Should I buy a 2004 Jetta TDI?

biggy238 said:
I've been wondering how malone was to deal with. You remove ECU and ship to them?

I'm at or near 100% throttle until I'm at cruising speed. I'm curious how your mileage will turn out.

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You are supposed to be able to use their Flashzilla downloader, but since mine already had a tune in it the downloader couldnt write over it so I had to send in the ECU. Diesel Ops and Malone treated me really we, they next day aired my ECM three times to get it back to me.

My car was like that when I bought it, turned out it wasnt making any boost. It had a hole in the vacuum line going to the VGT actuator.
 
Does it have a vnt turbo? My alh did the same thing. If so, spray some oven cleaner down the egr part of the exhaust housing and work the actuator to free up the vanes till you have a smooth full rom. Then drive the piss out of it.

Edit: the right way would be to take it apart and clean it, I'm sure oven cleaner isn't good on the seal or if you have a cat.
 
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So after having this thing for awhile are you glad you got a tdi or wish you would of got a gasser? How is it to work on

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I am very happy with the TDI over a gasser. Unfortunately the TDI engine is attached to VW so the car itself is a pile of chit. The interior rattles like crazy... but it saves me $300mo so I deal with it. lol

Once I buy a newer pickup, ill probably sell this car.
 
Same boat I'm in.

My dual mass flywheel is in some stage of dying. I just hope it doesn't make exit wounds when it's time.

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So pretty much you guys are saying if you had to do it all over again, it wouldn't be the vw

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SPEEDSHIFT said:
I am very happy with the TDI over a gasser. Unfortunately the TDI engine is attached to VW so the car itself is a pile of chit. The interior rattles like crazy... but it saves me $300mo so I deal with it. lol

Once I buy a newer pickup, ill probably sell this car.
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They did have this setup in the Audi A3 and A4 ;-)
Price tags are very similar and you get a lot nicer car for the price.
 
thatguy69 said:
So pretty much you guys are saying if you had to do it all over again, it wouldn't be the vw

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I never really "wanted" any kind of car, I would rather drive a nice truck over a new Lambo, thats just me. The only reason I bought the Jetta was to save some money every month, and it has done that well. I dont know of another car that is a better financial decision and be able to run the way I want.

I have spent about $4000 on this car, including the purchase price. So it hasnt really started making me money yet, unless you include the potential repairs and expenses from using my 04 Dodge over the year. I spent about $2300 to upgrade the turbo and tune, new tires and wheels, and window tint which wasnt a necessity, so.... It can be done cheaper.

The only parts it has needed over the year and 12k miles is a turbo, alternator, and tires.
 
CorneliusRox said:
They did have this setup in the Audi A3 and A4 ;-)
Price tags are very similar and you get a lot nicer car for the price.
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What years? I just did some looking and those appear to be unicorns. I'm looking for the older tdi motor 03 and before

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thatguy69 said:
What years? I just did some looking and those appear to be unicorns. I'm looking for the older tdi motor 03 and before
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Ah, my bad. I was talking about the B7's (04.5-08). I am a big fan of the Audi A4 B7 platform. I beat the hell out of my old 2.0 and it always did great.
 
I was coming home from work yesterday and the car just stumbled and died... tore about 5-6 teeth off the timing belt, its phucked. Only had 30k miles on the belt too.

IDK if I am going to rebuild it or not...
 
SPEEDSHIFT said:
I was coming home from work yesterday and the car just stumbled and died... tore about 5-6 teeth off the timing belt, its phucked. Only had 30k miles on the belt too.

IDK if I am going to rebuild it or not...
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I wouldn't blame you if you didn't I've been looking at newer commuter cars and have kinda lost the diesel appeal. I'm over the expensive maintenance and specialty mechanic's/tool's needed I want instant heat and remote start LOL :hehe:

Purn has been bragging about his 4cyl turbo gasser chevy Cruze getting 40+ mpg's on bookface, but his is a 6spd manual. Royboy & The bearded Ginger + Laura all have the Cruze diesel's and seem extremely happy with them once they are emissions compliant so that's always another option as well.
 
SPEEDSHIFT said:
I was coming home from work yesterday and the car just stumbled and died... tore about 5-6 teeth off the timing belt, its phucked. Only had 30k miles on the belt too.

IDK if I am going to rebuild it or not...
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Bummer, what kit did you use?
 
thatguy69 said:
So after having this thing for awhile are you glad you got a tdi or wish you would of got a gasser? How is it to work on

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I am on my 3rd TDI, had a 98, 03 and now a 06 Jetta.
The 06 I picked up in Feb of this year, new cam/ timing belt kit, single mass flywheel and clutch. Getting on average 43mpg, it's my daily driver so I am leaving it stock and hopping up my Cummins instead.
 
What's your main goal? Just a diesel commuter and family car? If so, highly recommend buying a 2014 535d if it fits the budget and slap a good aftermarket warranty on it. Reason being 1 the 5 series gives you a lot more over the 3 series, and just basic crap breaking on a BMW can be a tough pill. I know a guy with a stock 535d with 140k miles and it's got a ton of life left in it.

X5D would be a fun one I still believe and can be found for <20k with reasonable miles on em.
 
Got Smoke? said:
Why not a Cruze? They will be cheaper than the BMW no doubt and Roy reported 53MPG's on his drive home after it lost some unneeded agravating weight.
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I think the 335d is a nicer car, and they look to be about the same price.


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