06 Tdi Jetta. Talk me out of it.

So a local stealership has been sitting on an 06 Jetta 5 speed for about 8 months. I've watched the price go from stupid to tempting, and I went and looked at it on Thursday. Why am I looking at one? Well new position at work has me driving 1-1.5 hours each way, approximately 50 miles. I've been using my MIL's 2016 kia soul to commute with(don't get me started on that thing) it gets great mileage around town but put it at highway speeds and it drinks gas faster than my old 86 Z28, almost on par with my 2000 Silverado. SWMBO doesn't want me riding to work, and I tend to concur with having to deal with downtown Tampa traffic at 7AM. (ATGATT only does so much) being able to run 80mph and still knock down 30+mpg sounds pretty good, as I'm putting about 1.75 tanks through the soul@45$ a tank full. 
 

pro's 

- Its up to date on maintenance. 
- New clutch, timing belt, water pump etc in the last 7k mile. Maintenance records etc

- manual

- no sunroof

- lowish miles @137k

- good interior

con's

- I'm not wild about the color. 
- parking lot dents and dings

- missing under tray/skidplate

- radio pixels have left the chat

- very minor peeling starting on the door cards

so. Talk me out of it. 

Waiting for this to become a build thread.

For traffic driving a gen2 prius might be an option, but a stick oil burner can be fun.  Lots of torque, tough to program the brain to floor it at 1200 RPM and shift at 2500 but it can be fun.  Not a lot of acceleration either but again with MPG as a goal nothing will.  I drove a diesel jetta on Phila highways into the city for a year, it was fun but a deer not in the crosswalk ended it, badly for the deer!

One of the few actual reliable VW's? Na can't in good conscious do that.

In reply to porschenut :

Oh jeez no, the nice thing about the TDIs is they like to rev.  Shifting at 2500 is fine for a Cummins but this is a VW, run it out to 4000 if you want.

I mean, these TDIs are more rev happy than my last gasoline engined VW.

Is it this one?  https://www.autotrader.com/cars-for-sale/vehicle/667619294

Looks clean to me other than the right rear door having mismatching paint. No real reason not to go for it, these are pretty reliable as far as Volkswagens go. 

Your MIL might want to check whats up with her Soul (vehicle). I have had two Soul's, 2013 and a 2018 that I used as DDs. One being a Turbo. I could easily get mid to upper 30s mpg on the highway with both of them and if everything was ideal, flat surface, nice weather and a bit of a tail wind I could get lower 40s mpg on the non turbo.

In reply to Pete. (l33t FS) :

Mine lost power around 3500, but if I floored it at 1500 the pull was impressive.  For what is was.

Or there is this

https://allentown.craigslist.org/cto/d/nazareth-1982-volkswagen-rabbit-diesel/7750714365.html

check out the exhaust pipe thru the hood!

In reply to porschenut :

That car should have the 16 valve two liter.  I was kind of shocked when I drove one for the first time.  The DSG is calibrated to let the engine spin a bit.  It feels very un-Diesel like.

Cams are a wear item (especially if you use the wrong oil), fuel pump can fail and leak into the clutch, pretty much anything you have to fix is at least $1,000.  If you keep up with all the maintenance and use factory parts they seem reliable though.

Sorry for the delay in the response. Still getting used to overnights. 

AngryCorvair (Forum Supporter) said:

Waiting for this to become a build thread.

May happen yet. 
 

porschenut said:

For traffic driving a gen2 prius might be an option, but a stick oil burner can be fun.  Lots of torque, tough to program the brain to floor it at 1200 RPM and shift at 2500 but it can be fun.  Not a lot of acceleration either but again with MPG as a goal nothing will.  I drove a diesel jetta on Phila highways into the city for a year, it was fun but a deer not in the crosswalk ended it, badly for the deer!

Sorry you met an overgrown squirrel. They suck. The ability to pull a small trailer with my dirt bike on it or some home improvement supplies is one of the reasons for looking at the TDi vs the car with the prissy pedal. 

 

peanutpckrupper said:

Is it this one?  https://www.autotrader.com/cars-for-sale/vehicle/667619294

 

Looks clean to me other than the right rear door having mismatching paint. No real reason not to go for it, these are pretty reliable as far as Volkswagens go. 

Yeah that's it. I'm torn between that one and there's a 2013 sport wagon with a dsg but no where near as clean for a bit less $$. 
 

 

In reply to Feedyurhed :

Yeah. It's great around town but the auto plus 80-90 avg speed it just sucks it down. Back it down to 70-75 it's much better but you run the risk of ending up doing 55-60 in the right lane because no one will let you over or getting run over in the center lane at those speeds. Doesn't help that it has the base motor in it.  When you're on two wheels and on the interstate you pretty much have to be moving faster than everyone else or risk getting plowed around here.  I've almost been merged into at least a dozen times when getting caught in traffic on the bike. People just down pay attention. 

Tk8398 said:

Cams are a wear item (especially if you use the wrong oil), fuel pump can fail and leak into the clutch, pretty much anything you have to fix is at least $1,000.  If you keep up with all the maintenance and use factory parts they seem reliable though.

