Why NOT to buy a Jetta TDI ?

[youdontwannaknow]

Talk me out of it. I can't find myself a convincing reason why I should NOT buy this car.

Just to put things into perspective - it all started while looking at hybrids (Prius, Civic) for replacing the aging Accord. While the goal is a fuel efficient vehicle I am reluctant to compromise on the performance.
The TDI gives as good gas mileage as a hybrid actually much better than hybrid as per many real world owners. And ofcourse there is no question about compromise in performance. Actually I did drive a 2010 TDI and liked it. No complaints.

So any cons or downsides that I should be aware of, that I might be ignoring ?

The only thing I am not sure about yet is the long term reliability of the car. I'd expect the car to last 10-12 years/120k+ miles with no problems. They have a 3yr free maintenance and 0% apr deal going on and I could apply the savings realized there to just buy an extended warranty for peace of mind.

 

[mopar_monkey]

i have heard the tdi jettas are made in germany and hold up much better then there gas counterparts that are made in mexico, but i'm not an expert on these cars so i may be wrong here.

 

[sasilverbullet]

Nice car, can't talk you out of it except I think it's priced to high.

 

[OVERKILL]

What year? There have been many a Jetta TDI to hit absolutely insanely high mileage. Others have had significant problems.

 

[tig1]

Originally Posted By: OVERK1LL
What year? There have been many a Jetta TDI to hit absolutely insanely high mileage. Others have had significant problems.


My friends was in the significant problems catagory.

 

[dparm]

One downside I see is that the dealers have no incentives on them and absolutely will not deal on price. And if you don't want to row your own gears, auto tranny versions are exceedingly rare.

 

[needsducktape]

I've owned a VW (Audi A4 ) Hands down the most maintenance I've ever done on a car- EVER EVER.

The juice is not worth the squeeze in my opinion.

I would look at the new batch of Civics they are rated the 38 highway but they commonly exceed this estimate. -In fact a recent Motor-Trend rated the civics "real world" average above many of the "40 mpg" (Cruze, Accent, Focus, Corolla) cars.

 

[synthetic_crazy]

Two items to consider are the following:

1. Diesel engines, while more prone to longevity, are more expensive to maintain in terms of the cost of parts.
2. Diesel fuel is typically around twenty to forty cents more than gasoline. To see if it would be cost effective for you, take your yearly mileage and divide it by an average mpg for a TDI. Multiply this by, say, thirty cents to get a rough estimate on how much more you will be paying for diesel fuel over gasoline.

I would advise reconsidering a Prius. As soon as I am able I am going to purchase one. Toyota's reliability far exceeds that of Volkswagen--even in terms of a diesel!

 

[rk1407]

I was in the same boat you are last year. I drive a 99 camry with high miles (never problems though) and gas prices were rising so I thought I would look at the TDI. Drove it and absolutely loved it. The electronic transmission is smooth as silk and the engine is very responsive and quiet.

So we sat down to go over the numbers and I thought it was a bit expensive for a small 4 cylinder car (around $26k) , the salesguy kept saying "but its a premium car so you pay a premium price". That alone made me want to walk out which I eventually did. It all came down to numbers for me. I drive about 25k miles a year and the savings I would reap driving the TDI wasn't enough to offset the payments. I still get about 30mpg on my Camry and I have not made a payment in about 7 yrs. Thats tough to beat. It all depends on how much you want it and your financial situation. I could afford it but I just couldn't justify financially to myself. Let us know what you do!

I am not sure of your financial situation but sit down and do the math. Don't worry about how fuel efficient your Accord is . You might do the calculations and find out you will save $300/month by driving the Accord until it dies. Sure you will have to put money into here and there but shouldnt be too bad.
So think about it, you will now have a car payment (pretty big) , higher insurance payments cause its a newer car and now you will need comprehensive, all in the name of fuel efficiency. Do the math!!!

 

[vlado11]

since you want us to talk you out of it... I was seriously considering one. Visited the VW TDI forums and I read that some have issues with the high pressure common rail pump? (not sure if I said this right). Failures are a costly fix. VW blamed them on bad diesel, owners say it is design problem. Last time I checked NHSA was looking into the problem, but haven't followed up on it, and totaly lost interest since VW redesigned the Jetta (don't like the new generic look).

