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Jetta TDI continues to OVER DELIVER in the EPA ratings department !
Prius, despite the RADICAL changes to the EPA ratings and the resulting bru ha ha, still falls short- only falling less shorter. Here is the take:
..."Results (238 City Miles)
Prius: 44.7 mpg /// Jetta: 32 mpg
We expected the Prius to dominate our city test, and it did. After all, the hybrid powertrain meant that every time we hit a red light or traffic snarl, the Prius would sit silently—burning absolutely no fuel. But the Prius's overall 44.7-mpg count is still about 3 mpg less than the EPA City figure of 48. And, interestingly, the Jetta TDi's 32 mpgs are exactly four mpg more than its EPA City rating. Still, it's clear that in city-only driving the Prius has no equal—except perhaps a motorcycle. On the open road? Well that's a very different story.... "...
Regarding TDI vs. Pirus, drive both then decide which is more fun to be riding in. In addition. TDI is for the long haul. Lets compare $4-5K battery replacement in 8-10 year time frame. Then do the math.
Regarding your 6M how do you like the shifting? I didn't find it as smooth as my outgoing Maxima, but figured I would get use to it. Not sure why VW can't build a nice smooth shifting manual.
Gary
I'm a few days short of 1 month ownership. I have one of the demo cars.
My typical drive is a 25-29mile 1way commute depending on which path I take.
the longer has about 12 miles of highway. Otherwise I vary between 25mph and 45mph typically with hills. I'm fortunate I don't have very many stops on my commute which helps the mpg. My typ is 40/60 highway/local but my local is backroads and small towns west of boston (495 to sNH area).
My first full tank was ~43mpg (some extra local errands)
2nd full tank was ~47mpg (had some extra highway with trip to Durham).
I'm working on >48 halfway through my 3rd tank. Based on the first 2 tanks the trip computer is high by ~5% so this is a guess based on what I saw with the first 2 fill-ups. I'm hoping for 700 miles on this fill...
I'm noticing that the car is sort of immune to highs. The low torque helps to keep the mpg from dropping like I would see in my minivan.
As you might guess, I'm very happy with what I'm seeing so far. :-)
j
Look here and here.
New VW Jetta Diesel Tops Prius in Fuel-Economy Marathon Test
One is a red w/ manual transmission, no sunroof with a sticker in the low $23K.
The other is a gray Sport Wagon, manual transmission,panormic sunroof, unknown price. Ask for Jason @ 281-872-3985. Jason was our salesman for our Laser Blue Loyal Edition TDI back in August. Tell him Chris referred you, and he'll give me
$ 100 for the referral.
Diesel speakes for its self, it does not have to be in VW.
http://www.autonews.com/
VW taps 'zealots' to promote diesels
Volkswagen Group of America is enlisting the help of "diesel zealots" to spread the word about its new Jetta TDI clean diesel. The 2009 Jetta TDI, which went on sale in August, has been the subject of much attention in Internet blogs and chat rooms over the past 18 months, said VW spokeswoman Jennifer Jacoby. Jacoby said VW has been monitoring the chats and openly sharing information with diesel enthusiasts so they can spread the word on the merits of clean diesel. [SUB] 12:01 am U.S. ET | Sept. 29
My folks live in NH and they had a friend who used to work for a dealer (not the one in Nashua), apparently they have loads of legal issues with their customers. I would buy one from MA before i get one from NH any day, screw the sales tax. I currently have an 06 which has been great, except for the fact that i had to have the tranny replaced twice, clutch replaced twice, and the egine mounts broke in mid drive and the entire engine was replace excluding the cam.
It seems these '09s are getting a little better mileage than mine. I currentlt live in NJ and i get 36-39 mpg city with about 10 miles of highway every day (stop and go). I took a trip to NH this past weekend and i ended up with the same, 37-39 (but keep in mind my normal speed is 80-90). Something about the diesel is just great, it held the hills like a knife on butter and didn't slow at all. The torque, even at 2k rpm in 5th gear is outstanding.
Granted, the TDI's are a little heavier and roll much easier with all that extra front weight but if the '09s are anything like my '06 i would jump on one.
