Diesel Jetta v. Gas Honda Accord

ScottM said:
I run my cars until they fall apart. I am used to after warranty issues. It is still usually cheaper to fix something in the long run than to buy something new.
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I resemble that remark. And with all the noise coming from Washington DC about more mandates on new vehicles I am more and more inclined to drop a new engine and whatever else it needs in my 1999 Jeep Wrangler when the time comes. 155,000 miles and still going strong, but there will come a time... Gas mileage stinks, but I can buy a lot of gas for not having a monthly payment. And it goes where I point it when it snows (which it does once in a while here). Can't say that for a lot of the econoboxes.
 
Ghery said:
I resemble that remark. And with all the noise coming from Washington DC about more mandates on new vehicles I am more and more inclined to drop a new engine and whatever else it needs in my 1999 Jeep Wrangler when the time comes. 155,000 miles and still going strong, but there will come a time... Gas mileage stinks, but I can buy a lot of gas for not having a monthly payment. And it goes where I point it when it snows (which it does once in a while here). Can't say that for a lot of the econoboxes.
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Is that engine the 4l inline 6? If so the thing is indestructible. I loved my Jeep, my niece has it now and it is going strong with over 185,000 on it. The body is starting to rust out, but the engine is strong.
 
i think it is somewhat common for TDI jetta's to be used as glider tow vehicles in europe. although they are likely pulling lightweight streamlined aluminum/fiberglass trailers, not steel monstrocities like mine
 
rpadula said:
I tell you what, oil hardly disappears from that thing. No drops under my car!
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It's more about burning it than leaking. Never owned one, but anyone I knew who had a BMW of that vintage had a 'miles per quart' figure for their oil consumption (something about a combined oil-stripper/compression ring used on the particular pistons).

If I ever run accross a 2002ti in mint condition and there is the commensurate amount of money burning a hole in my pocket, I'll have a good birthday gift for my dad.
 
Ghery said:
I resemble that remark. And with all the noise coming from Washington DC about more mandates on new vehicles I am more and more inclined to drop a new engine and whatever else it needs in my 1999 Jeep Wrangler when the time comes. 155,000 miles and still going strong, but there will come a time... Gas mileage stinks, but I can buy a lot of gas for not having a monthly payment. And it goes where I point it when it snows (which it does once in a while here). Can't say that for a lot of the econoboxes.
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Me to, My 1989 Jeep Commanche with 270,000 miles on it usually costs me less then one car payment a year in maintenance and it has been paid for since 1995. I keep waiting for something expensive to break on it so I can replace it, but so far it just keeps on running and it gets about 21mpg.

I am going to have to decide if I am going to keep it long enough to make it worth while putting a new set of tires on it and a new battery in it.

I would really like to replace it with something that will get 30+ mpg for commuting to work and then tow my 1800lb glider trailer once in while.
I haven't really found anything that fits that criteria. Most vehicals I have looked at get only slightly better mileage than the jeep and won't tow as much(or even enough.)

Brian
 
ScottM said:
Is that engine the 4l inline 6? If so the thing is indestructible. I loved my Jeep, my niece has it now and it is going strong with over 185,000 on it. The body is starting to rust out, but the engine is strong.
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That's the engine. Fuel injected and just runs and runs. No sign of rust, either, but we don't use salt on the roads in the winter, so that helps.

brcase said:
Me to, My 1989 Jeep Commanche with 270,000 miles on it usually costs me less then one car payment a year in maintenance and it has been paid for since 1995. I keep waiting for something expensive to break on it so I can replace it, but so far it just keeps on running and it gets about 21mpg.

I am going to have to decide if I am going to keep it long enough to make it worth while putting a new set of tires on it and a new battery in it.

I would really like to replace it with something that will get 30+ mpg for commuting to work and then tow my 1800lb glider trailer once in while.
I haven't really found anything that fits that criteria. Most vehicals I have looked at get only slightly better mileage than the jeep and won't tow as much(or even enough.)

Brian
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I'd love to get 21 mpg. :D I don't think I got that when it was new. But, remember, the Wrangler has the aerodynamics of a brick.
 
It has been two years since I got the Jette and I have been keeping all the fuel economy info on it.

