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With my wifes 2003 Jetta, we have to use the key inserted into the drivers door to enguage/disenguage the locks and alarm. It is farrrr cheaper than having it 'fixed'.
It all started years ago after the drivers window was left open and there was a summer thunderstorm. The drivers-door lock has never been the same since.
Thanks!
After months of studying and test driving cars it come down to the Audi A3 TDI, Gulf TDI and Jetta Sportswagon TDI. The Audi was a real pleasure to drive but the price tag of 32,500 was a bit over the top especially when a comparable Golf TDI could be had for $8000 less. Another turn off with the Audi are the leather seats since there was no other option. The hardest decision was choosing between the Golf and the Sportswagon and it took over one hour looking at them side by side before deciding. I come back from 1000 miles HWY trip carrying 2 passengers and traveling the speed limit at 70 mph and using the AC. The gas mileage come to 41.5 mpg while on cruse most of the way . Driving at 60 mpg around town netted 42 mpg. So far I drove the car a bit over 1800 miles and coming from the likes of Toyota Tundras and Chevy conversion vans I am pleasantly surprised with the comfort, handling and especially the mpg.
Should I expect better gas mileage going forward? Most of my driving will be in Florida with 10% city and 90% hwy at 60 mph or less .
Got the two main rests removed, but the middle one won't budge (or I'm afraid to yank on it any harder) so I'm just going to lay it down normally and forgo laying it flat for now.
Why is it that the folks at Chevy can figure out a simple hinge locking/unlocking design that simply allows the head rest to unlock and flop forward (without removal) in such a configuration, but German engineers can't seem to work it out?
Other than this, it's a great car... but come on.
Diesel fuel costs the same as super unleaded around here, and provides almost double the mpg, but with only 7000 miles per year i would go gas. I might even go gas HOG with such low miles per year.
The VW dealers can procure the exact gas model you want with exact options, but depending on various factors, you might have to wait a couple weeks for it - or maybe months in the worst cast.
If you put down a deposit it is fully refundable until you actually take delivery.
best wishes!
My 2010 TDI has had the following issues, none of which were due to driver error:
1. Standard transmission problem; 3rd gear hiccuped at 1800 rpms
2. AC hose blew
3. ECM had to be replaced
4. Radio had to be replaced.
5. Sunroof stayed open and would not close
6. Condensation problem and recall part must be installed.
7. Cruise control does not work.
* the car has been to the shop more times than I care to mention but I will, close to a dozen.
for your case, probably the turn signal relay.
That's the noise i've noticed in my 2010 tdi sportwagen. It is actually the CD player shifting...or whatever it's doing while the keys are in the ignition.
The motor does not have to be running.
I bought a 2012 TDI Sportwagon a month ago. The first day I drove it, and noticed that the temperture control did not remember the setting the next morning.
I live in cold area, and normally turn the heating level all the way up leave it there. In the morning, I start up the car and let it warm up, but this car's heater will never get warm up inside car unless, first I have to turn on the fan and turn the heater, or tempurature control nob all the way down and up and again for it to get warm.
Not only that, sometimes I drive and the inside the car gets hot, so I turn off the fan and only let the fresh air come in from the outside, for a while, there is no heat. Again, I have to do the same like I mention above, in order to get heat inside the car. I don't know if this is a flaw in the design or something wrong with the car. I called the customer car at VW, the person on the phone could not tell anything. I haven't talked to the dealer where I bought the car yet. I try to get some information about the problem before I talk to them.
If anyone knows or had the same problem please let me know. If it is the way it was design, that would be so inconvenient. I wanted to install a remote starter to warm up the car in the winter, but this is not going to work. Many thanks in advance for any in put or information.
Best Regards,
Tung
Congratulations on your new TDI , I bet it is a blast to drive. That's the way to warm it up too , to drive it... But of course, driving with a frosted window (or a pile of snow on the roof) is ill-advised and illegal.
VW has included an electric heater for defrosting the windshield - it will turn on when outside temp is >80 - also it may be mandatory and/or wise to use 100% defrost position if any frost on windows. It does not get super warm but it does defrost enough of the window within a couple minutes.
The temperature control (digital controls as well as manual, if available) *should* remember the heat setting, the number dialed into the electronic control. If it does not remember, then it is broken and dealership will fix it, end of story, no wiggle-room. However the other aspects you describe are not really fixable, they are design aspects as you astutely suspected; they are the same reason the vehicle gets fantastic mpg.
