Thought I'd share our new gas miser.

01 Beetle TDI 5 speed 118,000 miles

Picked it up dirt cheap from an elderly lady. Acquired all service records as well (dealer serviced) Bought it for the wife to commute back and forth in but if I can get my hands on the keys I'm going to run around in this little roller skate as much as I can. This little car is a blast to drive!!

So far I've put one trip on it of 105 freeway miles between 65 and 70 mph. Filled up before I left and again when I returned. She used a whopping 2.4 gallons. Cant complain about that one bit!

JR now Free

Nice. That's certainly cheap for fuel...

You think that one is fun you should try a newer one! I have a 2012 Jetta Sportwagon TDI with a 2.0 DSG. That little engine really has some snort! You are right though, we get about 42 mpg on road trips. My son and daughter both have 2006 Jetta TDIs.

I've actually been looking at the newer ones for some time now, but either everything I find is too far to go look at or priced out of this world. Having the history of this car along with the price was a no brainer, and will give the wife some time to decide if she would like to invest in a newer TDI or find something else. judging by her reaction so far, I'm willing to bet she's sold on the TDI!

Just for a little fun, here's my first vehicle ever. 85 Golf, non turbo diesel. She lacked on the power butt you could go forever on 10 dollars worth of the pink stuff..."ol Silver" is what started the diesel disease for me lol.

JR now Free

Wife has an 03 TDI Jetta 5spd, we bought it with 30K now has 250K miles on it now, 03 was the last of the old body style and Pre PD fuel system, the most sought after units. Only minor and general maintenance to date. Ours does better mpg at 80mph 49-50ish mpg than it does at 65-75 where is does 45 solidly. I want to trade it off but she will not let it go, I told her another year max and she is getting a newer one, but if it still runs she wants to keep the old one. One of the best sites on the web hands down for any technical write ups for TDI's is http://forums.tdiclub.com/

My buddy gets about 48mpg in his Passat TDI (mid-90s model).I had an old '83 Rabbit LS 4 door with 1.5L diesel 5 speed. I could make (3.5) 140mi round trips on 9 gallons. It was a turd and took about 5 minutes to get up to 55mph, but once there, would cruise until it dried out the tank..

My buddy gets about 48mpg in his Passat TDI (mid-90s model). I had an old '83 Rabbit LS 4 door with 1.5L diesel 5 speed. I could make (3.5) 140mi round trips on 9 gallons. It was a turd and took about 5 minutes to get up to 55mph, but once there, would cruise until it dried out the tank..

Yep, the skinny peddle on my 85 Golf lived the majority of it's life matted to the floor board, but once you got up to speed and had to maintain, she was a real fuel queen. I used to pull up to the pump behind the Sohio gas station near my house and fill it to the brim with 15 to 20 dollars worth of off road fuel. Nobody cared then, times sure have changed. JR now Free

I have a 2001 with 5spd that I bought new. Has 138k on it now. I have mine chipped and that improves the get up and go.Helps the mpgs a little as well. Only had four problems with mine. Had to replace 3 window regulators (all under warranty), replaced the brake light switch three times (2 under warranty and one out of warranty but the quality problem appears to be fixed)(when the brake light switch goes bad you loose cruise control), lost the mass flow sensor (under warranty) and had to replace the drivers door lock assembly (wished that one was under warranty). That's the sum total in 13 years.That was my work commuter car and now that I'm retired it is used for errands and misc. Probably will last until they put me in a pine box.

What kind of chips/ programmers are available for the A4 engines? I have noticed the last 2 days when starting the car cold the coolant light stays on for about 5 minutes and then goes out. Resevoir is full. Gotta track that one down. JR now Free

What kind of chips/ programmers are available for the A4 engines? I have noticed the last 2 days when starting the car cold the coolant light stays on for about 5 minutes and then goes out. Resevoir is full. Gotta track that one down. JR now Free

Try here.................http://forums.tdiclub.com/ It is totally amazing to see the tech write ups on about every single part of these cars on this site. I have never seen a site even remotely as technical as this one.

Thanks Bill. I actually signed up over there yesterday and have been reading bits and pieces. I haven't even begun to break the surface yet though! JR now Free

Just learn to use the "search function" There is so much info on the site some members really like to lay into folks who ask the same ol questions and not using "search" first.The hard thing is that Germans use different terms for parts so doing a search gets tricky some times.

What kind of chips/ programmers are available for the A4 engines? I have noticed the last 2 days when starting the car cold the coolant light stays on for about 5 minutes and then goes out. Resevoir is full. Gotta track that one down. JR now Free

This is the one I use. http://shop.dieseltuff.com/TDI-Diesel-Power-Digi-Z10-Module-for-1999-03-TDI-JDH10.htm

The tdi are awesome im looking to get one

Just bought a coolant heater for the little Beetle. Wife said it was no fair I get to jump into a warm vehicle and she doesn't. Problem solved! Not that it needs it, just nice to have. It only needs about an hour and a half on the timer to be nice and toasty. I might try backing it down a hair more. We have been really racking the miles up in the 2 Months we've had it and have no complaints. Excellent running cars, and very comfortable in long trips. It actually has more leg room than my truck does.

Heeeey, careful! Can that thing tow a 5th wheel or haul a load of hay or firewood? No? Didn't think so! :P

Nope, but she hauls the mail quite nicely, to the tune of about 45 mpg! With all the driving the wife does (anywhere between 600-900 miles a week lately) the money were saving in fuel compared to driving the Mountaineer will pay for itself in no time. The best part is our new Mountaineer we bought in the spring won't be trashed in a year or two. That was the real point of buying the VW, and buying an older one, to have a throw a way car more or less that we could rack a couple hundred thousand miles on without having to worry about destroying a nice Vehicle.

ugh, I know what you mean. I really want to get a TDI. I was working a job here recently and they had me on a trial. I was driving 1,000 miles in a week! :banghead: