My friend wants another VW
 

My friend bought a 2002 VW Golf 2.0L a couple years ago and now it likely needs a motor as it's missing and continuously fouling a plug with oil. The assumption is worn rings. I know it has a blown exhaust manifold, possibly from unburned gas that ignited in it. I think it only has around 160,000 miles, so it's surprising to have major problems already.

Now he wants to buy a 2010 Golf TDI. From another friends experience with 2 Jetta diesels and 3 motors, I don't think it will go well in the long run. Since I'm the one that fixes everything that breaks, I'd rather he get something more reliable that has parts that can be replaced with normal tools.

He likes the styling of the Golf and needs the ability to put his drum kit in it. He also drives often and far, with 100 mile roundtrip commutes a few days a week.

What are some other options out there that would be fuel efficient and reliable?

Didn't VW issue a Campaign to update the ECU a few months ago to address emissions, meanwhile reducing fuel economy and increasing DPF regens? How would I be able to tell if the car has had this update? Is there a way to reverse the update?

EDIT: Update at this post https://ecomodder.com/forum/showthre...tml#post576036

Tell him simply that if he buys another VW that he needs to find a new mechanic and see if he still wants one. The Golf isn't that huge, there are any number of cars that can be bought that will fit the bill but you will have to look at hatch area carefully. VW seems to be the only company that makes a 2 door wagon with the Golf whereas other small "hot hatches" are a more goofy hatch design that kills some usability. If this friend isn't concerned with MPG a small crossover might fit the bill if small hatchbacks can't fit the drum kit. Members here have found that the Prius turns out to be extremely useful in moving large objects.

Honda Fit. Problem solved. Reliable and holds a ton of stuff inside.

Thats funny, i have a friend who is on her 2nd vw with problems and still admits she likes VW.

Friends don't let friends buy VW.

I drive a Prius and it's one of his favorite things to joke about. Maybe a Mazda 3 would fit the bill. I'll have to plant the seed in his mind. In the meantime, we're just about to go out and see this 2010 Vee Dub. He's gonna love it I just know it.

If you go back far enough (I think late '90s?), TDIs were pretty reliable. Nowadays your fuel savings are just payments for repairs. Maybe start charging him labor?

Fit would be my choice for a good all around hatch/wagon. Focus ST would be my next choice, but for reasons other than efficiency. ;) My friend has a new Mazda 3 hatch and it gets pretty good mileage.

On the way to see the Vee Dub, we discussed the Mazda 3, which he said the styling is terrible and I tend to agree, although I place next to no value on aesthetics. He was receptive to the Fit and Focus, but alas, the Golf won him over.

It was clearly well taken care of, but at 64,000 miles, I think it's nearing the timing belt interval. I'm surprised to see the VW warranty is for 5 years and 60,000 miles, which seems shorter than nearly everything else out there. There was a campaign to reprogram the ECU for emission purposes and the car has had the update, unfortunately. Perhaps a 3rd party reflash will undue the MPG hit some people are reporting. I think the update made the car run the same as if it was undergoing smog testing (undid the emission defeat programming) and also increased the frequency of the DPF regens, which will hurt fuel economy.

My friend has all but purchased the vehicle, so it looks like I'll become intimately familiar with how the Mk VI Golf works.

I'll have to research deleting the DPF which will probably require some modification to the EGR, I would assume. With the increased frequency of regen occurring, I suspect there will be many problems with early failure of the emission equipment.

The dual mass flywheel will explode if it hasn't already at least once. Both of mine were replaced with single mass and survived just fine when I did timing belts. Hopefully, the fuel pump won't gall and take a dump on the fuel system, but honestly though, if he's doing that much driving it may be ok for a few years since its a Golf.

OTOH, seems that the German made two doors may be a bit better. I haven't been there in a while but TDIclub is loaded with fixes that will give you a heads up on any eventualities that might arise. God help you!

Did yours explode, or did you do it preventatively when changing the timing belt? I'm assuming there is some labor savings by doing it at the same time as the belt?

How is drivability after changing to single mass? Wouldn't the drive axles see more wear since the clutch isn't absorbing as much of the force?

I'm fairly confident I could do the flywheel, but have never done a timing belt before. I'd hate to mess that one up, especially since I understand it's an interference engine.

2005 VW Jetta TDI, 300,000 miles and counting with no issues.

Everybody knows somebody with a horror story about one brand of car or another. Most issues can be traced back to owners not taking proper care of their vehicle or taking them to shoddy mechanics. Everybody yells and screams about issues they've had to anyone with an ear but how often to you hear people speak glowingly about their 1992 nissan sentra they had in high school that never once gave them a single issue even though they treated it poorly?

There will always be folks who have horror stories of premature failures but if it was really that big of an issue the NTSB would have stepped in and forced a recall. Case in point; how many people drive Toyotas on here but have never had an issue? Everybody remembers the "unintended acceleration" issues that forced a mass recall. When you make 100,000 of something, a few are bound to have issues.

As for the timing belt, it can be a pain depending on your mechanical abilities but mostly because of the specialty tools required. Most VW's came from the factory with a 100,000 mile timing belt interval but VW has since dropped that to 80,000 miles. Even at 80k that's a few years between changes.

