Quote:
Originally Posted by blue91lx
That thing seems like a great daily. I have been hunting for a daily upgrade (hatch, manual, decent economy, etc), and hadn’t stumbled upon these. I likely overlooked because-FWD.
What’s the long term durability of these things? I’m totally in the dark with VW.
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If I didn't have a GTI and didn't need the more trunk space I would have gone with a TDI Golf probably.
I agree with what Pat said. Coming from the JDM world (Honda's) they are certainly not on the same level but they are not as bad as people make them seem. After working on German cars they are certainly a beast of their own and can not be neglected with maintenance. It's not a Corolla that you can never change the oil in and put crap fuel in it and it will refuse to die. The 2.0T in my GTI has flaws that if not taken care can grenade the engine. The MK7 has addressed these issues. The diesels like Pat said are reliable but I have read of electrical issues that can come up (windows, door locks, trunk latches).
I have noticed a difference in interior build quality between my German made GTI and the Mexico made Jetta. Not sure if it's like an economy model vs not as economy model or what.
One thing I would say that with my GTI at least the added effort and time is worth it.
Quote:
Originally Posted by mckpat03
Ha, yeah, they're great commuters and serve my travels well. I gotta get a fast car again soon though 
Yeah, I've ditched the emissions stuff on all of my TDIs. I mainly do it for the power, added fuel mileage, fun, and sound. However, since the Dieselgate fixes have been done, DPFs have been failing at a higher rate than they use to. And it's not THAT big of a deal when it fails, because the warranty covers it, but DPFs are backordered at least three months in most places, so it's super annoying if nothing else. Anyway, it's a lot of money up front, but deleting and tuning definitely makes them more reliable by getting rid of several things that are known to fail or cause problems. And you'll likely gain something like 10-15%-ish average fuel economy. Both of my Jettas gained about 7mpg mixed driving.
Malone is certainly the big one. That's who I've always had because it was convenient for me. There are lots of good tuners. Some are easier to get a hold of or have good dealer networks or whatever. The general rule of thumb is to skip the big gas tuners (APR/Unitronic/etc) and go with the diesel specific folks. RocketChip is another great one from York PA, Stevenson, JR Auto. My Touareg will likely get a JR Auto tune or I might try to reach out to RC. |
Great info, thank you!!
A Malone stage 2 is about $1600 with high flow cat and resonator. I'll have to ask the diesel truck guys I work with about DE emissions. I thought I remember the one guy with a Power Stroke having to swap all his stuff out every 2 years. If it is a pretty easy process on the Jetta I wouldn't mind doing that if I had too.
I was listening to some TDI's with down pipes and exhaust work and man do they sound awesome!!! Between the MPG increase, better reliability, more power and awesome diesel sounds I think I have to tune it!!!