My experience is with 4 TDIs from 2003 -> 2006. I understand the new ones are similar in with regard to HEAT IN THE CABIN or LACK THEREOF at crucial times such as mornings when my driveway was actually colder than the day's high-temperature on Mars.
In super-cold climates, my jetta/NB/jetta-wagon would NOT warm up without driving it a *bunch* and HAMMERING IT on the highway. That happens to exactly fit my driving style, but my TDIs remained amazingly slooooow to warm up.
Advice: Do not over-rev but keep the engine in a lower gear if you must to keep it warming better. Turn on every heating element. Crank rap music with the bass turned all the way up. Do whatever it takes to draw current and make the engine/alternator work. But don't max the fan too soon! The defroster-electric-heater has massive current draw too - it will run automatically with controls as above, until coolant reaches certain temp.
My 2005 Passat TDI was heavier/bigger-engine and warmed up a bit quicker. 10 minutes instead of 15. Either not quick enough for my preference. It will cool down in cold weather idling in traffic. This is a fact of the diesel engine's efficiency, less "waste heat". Also you have observed correctly that in frigid weather the only way to get the engine to warm up a *little* at idle is to turn on every electrical accessory, especially every heating element, and to ensure the built-in electric heater is operating (put temp knob >80 , defrost-only position if any frost on windshield).
Especially without a garage, a diesel engine in cold climate can be troublesome and cost you time every morning morning. And the bunwarmer "option" in the seat is not truly optional in cold climates. It's good to have, but in the end it can results in part of body being way too hot and other parts being way too cold.
There are electric oilpan & other heaters that can pre-warm the oil/coolant/block. One type is a "dipstick heater". I think can be added without much trouble but not sure of dealer warranty. And not sure if running a 3prong heavy duty extension cord is your idea of fun. Costs more time and PITA. But if you google to fred's tdi club you can read about the heater options.
After 400k on diesels, none with add-on heaters, I do appreciate the heat now by driving gasser Cruze 6-spd in winter... So one of the best things about it has just the right amount of 'inefficiency' which gives it a "lousy" 34 mpg instead of 44 mpg (or more) for a TDI. Yet still strong enough (barely) for real highway acceleration & speeds. It is warm in less than 2 miles of rural road on my commute - miles before I reach highway. With the TDIs, they would not get *hot* until >10 minutes of highway driving the highway. On the coldest days it would take TDI 15 minutes or more of highway driving to get to full/optimal engine temp. Noticeably worse mpg at the cooler engine temps too... But always way better mpg than the similar gasoline vehicle.
Best wishes & Stay Warm!
Thank you for your advice and very detail explaination. I think my heating control is broken. It does not remember the setting when the fan turn off for awhile. I will need to bring it to the dealer. Other than that, the car runs fantastic. This is my first diesel car, and I can hardly tell it is diesel. It runs very much like the gas engine with 50 mpg on the high way. Thanks again for your help. Have a very Merry Christmas.
Best Regards,
Tung
I hope the warranty service is top-notch like the local VW dealership to me. Let us know your results and enjoy that 50 mpg.
To find some warmth, you can drive from Boston to Jacksonville with just ONE refueling like I did *many* times in a VW TDI.
I switched from Liberty Mutual auto insurance after they quoted me $117 per month, an increase of $35 a month on the 2005 Sienna/2000 Impreza combo we were insuring. There was no other explanation than minivans are cheaper to insure than cars. That's after I got a booklet from Liberty saying that the Jetta has an overall better safety rating than my Sienna did. HMMM. Anyway I hooked up with Geico, monthly payments will be less than half of Liberty's. They had a really cheap add on for Mechanical Breakdown Insurance (MBI). Now I'm wondering if I should cancel the extended warranty to 7 years 100,000, I bought for just over $2,000. Anybody have thoughts on this? The MBI coverage is only about $34 a year extra with a $250 deductible. Bumper to bumper coverage on anything but routine maintenance.
Now I'm just hoping that taking the rear wheel off our tandem bicycle to fit inside the Jetta won't be too much of a pain. Hoping to avoid that roof rack transport.