I'm aware. It looks fine at the moment per the mechanic. He "inspected" it when he did the timing belt. If I bring it home I'll definitely be popping it open to take a look for myself. 

In reply to Mr. Lee :

Didn't that generation DSG have mechatronics problems? 

In reply to peanutpckrupper :

I swore off VAG stuff years ago, but I never dabbled in the oil burner side so this is me thinking about giving them another try. As for the dsg issues. I know the early ones had issues. I don't hear much about the 20-teens self destructing unless they've been neglected.  

An 06 will be the BRM which has problems flattening the cam. They must be used with a 505.01 spec oil. The engine really solid and respons well to tuning! Big fan of the ol 1.9 PD TDI.

I am a diesel freak, and I love the TDIs... I just can't recommend anything else (as in... the entire rest of the car) about it.

- If you're going to do future timing belts on your own, invest in the tool that holds the pump and cams together.  I forget when TDIs went common rail injection, but if it's still hydraulic, getting the timing right on the injection pump is remarkably hard if it slips.
- Better yet, just let someone else do the swearing timing belt.  Just getting the front motor mount out to do the belt is infuriating, not to mention if you have to do anything else like tensioners or pulleys.
- Be prepared for anything important to be VW-parts counter only.  You can find brake pads, ball joints, and other maintenance stuff anywhere, but you'll find out quickly that the car kinda likes to eat parts that are only available.  The oil vent tube is made out of the thinnest plastic corrugated tubing you can imagine, and the HCs destroy them about every 60k.  They have a super-proprietary square-ish o-ring snap connector, so you can't even just get some generic hose to replace it.  You have to get the VW part, which wholesaled 10 years ago for $181.
- Hope you like air fresheners.  VWs smell awful inside.
- If you get an aftermarket stereo so you have pixels again, make sure you do it with the correct adapter harness.  VAG vehicles monitor EVERYTHING - the radio, seat warmers, sunroof - and if it's not done properly you can get a CEL.  When you go to plug in your reader, it won't work, because the ALDL now will have 12v at a pin that's supposed to have 5v or 0v.
- If it's the stock clutch, you'll probably hate it worse than having an automatic.  It is super-light and almost makes you feel like there is air in the system.  Get a decent aftermarket clutch and it will feel normal.
- Invest in a GOOD set of triple square sockets in several flavors.  Expect many of the driveline parts like CV axles to have these rusted TS cap bolts that will always strip out, no matter how well you set them.  Imagine a 12-point torx with super shallow teeth.  They're hopeless.

Otherwise, go for it?  This is just a list of things that completely annoy me about VW ownership.  When I was running repair shops, VWs were our payday.  They always had something wrong, they always had expensive parts that we knew would fail again in a year or two, and they were a quick ticket to longer labor hours.

In reply to Curtis73 (Forum Supporter) :

Thanks for the heads up. It's a stripper model for the most part. Leatherette seats, pw, pl, and that's it. Part of the reason I'm thinking about it. I missed a 03 base golf tdi by about 12 hours Super Bowl weekend. Dude said he didn't want to meet that day due to partying and when I texted him Monday morning he sold it the night before. Challenge money for that one but it needs all the maintenance done. 
 

Mechanic claimed to have "upgraded" the clutch when it was replaced but it definitely feels like there's air there. Stupid light and super quick engagement. Could also be that it's been ~10+ years since I've driven 4 wheels with a clutch. I figure I'll upgrade it down the line if I pull the trigger. 
 

Front engine mount wasn't too bad on my mk2 but things change. 

Bet it's missing the belly pan cause it leaks oil.   Every one with some miles on them that I have seen has oil leaking from somewhere. 

In reply to OLDYLR :

Didn't see any spots when it was moved at the dealership. Not saying it wasn't leaking in the past though. 

Go for it! I've loved my TDI's and would probably still have one if I didn't need something with a bit more interior space. Being an 06, it should be a BRM, so one of the PD engines with no DPF. The only real issue would be cam wear, but as others have mentioned, using the correct oil goes a long way in preventing that. Otherwise, I'd invest in VCDS or OBDeleven, and get familiar with idParts for all of the diesel-specific parts you'll need, and FCPEuro for everything else. If you find yourself looking for a little extra power, Kerma or Malone should be able to help out.

So dude wouldn't budge on his price for the one Jetta I was looking at. Found a 13 JSW with 3 pedals and 83k miles I ended up getting for sub 10k out the door. So far avg 38-43mpg depending on how much of a hurry I'm in for that tank.  Its mind boggling getting 38 running 80+ for a large chunk of the tank. Heck it got 35 pulling a small utility trailer with a 1000lbs on it down the highway for 200 miles. To do list is fairly short, timing belt, delete, tune and towing springs. Birthday is next month, who knows, maybe I'll treat myself.

My wife has a '13 JSW TDI/6spd. She loves it. She's had it for 3 years and ~65,000 miles. It's been a great car for her and knocks down 45-50 average per tank. Nice find!

Wish I could talk her into CP3ing it and maybe a tune and delete...

Sounds nice.  BTW, take off the roof rack.  It is hurting your fuel mileage.