more on searching for a daily driver

[wanemardo at comcast.net]

Be careful of 2004-2005 /VW TDI's, they are know to lose their oil pump/counter balance shaft chain drive with catastrophic results. 
This is preceded by an increase in engine noise and increased vibration. 
There is a VW fix that replaces the chain drive with a gear drive, and you're good to go. 
Ref www.tdiclub.com and search "oil pump" or "chainectomy". 

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "alan cordeiro" <alancordeiro at comcast.net> 
To: "robert weinberg" <centaurus3200 at yahoo.com> 
Cc: "200q20V mailing list" <200q20v at audifans.com> 
Sent: Monday, December 13, 2010 3:56:17 AM 
Subject: Re: more on searching for a daily driver 

Rob, 

if you are willing to stray from the VAG group, consider a 2006-2007 Honda 
Civic Si coupe with a six speed. No turbo....they tend to be reasonably more 
reliable as a DD than the VAG or Mazda turbos. 
Else consider an older VW TDI, possibly a 2004-2006 vintage, they would 
incorporate the high pressure fuel injection rail system, (newer, gives 
better mileage, and HP than the older generation) low HP than a gas, but 
huge torque, still very drivable...and from what I hear from close friends, 
relatively trouble free. 

Good luck, 

Alan 
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "robert weinberg" <centaurus3200 at yahoo.com> 
To: "Shayne P" <mysuperpersonalmail at gmail.com> 
Cc: "Heather Mehlschau" <h_mehlschau at yahoo.com>; "200q20V mailing list" 
<200q20v at audifans.com>; <ba-group at audifans.com>; "DAVID JOHNSON" 
<dave20 at earthlink.net> 
Sent: Monday, December 13, 2010 12:13 AM 
Subject: more on searching for a daily driver 


> hi all, 
> 
> i finally got up the will to look at some recent used cars today in search 
> of a 
> daily driver for relatively trouble free commuting of about 
> 18,000-20,000/yr. 
> 
> my previous DD, a POS 1998 nissan sentra was rear ended about 4 months 
> ago. my 
> fun car is a 1991 Audi 200 Turbo Quattro 20V. i love the car, but she's a 
> nice 
> old girl - and i'd rather not beat the crap out of it in traffic for that 
> many 
> daily miles. 
> 
> i checked out a 2008-2009 ford fusion and a mazda 3. but they were right 
> next to 
> the VW dealership. i was planning on buying private party - but figured 
> dealers 
> were a good place to see a bunch of cars in on place. anywho - i was not 
> aware 
> of the 2005-current VW Jetta's 2.5 5 cylinder. is their a direct lineage 
> of it's 
> 2.5L 20V inline 5 to the 3B in my car? or the 7A for that matter? or is a 
> a 
> totally different beast with nowhere near the same bulletproof reliability 
> that 
> audi 5 pots are known for? 
> 
> i unfortunately didn't get a chance to test drive the mazda 3 because they 
> didn't have many used ones and it doesn't seem ANY dealers are dealing on 
> year 
> end 2010s. weird. 
> 
> point being the jetta 2.5 seems pretty reasonable on the used market. i 
> drove a 
> 2007 and it's ride and handling were loads better than the ford fusion - 
> which 
> lumbered along like a boat - and its 4 banger buzzed nearly as annoyingly 
> as my 
> sentra. the interior materials were about the same quality but VW 
> certainly had 
> better aestetics and ergonomics compared to the fusion. 
> 
> of course, i'm wary of VW reliability - i've always heard of nightmare 
> issues 
> with those cars. but admittedly, we are talking 1990's era cars. i wish 
> they 
> made an auto without the tip BS. but i hear the tiptronic issues in audis 
> and 
> VWs were ironed out in the 2005 model year. 
> 
> the 2.5 20V 5 cylinder certainly doesn't make much power with only 150HP - 
> but i 
> wonder if that conservative output given it's displacement is actually a 
> good 
> thing with regards to long term reliability of both the engine and the 
> transmission? 
> 
> anyway - does anybody have some insight into the jetta 2.5? or are they 
> junk and 
> keep looking... 
> 
> thanks, 
> Robby 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> _______________________________________________ 
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> 


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