OT: 2000 Jetta GLS Turbo, Good or bad? Options

[Jenny]

My boss is looking to buy a 2000 VW Jetta GLS 1.8 Turbo for his daughter. Only 30K miles. He approached me to see if I knew anything about them. I figured this would be a good place to find out. Any input is greatly appreciated!

TIA,

Jen

[Aaron Cox]

dont give the new female driver a turbo....

she will just run into stuff faster (IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/laugh.gif)



1.8T is supposed to be a nice motor...,,

[jhadler]

Apart from the Bosch ignition problems, I think it's a pretty good car. But Aaron's got a good point. The 1.8t can be pretty durn quick, and a new driver can get going fast in a hurry if they're not paying attention.

-Josh2

[Jenny]

She learned on a volvo sedan, turbo. She's been sharing that tank with her mom for the better part of a year. So he's pretty confident she can manage the 1.8 turbo. Plus he says she's a conservative driver. (IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/rolleyes.gif)

Jen

[Mark Henry]

QUOTE (Aaron Cox @ Mar 8 2006, 07:37 PM)

1.8T is supposed to be a nice motor...,,

HA HA (IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/laugh.gif)

It's a POS engine.....There is a major recall on these engines! big time sludge problem! Turbo is too small and too hot, cooks the oil.

It's OK as long as the oil has been changed on schedule, by the dealer, with all bills to prove. Then you have a leg to stand on if it goes boom...if not you might end up with a 6K plus engine bill.


check out
www.myvwlemon.com

[MecGen]

Hi
Yeh Marks rite about that one, Dealers are being pushed/ preasured to make this not a "given" free motor, bills are a must, from the dealer or not, but you would have to ask the PO about the maintenance record.
Overall it is nice size car, with guts, and not too expensive to repair, riddled with electrical problems as well as the motor issue....

It seems to be a quality controle issue, I,ve had people hate them, and other loves them ?

Later

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/beer.gif)

[Cap'n Krusty]

If the car has had it's oil changes on or ahead of schedule, and it's ALWAYS used the approved synthetic oil, it's probably gonna be just fine. Easy to make a couple of hour or 2 distance runs and then change the oil and filter. ALWAYS use the latest filter specified. The Passats have room for the old diesel filter. I dunno about the Jettas. Always use the dealer oil, too. Keep good records. Ask to see the PO's records, or go to the VW dealer, VIN in hand, and have 'em look up the service records and campaigns. They're available to any dealer, and cover any work done at any VW dealership.
The Cap'n

[SoCal Driver]

yeah, its true the stock turbo on the 1.8 is small, K-03. I have heard that it does run hot and does cook the oil, regular oil changes are need to be done to keep everything in top shape. On the other hand the 1.8t is a stout motor and can put out quite a bit of power with the right tuning. Replacing the stock K-03 turbo with a larger turbo will boost you hp greatly. I have a friend that has a prototype mitsubishi turbo on his daily drivin 1.8t and is putting down something like 260wph on pump 91 oct pump. He can also bump up his ecu an run 100 oct. and get closer to 300wph.

I'd suggest if you dont want to worry about the turbo go with a VR6 motor. 2000my it puts down more power than the 1.8t, 174hp and 150hp respectivly. In late 2002 (2002.5my) the VR6 motor was upgraded to 24v bumping the HP to 200, or 201 depending on who you ask.

[horizontally-opposed]

Steer clear!

I grew up in VWs, love VWs, but cannot recommend them today. (IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/confused24.gif)

I am sure there are those who will disagree with me, but I have watched too many friends deal with multiple electrical issues and other quality problems. Every one of them who has one, in fact. One friend had to sue VW over the lemmon law over her 2004 Passat to get out of the lease after it stranded her (for the third time) in a dangerous situation. (IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/headbang.gif) (IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/headbang.gif) (IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/headbang.gif)

Besides that, they just don't drive that well. Ride AND handle badly compared to other cars in the category. You can fix that with suspension mods, but VWs lost the soul in their steering some time ago.

I really miss the A1 and A2 GTIs and Jettas... (IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/wub.gif)

Yeah, I like the styling/interiors/pricing(kind of)/and, of course, the VW warm fuzzies, but I'd buy a new or used Subie or almost anything else instead...

Just my 0.2 cents. TIFWIW...

pete

P.S. And the 1.8T ain't too impressive in the modern VWs unless you tweak it... flat powerband, bland noise, and will not catch you out -- though the new 2.0T is quite an improvement in terms of charisma.

[grantsfo]

What people said above - make sure to check service records for regular oil changes due to the oil sludge problem. Aside from that they are decent cars.
The car probably already went in for coil recall. If they want increased performance a simple ecu upgrade will grab 200+ hp and 245 ft lbs of torque.

[lapuwali]

I wasn't going to say anything...

I had a '95 Golf, bought new. It was the worst new car I've ever had. It had to go back to the dealer several times for bizarre electrical problems. It was, in fact, the ONLY new car I've ever had that had to go back to have stuff fixed.

Once, on the freeway, JUST as the car was turning over 50K miles, the odo went dead, followed by the rest of the dash, and the car lost power, but didn't go off all the way. I was in a bad place, and tried to make it to the next exit. It died, then the (factory) alarm started to go off all by itself. The car wouldn't restart. I poked around, couldn't find anything, and was just about to start hiking to someplace to get a tow. I decided to try starting it again, and it fired right up and worked fine. The dealer fixed something based on a TSB, and claimed the wire from the battery to the alternator was bad. This still makes no sense to me, but the car worked OK for another couple of years until I sold it.