I'm waiting to give it a little time because i'm worried this new engine exhaust recycling system may cause a shorter life in the diesels, or a higher cost to maintain.
I'm movign to NH soon, and based on your point Gary, i will make it a point to drive from Claremont to Nashua for all my VW checkups. Thanks!
Speaking of Honda, back in the '80's, my wife and I were in the market for a new car. We wanted a hatchback and tried a lot of different models. The Honda dealers in Philadelphia at that time all had dealer mark-ups on the windows. I tried to deal with one and bascially got "that's the price on the window" and the salesguy walked away. So did we.
We continued trying different cars - almost bought a Mazda 323, looked at Renault(!) something or other, and finally bought a VW Golf. The car was solid, the dealer negotiated, and we ran the car for ten years and two pretty significant traffic accidents.
Just wait until Honda brings out a diesel. They'll treat buyers the same way as they did then and as they did in the early 2000's with the Oddy van.
As I find out more I will keep you posted.
Thanks!
I would call a 3 year old vehicle that has had the engine, clutch and transmission replaced a lemon. How can you say this is a great car?? I'm on the waiting list for a 09 TDI Sportwagon but have serious doubts about VW's reliability. VW service and reliability always ranks near the bottom in any consumer surveys and a 2006 needing a new engine, clutch and transmission certainly give credence to VWs reliability issues.
Dealer told me last week that the TDI Sportwagon should arrive in November. I'm still on the fence and have not decided to buy it or wait another year for the Acura TSX diesel.
I am not sure where you are, but surely, there must be a VW dealer there. They are in just about every continent and country these days. And since Polo was never available in the US, it won't matter that you are not in the US.
1. Is it possible to find out what options can be set via a VAG tool for the 2009 TDI Jettas?
2. What are common issues with the TDI engine?
3. What maintenance items need to be taken care of on a TDI vs a vehicle consuming regular unleaded?
4. Is there a breakin procedure for TDI?
5. Are all gas stations that sell Diesel fuel now only selling the clean version that the new TDI engine needs?
6. How expensive is the anti-gel additive? And how often is it needed?
7. I heard there is some additive that you can add on a per tank basis to improve performance... Is this true?
All help on the questions above are welcome.
2. Common issues might be hard to define or cover, more than you might be interested in. One common issue is when you fill, do NOT put RUG to PUG in a D2 burner. This sounds very common sensical, but this mistake is made every day and the cure can be very expensive and complex for such a little mistake.
3. There are less maintenance items, but I am sure that is not what you wish to hear. For example there are no spark plugs to change, OCI's can go up to 30,000 miles vs the more normal 3,000 to 5,000 OCI recommendation for RUG to PUG burners, Fuel and air filters are relatively long @ 40,000 miles. (I personally do much longer)
4. Yes, there is a break in procedure (again look/search for break in, drivebiwire, in www.tdi.com) If you have any questions after reading it, I would be happy to clarify.
5. YES, the places where you would commonly buy ULSD do/ but sometimes NO and to phrase it so can be an unrealistic expectation. There is a long explanation, again if you are really interested I can drone on.
6. Power Service is sold at your local WalMart (among many others vendors). Last time I priced it it was like $15 or so per half gal. You may need it when temperatures consistently are under 20 degrees. link title The bottle has the dilution rate.
7. Yes and no.VW does NOT recommend additives. Yet if you read on they recommend one. I and many other use products like Power Service, link titlePrimrose link title
While I can document no real effect (placebo), chemically I use it for 1. lubricity 2. emulsification. IF you run into either or both of these problems the cure can be very expensive. So as a preventative measure I have used Primrose since new (110,000 miles) They normally do other things like Cetane boost,etc.
I am not a VW mechanic so this is just a hunch and if it is in a garage, they have the capability to do the job, if they choose. It is my understanding that the ECU locks out the fuel pump if the correct key is not used. It won't start or run because it gets no fuel. Thieves cannot take the time to locate, disconnect and hot wire the fuel pump so the theft deterrant system works. Your garage may have the time.So put it on a toggle switch. You VW gearheads out there, will this work?????
a new key xmitter is ballpark $300 US with a duplicate of an old one being $400,
something wacky like that. encryption is silly like that, it's a math/law-of-universe thing.
anyway, if your mechanic is talking carribean $ instead of USA $ then the 1000$ may be exactly the same as $260 or $300 US ? Irie?
