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Comments
I am not sure of the difference between the 2005 and 2003 parts but the 2003's fuel filter is 25 to 35 dollars, the oil filter is 6.50. Oil I know has to be to a different standard than the 2003. I think one of the least endearing things about the VW is how much the VW dealer's charge. The one that is closest to me seems to have a take it or leave it attitude. I personally DIY except for complicated trouble shooting (knock on wood, it has been flawless) and the 100k scheduled TB change.
If you go to this website: www.worldimpex.com and search for parts for your car you'll see how cheap many of these parts can be purchased as well as list price. A complete oil change kit (filter, 505.01 oil, and drain plug) is only $39.95 and a fuel filter is $30.29. These items are very easy to perform, I could talk my wife through them and she doesn't know anything about cars. Not sure those services are worth the dealers full labor rates, but that's what they're charging in addition to nearly double list price for the parts. They must have left you a couple nice wrenches based on the shop supply charge!
I had the engine light come on (2004 Jetta TDI) with around 30k miles. Took it in to the dealer and they said it was the EGR Cooler? what the? and that it was damaged by using "green" antifreeze instead of the "pink".
Using the incorrect antifreeze is not known to cause the EGR to leak.... but can plug up the cooling system and destroy the engine.
The BIG QUESTION is.... did anyone put NON-VW (green) antifreeze in your Volkswagen? (Perhaps because it was leaking in the first place!!!!!)
Also, dont EVER let the bonehead that put the wrong type of antifreeze touch your car again. You may have ended up with a BOAT ANCHOR for an engine.
BOTTOM LINE: The leak was there becasue of defective EGR before the wrong antifreeze was poured in. I would fight this with VW especially since leaking EGR is a KNOWN issue.
If it was me and my commute was that long on mostly 75 MPH highways I would go for the Jetta TDI. It is better handling not subject to cross winds as the Prius can be. Generally you have to change the tires on the Prius to get acceptable handling. The late model 2004 and newer VWs have much better reliability than a few ears back. I am going on a year with absolutely no problems with my 2005 Passat TDI. I love driving it because it is so rock solid handling. Exceptional brakes and safety come standard. The 2006 Jetta is the highest rated compact for side impact. You do not have to pay extra to get side airbags etc.
Good luck in your long drive each day.
PS get XM satellite radio, it is great.
MPG Civic gets 50, Jetta gets 42 (a manual would add 4mpg) She drives 50mi one-way, I do 40. 80% highway, 20% local both.
Acceleration: slow on both. TDI does better now that I have installed an Upsolute ECU
Fuel: Civic uses 87 octane - "regular". No additives. TDI uses diesel with 4-6oz of Powerservice Diesel Kleen per fill-up. Diesel is currently running $.25/gal more than regular.
Maintainance: TDI has longer maintainance intervals and no tune-ups.
Noise: TDI is noisier though no worse than a regular car.
General utility: TDI - hands down. TDI is a wagon with all the hauling capacity of one. Has trailer hitch. You can install roof racks as well. Civic has rear boot,nothing more.
My TDI (manual xmission) gets over 55MPG on the highway. Northern Vermont to Pittsburgh on one tank of fuel...with some left over! It takes at least 40K miles to fully break in the TDI engine and realize the full MPG potential.
Keep in mind that VWs new DSG xmission is said to be as efficent as a manual. Also, as mentioned above, the TDI is most efficent when a cetane-improving additive is used. (Due to crappy fuel in North America)
One thing about the VW TDI engine (Pumpe Duse)... it REQUIRES special engine oil. I only mention this because some folks that purchase one seem to be surprised about this fact.
If my research is correct, the VW BORA is the British version of the Jetta. Odd how that would end up in Gig Harbor, WA, USA. Nice looking car. Did not notice if it was a TDI.
Is reliability your #1 concern? While I've had nearly zero problems with my TDI in 140k miles, VW does not have the best reputation for reliability.
Will the dealer be doing all your service? If so, a TDI can be expensive to operate simply because many VW dealers are crooks and charge excessively. You have to be very careful what service you tell them to perform. The TDI does NOT require much maintenance, but telling a dealer to "perform the 20k mile service" may cost you a fortune. This applies to any dealer, however VW dealers charge more for labor and parts, so it's even more dangerous.
You need to drive both and compare closely. You're going to be sitting in the thing two or more hours a day. Buy the one you like the best.
IMHO if you don't really enjoy driving a VW and would be satisfied with something like a Prius, you may find a normal gas civic or even a Civic Hybrid more appropriate. You may not get 50mpg but they're much better cars than a Prius. I love the TDI engine, the way it drives, how the car handles and feels. But you need to shop for yourself. A TDI is not for everyone, and a Prius is more of a feel-good car as I don't think the price premium will be recouped compared to other options.
Good advice. The Accord 4 cylinder has a lower Total Cost to Own than the Prius. The Hybrid Civic is even lower. Drive them all and pick the one you feel most comfortable driving. 70 Miles a day is a long time on the road. Comfort is a BIG factor.
Uphot: 2003 VW Jetta (Golf, New Beetle) TDI, 47-51 mpg commute traffic. 44-62 mpg range.
2004 Honda Civic VP, 37-41 mpg commute traffic and range.
You will clock (just in commute miles app) 19,000 per year.
While the Honda VP is a very capable commuter and actually a trooper in cross country, (longest trip has been 1600 miles and 750 in one day) if you plan to do other than commute long distance miles the TDI is much more fun than the Honda Civic.
Also please let me know where is the fuel temperature sensor on 2002 Jetta TDI and how to get to it. Roughly how much will it cost?
Thanks and much appreciated.
