I must admit the lift, aggressive tires, and white wheels work well with the body to make it look almost maybe good even perhaps sort of. lol

It won't be "very" top heavy at all. The old bugs, though appearing to be top heavy, really are just a hollow shell built on a minimal chassis with a low center of gravity. While the lift may have moved it up a tad, it would be far from overly top heavy, at least not too worrisome, anyways.

bobman1235

I'm well aware I had a baaaaad experience - I'm sure 95% of people with VWs deal with nothing like it. But when the mechanic himself keeps blaming VW, adn I'm still in debt to this DAY cuz of that car, I tend to hav ea bad taste in my mouth.

I gotta say though, the only car I ever enjoyed driving as much as that one was the one time a friend let me drive his BMW M2. My VW ('93 Passat V6, 5spd) just had power to spare no matter what, hugged the road... hatred and all, I sure miss that car

heiney9

bobman1235 wrote:

I'm well aware I had a baaaaad experience - I'm sure 95% of people with VWs deal with nothing like it. But when the mechanic himself keeps blaming VW, adn I'm still in debt to this DAY cuz of that car, I tend to hav ea bad taste in my mouth.

I gotta say though, the only car I ever enjoyed driving as much as that one was the one time a friend let me drive his BMW M2. My VW ('93 Passat V6, 5spd) just had power to spare no matter what, hugged the road... hatred and all, I sure miss that car

Hey man I don't blame you for having a bad taste leftover . With VW's it can very well be a love/hate thing. My mechanic who is a friend and works exclusively on VW/AUDI says the same thing....he wouldn't own a newer one. It's ironic becasue thats all he drives. But he can fix them cheap and has a literal bone yard on his property to gets used parts from. He's helped me out on occasion w/used parts.

But my GTI, although has had some weird things go wrong, has been relatively trouble free. It is still a blast to drive on the twisties . Er....what twisties we have here in Illinois. There is a certain Synergy german cars posess that make them so fun to drive. I don't get that same feeling in **** or American cars. I believe the Germans call it Teutonic engineering.

H9