Good luck

 

[bruckus]

I have owned 2 TDI's. Both were in Beetles not in Jettas but the same engine. The engines get great mileage and are fun to drive when mated to a manual transmission. The down side was that they had very bad carbon buildup problems. On both cars the throttle body almost completely clogged shut. One to the point the car would not run. they both did this at around 50,000 miles. The dealer also stated this was normal and recommended a total induction cleaning including the intake manifold every 30,000 miles. Some buildup in these cars was so bad that the manifold had to be removed to clean the carbon out. I believe you would be much better off buying a gas car that gets good mileage and with much better reliability and less maintenance.

 

[cmf]

My personal opinion is that VWs are great cars to lease or buy and trade in 3 years later, but not to own for 10 years. The reliability of not only the electrical parts but the interiors themselves is just not there. The interiors are much nicer than Toyota/Honda but the rubber coating starts peeling after a few years. The TDI engines are definitely not maintenance free either.

As far as performance goes. I do agree that both the hybrid's are very slow and I personally could not stand driving either of them. But even the non-hybrid Civic is really slow. I'm not really sure what to recommend, but I know I would rather pay more in gas for a car I enjoyed than have a fuel efficient car I hated.

 

[Loobed]

If I had the money, there would by a VW TDI outside my place with my name on the registration.

 

[FirstNissan]

Looked at the TDI for my brother (He bought a sonata instead and loves it!). It drove well, looked nice, had an upmarket feel. Drawbacks were price was sky-high and long-term reliability is not upto par with others.
My brother-in-law has a jetta petrol, its 6 years old, feels like a 15 year old car and electrics are shot. I wont be buying a VW until long term track results are better.

 

[Lead Shoes]

Buy a beater Honda, 14 years and 200k miles later I just put in a new tranny and I am seeing 35mpg minimum with out being short of power...

 

[toyotapriusguy]

I 2nd the prius suggestion (obviously). The prius was bought simply to save gas, and that it does. If I drive it like I stole it I still average mid 30's mpg. If I an conscious of my driving I'll get mid to upper 50's mpg.

Not to shabby

 

[youdontwannaknow]

Originally Posted By: tig1
Originally Posted By: OVERK1LL
What year? There have been many a Jetta TDI to hit absolutely insanely high mileage. Others have had significant problems.


My friends was in the significant problems catagory.


New - 2011.
tig1, what year was your friend's ? and just to make sure - thats a Jetta TDI, right ?

 

[The Critic]

Look on TDIclub to see what issues people are experiencing. Remember though, the german car crowd seems to have a very odd definition of "normal maintenance." Generally, it seems like when they are properly maintained, the TDIs are not problematic compared to the gas VW turbo engines.

The Prius and TDI are competitors and will likely deliver very similar fuel economy on the highway. However, the Prius will far exceed the TDI's mileage during city driving. So far, my lifetime average with the Prius has been 46.2 in the 700 miles I've had it, and this has included lots of hilly driving, short trip driving, normal city driving, etc-- all with the A/C on. And this is without any hypermile techniques. In fact, I have been driving the car fairly hard.

Undoubtedly, the Jetta TDI, even in its new dumbed down state, will probably be far more enjoyable to drive than the Prius. My Prius is devoid of any road feel and the suspension feels leaves a lot to be desired. However, the Toyota Hybrid system has proven to be extremely reliable but the same cannot be said about the TDI.

Also, edmunds does not appear to be getting very good fuel economy with their 2011 Jetta TDI. Their 2009 did quite a bit better, IIRC:

http://blogs.insideline.com/roadtests/2011/06/big-list-of-fuel-economy-may-2011.html

 

[Volvohead]

We have an '09 TDI SW. No significant issues so far at 40k. That seems to correlate with what we've learned from other '09+ TDI owners.

The older ones were more hit-and-miss, and a bad one of those could be a nightmare.

A good TDI can go very far with few major issues. And it's a far more satisfying driving experience than a Prius.

 

[dave munson]

The July consumer reports title is "Best ways to save gas, top new & used cars for fuel economy". I recommend a trip to the library to read this.