VW Jetta TDI. Worth buying? (gas, mpg, dealers, costs)

[brikag]

With the price of diesel, here in LA it's $5.89, is this really worth buying? It gets good gas mileage and its 50 state legal. But really, is it cost effective? Your thoughts.

Volkswagen prices 2009 Jetta TDI from $21,990 - Autoblog

[StealthRabbit]

I have ~ 28 VW -diesels, but.... they are only worth having if you are a 'Diesel-head', I never recommend to an 'average' buyer that would be just as happy with a Toyota or Honda.

The diesels stink, are noisy, leave soot on tail, and require MANDATORY maint.

but a true 'diesel-head' needs a good snort of unburnt fuel every morning to get going (I'm a farm kid, so got weaned on the smokestack of an old tractor ~ 16 hrs / day)
I hope I never have to buy an automatic VW diesel, but it is all they offer in new Passats. They make a huge hit on mileage. 42 vs 50
btw... I got a consistent 42 mpg (~1200 mountain miles) in a GAS Toyota Corolla (AUTOMATIC !!) in my $16/ priceline rental in Colorado this week. 300+ miles on the top half of tank !


50 mpg since 1976... VW-Diesels. Where have you been? no OPEC or Dinosaurs required

[brikag]

I used to own a VW pick up. It was diesel. And I loved it. It got 44 city/60 hwy. 5 spd man, which was a rarity. It was a '81 and yellow. I called it the " 'lil Naner " My friends in the military called it the Big Banana. Very Emarassing. That's when diesel was $0.69 a gallon! Those weere the days.

[StealthRabbit]

There are advantages to the old stuff... I have an 85 yr old friend that wanted me to help him today to get his VW-d pickup running that had not been driven since 2000, when he retired it due to low compression. I hitched it up to my vw-d pickup and had her running in 30 ft !! We are having a HUGE vw diesel deletion project soon, as they are gold, He has ~ 10, I have my extras and I have another friend with over 75 of them. We picked them up for free to $100 pre-y2K. They are so amazing to fire up after sitting so long. I have driven several home, that were totally covered in Briars and sitting for years. I think it is pretty green to keep old iron running, especially when the parts / tires / fuel is so cheap and readily available... I get most stuff at junk yards, tires $5 !! and they last 50k+ I've even been known to grab a set of new brakes there. (not too smart...)

~ $.10 / mile INCLUDING cost of car !!! That's tough to improve on when you can get 300,000 - 500,000 miles on these things.

[Axiom]

We reluctantly traded our VW beetle TDI in for a non TDI automatic when we moved to CA
(personally I wouldn't want an automatic TDI)
Getting a convertible made up for the disappointment a bit though.

This had a lot to do with our decision:

"California replaces Hawaii as the state with the highest diesel fuel tax. As of January 2008, diesel fuel tax in California totaled 72 cents per gallon."


We also had to consider the fact that we now live in a very hilly area, and have a teenage driver who has never really gotten all that comfortable with the manual transmission. Not a good combination.
(I miss my little manual TDI though)

Good Luck with your decision

[dannnnny29]

I know it's been over a month since the last post, but with VW just about to release the new TDI station wagon, I spent a couple of minutes practicing my math: here goes nothing:

I am assuming that the average driver will put 12,000 miles on a car and keep the car 4 years. I will be using the current gas prices, but remember that usually the difference between the price of gas and that of diesel stays the same.

If you have the gas Jetta (like my wife) that gets an average of 25 mpg (24 going to work every day and 30 on small trips - 20% of driving) every year you will buy 12,000/25=480 gallons of gas. With the gas national average at 3.77, you will be spending $1,809 on gas every year.

With the TDI, you will buy 12,000/50 (or maybe even less) = 240 gallons. With the national average at 4.45, you will be spending $1,068.

$1809-$1068=$741 saved on gas every year. * 4 years = aprox $3000. Given the fact that they said that the TDI will be about $5000 more than the gas version and that you have to go service the car a lot more often - and pay high dealership prices (VW is on the pricey side) (most people service their cars at the dealership while under warranty), it is not financially efficient to purchase a TDI. On top of that you get 140 horses instead of 170. Not to mention that your loan will be bigger because it costs more and that implies more interest.

If you drive the car a lot more than 12,000 miles or plan to keep it for significantly more than 4 years, you might break even. This was enough to convince me that it's still not worth getting a TDI as long as you're an average driver distance-wise.

Oh, and I forgot to mention, after you're warranty runs out watch out for the price of various parts. If your turbo dies, and it happens...best of luck.

[brikag]

Thanks Dannnnny29! Good point!

[GregW]

Buy an old one. Let others take the depreciation hit. Brew up bio fuel in your garage and don't tell anyone.

[ottomobeale]

VW = higher than average number of repairs
VW = higher than average parts pricing

I know a couple who bought into the Jetta hype of the early 2000s. They bought 2 Jettas.

$12000 (yes $12,000!) in repairs later....

[sunsprit]

When diesel was a lot less per gallon than gasoline, and diesel luxury level cars were getting far better fuel economy than gasoline cars, the economics worked out favorably for people who (1) kept their cars for a long time, and (2) drove a lot of miles per year.

Now that diesel is significantly more expensive than gasoline, and many gasoline cars are getting in the 30+ mpg range on the road, the diesel advantages are not there for many typical car owners driving average miles per year.

Until we see more of the diesel powered potential hitting the US market ... with far better fuel economy than we're getting now ... I think the new TDI is not a good buy.

Those of us who've been driving diesel cars since the early 1970's, and have kept our cars running for 500K miles and more, have enjoyed the benefits and advantages of those vehicles during a different economic cycle than we're in today. For the most part, my diesel MB's, Peugeot's, and Audi's are now parked in favor of a Subaru Legacy Station Wagon, a BMW 1972 2002, and a 1978 Alfa Romeo Spider. All get in the low 30's mpg, and meet my transportation needs at less cost per mile than my diesel cars.