Currently the numbers are:

Total Fuel-ups: 62
Avg Miles/Fuel-up: 379.2
Avg Price/Gallon: $3.06
Avg Price/Fuel-up: $31.46
Total Miles Tracked: 23,511
Last Price/Gallon: $4.00 --
Avg Price/Gallon: $3.99 (30 Days)
Avg Price/Mile: $0.08
Best Miles/Fuel-up:532.4 12/20/09
Best Price/Gallon: $2.55 6/04/09

Today when I filled up the station had Diesel for 3.999 and regular unleaded at 3.999....parity.

The Accord has also been tracked and the numbers are:

Total Fuel-ups: 32
Avg Miles/Fuel-up: 222.1
Avg Price/Gallon: $2.90
Avg Price/Fuel-up: $25.58
Total Miles Tracked: 7,108
Last Price/Gallon: $3.20 (-$0.03)
Avg Price/Gallon: $0.00 (30 Days)
Avg Price/Mile: $0.12
Best Miles/Fuel-up: 399.6 3/07/10
Best Price/Gallon: $2.50 2/11/10


The cost/mile to operate the Honda is $.04 higher than the Jette. I have already broken even thanks to some tax rebates and other discounts. But it nice to see that the lower fuel operating cost is still holding true.
 
I owned a 93 Accord.

I owned an 88 Golf.

The Golf was a frickin money pit. By 60k I had to replace both rear door latches, both front seat belts, a transmission (and another one a short 372 days later), blah blah blah. By the time I gave up on that POS I was into it for probably 2x what I paid. As a parting shot, the "black box" gave up for a nice $800 kick in the ass when I was on the verge of selling at 105k.

The Accord, well, I had to have the front door striker plate realigned. A few new tires. Alles.

If I bought another VW my wife would kill me.
 
flyersfan31 said:
I owned an 88 Golf.

The Golf was a frickin money pit. By 60k I had to replace both rear door latches, both front seat belts, a transmission (and another one a short 372 days later), blah blah blah. By the time I gave up on that POS I was into it for probably 2x what I paid. As a parting shot, the "black box" gave up for a nice $800 kick in the ass when I was on the verge of selling at 105k.

The Accord, well, I had to have the front door striker plate realigned. A few new tires. Alles.

If I bought another VW my wife would kill me.
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My mom grew up during WWII. My dad did, too. They were married for 52 years. Mom spent a number of years as an Air Force wife. The one thing that almost precipitated a split between them was Dad's bright idea to buy a '77 Rabbit. It was the biggest POS ever. Worse than a Vega or a Pinto. Dad passed away several years ago, but mom's still PO'd about that car. I really thought she would get some parting shot on dad's headstone about that car, but she didn't.
 
flyersfan31 said:
I owned a 93 Accord.

I owned an 88 Golf.

The Golf was a frickin money pit. By 60k I had to replace both rear door latches, both front seat belts, a transmission (and another one a short 372 days later), blah blah blah. By the time I gave up on that POS I was into it for probably 2x what I paid. As a parting shot, the "black box" gave up for a nice $800 kick in the ass when I was on the verge of selling at 105k.

The Accord, well, I had to have the front door striker plate realigned. A few new tires. Alles.

If I bought another VW my wife would kill me.
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Never had a problem with the VW's I've owned (Jetta and Passat). The frickin' Mercedes? Money. Money. Money. The warranty was done and it was gone a year later. Never had a car with more time in the shop than that POS. The second worst was a Camry. The best was a Tempo, ironically enough. 155k and I only sold it (stupidly I might add) to buy the Merc. The most expensive Maint (on the tempo) was the driver power window.
 
Scott, you're tracking the fuel cost here, but as all us airplane owners know, fuel cost ain't it.

Now when the car is new, that's probably not such a bad thing, and I suspect it's pretty much the same until repairs are needed. So when do you anticipate selling the things?
 
Ted DuPuis said:
Scott, you're tracking the fuel cost here, but as all us airplane owners know, fuel cost ain't it.

Now when the car is new, that's probably not such a bad thing, and I suspect it's pretty much the same until repairs are needed. So when do you anticipate selling the things?
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For the VW the repair costs are zero. 3yr 36k miles bumper to bumper cost and the transmission is now extended to 100k full coverage. The Honda is the repair budget eater these days. My purpose was to track only the fuel cost to see if the acquisition cost of Diesel could compensate for the better fuel economy to create a cheaper operating cost. That has been proven out.
 
