My hat is off to you sir, that is a very nice car. Enjoy.

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Professional greasecar installer
Austin TX


98 Jetta TDI with grease car kit + veg-therm (totaled)
87 MB 300SDL running on B99 / greasecar kit + 30 fphe
www.austingreaseguys.com

While I love our TDI for all the obvious reasons, I do not give it high marks in DEEP snow and that seems to be mostly a matter of ground clearance or lack thereof which Mk4 Jettas suffer from and, though a skidplate does help slide through some, it does lessen ground clearance even more.
I run 4 wheel studded Nokia snows 1/2 the year.

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1981 240D 143k 4 spd manual -SOLD

2004 VW Jetta TDI 5 speed 300k -still driven daily

I agree ground clearance is an issue with them...I don't have to go anywhere when the snow is heavy and the roads unplowed so it isn't too big of a concern for me but I could see how that might be for some. It is interesting to note that VW lists the ground clearance for the current model at 5.4" while the C300 is only 4.2". I'm not sure if there is a difference between the TDI and other models because VW only lists one dimension for ground clearance so I assume it is the same for all models.

I'm going to install a skidplate nonetheless - I just need to do a little research on them first to decide which is the best fit for me.

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Marty D.

2013 C300 4Matic
1984 BMW 733i
2013 Lincoln MKz

Just turned 5000 miles on the Jetta with no problems so far. Just thought I would post an update. I've been averaging a hair over 40 MPG with it and that is with about half highway and half around town driving. I've done a couple of mods including installing a skidplate and self-dimming mirror with homelink (these were two features that VW didn't offer). All in all I am still very happy with the little Jetta. Next stop will be performance chipping...that is supposed to bring it up to 180 HP

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Marty D.

2013 C300 4Matic
1984 BMW 733i
2013 Lincoln MKz

"clean diesel". this is how these cars are advertised. by using clean and diesel in the same sentence/phrase. huh

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Well, all I can say is that after 5000 miles the inside of my tail pipe is still bare metal. It tells me the car certainly is a lot cleaner than its predecessors. These cars do have some pretty amazing technology - whether it will hold up as well as the old school stuff is questionable, but is really is much cleaner than what most people expect a diesel be.

__________________
Marty D.

2013 C300 4Matic
1984 BMW 733i
2013 Lincoln MKz

Automatic?

DPF to trap the soot, periodiacally burned clean by rich injection to boost the EGT I think.

__________________
CC: NSA

All things are burning, know this and be released.

82 Benz 240 D, Kuan Yin
12 Ford Escape 4wd

You're four times

It's hard to

more likely to

concentrate on

have an accident

two things

when you're on

at the same time.

a cell phone.

www.kiva.org It's not like there's anything wrong with feeling good, is there?

Yep, that's pretty much how it works. You almost never notice it doing a regen cycle except if it happens to be in the middle of one when you shut down, then you hear the fans running. Otherwise, the only thing you notice is the idle gets boosted up a little to about 1100 RPMs during the regen. It only does it about every 500 or so miles. There's no urea injection and the system is maintenance free. You only encounter a problem if you do only short-trip, slow driving (in which case you really don't need a diesel). Then the car can't regen and it tells you by illuminating a warning light. You make it go out by taking it on a 15 or so minute drive at speeds in excess of 37 MPH and it will then regen.

__________________
Marty D.

2013 C300 4Matic
1984 BMW 733i
2013 Lincoln MKz

Automatic isn't really what the DSG is, it is an auto-manual gearbox using dual clutches which are controlled by the ECU. This one is nice in that it has paddle shifters for the tiptronic mode. The DSG shifts instantly, is smooth and doesn't suffer from any of the mechanical losses of a typical torque-convertor type auto. I do enough stop and go driving that taking a manual on would drive me nuts. The DSG has the best of both - manual control (if you want it) without the clutch pedal.

It takes a bit of getting used to, especially when you take your foot off of the brake. For people who drive with two feet or are very fast to go from stop to go they experience a lag because the clutch has to engage before the transmission will allow you to move forward. Once you master waiting a fraction of a second after you take your foot off of the brake it is a pleasure to drive.

__________________
Marty D.

2013 C300 4Matic
1984 BMW 733i
2013 Lincoln MKz

Set your fuel savings money aside for repair cost. Trust me, I've been down this road. Nice cars but, troublesome BS little things. Then there's the expensive DSG service, TB replacements...

For us especially in the rustbelt. Volkswagon has the most advanced and functional rustproofing system of any car in the world I am aware of. I also thought that neccesity would force redesign for engine ground clearance. Otherwise the skidplate should have been factory suppied. Another consideration is the strong value retention of these cars so far.

Playing your cards right and dumping them at the right time could mean minimal depreciation. You could after the first purchase perhaps stay in them for pretty cheap dollars. Or cheaper than any other car on the market at this time. Thats if you where not undercut by falling new prices. Some of gm and hondas recent customers have been burnt pretty bad I believe.

