Bye Bye 80Q --> Jetta TDI??

[Todd Phenneger]

Cory,
  GO FOR IT.
The Jetta TDI is a wonderful car.  Just make sure you get a
5-speed.  The Auto's really lose out on Fuel Economy and
performance.  But with a 5-spd you'll get 40-50mph for EVER.
They dont die, they run great, nice chassis.  I think its a
great choice as long as you dong live in the SNOW belt and dont
need AWD.
  Happy Hunting.
  L8r
     Todd

--- "Brayton, Cory " <cbrayton at bcm.tmc.edu> wrote:
> I think it the end of the road for me & my 88 80Q
>
> You all have provided a lot of help on my 80Q & I will hugely
> appreciate
> your opinions on Jetta TDI wrt safety/reliability -- after 15
> yrs, I think
> I'm ready for a less demanding vehicle, I really don't have
> much time to do
> a lot of research & shopping, and I hope that's a reasonable
> or good choice
>
> much as I like to drive my 80Q, the reality is that I'm not a
> mechanic,
> don't have the time for it & I probably won't be able to
> afford to fix it
> sooner rather than later & it has not hurt or stranded me yet
> -- all its
> lights, windows, sun roof etc work, its odometer stopped in
> May @97K -- prob
> has about 100K & I have all records since 88 showing mileage
> progression til
> May 03
>
> Engine check lite has been flashing on & off very sporadically
> x 3 months,
> there has been a shimmy without a side pull when I brake hard
> -- I don't
> brake hard very often so I don't really know how long its been
> like that --
> so I asked them to check those + anything else they could see
> when I went in
> for oil change:  there was a vacuum leak (as I expected) +
> collapsed hose;
> ball joints have a lot of play; brake disks are warped -- from
> ?; time to
> replace T-belt + water pump & oil pump that's leaking; also
> time for a 'full
> service' --> ~ $3000 est for everything -- not that I
> necessarily have to do
> it all at once but that would make this a $5000+ year for the
> little monster
> -- & btw A/C is starting to warm up again
>
> So I said to run emissions test (it nearly failed last year &
> its due in
> October) before any more work -- they had to replace the
> collapsed hose to
> run emissions test & it failed with HC > 400 @idle.
>
> So I picked it up & planned to bring it back for more work
> 'soon'.  As I'm
> stuck in traffic 5 mi later, the engine lite starts flashing
> again -- so the
> hose repair clearly had not fixed that, or vacuum leaks etc --
> so instead of
> going where I'd planned, I took a detour to the audi-VW dealer
> -- bypassed
> Audi altogether (they're also some of the service folks who
> had caused me a
> great deal of trouble & expense in the past)
>
> I looked at Jetta's -- I thought the regular 5 speed felt like
> a civic, the
> 5 speed turbo was silly with substantial delay (prob just
> takes some getting
> used to), the tiptronic was ridiculous, the 6 cylinder is
> quick & fun & very
> likely to very quickly get me my 1st speeding ticket in ~20
> yrs, & I really
> enjoyed the TDI (4cyl turbo diesel) & have heard some good
> things about VW
> diesels.
>
> I am leaning hard toward getting that -- 1 dealer will give me
> $1500 trade
> in, another will give me only $1000 -- my current mechanic who
> is
> Swiss-trained & has been quite good -- says to take it
>
> I know there are a lot of opinions out there & will appreciate
> hearing them
>
> When a woman comes into a service center in TX & asks them to
> replace the
> ignition coil or multifunction temperature sensor or whatever,
> the reaction
> generally is not positive, especially when I'm correct (thanks
> to the list).
> I've even been asked if that's what my husband said the
> problem was.  Of
> course they have to do some 'diagnostics' to figger out what
> the problem
> really is, but so far the list has helped a lot & I wish more
> (even 1) of
> the Audi 'mechanics' that drive V8 Chevy trucks with gun racks
> subscribed to
> the list.
>
> Thanks again
>
> Cory B
> 88 80Q
> Houston, TX
>  <mailto:cbrayton at bcm.tmc.edu>
>
>
>


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