School me on VW TDI

[wesintl]

The interior of the VW is junk. The armrest latch doesn't work anymore, the glove compartment door hinge is busted and it is like every non black plastic part has a vinyl coating that is pealing off. These are all common problems according to tdiclub. I also have a check engine light pulling a glow plug code. I have replaced the glow plug harness as that was the likely culprit, but still have the code. The Milage outwieghs the problems though.

A post I can agree with

Did you check the all the glow plugs resistance? I've had to replace a couple already.

Once we pick up an 80 or 100 this fall i'll get the TDI full time for commuting since the wife's is only a couple miles

 

[vasellers]

2001 TDI 5 sp manual, wife's car. Fun to drive GREAT fuel mileage. Now the bad:
Intake manifold has to be cleaned, gunks up with black soot, prices $300-900 depending on dealer..
Brake master goes out on diesels, ours did, more than gas models, no warranty coverage on either of the above.
Difficult to find good techs to work on it, even at the dealers, they break things. A simple repair ends up costing much more due to "other things" that need repair.
Brake light switch covered under warranty, causes CEL to come on. Stealership charges fees to find out why the light comes on. Burnt out brake light bulbs (due to the switcht) cause a CEL to come on.
Trunk is HUGE, interior is crap. peeling stuff on every plastic part.
Won't buy another VW!!!

 

[TX80Fan]

FWIW- we have an '04 Passat TDI with 71k...and its been a great vehicle. It's an excellent car...especially on the hwy. AND it gets 33 to 45 mpg.

 

[4dmalamute]

I just test drove a 1998 beetle tdi. It had 166k on it and was in ok condition. The guy did have a few records as for the timing belt and tensioner, but that was all. He did say he would take 6500.00 for it though. I test drove it, handled good, but did have the brake light and abs light flashing. I tried to look in the brake fluid res. but couldnt see if it was low. Basically, it was a cheap car that was just used for commuting and wasnt taken the best care of. Any thoughts on this?