About the safety, I can tell with my personal experience. I like mentioned at the top of this thread. I bought the 2012 Jetta Sportwage TDI. Well, about 3 weeks ago, someone rear ended to my new car at the speed, probably 50 mph. Totally damaged the back of the car all the way to back seats. My two sons sat in the back seats. They were ok without getting killed. The car absorbed most of the impact energy. We were very lucky that we didn't get killed by the accident. The vehicle that hit my car was toyota 4 runner. So, my new car is now being repaired. I will be driving a new car with a history of accident. I don't like it when I think about it. Enjoy your new car. It is a very well built car, and good luck.
Best Regard,
Tung
$2000 for diminished value.
The radio that takes the flash drive. The Blue tooth phone? I got all this in
Southern Calif 2010 at CapoVW fo 26,500.00
My wife does not like strong sun so the automatic sun screen is marvelous.
It reminds me of the 21 window VW Bus of the 1969 but the TDI has VAROOM!! I bought standard cross bars online Rack.com 69.00 I carry my Kayak and my Sea Snark on top no problem. It nice to look up and check.
by the GAS station are blending the gas and getting lower MPG. If you keep the Car invest in a set of Nokian Entyres these are quiet and improved my MPG by 10 MPG no joke. If you drive SNOW get the WR.
I can make it on 3/4 of a tank. I drive using cruise control at 65 MPH. I also installed Nokian Entyres the give me a additional 10 MPG. My car has 26,000
miles on it oh what I ride . Don't you love the radio with the flash drive slot.
How about the 110 outlet.
the back seat split fold them down with the HEAD RESTS still attached. Move the front seats where you like them. You can store stuff in one hidden chamber and one just above the tire. You can put 8 foot surfboard and a angle.
is priced the same as mid grade Gas. Get the TDI you be driving it for the next 10 years.
TDI has a great crash test rating. Gas can catch on fire easier than Diesel.
Obviously Diesel is no problem on the HWY because all the Trucks use it. Your
teenage daughter that needs to charge her cell phone will love the 110 outlet.
You can shave with your electric shaver or the wife can blow dry her hair after
that impromptu swim in the lake etc on your next road trip. At XMAS the tree fits in the wagon.
TDIs are great for driving 50k per year - I can vouch for that - saved me thousands in fuel costs yearly for a decade or so...
ps - good luck with that blow-dryer in the car's 110V outlet...
Thanks for your input.
It is amazing how few people realize that for every uphill there is a down hill and for every acceleration there is a deceleration. AWD does nothing for you most of the time. On top of that not being able to stop is much worse than not being able to go. 4 snow tires help you all of the time, not just some of the time.
Of course if you run snows with awd you have the total package - congrats. I would still prefer fwd for the added economy.
Contrary to what the TV ads tell us, on pavement there is absolutely no benefit to having AWD.
Cars have ALWAYS had 4-wheel brakes, so AWD does nothing to help you stop.
Also, AWD adds weight, complexity and more moving parts to a car... all of which detract from MPG while adding expense.
With that said, I live in Vermont and Subaru is the most popular vehicle (perhaps every 3rd vehicle is Subie) Vermont has a lot of dirt (mud) roads which may not even be plowed in the winter.
Do you drive a Jetta?
ABSOLUTELY comfortable! (even without "snow" tires) I learned how to drive on snow-covered roads. I taught my kids to drive on the snow by FORCING them to slide around in empty parking-lots. (I would grab the parking-brake and then let them recover the skid) They have since thanked me several times when they found themselves sliding and knew EXACTLY what to do without any fear.
My *only* fear on snow-covered roads is out-of-staters who have no clue what they are doing and tend to slide into other cars.
I will say that the ESP on my VW almost makes snow-driving not fun because it will not slide sideways. The ESP is uncanny at keeping the vehicle from getting into a slide.
Do not forget that VW has a lot more than you may expect
ESP - Electronic Stability Program
Contains all of the following abilities:
Anti-lock Braking System (ABS)
Anti-slip Regulation (ASR)
Electronic Differential Lock (EDL)
These all work together when you accelerate in the snow.
The EDL system will apply brakes to the wheel which is trying to spin. This forces the torque to the OTHER wheel.
If that does not work, The ASR will cut the throttle to keep the tires from spinning.
I can attest that all these fancy systems work together to make driving a FWD VW in the snow very mundane and uneventful. I can dump the clutch and mash the throttle... and the vehicle will simply pull away from a stop smoothly with no spinning of the front wheels...and in s STRAIGHT line.
Thanks,
Fred
Thanks again,
Fred