Swank Force One wrote:
How are these things besides the seemingly indestructible drivetrain? Do they suffer from CELs and VAG product electrical nightmares? Or are these the hidden gems in the VAG lineup?
Man i really like typing "VAG."
To be honest, I think it depends. My own car has basically been dead-nuts reliable. However, you can go on tdiclub and read typical VAG horror stories. I often joke my car was built on a Weds. There seems to be no strong evidence to suggest German cars like my wagon (all wagons were German) are any less problem-prone than Mexican built cars.
FWIW, Tdiclub.com is the only place to really research these cars. The good thing is many of those guys are diesel fans moreso than VW fans, so they're realistic about the cars' strengths and weaknesses. The FAQ section is required reading, although it's mainly geared towards Mk IV and earlier cars. My personal opinion is to stick to ALH engine cars like mine - 1997 thru 2003. The newer cars had to make compromises for emissions which seemed to hurt reliablity some.
For the frist 150K or so it threw CEL's for the glow plugs, but since I replaced the harness it's been fine.
I can count on replacing the coolant temp sensor with every timing belt change @ 100K. It can throw a CEL and will also make the guage read wonky. But unlike a bad CTS in other cars, it seems to have zero affect on how the engine runs, so I've always waited until I'm draining the coolant for the timing belt to change it.
The cars are pcky about coolant and oil. ONLY VW coolant and distilled water. Period. No exceptions. I've stuck to this religiously and the coolant passages in my car still looked new when I replaced the water pump and t-stat (preventive) during the 300K timing belt. For oil I use 0w-40 Mobil 1 Euro formula (previously various types of 5w-40 from the dealer at first until it became more widely available). At 300K, the cam followers still looked new. $9.50/qt, but only changed every 10K miles.
Other electrical oddities:
For the first couple of years the turn signal would randomly 'click' like crazy with no input from the lever or light activation. Drove me nuts for awhile but hasn't recurred in years.
The sunroof would randomly tilt open and close without switch activation. I eventually "fixed" this problem by pulling the fuse since I have a wagon with roof rails and never opened the sunroof anyway due to the wind noise.
Everything else in the car is original.
To be honest, my biggest electrical complaint is the Monsoon sounds system. While the sound quality is good (better than the Harmon-Kardon system in our MINI's), the radio reception is horrendous. Doesn't matter to a lot of people, but I mainly listen to the radio so it bugs me. CD sound is great with decent bass for a system w/o a sub-woofer. Replacing the head unit can be tricky due to the integration with the body control computer (especially if you want to keep the steering wheel controls), but I understand Crutchfield sells and adapter.
Oh... and the left front fender has started to rust at the top of the wheel arch, which is rather surprising and doesnt' appear to be common. I've been on a search for a replacement indigo blue fender along with some other body parts damaged through various mishaps with trash cans and deer.
Amusingly enough, one of my potential post-E30, 2nd car ideas is to find a indigo blue Jetta 1.8t sedan, swap over the good body parts to the wagon and build up the 1.8t car for DSP/rally-cross/TT.