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I'm a happy Honda hatchback owner, and I'm thinking of buying a GOLF hatchback this year. I don't know anything about VW except from friends that drive them, and they all seem to love them. My Mom has a new Beetle and loves it.
My major concern is this: the Diesel engine has me VERY CURIOUS due to the incredible gas mileage they claim it gets. I plan on owning this car well into 200,000 miles. How does long can I expect the TDI engine to last with normal driving habits? Is there any history written about this engine? Does this engine require a timing belt change like other 4 cyl engines? Is this engine worth it, or am I better off in the long run with the 2.0 gas engine? I'd love to obtain some history. Can somebody point me in the right direction? I'm willing to visit any recommended websites and listen to all opinions/history reports.
Thanks!!!!
I recently got a golf after owning a civic hatch back. My civic was totalled in an accident.
It is a very different car. It drives better then the civic though the 2.0 is a little under powered.
However, I am concerned about the long term relialbity. I had one major problem at only 800 miles (car died on the highway) and the car has a lot more squeaks and rattles at 1,500 miles then my civic had at 45,000
The engine is very robust, and should last you at least 300,000 miles.
Maintenance:
oil changes: use synthetic oil every 10,000 miles (approx $30), the first two oil changes are done at 5,000 miles.
Fuel filter: Every 20,000 miles
Timing Belt: Every 80,000 miles
The 2.0L motor, has a record of excessive oil comsumption problems.
Maintenance is about the same, except you got spark plugs on the gas motor, and occasionally you need to replace the glow plugs in diesels.
That statement is incorrect. The maintenance on the TDI is as stated above with 10K oil changes, 20K fuel filter changes and the timing belt every 80K. How is this going to offset the extra mileage? It won't. Plus the TDI has higher resale than gas, not lower. And the history of diesel motors is that they last considerably longer than gasoline motors, and the TDI has been around in US since 1996 so it is a proven motor.
VWVortex is good for information about modding your car but for TDI information the best source is www.tdiclub.com. VWVortex also is tilted toward the 16-25 age group, for whatever that is worth.
Leo
The TDI with the manual is still good are stop & go driving, since it produces enough torque to idle at 5 mph.
It's going to be a personal preference
This is my first diesel. I've been trying to read up all I can about proper maintenance at TDICLUB, etc.
The dealer (of course) wants to sell me a $299.00 paint sealant job. Any recommendations for or against? Also, is the 6 disc CD changer worth the bucks (offered to me for $595.00)?
Thanks for any advice!
Lee
The CD changer price is ~$350 and it's very easy to install. $595 is highway robbery!
So no on both cases.
The 6 disc changer for 600 is a rip! I got mine from the dealer for $295 installed.
You have a double din head unit with the new monsoons, so no need for a 6 disc changer.
- Anthony
adg44:
THe double din is for the GLS models, with or without the monsoon system. There's always a need for the CD changer, IMO
- Anthony
LOL
"Not a good sign, unless they were tired of it."
More LOL
This reminds me of the Benz some friends of my parents who live in Naples, Italy used to have. The wife told us that since gasoline was so expensive, car thieves passed up the gas-powered ones and went for the diesel-powered ones. So they replaced the diesel-model badge on theirs with a gas-model badge. Gas station attendandants were sometimes shocked to see her pumping diesel into it.
I've been driving a Jetta 1.8T for the past year, I love the 1.8T engine. I cant afford the car anymore, so I'm looking at a 2.0 Golf. How much of a step down in performance will this be? I dont race or anything, but I like the way the 1.8T feels and kinda worried that the 2.0 will be HUGE step down.
Thanks
To save a little money, you can use regular gas instead of premium. Don't know how much that will help, but every little bit counts. Good luck.
Best is to test drive one first.
As to the oil drinking, I have to put in a quart every 1500 miles, which I do not consider excessive (I was always told German cars are designed to consume some oil - to keep the rings and valve stems lubricated). Consistent oil usage is not a problem. Being against it is a prejudice that dates back to the era when an oil user was on its last legs - American cars would start out using little oil, but then soon start burning it, which was the sign of the engine giving up. Japanese cars were so "tight" they never burned any (visible) amounts of oil. Anyway my car has used the same amount of oil since day one, and I now have 30,000 trouble free miles on it. I just figured it was why you could have 10,000 mile oil change intervals - it's not really the same oil in the pan anymore, by the end of the cycle. (I change oil every 3,300 miles to stay on the 10,000 mile maintenance cycle at the dealer, and I use Mobil 1 5-30.)
