Random thoughts on A4 Jettas and the Smyth G3F

I'm in a spot where I need to buy a commuter car. The 10 mpg in my truck ain't cutting it. For work (deliveries) I need the capacity of at least a small wagon. I was thinking of picking up an A4 Jetta TDI Wagon to DD for now - learn the TDI motor, bask in the 40+ mpg return, and when it starts to wear out (or I can afford/justify a "real" delivery vehicle for the business), cut it up and make a Smyth G3F out of it.

The only kink in that plan is that the A4 Jetta TDI Wagon is rare as hen's teeth, as you might imagine. The TDI wagon commands a couple extra grand over the sedan, and the TDI commands a higher prices than a gas motor equipped wagon.

So, what's a penny-pinching enthusiast to do? I do need the space of the wagon, so the sedans are out. Should I get a gas motor and swap in the TDI later, either when it's kit time or earlier? Is that possible/feasible/easy enough to do in a weekend? Or is it enough of a headache that I should just bite the bullet and wait for a TDI wagon?

And I know the kit can be built with a gas motor, but I'm really on board with the diesel sportscar concept.

Just kinda thinking out loud here. What does the braintrust think?

I know our 1.8t 2003 Jetta wagon rewarded my wifes driving style with 35mpg. It was fast, fun extremely practical, dead nuts reliable with not one problem that VW's are notorious for.

Don't discount the turbo wagons. Plenty of them out there with the 5spd too.

I admittedly don't care for diesels though. The noisy, stinky things they are.

Ill GIVE you my Mk4 Jetta shell if you want it, dont hack up a Wagon. You can hack up my shell all you want

Too bad you're not looking for a MKV. our Jetta wagen will be the latest victim of our AADD.

Good for a DD, bad as a donor ($$)

Per

We just put over 2,000 miles on a Passat TDI wagon while on vacation and saw about 40 mpg in mixed driving - hauling 4.5 adults and luggage. I wasn't that impressed with the vague shifter, but torque was great and the interior space was huge.

What about a Golf? There is a TON of space on those hatches. I'm pretty sure there is more space in the hatch of a golf than there is in our 3-series wagon.

We LOVE ours: eminently practical, I've averaged 50mpg over 14 months. Quite (inside), comfortable on the highway, and way less underpowered than it's HP rating would lead you to believe.

I'm not sure the Smyth kit would work with the wagon. I think it keeps some of the rear structure for stiffness...

Plus, as you mentioned, wagons are rare. That is why I bought mine new - finding a used one with the options I wanted just wasn't happening... and asking prices were insane (back in '02/03). 8+ years and nearly 255K miles later, someone would have to offer me a significant amount of money to sell mine (think: $10K+). There just isn't anything available that can replace it while hauling as much stuff and getting 50 mpg doing it.

The shifter in a A4 feels nothing like the shifter in a B4, which I agree feels almost as bad as an E30 shifter...

Wear out? At the rate it's going, my car will have over half a million miles and I'll be retired before it wears out...

I could see building a Smyth kit out of a 1.8T Jetta... but donor TDI's are just too expensive right now...

I think doing a TDI swap would be a waste of time. If you get a TDI donor car then hack that up for the Smyth.

As far as the wagon goes, if you want a TDI purchase a 2001-2003 ALH car. Do NOT under any circumstance purchase a 2004-5 diesel car. I would suggest looking at a 2004-5 2.0L manual to drive. It may be the low man on the totem pole but most of the electrical gremlins will have been resolved and the 2.0L is quite reliable and can be a good investment even if the maintenance has been a little lax. I am not certain how many 1.8T wagons were built and which years they were offerred but I will suggest buying a 1.8T ONLY if it has all maintenance records, has had synthetic run through it every 5k, the coils replaced and a timing belt and water pump replaced every 80k.

Again if I were in this position I would invest in a 2004-5 2.0L manual as a driver, and when I wanted to pull the trigger on a Smyth I would find an entire donor car.

I have a super high mileage beaten up GLI I will sell you for too much if you decide you need a black 1.8T Jetta automatic ;)

Oh and Ian is right, a TDI manual wagon with less than 100K miles will get $8-15k on the used market. Sheoples are funny.

Ian F wrote: I'm not sure the Smyth kit would work with the wagon. I think it keeps some of the rear structure for stiffness...

I inquired about this issue on the Symth Facebook page, and learned that it works, though might need some panels from the trunk area. Mark said, "wagons are fine." I'll take his word for it.

Good advice here. Thanks, guys.

njansenv wrote: What about a Golf? There is a TON of space on those hatches. I'm pretty sure there is more space in the hatch of a golf than there is in our 3-series wagon. We LOVE ours: eminently practical, I've averaged 50mpg over 14 months. Quite (inside), comfortable on the highway, and way less underpowered than it's HP rating would lead you to believe.

My 85 GTI could carry 9 kegs. It had alot of cargo space.

A Golf would work for my needs, but I don't think the Golf works for the Smyth, which I have my eye on down the road for sure.

John Brown wrote: Oh and Ian is right, a TDI manual wagon with less than 100K miles will get $8-15k on the used market. Sheoples are funny.

And the issue there is actually finding an ALH car (2003 and older) with under 100K miles. For the most part, one buys a TDI because they drive a LOT. I know I did. If wasn't driving 100+ miles a day, I would have bought a MINI.

I know more about the ALH motor since that's what I own, but from my readings, it does seem like it's the easiest one to maintain and modify if desired. The ALH also seems like the high-point with regards to mileage. The TDI's sold since then have been slightly more powerful, but with a similar reduction in efficiency.

I see a fair number of A4 wagons on the road around here. The 2.0 (no badge) and TDI numbers seem about even. 1.8t wagons are less common. VR6 wagons are rare. When I ordered my car, I briefly considered a VR6/6 spd GLX wagon - which I've since learned would have been the rarest beast of them all - but went for the mpg instead. That and I was still fighting with the g/f's '93 Passat GLX/5 spd wagon at the time and the VR6 wasn't my favorite engine back then...

alex wrote: A Golf would work for my needs, but I don't think the Golf works for the Smyth, which I have my eye on down the road for sure.

From what I've read, a Golf will work just fine with the kit. Only thing is you'd have to source a trunk lid once you were ready to chop it up for the kit build.