Hmmm. We have had probably 5-6 TDIs of the 1.9 and 2.0 (105hp-140hp) variety with probably 400-500K of use between them over 8-10 years and have never had any of those issues. Poor maintenance may cause those - old oil, badly fitted parts etc. Find a nice independent specialist and you would be fine and save quite a load of cash.
EDIT - Specialist for the bits you don't spanner yourself.
I am considering a swap to Petrol though as I don't do motorways (highways) very often - but its going to be hard to miss the woosh when the turbo kicks in - in exactly the same way that VTEC doesn't
