A friend of mine is looking for a 2000-2006 TDI, either a Jetta or Golf. Are there any ideal years to look for or ones to avoid in this range? What kind of mileage is too high on these? He's probably going to be looking for the earlier ones of this year range. What are some common problems to either look for on a potential purchase or prepare for after a purchase?

Thanks in advance, VW people!

greasemonkey's Sig:

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I have this condition, where I perceive OEM parts as insufficient and in need of aftermarket replacement; maybe that mindset just stems from the domestic vehicles that I've owned.

timing belt change. i got one for sale on here. it has 216k on it. belt was changed at 178k. they are good for a bunch of miles.

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I have owned many VW diesels and currently have a 2009 tdi wagon. In the 2000 to 2006 years, I prefer the 2003 and older TDI as opposed to the PD motor that was in the 2004 to 2006. I have owned both. The PD motor was at least 10% less fuel efficient and was a noisier motor at least in my experience.

yup timing belt change is a must. also might want to clean out intake manifold. they can get clogged in high mileage cars

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i got a 2000 tdi jetta for sale 216k on it. belt was changed at 178k. egr and stuff was cleaned after that. car runs perfect. i want 5300.00 for it 1 877 354 7008 thanks tony

thanks tony, any idea what a transport costs from WV to CA?

so on the '00-03's, any common electrical gremlins like I always hear the 90's VW's had? what transmissions were available? are the autos good? how well do these respond to basic mods?

the autos are good but if you put any mods on it the tranny will have a short life. thats why in earlier models its better to get a manual tranny. in the pd motors the auto got a little stronger but still not as good as a manual

the 00-06 tdis are all fairly good except for the passat tdis.

The passat has an expensive defect in them that requires the engine's balance shafts to be fixed or risk of killing the oil pump drive will occur.

The alh engines that are in the 00-03 tdis are very good. They respond well to chips, injectors and other mods found on Fred's TDI Page. TDIClub.com. VW TDI Enthusiast Community. They get the best milage out of the tdis sold in the USA. The engines had 2-3 different timing belt setups with the best being installed by the factory in 2003. The 2003 5sp setup is good for roughly 100k miles. the older setups were less but can be upgraded to the 2003 timing belt kit which costs about $270-$330 from a reputable tdi vender using OEM parts.

The PD engines used 2004-2006 produce more 10-20 hp but return less milage. The injector upgrade is more expensive too. There has also be some discussion about cam wear but I do not know much about this as I've never owned one...but I'm always game for playing with a more powerful vw engine.

The TDIClub community has the best online support for TDI mods for this as simple as air filters to as complicated as piston upgrades or engine swaps. Fred's TDI Page. TDIClub.com. VW TDI Enthusiast Community

you are completely right but for 3 grand it can be fixed and can become the most fun mid sized sedan for how much money they are worth which isnt much. there going now forr anywhere to 12 to 15 grand. i think thats good for a 4 or 5 year old diesel sedan. they also have the strongest automatics found in TDIs in america

The PD does get less fuel mileage but has does have 10% more power, plus the car is bigger.

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alright were talking a few mpgs. a pd engine can still get 40 plus if you baby it enough

So are these good cars? Ive been waffelling since some say they are expensive to maintain, have electrical issues, and require special tools etc.

Looking at 2000-2003 with a standard.


Im also considering a Subaru.

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yes if you do the maintenance and use the right oil

Cant you use just about any diesel oil in the 2000-2003 years??

Well he ended up bringing home an '03 5 speed Jetta with 70k miles, the timing belt was done at 53k and he got it for $6.5k without holding anyone hostage.

Now it's time for a box, air intake and wants to straight pipe it. I can't think of why he shouldn't straight pipe it! It's got a Magnaflow muffler on it right now, you can't hear a dang thing but a little bit of engine noise.

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One more thing that he knew about before he bought it is a couple glow plugs are bad, there's a check engine light for that. That's not a big deal, is it? It starts fine right now and I'm sure it'd be a good idea to get them replaced before winter...it gets down to +28 degrees F here sometimes, REALLY cold winters...


But I'll take snow over fair weather and smelly hippies any day