What year Jetta TDI to buy?

[Mark Rinker]

My daughter has been driving a very tired old beater car - a gold 1997 gold Mercury Sable GS.

Time for a new(er) ride for back and forth to college next year. She wants a Volkswagen Jetta TDI. I am starting to watch used prices - with a goal of a final purchase price in the 10K range.


Any particular years to stay away from?
Any particular years that are desireable?
How much mileage do you gain with a stick over auto?
Do the clutches hold together?
Any knowledgeable owner comments welcomed! Better yet, sell me your (clean, well-maintained, cheap, low-mile used) car... ;)

[6.5 Detroit Diesel]

Hey Mark, I did quite a bit of research on the TDI Jetta's, as I was wanting to buy one. TDI Club has quite a bit of info on them. From what I found, there was a slight difference in mileage from the auto to standard.
2004-05 were the better years of used Jetta's. Some of the earlier models were more prone to injector issues.
The auto tranny seemed to come up with more issues than the standard.
And finally, the "PMD" of the Jetta seems to be ensuring that the timing belt is done on time. Like I said, I was going to buy one, but decided that I wanted to get some Detroit iron to drive for a summer or two while I still could. :cool:

[trbankii]

My parents have an '05 Passat Wagon TDI that they absolutely love. For a fairly large, heavy car it gets 44mpg on the highway with a thoughtful right foot.

The Jetta has the 1.9L as opposed to the 2.0L in the Passat, but from my understanding the '04-'05 were the last of the generation before the "clean diesel" models. Without getting into a debate about the benefits of that, if you're looking for a used vehicle I'd say that they had things pretty well figured out for those models.

I just saw a '04 Jetta Wagon TDI on a local lot for $14K. The diesels do hold their value compared to the gassers and seem to be snatched up quickly. That car was no longer on the lot a week later.

[joed]

We owned a 99 (actually the older, boxy 90's bodystyle, before the 99.5 new body style) and a 2003. The 03 was more refined - they have a variable geometry turbo and the newer body style definitely has more comfort features, better handling, etc.

Both were 5-spds, and did about the same mileage wise - usually 40 at worst in city and as high as 52 on a highway run. Overall, I really liked the way they ran and performed. You would never think they only had 90 hp.

As for longevity, we didn't have either one that long - 60k on the 99 when it was totaled and about 36k on the 03 when we sold it. Never had any engine issues with either. We would still have it but it just didn't have enough interior room.

I haven't had one since 05 so, I may not remember accurately, but I think 03 was the last year before they changed the injection system to PD (pump-deuce, or something..). I've read the 04 and newer aren't quite as good on fuel?

Based on my experience, I would recommend a 99.5 to 03 5spd. I also recommend reading the TDI forum - lots of info.

Hope that helps. Joe.

[Mark Rinker]

Thanks, guys for the feedback!