ScottM said:
For the VW the repair costs are zero. 3yr 36k miles bumper to bumper cost and the transmission is now extended to 100k full coverage. The Honda is the repair budget eater these days. My purpose was to track only the fuel cost to see if the acquisition cost of Diesel could compensate for the better fuel economy to create a cheaper operating cost. That has been proven out.
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Understood, I'm just looking at the lifetime cost. In your case the diesel may have won out vs. mileage (and the gas car being 50% more expensive there is not small).

My truck gets about 12-14 mpg on the highway, depending on how fast I drive and the time of year. However in the 60,000 miles I've had it (152,560 total as of this morning), I've done virtually no maintenance to the thing. That is worth a lot both in time and money. Parts buy a lot of fuel. And my time is worth a lot to me, especially given the fact that I need my truck to be dead reliable. I see a lot of people who buy something saying that it's cheaper because the fuel cost is lower, and then they get eaten alive on maintenance.
 
I just stumbled across this interesting thread. We're about to order an X5 3.5d and I'm shocked to find myself doing it. Driving it is a hoot with 425 ft/lbs of grunt on tap and in my day of tooling around town in the demo, I got 26 mph during a lead foot test drive. The diesel X5 has the best resell value, which surprised me. And to top it off, BMW is running a promotion on the diesels right now to get their CAFE number up so they're throwing us $6,500 off list which puts it well below invoice with the Eco incentive.
 
Ted DuPuis said:
Understood, I'm just looking at the lifetime cost. In your case the diesel may have won out vs. mileage (and the gas car being 50% more expensive there is not small).

My truck gets about 12-14 mpg on the highway, depending on how fast I drive and the time of year. However in the 60,000 miles I've had it (152,560 total as of this morning), I've done virtually no maintenance to the thing. That is worth a lot both in time and money. Parts buy a lot of fuel. And my time is worth a lot to me, especially given the fact that I need my truck to be dead reliable. I see a lot of people who buy something saying that it's cheaper because the fuel cost is lower, and then they get eaten alive on maintenance.
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The thing about the Jette that has me most concerned is not the engine at all but the rest of the stuff on the car. It is by far the most technologically complex car I have ever owned. I had the transmission reprogrammed this week and that will affect fuel economy as all the shift points have moved. To me that is just plain weird to have done. My previous vehicle was a Jeep Cherokee and it was really basic. Power steering was the only real creature comfort. Everything else was uber manual and thus bullet proof. I do wonder if I will get the life out of this car like I had gotten out of my still running 17 year old Jeep.
 
We have a 2003 Jetta. It has been a good car thus far.
 
ScottM said:
The thing about the Jette that has me most concerned is not the engine at all but the rest of the stuff on the car. It is by far the most technologically complex car I have ever owned. I had the transmission reprogrammed this week and that will affect fuel economy as all the shift points have moved. To me that is just plain weird to have done. My previous vehicle was a Jeep Cherokee and it was really basic. Power steering was the only real creature comfort. Everything else was uber manual and thus bullet proof. I do wonder if I will get the life out of this car like I had gotten out of my still running 17 year old Jeep.
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I'd say that both are issues. The engine has a lot of added complexity and parts, but VW has some extremely complex electrical systems, suspensions, and other things that aren't cheap to fix. Plus maintenance on them is a nightmare. But, Chris has proven that you can take one well past 200,000 miles.

But my Ford has a simple 6.8L V10 and 4-speed automatic, 4x4, and all kinds of very simple but rugged parts. My twin-turbo Mitsubishi has required far more parts at roughly the same mileage, but then again some of them have been optional. ;)
 
PittsDriver said:
I just stumbled across this interesting thread. We're about to order an X5 3.5d and I'm shocked to find myself doing it. Driving it is a hoot with 425 ft/lbs of grunt on tap and in my day of tooling around town in the demo, I got 26 mph during a lead foot test drive. The diesel X5 has the best resell value, which surprised me. And to top it off, BMW is running a promotion on the diesels right now to get their CAFE number up so they're throwing us $6,500 off list which puts it well below invoice with the Eco incentive.
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The BMW is a real stump puller. Check out the stats on the 335d. Crankin' engine in a little car? Runs like a scalded cat. Me likey.
 