Finally, it takes a higher grade of catalytic converter to deal with oil consumption. Ford, in contrast, has an oil spec that is based on lower oil consumption to protect the lower grade materials in its catalytic converters....
that's the only reason.
It's driven by the raising in CAFE standards for manufacturers. With the dismal fuel economy of many of the Ford Trucks, they needed to raise the fuel economy across the board to bring up the average. There's no redesign in the engines to accomodate the thinner oil. Just some testing that shown no drastic reduction in reliability.
Find another way to cut your costs. After you figure out the loss in trade in and getting into another car, it probably isn't worth all your trouble.
Who needs to eat anyways!
- Anthony
My friend has a 1997 Golf GL and recently both the fuel gauge and dashboard lights don't work. Any ideas? Could this be a fuse issue? Or could both lights burn out and the fuel gauge go bad, all at once?
Any help would be appreciated. Thanks
- Anthony
I had a few minor problems initially, including windshield washer fluid leakage, which I fixed by reconnecting the hose to the nozzle: you can take off the plastic covers on inner side of the hood and see the nozzle. Other problems were AC failure due to loose hose (easy fix by dealer) and 'check engine light' when Mobile's low octane gas was used--the dealer says VW doesn't seem to like that gas. Huh...? Bizzare. When it happened, it shorted out the mass air flow sensor temporarily but it seems okay now. The dealer job to replace the sensor would have cost me $200, so I opted out to wait for further monotoring. VW has extended 'partial warranty' (they pay 50% on fix) on this item, so I suspect this happens a lot. You can buy the sensor online at about $40 and replace yourself: it's the little thingy attached to the intake just before the air filter. But you may have to reset the PCM, which normal customers like us can't because we don't have the equipment. Yup, that's how the dealers rip off us.
Oh, one more (yes, VW isn't as reliable as Toyota). My Golf's temp gauge fluctuates from zero to 180 F like roller coaster, even during 85 mph. Just a misreading, I reckon. No more warranty, so I don't bother taking it into a dealer. I don't think the engine management read off the temp from this gauge anyway.
Besides those troubles, I love this car. I guess it's a small price to pay to get a useful and stylish fun to drive car. Now I have 27,000 miles on this little fellah, I am thinking of getting another one when the new model comes out next year, this time with manual transmission. It's going to have real cool high speed wiper blades, the same kind used by Mercedes S class. This is why I love VW! How cool is that!
Happy driving!
One correction to my posting: Mass Air Flow sensor is installed just after the air filter (i.e., closer to the engine), not before. The sensor is sold at $45 at www.vwparts.com, and the dealer price is $100 (crooks!). Ironically, the 'check engine' light came on today. The dealer will charge another $100 for module reset, and $20 for road test. I may just buy the sensor at $45, and see if I can have a local shop mechanic reset the module with his equipment. No way he will charge $100 for that.
Fun never ceases.
The Golf and Jetta are the same car, however. The only difference is the Jetta (sedan only) is built in Mexico, and the Golf in Brazil.
It turns out that a 2" piece of metal that activates the latch that should be vertical has been bent to a 90 degree angle. It is not a fragile part. We also can't identify how this may have occurred. The dealer's solution is to replace the entire seat frame. Estimated cost is $500!!
I'd like to know if anyone else has experienced a similar problem or is aware of this being a problem. I'm concerned there is a design flaw that could become a potentially a significant safety issue.
Any feedback would be helpful.
If you are, I noticed this weekend, when I was driving two other people around, that my girl friend was not pushing the seat back down before sitting on it. She was using her weight to push it down. I remembered your email, and wondered if a heavy person threw themselves on the seat, maybe this would bend something since the seat is not that strong when it is in the "up" position, released to allow "walk in". I think it is important to return the seat to its normal position before sitting on it.
If you are talking about front back motion, to adjust distance to the pedals, I can't help you.
I had looked at a couple Proteges, but didn't end up getting one. I know what insurance rates are for late-model and new Proteges; just wondering if anybody had any idea whether the Golf would be higher or lower. My insurance guy is out for the holiday weekend.
Seems to me it should be around the same or a bit lower, as the Golf appears to have better safety scores according to Consumer Reports. Plus it's got ABS, side airbags and antitheft, where as the Protege's in question did not...
For 03, GL comes standard with power windows.