We might consider another new one. Pick a strong dealer if buying new. The parent companies direct customer service is the worse we ever experienced on a new item ever.

I can only hope someone does not try alternative fuel in one of these. The garage bill to sort the mess out might set records. The tdi injection pumps failed on biodiesel even locally.

The one clincher for the additional money is the integrity of the body structure. Unfortunatly my wife flew through the air upside down hitting a telephone pole just behind the front door about twenty feet above the ground. The car then slid down the pole onto it's roof. There was not a single piece of glass left in the car nor one panel left undamaged. Yet the four doors would still open. The car did a sideways roll or that plus a
forward roll at speed as well before becoming airborne.

I honestly think in either of the daily drivers we use now she would have either perished or been horribly injured. She was not totally uninjured but minor compared to what one would have suspected. That body and structural integrety has to have some real tangiable value in my mind.

Fortunatly she has only written off one other car since then in a hospital parking lot. When I saw the damage I could not believe it. Looked like a highway accident. Our insurance premiums now reflect her driving style.

One observed hint for the new owner. My wife drives the speed limit. She got abnormal life from her tires. Even the dealer was suprised as usually they wore tread off pretty fast. At forty thousand miles or 70 thousand kilometers the tread was still pretty good. This was far in excess of the norm at that time on them. I was just about to replace them with continental tires at the time of the accident. The accident was not tire related. Enjoy your new vehicle.

When buying new cars set your egos aside. Hire a proffessional buyer or a friend that has a consistant track record of getting items at cheap prices. I suspect it would pay dividends.

Decide exactly what you want and turn him or her loose. Another stratagy is to request quotes from several dealers on a letterhead. The dealer you want will usually match the low bid rather than lose the business. The salesmans commision will be eliminated as well. To pay someone money to attempt to beat your brain out is beyond my comprehension anyways.

These stratagies work best if there is a good supply of the model you desire in your region. Take the pricing ball out of their court. Any approach is better than being manipulated at the point of sale. Not that any car sales person would lie.

A variation on the old joke. The persons parents nearly had a fit when they found their son was in car sales. They had been under the impression he had a respectable job by comparison playing piano in a cathouse.

http://www.theautounion.net/index.php?topic=4462.0

Here you can see the audi monster leaving 4 tracks of rubber launching out of the apex of a corner.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ozntieZs8Bg

There's strapping on a bullet for ya.

__________________
CC: NSA

All things are burning, know this and be released.

82 Benz 240 D, Kuan Yin
12 Ford Escape 4wd

You're four times

It's hard to

more likely to

concentrate on

have an accident

two things

when you're on

at the same time.

a cell phone.

www.kiva.org It's not like there's anything wrong with feeling good, is there?

Luck of the draw in my opinion. You take your chances. Ours had minumin troubles. Many did much worse. Extended warranty or sourcing things from other than dealers can help if required.

I think the power window motor was eight hundred dealer at that time. If no longer under warranty one from an auto wrecker might have been a hundred. Timing belt changes are much longer intervals again now.. Most competent mechanics can change the belts and rollers etc.

Sourcing new oem parts properly can cut the bills substantually. They have probably upgraded many sub standard items like the window regulators by now to stay in business. We never had one fail but again many did. The bad turbo wastegates are probably history by now and where usually caught by warranty back then. Not always though.

The auto transmissions where the real downfall though. I found a passat tdi with about 100k miles a month ago or so by accident. Unfortunatly the automatic being present killed any thought of buying. They were both fuel milage hogs with the automatic and you never knew when they would fail. I asked if he had changed his yet and he had not.

A friend of mine asked me to have a look at one of his. The fix was easy but volkswagon would not sell the parts to him. The tailshaft transfer shaft gears had gone bad. This takes the motion from one end of the transmission to the other end I believe..

Overall I still feel that to maintain a vw diesel car should be much cheaper than the bills you would probably aquire with a new mercedes diesel after and during warranty. As much as I would like one of them this would hold me back from the aquisition of one. In fact just the routine maintenance bills under warranty might be punitive in themselves.

I guess these things do not matter if you are say a dentist. During my visit two days ago. I told him I now understood why they always wear masks now in their proffession.

I have finally decided that there is great simularity between cars and women. You cannot live with or without either of them easily. Although we can usually deal with more than one car at the same time...

Actually the Passat didn't have the same tranny as the low-end Jetta and Golf models and was known to outlast the car. I believe it was the same ZF used by Mercedes at the time. The low-end ones were dogs and would die around 100K though.

The problem with the Passat is the balance shaft drive...it was a chain and not gear and would fail resulting in a complete loss of oil pressure...not a good thing. Replacement of that costs more than a transmission!

__________________
Marty D.

2013 C300 4Matic
1984 BMW 733i
2013 Lincoln MKz