Anyone own a Volkswagen Jetta TDi?

[BlackVCG]

I'm going to probably need a better commuter car here soon and I'm a diesel only person. The VW Jetta with the TDi seems to be a good all around car and I can't believe people are getting up around 55mpg/HWY with them. Even in the 40's is outstanding for a diesel commuter car.

Just asking to see if anyone here has one and what your thoughts are on your car.

[Curly]

Jettas are cool cars if you are a teenage girl...

The TDI's are pretty nice, I wouldnt mind 50+ mpg.

[cheetah256]

a guy i know gets just short of 50 mpg with his TDI, and it's a 98. i'd assume the newer ones get a bit better mileage...

[dj89]

any pics of one? how much do they cost ?that sweet i did not know that they still made them.


diesel hybrid?

[skife]

a friend of my dad's used to swear by the TDi volkswagons
but i've never owned one.

50 MPG is good, espically when deisel is like 10-15 cents cheaper per gallon than gas.b

[bofh]

Just asking to see if anyone here has one and what your thoughts are on your car.

I've got a TDI '99 Beetle, I get about 50mpg, 55mpg if I drive the speed limit. It's not a bad car, the engine is pretty solid, I've only had to replace the water pump in 120k miles. and that was under warrenty, thankfully.

Cold starting isn't an issue in NJ, and it's a fairly quiet and clean burning diesel.

[Thordic]

My friend Janet owns a TDI Jetta. I'm going to guess its around a 98?

The older ones had tiny little engines, and were fairly slow. Her BF is always making fun of her car because it has absolutely no go. 90hp, 149 torque.

But they have been making improvements. The 2004 model is 100 hp, 177 torque, and if I remember correctly, in 2005 its more like 125 hp.

And like you said, you can't beat 50 mpg.

[_tMAN]

My friends dad owns one, that thing is a beast. get about 54 MPG. It's not as bad as some of the older ones with no "go", as Thordic stated, but it is no where near a normal car.
I wouldn't mind having one, be a heck of a lot cheaper in the long run

[Fred]

with a manual its gonna have plenty of "go" in the low end...

the TDi has great torque, but when paired with a sissy automatic tranny you lose a lot of the advantages diesel offers. the power band is pretty steep, so you shift rather quickly through the first few gears...

you'll get better performance with a manual tranny, plus they're a lot more fun to drive. go for it!

---Fred

[BlackVCG]

Automatics =

I will definitely get one with a 5-speed.

dj89- Go here to check out the Jetta. You can get them with a variety of gas engines too. http://www.vw.com/jetta/

Thordic, where'd you hear about the 2005 TDi's getting 125hp? The current TDi is a 1.8L with a Turbo and I'm not sure when they switched to the 1.8, but back in 2000 it use to a be a 1.9L, but less power. The Passat TDi is a 2.0L and makes 134hp and 247ft-lbs. I'm wondering if they bumped up the displacement of the Jetta TDi for 2005.

Yeah, I realize teenage girls usually are driving Jettas, but to get one in black or dark pewter - it's a pretty classy looking car and would be great for a 30 mile commute to work every day.

Currently I drive a little Isuzu P'up with a 2.2L Diesel. It's 4x4 and gets about 30mpg, but it doesn't have an overdrive gear so it's hard to cruise at 65mph w/o winding the engine too hard. Also, it's got 4.10 gears which are pretty low for having relatively small tires.

[bofh]

Currently I drive a little Isuzu P'up with a 2.2L Diesel. It's 4x4 and gets about 30mpg, but it doesn't have an overdrive gear so it's hard to cruise at 65mph w/o winding the engine too hard. Also, it's got 4.10 gears which are pretty low for having relatively small tires.

I used to have a 1986 diesel P'up. Man it was slow. A TDI would be a HUGE difference.

[soccer4minimags]

I know this doesn't relate to the TDI specifically bt here are my experiences with the jetta.

MY GF has a wolfsburg edition. Its pretty nice, a good solid car. I've driven it pretty often, and I can say it feels like it has more go than her brothers v6 accord. The feel of the jettas is just awesome. I can't describe it, its just different.

She's had a number of minor issues with it and its under 16k miles. Some wiring issue that took out her brake lights and cruise control. Her cd player (the premium mongoose sound package) has had to be replaced. She had some issues with the center console thing, not sure what the problem was on that, and something was up with the seat. Nothing major, just all inconvenience problems for a car that new.

The one thing that peev's me the most is it leaks grease, yes leaks grease out of the doors. All jettas down here have that issue, maybe its the 100 degree weather. the dealer has basically said, just deal with it. We are talking about globs of yellow grease that are always hanging off the body under the door. That just irritates me, and if you are wearing nice pants you need to be careful getting out so it doesn't get on you.

Overall they are nice cars, I wish I had looked at them a little more when I was shopping around, maybe if I had test drove some of them I wouldnt be driving what i do now.