2005 Volkswagen Jetta GLS TDI: Dig that Turbo

This is a relativity thing. Compared to a Veyron, yes. But it's 100 hp, 117 lb-ft of torque. Inline-4. Focus, that's slow. Jetta, fast (relatively). And extremely fuel-efficient to boot.

One aspect of diesel engines I rarely hear about is the longevity/durability.
Diesel engines typically last much, much longer than petrol engines. I am curious if this holds true with the TDI or if accessory failure/problems overshadow this big postive of diesels.
 
I have heard that the new low sulfer diesel diminishes the longevity but a regular service additive can bring back the lubrication properties of conventional diesel fuel.
 
continue on! also curious how the day to day maintence, etc differ from the petrol version in a sedan.

Cruiserhead
That's why we bought it. Want to do real-world mileage updates, maintenance, cost of ownership, depreciation, etc. Keep reading.

Diesels - YES!
 
The time is right - I think they are going to prove themselves quite well against hybrids and the like.
 
BTW - a guy down the street from my house has this same basic car in silver (maybe a year or two newer?). I just heard him go by on his way home - just grabbed 3rd gear out front on his way down the street. :-)

It's my understanding that sulfur in diesel fuel provides little or no lubrication benefit. It's not like going from leaded to unleaded gasoline--the lead in leaded gasoline was an additive; the sulfur in diesel fuel is an impurity.

stephen987,
here is a snip from "wiki" regarding ULSD
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultra-low_sulfur_diesel
**note the warning for VW TDI at the bottom
 
Sulfur is not a lubricant, however the process used to reduce the Sulfur also reduces the fuel's lubricating properties. Lubricity is a measure of the fuel's ability to lubricate and protect the various parts of the engine's fuel injection system from wear. The processing required to reduce sulfur to 15 ppm also removes naturally-occurring lubricity agents in diesel fuel. To manage this change ASTM International (formerly the American Society for Testing and Materials) adopted the lubricity specification defined in ASTM D975 for all diesel fuels and this standard went into effect January 1, 2005. [8]
The refining process that removes the sulfur also reduces the aromatic content and density of the fuel, resulting in a minor decrease in the energy content, by about 1%. This decrease in energy content may result in reduced peak power and fuel economy. The reduction is only slight and will likely go unnoticed.
ULSD will run in any engine designed for the ASTM D-975 diesel fuels.
 
It is, however, known to cause seals to shrink (Source: Chevron paper) and can cause fuel pump failures in Volkswagen TDI engines; biodiesel blends are reported to prevent that failure (Source: HRCCC.org Biodiesel Best Management Practices).

Thanks for the clarification, cruiserhead1. I had always wondered why there was so much hysteria over low-sulfur diesel in the "diesel enthusiast" world; I guess I had mentally chalked it up to the same sort of paranoia that gives us tales of woe about the lost 100 mpg carburetor.

Yep, pretty much the same paranoia. While the natural lubricity is removed in ULSD, they replace it with synthetic additives, so the actual lubricity is the same or better than the old LSD fuel. Downside is we all pay for those additives in higher fuel costs.
 
As for my 2.5 years ownership experience with my '99 Suburban diesel with 168k miles, the engine has been great so far, and relatively low maintenance. It still runs like new, and has all of its power. Most of the repairs/work I did to it was early on, and fixed problems that the previous owner had deferred or neglected. The only items I had to replace on the engine were:
 
- New glowplugs (only 2 of the 8 were working when I got the truck - no big deal, just made it harder to start when cold). About $70 to replace all 8.
 
- New lift pump (this is a small electric fuel pump that provides low pressure fuel to feed the main injection pump). About $90 for a new one (old one was dead)
 
- New Fuel Solenoid Driver (FSD). Actually called a PMD or Pump Mounted Driver on my engine. Bad design/location leads to early failure from heat soak into this electronic component that provides juice to the electronic injection pump. Kind of a unique problem to the GM/Detroit Diesel 6.5L engine. I don't think VW TDIs have this issue. Causes random stalling, which my truck suffered from when I got it. Aftermarket unit relocates it to a cooler spot - solves the problem. Easy to replace, but about a $450 part. Never stalled again since replacing it.
 
- My truck has 2 batteries due to the heavy demand of starting a V-8 diesel: running 8 glow plugs, overcoming 22:1 compression, and running the electric lift pump. I had to replace both batteries, for a total cost of $200. I would consider the incremental cost of one of the batteries, or $100, a higher maintenance cost of a diesel.
 
So, all total, I spent $710 in 2.5 years and 27,000 miles to keep my old diesel running good. Excluding oil and filter changes of course, which were the same intervals and cost as a gas engine.
 
I don't know how that would stack up with the maintenance and repair cost of a gas engine of the same mileage, but I suspect its similar. But I've been getting 30% better fuel economy.

BTW, I just calculated how much fuel cost I saved over that 27,000 miles: $1,735. And that's assuming diesel at $3.75 a gallon, and regular gas at $3.30 a gallon.
 
While I paid about $3k more for a diesel Suburban than a gas powered one, I'm more than half way there to recovering the premium, plus if I sold the truck today, I would get back most of that $3k premium anyway - diesels still fetch a big premium in the used market - especially if they are rare.

Any news on when we will see the new Volkswagen Jetta TDI on our shores? I am dying to drive the new version that everyone seems to say is a huge improvement over the older version you are testing.

karjunkie I heard summer time-ish

"Focus, that's slow. Jetta, fast (relatively)."
 
That's just not true. Your own automatic Focus gets to 60 in 9.7 seconds, compared to the manual Jetta's 11.0 seconds.