Even though all vehicle models suffer problems, some are more prone to costly failures than others. These failures can be objectively quantified and compared across brands. In general European cars, and VW in particular, encounter problems at a higher rate of frequency than average.

I'm not sure how much failure can be attributed to neglect of maintenance. I contend that having more frequent replacement intervals for items that wear out is almost no different than having a higher frequency of failure. Both are costly.

I had a 1996 Subaru Legacy that I constantly praise for going 219,000 miles without a single problem, except for a catalytic converter that dropped below efficiency threshold, which I ignored since I lived in a non-DEQ county.

That said, Subaru has a well known design flaw that causes head gaskets to fail and require expensive labor to replace.

My question is, what are the most likely failures I might see with the 2010 Golf TDI?

Today I learned that it has a timing belt rather than a chain, and that the engine is an interference engine, so allowing the belt to wear out is an expensive proposition. By comparison, most of Toyota's lineup uses a timing chain that lasts the life of the vehicle, and many of the engines are non-interference so they will not suffer catastrophic failure if the chain were to break. This is something implemented into the vehicle at a greater cost, with the goal to improve long-term reliability which in turn improves resale value.

Fit has a timing chain too. Just sayin'. ;) But it sounds as though you're already stuck with the Vee Dub.

In general though I agree with your assessment. Japanese cars, Honda and Toyota in particular, are built to run almost indefinitely. Change the oil and keep driving. "Everyone has stories", true enough, but the fact is that Honda and Toyota revolutionized automobile reliability and maintenance frequency across the entire industry. Before them, head gaskets went at 45K miles and nobody blinked. Today cars run hundreds of thousands of miles and the engine is never even cracked open. Big difference. And it's all due to a guy named W. Edwards Deming.

I bought a Beetle '98 (at 130k) and a '06 Jetta (at 46k IIRC). The Beetle had problems going into gears because the pendulum springs were flying around inside the housing.

The Jetta I had a SMF put in as preventative but the guru that did it showed me the damage to the housing and throw out arm from a previous grenade. It was about $3k to have timing belt, water pump, DMF, and I had a bad cam from oil shear caused by the unit pump design sharing narrow cam lobes with the injectors. The newer ones are common rail so they won't have that problem.

With a single mass flywheel the only difference is that it rings the flywheel at idle in neutral which gives a little more of the diesel clatter. If the SMF caused premature transmission failure it was very seldom.

I traded an '04 Jetta with auto in for the '06 Jetta. The '04 and before suffered from Jatco autotragics. The DSGs are real nice but have to be maintained with fluid changes every 30K and clutch engagement adjustments. I have what was VAG-COM software that works with the '06. It didn't work for the '98 and I don't know if it will work for the '10.

Did anyone ever demonstrate that there was an actual mechanical problem, and not just a) a few people making creative excuses for their poor driving that caused a crash; and b) a bunch more who hopped on the "Sue Toyota, they have deep pockets!" bandwagon?

The question, though, is why the engines are designed so that a part like that requires changing at specified intervals?

I'm pretty sure it was determined that the pedal position sensors supplied in Toyota vehicles were prone to unacceptable failure, and that is why they had a recall done. That said, I'd much prefer a faulty accelerator pedal position sensor than have my engine fail. It's much cheaper and easier to remedy.

My '69 VW Beetle had an accelerator pedal that went into the floorboard instead of extending up into the firewall. A tiny pebble fell into the gap between the pedal and the floor and caused it to stick on, which in turn prompted me to make an unplanned turn into a parking lot instead of continuing on into a stopped vehicle. They ought to have a safety recall on that death trap!

From my thread:
http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthrea...tml#post466729

My friend did end up buying the dieselgate 2010 TDI Golf with manual transmission. He's got about 155,000 miles on it now, and the turbo actuator appears to be bad and put the car into limp mode.

His mechanic says the part is $200, and labor about $1,000, although the turbo itself may be bad, in which case the cost to repair would be higher.

From what I'm told, VW will buy back the car even if it has the turbo issue, so long as the car can drive to the dealership to be bought back.

He's contemplating selling it back to VW, but he really likes his car and is also contemplating just taking the $2,000 they offered him to keep the car and fix the turbo. I'm trying to steer him away from keeping the car, as it's bound to have endless expensive problems pop up, especially as the miles and years accrue. We might know what VW will offer to buy back later today.

So, my original question remains as to what "cool" looking hatchbacks that get decent fuel economy exist? What can fit a drum kit, get good fuel economy, and rack up a ton of miles without being a maintenance nightmare?

EDIT: VW is offering $13k for his car. He paid $13,500 3 years and 100k miles ago. He's now thinking to buy a 2015 VW Golf TDI for roughly the same amount he's getting for his 2010.

His comment about the Fit, "The Fit is a teacher car". So, not cool enough I guess.

Apparently these older cars just get crushed, so VW doesn't care what condition they are in, or even if parts are taken off as long as it started and drove to the dealership to be traded in. We're thinking about putting some cheapo steel wheels and used tires on, and keeping his current wheels and 2 month old tires. Maybe take the spare tire out and anything else with some value.

I'm still trying to steer him away from another VW, but he loves the car. Any other contenders in the $13k range?