Have an opportunity to buy a 2010 VW Jetta TDI manual trans for a great price from a friend. It's in great shape and all work has been documented and done at the dealer. Doing some research on one as a commuter. Seems like really nice MPG (much better than my F150), but some AC issues not covered by warranty. Anything else I should be concerned with on these? What sayeth the beeb?
I have an 09 with about 70k on clock with DSG. I've had the steering wheel controls fail (warranty) the drivers rear auto window just broke and I seem to have to replace light bulbs at a pretty high rate.
IIRC the Jetta is assembled in Mexico. Many believe the assembly location has a big impact on quality. Volkswagen Group Factories I have no such complaints about my Golf. Same platform but different assembly location.
They are no worse than anything else out there. Depending on the price I'd consider it. Then again I'd rather have a Golf than the jetta but that's me.
I have a 2011 Jetta TDI manual sedan. Over 122,000 miles on it. Oil changes every 10k miles and that is about it. Timing belt is coming up at 130k and that will be a fairly big bill ~$1100. Good car with better than 42mpg. If the one you are looking at is inexpensive and has not had any little repeat issues, then it's a safe buy in my opinion.
Without a bumper2bumper warranty, no way in hell I'd ever buy one of those cars again. http://forums.tdiclub.com/showthread.php?t=299854 The MPG was pretty awesome, but the risk of failure and cost to repair will eventually trump those miles IF you wind up with a troublesome unit.
We bought an 06 TDI Jetta as one of our company cars and still have, has over 340k miles on it. No complaints, no big issues, replaced one clutch and a water pump maybe. Not sure of the differences between the newer ones and don't know where ours was built.
^ It's my understanding that that generation TDI was leaps and bounds more reliable and even had a better MPG rating, easily going north of 50miles/gal.
My 2010 TDI engine detonated itself at 100k miles & it wasn't the timing belt. Fuel mileage was pretty good on the highway. I wouldn't buy another one. I bought a BMW 328d instead. Better fuel mileage & a better ride.
Lots of injector pump failures that VW will not warrant and blame the driver for using bad fuel. Like you have control over what is and isn't bad fuel. This problem started with the 2008 and up TDi's and is well documented. Pre- 2008 ones are great though. My buddy stayed in his 2003 model for more than 450,000 kms waiting for VW to remedy the situation on the newer ones-they never did and have now lost him as a long time customer to another manufacturer.
My 2013 has close to 40k and other than tires and gas I've put nothing into it. It's got a DSG, it's only flaw in my opinion. I routinely get close to 40mpg at 75 mph. But I will never buy a diesel again.
