VW Golf/ Jettas

So i am hunting for the next DD. Needs to go everyday. Pretty good MPG. Stick. 3500$ish. Blah Blah Blah.

I got caught looking at 1999- 200? VW Golfs and VW Jetta Wagons. I love wagons, and i love hatchbacks which are just mini wagons.

I Figure if i can snag a TDI of either i should be in good shape. But how many miles is too many? Lower the better but is there a mile number you should stay away from? Whats weak points? I hope i can find a TDI.

Then i figured either the Golf or Jetta with the 1.8T would be next choice. Those are all over. A million of em. Things to be weary of? most i see are in the low 100K range. Is this an issue?

I think an R32 is out of my price range unfortunately. or i would get on that.

Main concerns revolve around cost to keep the cars on the road. The next concern is all the horror stories i hear about electrical and the VAG computer junk. Is it that horrible or can i live with it? Also is a higher (100K ish) mile VW something to be scared of?

Help?

My TDI Golf was less than that, it had 232K on it when I got it and gives me 50 mpg all day long. I held out for a car with manual windows, seats, HVAC, trans etc. I wanted power nothing. That way I'm avoiding the VAG stuff as much as possible.
100K on a gas engine is about the equivalent to 225K on a TDI in my opinion.

I know it's a sucky pic, but if you shop well, you can pick up a decent TDI for that money.

If its an ABA it will also last forever; the early 1.8t in those had issues with oil clogging and coil packs iirc.

I would just make sure the timing belt/water pump has been done.

All the Volkswagens I've had were top notch. The 2.0 just kept running and running. The 1.8t was quick with a flash and a exhaust.

If you get a TDI, get it reflashed. Will improve torque and getcha' a couple more MPG

TDIs are ok to well over 300k if maintained, sometime soon after 300k plan on spending ~$1k on a new turbo, and you need a few special tools (cam lock plate, injection pump locking pin) and VAGCOM to change the timing belt properly. TDIs vary a lot in price depending on the area, anything under $3k is likely to have 30 calls 30 minutes after being posted on craigslist lol.

Bought mine in 08, 2000 with 125k miles on it. Stick shift, roll up windows, cloth seats etc. Has 180,000 on it now and is due for timing belt around 190k

Great car for a daily, has A/C about the only thing I wanted option wise

DrBoost wrote: My TDI Golf was less than that, it had 232K on it when I got it and gives me 50 mpg all day long. I held out for a car with manual windows, seats, HVAC, trans etc. I wanted power nothing. That way I'm avoiding the VAG stuff as much as possible. 100K on a gas engine is about the equivalent to 225K on a TDI in my opinion. I know it's a sucky pic, but if you shop well, you can pick up a decent TDI for that money.

Just looked at one like that today at a local shop. Too bad the battery was dead. Wouldn't jump start either. Had 200k on it. Were asking $4500. Too high for too many cosmetic/miscellaneous issues.

To the OP, if you want a Maytag washer get a Honda or Toyota. You want a car with dynamics and personality get a VW and just keep an eye on the stupid E36 M3. The ABA can go all day long and the TDIs too.

1.8T vs TDI.

1.8T common as dirt and cheaper but the TDI gots the MPG and torque.

Is one better to be looking for or?

TDI for MPG if you drive a lot. A somewhat better track record, and there are no coil packs. :)

You can also tune a TDI to stockish 1.8T HP (and way more torque) quite easily.

The ABA can pull down high 30s commuting also; I'm not sure why so many people overlook them. My old one averaged 39; and my current MKI with ABA pulls that all day also.

What does ABA stand for?

To be fair though, A4-chassis cars didn't get ABAs, they got the 06A block based engine.

It's neither here nor there, it's still the Generic 2-liter Crossflow 8-Valve engine that is good at just generally running forever and being pretty efficient. Same horsepower as a TDI with MUCH fewer mechanical headaches and the slight drop in MPG is probably outweighed by the cheaper fuel.

But the 'Tex-tards call it the 2.slow because, I don't know, you can't do a rolling burnout in fourth gear or something.

I'm a little soured on transverse 1.8ts. They are extremely finicky for timing belt tension. A little too tight and the belt walks one way, a little too loose and it walks the other way. And when the belt eats itself and jumps time, you have a minimum of eight very expensive sodium-filled valves to replace.

TDIs on the other hand require intake manifold de-clogging every 50-60,000 miles, and they seem to require turbocharger replacement every 150k or so. To their credit, people seem to like the cars enough to actually have the turbo replaced, unlike 1.8ts where jumped time engine usually means scrapped car...

Knurled wrote: TDIs on the other hand require intake manifold de-clogging every 50-60,000 miles

What does this all entail? Is it complicated?

You remove the intake manifold and remove about a half-liter of carbon from it using various picky-pokey-scrapey type tools. I've only ever had to do it on the A3-chassis cars but I understand that it can happen on the later ones too.

The intake ports get so choked that you can't even get a pinkie finger into them. Poor things get so bad that they can't build more than about 4psi boost because they just can't breathe. The problem is supposed to be due to the EGR system, since people will disable it and the clogging stops happening after that.

I have a 95 4 door golf that needs a bit of work. If you wanna spend about a days drive round trip and buy a $600 car.

Yep. It clogs like a mo-fo... I have manifold #3 waiting to go on, which will leave me with two manifolds on the bench waiting for me to clean. idparts runs specials now and then and the price of new one is low enough that cleaning the old one isn't worth the aggravation yet.

At 320K+ miles, the turbo on mine is pretty much shot as well.

I was swapping wheels tonight and noticed the LF wheel bearing is toast again. Joy.

I really need to get off my butt and find another car soon so I can get this poor thing off the road until I get back from vacation in Sept. and can devote the time and garage space to tearing it apart to fix everything (flywheel and/or throw-out bearing is rattling as well).

The amazing thing is it'll still pull down 50+ mpg even in its current sorry state.

Knurled wrote: Same horsepower as a TDI with MUCH fewer mechanical headaches and the slight drop in MPG is probably outweighed by the cheaper fuel. TDIs on the other hand require intake manifold de-clogging every 50-60,000 miles, and they seem to require turbocharger replacement every 150k or so. To their credit, people seem to like the cars enough to actually have the turbo replaced, unlike 1.8ts where jumped time engine usually means scrapped car...

On the 8v its probably 30 mpg vs 45 with the TDI, $2k-$4k cheaper purchase price and a bit cheaper maintenance (no turbo to worry about and cheaper timing belt replacement). A lot of it depends on if you drive enough to want to spend the first 2 years of fuel savings up front, or if it would take way longer for it to make a difference to you.

I think removing the EGR on a TDI fixes the intake clogging problem, and if you are lucky the turbo can last more like 300k, but I certainly won't say that they all do.

so a newer 2.0 is still a good option... hmmm

My issue with the 2.0 is while you can sometimes for a project for cheap, decent ones seem to be commanding surprisingly high prices: in my area, asking prices are in the $4-5K range. Add another grand or two for 1.8T and TDI's.

For awhile I was considering a 1.8T to build up as a back-up driver, auto-x (DSP) and rally-x car, but I've yet to find one with an asking price of under $6K. Considering I currently own a Mk IV, I just can't see spending that kind of money (plus the $$$ for DSP prep) for a used one.

I really, really don't want to buy a new car, but I'm beginning to see no other choice...