Ted DuPuis said:
I'd say that both are issues. The engine has a lot of added complexity and parts, but VW has some extremely complex electrical systems, suspensions, and other things that aren't cheap to fix. Plus maintenance on them is a nightmare. But, Chris has proven that you can take one well past 200,000 miles.
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Rachel's daily driver is a 99 Passat 2.0L 5-speed manual with 223,000 miles. Since we bought it in 2006 with 96,000 miles, I have replaced both CV Shafts ($200), all front control arms and swaybar links ($400), timing belt, water pump, thermostat, plugs, valve cover seals ($300), brake pads all-around (??<$100). After doing the timing belt work, etc., we drove it 5hrs to Alabama and got 30mpg, and it wasn't all interstate. Rachel consistently gets 25+mpg on her tooling around and between towns, as she commutes quite a bit for her work. Since the car is paid off, when I do work on it, I say for every $300 worth of maintenance we need to get another month of service out of it. I think I am well ahead of the curve right now.

We plan to get her something a bit bigger and even more dependable later this year, and I will park the Jeep and start driving the Passat to work until the wheels fall off. That'll cut my gas costs in half, which will put $100/month toward her car payment.
 
I really think its the year of the VW. My best friend in HS had a manual VW GTI for a few years. That car had some serious torque and was a hell of a lot of fun to drive. At 19 I only cared that it was fun so can't comment on the engine.

In 2001 I leased a Passat Wagon. The car was beautiful and oh so comfortable, and technologically advanced I felt as if I was driving a fine german luxe sports car. About 1.5 years into the three year lease we had a very severe deer hit. Deer hit on the front of the hood as it tried to leap slammed into the wind shield and up over the top. Over 10K in damage. Car needed engine work in addition to the body work. I insisted on all OEM VW parts and Body shop sent it to a VW dealer for authorized work on the engine.

Only 1 month before the 36 month lease was up I took it in for a check engine light. It was in for 2 weeks and when the shop tried to start it up timing went threw a valve and blamo pulled a DuPuis on the engine right in the shop. They called to tell me. They even drove it into the garage after I dropped it off. VW tried every way to tuesday to blame it on the repairs I had done after the deer strike and stick me with buying a new engine a week before the lease was up, but voila they saw that the engine repair were done by VW.

Of course I could blame the troubles on the deer strike but the service manager at the VW place who was a good friend of an attorney in my office told me that VW was awesome but then they started to make too many types of engines and screwed things up horribly and they should have stuck with the few engines they did well.

So in short I've heard of awesome VWs and VWs from hell.

Currently I drive a Mazda Millenia and the gas milage SUCKS. I'd like to get something more efficient but you have to save a lot in gas to make the purchase worthwhile.
 
AdamZ said:
Only 1 month before the 36 month lease was up I took it in for a check engine light. It was in for 2 weeks and when the shop tried to start it up timing went threw a valve and blamo pulled a DuPuis on the engine right in the shop.
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For the record: I haven't blown up any engines.

Currently I drive a Mazda Millenia and the gas milage SUCKS. I'd like to get something more efficient but you have to save a lot in gas to make the purchase worthwhile.
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I should let you borrow my Ford Excursion for a bit and see what you think about mileage. ;)
 
All the fuzzy math reminds me how Mac zealots tried to prove that PPC was faster than x86.
 
AdamZ said:
It was in for 2 weeks and when the shop tried to start it up timing went threw a valve and blamo pulled a DuPuis on the engine right in the shop.
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Yup.. VW's run an 'interference' engine - if the timing belt goes, it will chew through the valves and other goodies really quick while 'non-interference' engines will usually just die.
 
CJones said:
Yup.. VW's run an 'interference' engine - if the timing belt goes, it will chew through the valves and other goodies really quick while 'non-interference' engines will usually just die.
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although my understanding is that most modern engines are interference engines. anyone know if that's true?
 
Ted DuPuis said:
Understood, I'm just looking at the lifetime cost. In your case the diesel may have won out vs. mileage (and the gas car being 50% more expensive there is not small).