For the first 600 miles - Do not drive faster than 3/4 of the top speed shown on the speedometer (mine says 160, so don't go above 120 mph).
Do not use full throttle.
Avoid high engine speeds.
Do not tow a trailer.
From 600 - 1000 miles - Speeds can be gradually increased to the maximum vehicle speed or maximum permissible engine speed.
As for fueling stations, almost 97% that sell diesel sell ULSD.
http://www.clean-diesel.org/pump_survey.html
The anti-gel can be found at Wal-Mart for about $17 and I think it treats up to 100 gallons (could be mistaken on the amount). Not sure if you need it or not, I guess we'll find out this winter!
My dealership had troubles figuring it out at first, they ended up calling VW up to troubleshoot with them. When they got my car in from the towing company, they started the car and of course no lights were on and it ran normally. Looking at the paperwork, they said:
"Performed GFF and found code set for fuel pump control circuit- sporadic. Perform diagnosis, check battery connections-check connections at SA-SB-SC. check fuses SB15-SC27-SC27 and SC2. check main ground at left front, opened vta, checked for bulletins and tech tips. diagnose as per help line. found fuel pump relay not seated/pin checked fuel pump terminals/seat relay."
Not quite sure what all that means, but that's what they said on the repair sheet. Hopefully you may find something useful from this and get your car running normally again! I have almost 1100 miles on mine now and it has been running great since.
Thanks again for your help.
Hopefully all will be well and this will be the only trouble you have for many years to come. As someone said to me (sorry, I can't recall the name) at least it is under warranty and will be fixed.
Thanks
What is ultra low sulphur diesel fuel?
Ultra low sulphur diesel fuel (ULSD) is fuel that contains less than 15 parts per million sulphur. It is usually used for on-road applications. Since Sept. 1, 2006, all on-road diesel fuel in Canada must be ULSD.
http://retail.petro-canada.ca/en/independent/2060.aspx
So a warning to B5 (04,05) Passat drivers about this double-secret non-maintenance-item - OIL PUMP CHAIN -
The 04,05 Passat TDI requires oil pump chain/shaft inspection and maybe replacement every 75k or it is likely to shred. This is not mentioned in the manual for the car, as far as I know. TDIs are especially great cars in my experience, but here is an example of the special care and feeding a TDI requires, especially the uber-rare 04,05 Passat TDI.
I 'lost oil pressure' once. The wire fell off of the sending unit.Reconnected,and good to go!
>>>>>
Scanned system for faults. Found code for Cylinder #4 Glow Plug circuit Q13 electrical fault (P0674). Called the Tech Line. Advised to perform guided fault finding and transmitted it to tech Line. Checked all connections, fuses etc. All OK. Advised to clear code and retest in AM. Retested next morning. Fault came back. Called Tech Line. Advised to swap 3 & 4 glow plugs and clear code and retest. Cycled key approx 10 times. No light at this time. Let car sit to cool off. Retested again. At this time the light is off. No codes have returned. Tech Line advised to release the car at this time. They advised to bring the car back if the light returns.
>>>>>
My take: No real diagnosis here. Having enjoyed outstanding reliability from my previous Toyota, Honda, and Acura cars and suffered the pain of unreliability from a Chrysler Town & Country minivan, I have my fingers crossed and am hoping I did not make a wrong buy. The car is truly a blast to drive so perhaps that needs to be seen as the offsetting factor against any reliability issues.
On my prior TDI, I would get an erratic MIL every once in awhile. It was almost always a glow-plug code, yet even with the light set, the car would start perfectly fine in the dead of winter. I'd reset with my VAG and go about my business. Sometimes, just cleaning the contacts of the glow-plugs would reset the light on it's own. Therefore, I'm of the opinion that the glow-plug sensor's are just ridiculously sensitive. This happened maybe twice a year. The good news is that it's just a glow-plug so in the scheme of things not much to worry about.