Overall, it really wasn't a bad car, and I drove it for nearly 5 years with relatively few problems. But the electrical problems I did have were weird and unexplainable. VW had lots of recalls with alternator and related problems around that time. Ferdinand Peich himself was quoted as saying it was happy that VW/Audi had gotten the problems DOWN to only 25% of the cars!!!

I was regularly stopped in parking lots by desperate looking people asking if my car worked OK, because they had a VW that had a zillion problems and they were considering the lemon law angle, etc.

Oddly, I find that 5-6 year old VWs cost a lot more than many other 5-6 year old cars in their class, so the problems don't seem to have hurt their image nearly as much as it should have.

[type11969]

Yeah, I've heard that the A3/A4 VWs have had some decent electrical problems.

The A2 89 Jetta I had on the other hand was rock solid. Bought at 120k for 300 bucks without a working odo, fixed odo, sold at 160k for $1500 after making a few repairs. Car still motors on strong today, the original alternator was just replaced! What happened to VW quality?

Wish I never sold that car . . .

[Mark Henry]

Right now I've offerd my brothers $1500 each to buy out my dad's (estate) '99 Passat 1.8T...that's why I know about them. At $3K Canadian (thats really $4500 counting my "share") that's not bad for what should be a $9K car.
Dad had quite a few issues with the car, the alarm is one, the control arms another. needs new tierods at about $300pr (IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/dry.gif)

I'm only thinking about buying it for a winter beater...at that price if the engine goes I'll scrap it.

[Mark Henry]

BTW if I was looking I'd get a 1.8 or 2.0 standard gas...no guts but the engine lasts forever.

[turboman808]

car is a pain in the ass to work on. The motors seems to run fine. The biggest problem is all the annoying electrical problems.

Me personaly I don't think they handle very well at all. But handling is not important to everyone.

And finaly it's not really that fast.


Compared to toyotas and hondas I have owned it's a hunk of junk. Never had one problem with my celica 2001 in 4 years. Didn't have any problems with my civic til 90k when I started messing with it. (IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/cool.gif)

[Tom Perso]

I'd be really leary of a used 1.8T motor. We have a 2004.5 Passat with the 1.8T and I have changed the oil every 4000 miles with Mobil 1 0W-40 (on the approved list) and I use the VW dealer diesel filter. I keep all the receipts and write down the mileage. I*was* going to get it changed at the dealer, but when I asked what oil they used - "Oh, we use Quaker State 10W-30" I took a hike.

I did get a warranty extension from VW for 100,000 miles on the motor due to the sludging, but I doubt I'll need to use it.

But, it's a fun car and we both really enjoy it. It's the slushbox, but it'll flat out shit and get when needed and will return 32mpg on the highway cruising at 80mph.

Tom

[SoCal Driver]

A lot of people have different issues with VWs, especially the newer ones. I have a 98 GTI with the VR6 motor and I love it. I've had a few issues with it, but nothing that i couldnt take care of or take to my mechanic and not cost me an arm and a leg. I got the car 5/01 with almost 122k miles, all freeway. The car now has over 201k miles and the only major issue that i've had is at one point there was a leak in the transmission so i lost most of the oil and one of the main shaft bearings is going out. At 175k miles I replaced the stock clutch because it sounded to me that the T/O bearing was going. But ultimitly it turned out to be the main shaft bearing. Since i still had the noise i took it to my mechanic and he listened to it and checked the trans oil, to both our suprise there was only about 6oz of oil. We topped it off with new oil and i drove the car until last Oct with out any issues. In Oct i started to get a metalic grinding noise....turned out to be the coming from the trans, so it been park and i'm driving the teener while saving for a rebuild on the transmission.

Its a great car and I love it so, i take care of it and it keep me happy...even thou i drive it like its stolen.

[anthony]

I bought my daily driver 1994 Jetta brand new and I got a good one. The car has been rock solid reliable with no electrical issues. I've had 2-3 minor repairs in 12 years that I've done myself (dash fan switch, thermostat, and a coolant hose). That's pretty much it so far over 160,000 miles.

I would get a kid with little driving experience a 4 cyclinder 8 valve VW. It's not a speed demon but it's got a torquey 115hp and good zero to 30 performance so it's more than adequate in everyday driving and will beat most 914s off the line (LOL). The 4 cylinder motors are rock solid reliable if you change the timing belt every 60-75K miles.

I've been using synthetic oil since break-in and after 160K miles the engine still doesn't burn oil or smoke at all. I just replaced the spark plugs and every one had a perfect grey haze.

[Dominic]

We have had 2 of these 1.8L turbos so far, one in the 2002 Turbo Beetle and one in our 2002 Passat (family wagon). Never had a problem with either of the cars. Of course I always put Mobil 1 0-40w oil and a new german oil filter. The only cars that supposedly had the sludge problem were the Passats.

I agree with Tom about the 32mpg in a big car (or wagon) cruising at 80mph. I rub that in at work whenever I get the chance (IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/biggrin.gif)

[horizontally-opposed]

Good to hear the good with the bad...

pete