The problem is how it sits. Just loosen the hold down band (small to med philips) and then lift out the fuel filter to expose the bottom drain cock. Loosen the plastic drain cock over say a clear glass bottle drain app 1 to 2 oz and retighten and do the steps in reverse to put the fuel filter back in. Once you do it, the explanation is longer than the actual procedure.
I would not personally install and aftermarket water separator (glass) given the oem designed fuel filter.
I have drained the filters on the recommended cycles and in over 69,000 miles have never had water come out. I also probably should say I use Primrose 405C.
As for the fuel temp sensor... there is one INSIDE the fuelpump on your 2002 TDI. There are detailed photo-assisted instructions how to replace available elsewhere on the internet. (Edmunds rules forbid me from posting the link here)
I would appreciate your comments on the reliability of recent VW TDIs, are they really as good as my mechanic says? Do they pocess rock solid reliability? And do they really get 41 MPG combined, real world mileage?
Any replies will be greatly appreciated.
IMHO, if reliablity and never having to work on your car is the #1 priority in your life then I don't know that I could recommend VW. They're not terrible, but do require a bit more attention. Of course, you're not guaranteed 100% reliability with anything so when you get a bad Toyota it's really a bum deal. I love the way VW's drive and even with less reliability I'll take one over most any modern Toyota. If driving enjoyment isn't high on your list, I think overall a Corolla or Civic is cheaper to operate even if they don't get the terrific mpg.
Maybe the Honda Civic manual transmission or even the regular automatic. If you get the Hybrid with CVT, get a long warranty. They seem to be problematic. They seem to go out after 40k miles. After the regular warranty is gone.
Thats pretty funny. The lameness of some VW dealers really never ceases to amaze me. The fact that these EGR coolers are failing at very high rates on the 04 PD's had nothing to do with your EGR cooler failing (I just had mine replaced at 26K miles), but the green coolant must have ate holes through this stainless steel heat exchanger (puhleeeeeeeese). You really don't want to put anything but G-12 red antifreeze in your Jetta because there are o-rings, seals and other things that might have their life shortened by it, but the EGR cooler certainly is not one of those items. This dealer should be ashamed of themselves for even suggesting it.
There are many oil-changing units available to do this. (Boats with "inboard" engines have no other choice... one does not drill a hole in the bottom of the boat to change the oil ;-) )
This is the Oil Changer which I use (got on sale for about 30 bucks)
Here is another example.
Also, you can use the oil-sucker to get the puddled oil out of the oil-filter housing too.
You can also used my oil-sucker to change differentail fluid, power-steering fluid , brake fluid and other fluids which have no drain.
By starting the engine then turning it off, you are confusing the onboard computer so much that it has troubles calculating the correct startup injection quantities.
You MAY be able to improve the situation by having your IQ checked. (Injection Quality) Also make sure all 4 of the glowplugs are functinoal.
I think the info on the video, and from the TDI club web site is correct that you can get more of the old oil out of the engine by placing the suction tube down into the oil cooler when the oil filter is removed. That oil doesn't come out by just letting the oil drain from the drain plug.
However, since I was installing the TDI Heater at the same time, and had the plastic skid plate removed anyway, just out of curiosity, I decided to remove the drain plug to see if there was any oil left in the pan.
After I had drained all the oil I could with the oil extractor, by putting it down both the dip stick tube, and the oil cooler body, I was surprised to get nearly 3/4 of a quart more out of the pan despite having made very sure the extractor tip was bottomed out in the pan through the dip stick tube.
Since I have 6ft deep grease pit in my garage that I can drive the car over to work on it, I didn't find taking the plastic skid plate off that big an inconvieniance. Getting that much more dirty oil out makes it worth the effort, so in the future I think I will use the drain plug to drain most of the oil, and the extractor to get out what remains in the oil cooler.
That was my observation. Now here is my question. Why does the drain plug need to be replaced after being removed? I wasn't aware of this, and put back the same plug I took out. I drove the car for about 15 minutes with the skid plate off then pulled back into garage and checked for coolant leaks from my TDI Heater installation, but also checked for oil leaks from the plug, and filter housing, and found none.
Thanks for any enlightening info you can provide.
:confuse:
I would suspect that truly while it might be "distressing" in fact it is not a big deal.
I say that because if you look at the "dry" fill vs the oil change, the math indicates some oil is indeed left, i.e., you CAN NOT get all the oil out unless you dismantle the engine etc!!
Point two. the owners manual describes a dipstick measuring procedure. What it does indicated is that the "correct" oil level will show different on the dipstick during the correct procedure parameters than measured "overnight" Overnight will measure of course higher than normal.
I hope this is clear. If not fire your questions away.
Elf and Mann stuff are good products!!
As for the "crush" washers, they recommend new ones each time to serve as a reference points, for who knows when a used washer will lose its holding abiity and let the oil leak?
As for the skidplate, one can chose either STEEL or ALUMINIUM. Obviously the steel is stronger... but is also heavier. Adding a skidplate makes the already-low clearance even worse.
Also, one needs to consider replacing the plastic SIDESKIRTS when installing a skidplate.
Here are some links to various skidplate options;
http://www.dieselgeek.com/skidplate.php
http://members.porchlight.ca/benad/skidplate.htm
Unfortunately the metal skid plates aren't shown as being available for the New Jetta's yet.
If you do a Google search for 505.01 motor oil, you will come up with a number of brands (Elf, Motul, Pentosynth, Amzoil, Castrol, etc.), and online sources.
Hope this helps.
http://www.evolutionimport.com/Volkswagen_Skid_Plates_s/17.htm
I'd appreciate any shared wisdom based on actual experience with metal skid plates on a Jetta or Passat. (Toureg's excluded for obvious reasons.)