OT - VW Golf

[SlowRVR]

Toying with the idea of getting a second/normal car.

If anyone knows of a 2001-2003 VW Golf TDI with a manual transmission, please let me know.

Prefer no sunroof, four doors, sub-200k kilometers, but these are less important.

Thanks!

[ve9aa]

What kind of $$ are you looking at spending? (of course, everyone is looking for the cheapest one available)
I own a black, 4-door, 5-speed, 1.9L 2002 Golf tdi GLS with 205,000kms on it. Not mint, but no rust, no accidents, etc.
A few very minor niggles but nothing heart-stopping. 2 sets of wheels/tires (winter/summer)

When I filled up yesterday I had 1135kms on the tank. Gotta luv diesels !

A picture from last April when I bought it.

[ve9aa]

Maybe make you a 2fer deal.  Golf+61 Rover for one big, errr, low low price.

[SlowRVR]

Looks like a beauty, how come you are parting with it so soon?

The Golfs seem harder to come by than the Jetta's. People seem to claim that there is no difference in mileage between the Golf, the Jetta, and the Jetta Wagon, but that seems hard to believe.

I was in the library today and looked up the Lemonaide or whatever the guide is called. Wow, he was aggressively negative about the VW line. If I didn't know people with them and have first hand experience myself, I would run from them. Apparently, the TDI (all years) should be avoided. LOL....okay.

[lilmul]

Speaking from experience owning a 2000 Tdi and a 04 Tdi I can attest to their reliability BUT you need a second mortgage to have the dame things fixed at the dealer.

On the 2000 we started to complain about a lack of power at 77,000 kms and it took them till 210,000 to find the problem and that was only after i TOLD them to tear it down till they found the problem.The problem was a bad turbo and clogged intake manifold (coaking up)
Something that WAS supposidly done under warrenty.

If you are a fan then good for you It just left a sour taste in my mouth after dealing with the dealer ship.

We did get around 900kms on a tank NOT 1100 like advertised

Tony

[ve9aa]

In the winter, I get ~900kms per tank. In the summer I can get 1200kms if I superfill and baby it til I am empty.  Works out to 60mpg (they advertise 61).  But I drive very easy. No burnouts, no passing cars, easy on the brake, no speeding. Cruise control on flat lands.....eeeeasy on the pedal is the key.

I get bored with cars easily ,so would part with it as for what's owing.  You probably don't wanna know what's owing. . . heh

Good luck finding a good (and cheap one). They are kinda like hens teeth.  tdi forum link>>

http://forums.tdiclub.com/forumdisplay.php?f=64

[carib]

I owned a 99 Golf for six years.

Still parked in my yard.

Would never own a VW again. The worst car I have ever owned.

Car was maintained properly from new has 165,000 km on it.

Transmission started acting up. at 150,000km
Engine sensors were a pain in the butt

Kenneth

[SlowRVR]

Ken, the automatics and the 2.0 litre engines both have very bad reputations. The A3s also had terrible quality control on the wiring, or at least the 94 Jetta I used to drive did.. Hopefully that improved with the A4.

Tony, I've read that the intake can clog and lead to turbo problems. Not sure how to check that...more reading.

[Brutus]

Niall, I have an A3 TDI with 532K kms on it that I dismantled and the engine is going right back into my VW van without a rebuild. Our 2001 Jetta has 403K on it and we still get 1100 kms out of a 55 liter tank on the 401 to Toronto and back. I think that if you put a lot of miles on a car they are worth the trouble, but if you're putting on less than 40K a year they are probably not worth it. These cars need maintenance and are a little odd to fix, so the average joe does not do well fixing them, but most of the major issues are cheap to fix for the home mechanic.

The MK4s have a variable geometry turbo that gums up and needs to be cleaned. Most dealers will sell you a turbo. It is not a hard job to clean them up and get them moving again and does not cost much other than few gaskets and stuff. Same with the intake. They gum up due to the EGR flow and need to be cleaned out. I did the turbo and intake on ours in a day and it cost me $100. Brakes, suspension, shocks, etc are cheap if you know where to shop. Roseland Technical Services is a VW parts dealer dude that sells by mail order, he is in NS and has great prices on most consumables. The fit and finish on these cars is great, the body quality is very good, I think that they are one of the most solid little cars on the road. They have their weirdness and they will have constant check engine lights due to them getting gummed up and the turbo overboosting due to the vanes not moving and other weird issues. We drive 65K a year so it is worth it. The interior in these cars is really good, our leather seats still look new.

DO NOT buy an MK3 TDI, they are all really really rusty by now and as you said, the body structure and electrical is worse. Same with Passats.

Tdiclub.com is a great resource.





 

[Brutus]

Oh and TONS of these cars for sale cheap in Montreal and Quebec. VW diesels are everywhere there. Try www.lespac.ca

[SlowRVR]

Thanks JL. That confirms some of what I read. I found a picture on the tdiclub forum of a dirty EGR and then after it had been cleaned  Wow

Thanks for the link. BTW, have you moved from Onterrible to Quebec?

[Brutus]

Long story but yes, we are moving to Wakefield, north of Ottawa.

Another thing, the PD cars (with the cam driven injectors) are not that great on fuel and are $$$ to fix.

[SlowRVR]

My Grandparents used to live in Wakefield. It's beautiful there!! I wish they had kept their place as a cottage, but it was too much for them to look after.

I believe that the PD engines began in 04 which is why I am looking for 01-03. Quebec does seem to be a gold mine with these. I need to figure out what I'm doing about this and get organised, if I'm going to buy one I'd like to do it before the fall. Thanks for you help!

[Brutus]

Sure, sounds like you have already done a bunch of research. One last thing, there is a service bulletin on Jetta and Golf TDIs for front fenders rusting out. There is a block of foam behind the fenders for sound dampening that rubs through the paint and eventually causes the fenders to rust. VW will replace them under their 10 year anticorrosion warranty. I got two new fenders installed on our Jetta at 384K, no charge.

I know a lot of people have had bad experiences with these cars but ours has been really good. All the bolts on these cars are coated with this anticorrosion greenish stuff, I replaced the rear subframe bushings a few months ago (again, Ontario car with 400K) and all the bolts, even the little M6 bolts for the brakelines, came out with hand tools.

The place in Wakefield should be cool, it will be great to be 5 minutes from the ski hills.  It's on a private road that could double as a ski hill, so we're probably going to be looking for something 4wd for winter that is a little bit more user friendly than the 109...

[SlowRVR]

Still looking guys, so keep a look out.

Thanks!