My truck gets about 12-14 mpg on the highway, depending on how fast I drive and the time of year. However in the 60,000 miles I've had it (152,560 total as of this morning), I've done virtually no maintenance to the thing. That is worth a lot both in time and money. Parts buy a lot of fuel. And my time is worth a lot to me, especially given the fact that I need my truck to be dead reliable. I see a lot of people who buy something saying that it's cheaper because the fuel cost is lower, and then they get eaten alive on maintenance.
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I had a 1997 (last of the mechanical injection) Dodge 2500 Cummins I drove for 275xxx miles, over 175,000 of those were towing loads. I did have to rebuild the 5 speed once at 100,000 miles because of a soft input shaft gear. My buddy in Tulsa had better parts to put in it, never another problem there. I did "0" maint except to change the oil every 75,000 miles or so and put tires on it. Uggg, H rated tires... The only pair I had run till I decided to change them due to tread was a pair of Daytons. Michelin, Good Year, Goodrich... all flew apart withing 25,000 miles. I had 3.54 gears in it. My run light fuel economy was 23mpg under 75mph, between that and 90 was 21. Towing an airplane on a 38' flatbed was 19mpg, didn't matter if it was a 172 or a Citation. Towing bumper hitch and low front 5th wheel travel trailers was 17, high front 5th wheel was 16. Towed a 36' O'Day center cockpit sail boat from Long Beach to Tablerock Lake and that was 16 as well. The worst it ever saw was 14 and that was when I had my 50' hay trailer I made out of a single wide mobile home chassis stacked 2 layers high with 40- 6' round bales of hay down to Dallas in a strong head wind.

The only other thing that went wrong with that truck was the fuel gauge quit working at just past 36,000 miles (warranty expired:sad:) but the fuel consumption was so predictable I never bothered to fix it, I just carried a spare 5 gallon can in the bed which I used all of 3 times.

Obviously I was using the truck for commercial hauling, at that time the the diesel was a $3800 option. I was talking to another driver who had bought the same truck for the same purpose (make money as Owner Operator) with the V-10, his best fuel economy was 8mpg. I asked him why he went with the V-10, "Because it was only a $2500 add". :rolleyes2: :crazy:
 
tonycondon said:
although my understanding is that most modern engines are interference engines. anyone know if that's true?
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Correct. Although many of the Japanese makers have actually moved away from timing belts and gone back to chains, which eliminates the need for that service and vastly reduces the probability of an interference issue.

Henning said:
I had a 1997 (last of the mechanical injection) Dodge 2500 Cummins I drove for 275xxx miles, over 175,000 of those were towing loads. I did have to rebuild the 5 speed once at 100,000 miles because of a soft input shaft gear. My buddy in Tulsa had better parts to put in it, never another problem there. I did "0" maint except to change the oil every 75,000 miles or so and put tires on it. Uggg, H rated tires... The only pair I had run till I decided to change them due to tread was a pair of Daytons. Michelin, Good Year, Goodrich... all flew apart withing 25,000 miles. I had 3.54 gears in it. My run light fuel economy was 23mpg under 75mph, between that and 90 was 21. Towing an airplane on a 38' flatbed was 19mpg, didn't matter if it was a 172 or a Citation. Towing bumper hitch and low front 5th wheel travel trailers was 17, high front 5th wheel was 16. Towed a 36' O'Day center cockpit sail boat from Long Beach to Tablerock Lake and that was 16 as well. The worst it ever saw was 14 and that was when I had my 50' hay trailer I made out of a single wide mobile home chassis stacked 2 layers high with 40- 6' round bales of hay down to Dallas in a strong head wind.

The only other thing that went wrong with that truck was the fuel gauge quit working at just past 36,000 miles (warranty expired:sad:) but the fuel consumption was so predictable I never bothered to fix it, I just carried a spare 5 gallon can in the bed which I used all of 3 times.

Obviously I was using the truck for commercial hauling, at that time the the diesel was a $3800 option. I was talking to another driver who had bought the same truck for the same purpose (make money as Owner Operator) with the V-10, his best fuel economy was 8mpg. I asked him why he went with the V-10, "Because it was only a $2500 add". :rolleyes2: :crazy:
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That pretty well models my experience. I had a 2004.5 Cummins 2500 with the NV5600 6-speed. In exactly two years from the day I took delivery on it (with 8 miles on the odometer) to the day the new owner took delivery, I put 108,000 miles on it, roughly 70% of which was with a trailer attached. I did oil changes, transmission fluid changes, and that was it. I even sold it with the original tires and brake pads. I got about 23 mpg @ 70 mph, 20 mpg towing an empty flat trailer, 16 mpg towing a car, and 13 mpg towing a dually. The diesel was a $6,000 option, but there is no question that vs. the Hemi, I more than made up that $6,000 in fuel savings and resale. If I'd bought a 4x4 variant, I'd still own it today. If I'd been smart, I would've taken the offer a friend gave and gotten the X-plan discount on an F-250 and bought the 4x4 Lariat version. Then I'd still be driving it today and have spent less. But, I wanted the Cummins.

