"New" VW diesel?

bigred177

bigred177

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bigred
I am as much of a diesel fanatic as they come. I have a 96 Passat TDI that I don't ever plan on getting rid of.

That being said, I'm in the market for a car for my mom. She is interested in the new 2015s that are being sold now. I am wondering if the are worth buying with other gasoline cars reaching higher and higher in the fuel economy numbers. Obviously they would be great cars while under warranty, but how are they in the long run? Comparing these cars to Hyundai and other manufacturers how do they stack up?

Talk me out of buying one. :)
 
Yea, they had to stop selling them when their emission issues came to light. They're selling them as new now because they have fixed them, and still have 0 miles on them.
 
Wasn't the problem with those that when the emissions controls were working to specification they were dogs that got crappy mileage? I'd what until I saw some real world data before I bought one.
 
I looked at them but ultimately decided it isn't worth what they are asking. A new Honda Civic gets the same MPG in gas form and cost about the same and it's a brand new car, not a 2 year old one that's been sitting in a parking lot unused. Cars don't like to sit. If you want a diesel go look at the Chevrolet Cruze. It gets way better fuel mileage than the VW and only cost a couple grand more.
 
Diesel maintenance costs tend to be higher in my experience (and that of a friend who is a Land Rover Service Advisor).
 
Is this the new VW with the software fix that turns on the emission controls when the regulators are trying to detect fraudulent software?
 
There was never a problem with the cars themselves, just the paperwork. If you can get it at a discount that reflects that is not a new car it can be a good deal. Drive it off the lot, head to the local diesel tuner and have the 'fix' removed ;-)
 
I have a friend with a 2015 Passat wagon. He got it re-blessed by VW or whatever they do to it. He loved it before and he loves it still.
 
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cowman said:
I wonder if the MPG dropped after they "fixed" it.
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Yes. Depends on who's PR you listen too. Anywhere from a 5-10% decrease to as much as 25%.
I have not seen anything definitive from a lab yet.

Tim
 
I've had tremendously good experiences with my 2011 Jetta TDI that went 241,000 miles without any problems and requiring only routine maintenance. I had to sell that car back (reluctantly). Had VW made one of those 2015 available, I would have bought one in a heartbeat. Instead, I bought a used BMW 328d (diesel) and like it very well, but am not keen on the service costs.
 
After doing some research, it seems that the only "side effect" of the fix is an increased consumption of DEF. They had turned the amount down so it would last until the 10k service rather than install a bigger tank. The articles I've looked at say that the mileage is pretty much the same, but the 0-60 times (who actually looks at these for a diesel) are slightly slower.

They have their normal 3 year, 36k warranty for the car and an additional 15 year, 150k warranty for the fuel system. I'd have to dig around to find out what all of that covers.

With the discounts off MSRP, plus the $5k rebate, plus 0% for 72 months, it's pretty tempting. I'm just concerned with ze German maintenance costs over the long term, like your BMW.
 
bigred177 said:
After doing some research, it seems that the only "side effect" of the fix is an increased consumption of DEF. They had turned the amount down so it would last until the 10k service rather than install a bigger tank. The articles I've looked at say that the mileage is pretty much the same, but the 0-60 times (who actually looks at these for a diesel) are slightly slower.

They have their normal 3 year, 36k warranty for the car and an additional 15 year, 150k warranty for the fuel system. I'd have to dig around to find out what all of that covers.

With the discounts off MSRP, plus the $5k rebate, plus 0% for 72 months, it's pretty tempting. I'm just concerned with ze German maintenance costs over the long term, like your BMW.
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Neither of my newer Diesel Jetta's nor my mothers Diesel Jetta, all bought after 2010, had a DEF tank. That was the whole appeal of the VW "clean diesel" in not needing the urea catalyst.
 
Doggtyred said:
Neither of my newer Diesel Jetta's nor my mothers Diesel Jetta, all bought after 2010, had a DEF tank. That was the whole appeal of the VW "clean diesel" in not needing the urea catalyst.
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I believe the Passats have a DEF tank.
 
bigred177 said:
With the discounts off MSRP, plus the $5k rebate, plus 0% for 72 months, it's pretty tempting. I'm just concerned with ze German maintenance costs over the long term, like your BMW.
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The VW maintenance costs weren't too bad. If you are getting a TDi with the DSG transmission, note that the transmission will need a fluid change every 40K miles to the tune of $800. Otherwise it's oil and oil filter changes every 10K miles (about $220), with diesel fuel filter, air filter, and cabin filter changes every 20K miles (about $350) Considering my former Jetta TDI never needed anything else, this was acceptable.

My BMW is fun to drive and has good power, but service is probably 2.5 times more expensive the the VW.
 
tspear said:
Yes. Depends on who's PR you listen too. Anywhere from a 5-10% decrease to as much as 25%.
I have not seen anything definitive from a lab yet.

Tim
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We did some runs, it's almost wash. 25% is nonsense - there's hardly any change in the software anyway, the threshold when diesel combustion starts to produce excessive amounts of NOx is very narrow.
 
mtuomi said:
We did some runs, it's almost wash. 25% is nonsense - there's hardly any change in the software anyway, the threshold when diesel combustion starts to produce excessive amounts of NOx is very narrow.
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Good to hear. But I just put new tires and five year alignment and extended warranty on my four year old Subaru. So I am not switching...

Tim
 
I've got an 06 Beetle with the 1.9L and a DSG. Love the thing, gets great mileage and was way cheaper than a similar year Jetta.
 
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