When I bought my Excursion used was the last time gas hit $4/gallon in September 2007. At that time, V10 Excursions were worth more as scrap metal than as a truck. The 7.3L PowerStroke versions in same mileage and condition were fetching literally 3x the price, and that was if you could find them, as most people selling them were selling them with 225k on the clock (for twice what I paid for my gas version with 90k). No way no how would I have made up that price difference in mileage. I stand by it as a great purchase decision.

The problem with diesels is when they break, they're expensive to break, and those little European jobs are more tightly strung than the Cummins or PowerStroke engines here (the Duramax is another story, and I wouldn't buy one). Either way, a modern common rail direct injection system is a pretty complex piece of machinery. They're also more finnicky than the mechanical systems like your Dodge had. By the time they got to my Dodge, even, they were having problems if people didn't tow enough with them.
 
Henning said:
I'd be interested to know why not, PM me if you want... I've been wondering about them.
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I think Isuzu got out of their league when they designed it (for those who don't know - the Duramax Diesel is actually an Isuzu design). They had some significant cylinder head and injector issues early on. Aluminum heads on a diesel can be done, but they are difficult to do, and in my opinion, what's the point on a 2500/3500 series pickup? The CRDI had issues, moreso than the International/Navistar engines in the Fords and certainly more than the Cummins engines. I seem to recall the turbos were VGT and had issues. Really, the Allison transmission was the only thing they could really push with it. And I hate automatics. I think they just tried to pack too many features in, and didn't have the experience to do so. Even my 2004.5 Cummins didn't have a VGT, and it didn't need it. But, the Duramax was quiet, and that was its claim to fame.

The 6.5L turbo diesel that preceeded it was also junk, though, so in comparison it's arguably better.

We're now on I believe the 4th or 5th version of the Duramax, and it's probably gotten better. I'm far removed from that world these days. However, I believe that Cummins and International/Navistar understand how to build a much better engine for that market. I've been happy with the PowerStrokes I've driven, both the 7.3L and 6.0L. The 6.4s and newer I haven't driven, but the people I know who have them like them. I like my Ford now, and when it dies, I'll probably buy another.

AdamZ said:
Yeah I know but I just had too:cornut:
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Remember, my job is to come very close to blowing up engines without actually doing so. I've been successful at it this far. :)
 
Ted DuPuis said:
I think Isuzu got out of their league when they designed it (for those who don't know - the Duramax Diesel is actually an Isuzu design).
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Maybe in the features of it, but I've been operating industrial Isuzu diesels for many years and have had no problems with them, but they were all "old tech".
 
AdamZ said:
...I insisted on all OEM VW parts and Body shop sent it to a VW dealer for authorized work on the engine.

Only 1 month before the 36 month lease was up I took it in for a check engine light. It was in for 2 weeks and when the shop tried to start it up timing went threw a valve and blamo pulled a DuPuis on the engine right in the shop. They called to tell me. They even drove it into the garage after I dropped it off. VW tried every way to tuesday to blame it on the repairs I had done after the deer strike and stick me with buying a new engine a week before the lease was up, but voila they saw that the engine repair were done by VW....
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Had a similar situation. the 88 golf ate the 5sp after 56k miles. Not impressive. Hoping to keep the car for a while longer, opted for a $2k reman'd VW trans, over the $700 used trans, even though that was a TON of money for 2 grad students to fork over. All work done by VW dealer. 1yr and 4 days later, the trans starts popping out of gear again. Bad trans. VW sez, hey, tough luck about that 1yr warranty. After numerous calls, freak outs, and a nastygram to VP of Marketing at VW, I got my trans fixed. Plus, they fixed the rear door latches that had both broken by 30kmi (so I had the world's only 4door coupe) for free! Jeepers, lucky me. VWs seem to eat CV joints too.

At any rate, that experience soured me on VW. THen, of course, when the oil pump crapped out on our move to Baltimore with only 65kmiles, leaving us stranded at the Chesapeake House, well, suffice it to say my 93 Accord has 195k mi, still driven by my irresponsible brother who I am willing to bet hasn't changed the oil in 50k mi, and has never had an oil pump failure.

Perhaps VW quality has improved in the intervening 20yrs. I would hope so.
 
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