I had an '02 Golf TDI with Vr6 lightened clutch and flywheel as the only mods due to the economy of the clutch repair when it finally wore out.  I sold it to my brother @ 440kms on the odo. and I drove it like a rented mule everyday back and forth to work. I made an  '07 Mega Cab purchase and then inherited my wife's '04 Jetta TDI w/100ph and 221kms...  They are great cars...  It's like guilt free driving, drive as hard as you want and you still get awesome mileage.  The best I ever got was 4.8L per 100kms and the worst was 6.4L/100kms with a roof rack in the winter time and loaded with tools.  What can I say?  Make sure they have the paperwork if it's used -they are like pedigree dogs... No paperwork -no trust!  My brother loves his new/my old VW TDI and says that he'll put another 400kms on it.  That's great... I spend $30,000 on the road and he got it for $5100?!  To be honest, that was my only regret...  I should have bought a used one if I only knew they were that good!  Here are some web sites to see their potential and performance aftermarket;
http://www.centralvwaudi.com/Forsale.htm
http://www.tdiracing.com/
http://www.racingtdi.com/main.htm
http://www.kermatdi.com/servlet/StoreFront
Yah, you'll fall in love...

Buy a used one IF you can find one and with the saved money do it up!  Some articles I read were of this white bug and he entered w/e races.  The only thing he did was put a chip, boost cntrl, injectors and exhaust.  He got from 90hp -125hp and from 166ft/lbs -412ft/lbs to torque!!!!!!!!!  He was just seconds behind the corvette and the the corvette was praying he had enough fuel to finish the race...  the Bug was on his rear bumper on the corner exits.. oh yes, be afraid! Be very afraid!  Ok, I miss my car.  Enough said -I'll just have to do up my Jetta...  

Don't rush your decisions before doing the math.

If you have a 14 gallon tank for both the Diesel and Gas Jetta...and given that the TDI gives 48mpg, and the 2.5 (or 2.0T for more gas burning) gives you 32mpg on the highway...

And if Diesel costs 4.70, and Regular is around 3.70, the TDI will take 65.80 to fill up, and the gas Jetta will take 51.8 to fill up...

Then given this, it means the gas Jetta will run 10.21 miles per dollar, while the gas Jetta will run 8.64 miles per dollar. What this means is that even if Diesel still costs an entire $1 more than regular (which isn't even always the case), you're still getting more miles per dollar in a TDI jetta. Stick with the TDI!  

I have been driving my 09 jette tdi for two weeks now and have put 2900 miles on it. I drive it like i stole it and i am have an average mpg of 39-40.  You can drive it all day at 80 mph and still get 40 mpg.  I can not wait to get a chip and intake and get even more power than it comes with stock, everyone that i have driven around in it walk away very supprised.

It is guilt free driving, coming from driving only full size trucks and suv's.  In the last year i of course started to think about where i was driving and how much, get a 40 mpg car and all that goes away.  Save the truck for the toys on the weekend.  

That's awesome to hear! I average about 23 mpg in my Protege 5. Doesn't seem to matter much how I drive it, that's about what I get. When I had my GTI VR6, I averaged about 18.5. It would be sweet to avg. 40. Yours a DSG or stick?  

3k on ours driving 125 Miles a day just to and from work. Looks like 50+ if you set the cruse and dont run up the RPM. Cant beat the MPG even compared to Gas even though Diesel is more per Gallon.  When you take into account the life of a diesel over the gasers. Best money ever spend. The fuel savings per month over the van my wife was driving will make the payment for us. And at the end of the day we own something over sending the $$$ into the air.  

I just bought mine and I  L O V E  IT!!!!

I traded in my 2003 BMW 325i which was in MINT condition. I loved my BMW in regards to how it drove, the comfort, the quietness. I loved how you could be going 80 or 105 on the highway and you wouldn't know the difference. Driving the BMW is like riding on clouds.

Now the downside to my BMW. Well first and foremost, EVERYTHING and I mean EVERYTHING cost more. You pull up to an auto shop and they see $$$$$. There is nothing cheap about it. 2nd .. gas mileage. I live in Las Vegas where everything is wide open. There isn't a lot of stopping/starting going on and yet I still only got 16/17 in the city and 25 on the highway.

Now my TDI... OMG do I LOVE THIS CAR!!!!!  So far 30+ in the city. I haven't done a road trip yet but I've read where people are getting 45 on the highway. You can BARELY hear the diesel engine. I love my car!

oh and I got the navigation.. it's awesome.

Robert  

I've had diesels since the rabbit days.  Just bought a 2009 Sportwagon TDI after waiting several years as Maine banned diesel car sales for the past few years.  
NO REAL REGRETS!  I LOVE THE CAR!
While I am a bit upset that I can't now expect 50mpg with the 2009, my first tank was at 39mpg.  I am hopeful that there will be a breakin period.  There is a report that the 2009 TDI broke the Guiness record at 58mpg, beating the former record by 8mpg. While I will probably go nuts watching the computer on the dash with mpg updating every 2 seconds, and I think the best mpg is driving around 50mph.  I can't drive that slow. It would be interesting to see stats from someone on that.
The tradeoff with the 2009 is the improved performance for mpg. The car feels like a rocket compared to the 1.9L engines in my 1998 and 2001 TDIs...WOW!  I probably won't get much better mpg as my foot has become heavier and its well worth tooling around.  The torque and extra horsepower make this a blast to drive. If considering a new TDI, drive one and step on the pedal!  I have always bought manual transmission diesels to gain an extra 3 or 4 mpg, but the DSG, rated at 1 less mpg over the stick was so improved, I took the DSG to satisfy my wife's desire for an automatic.   Shifting is incredible, has a sport mode, and the ability to shift manually.  A very acceptable compromise.  As some of the posts have said, with the added cost of diesel, the math still works for me.  Comparing a gas model at 30mpg to the 40mpg of the new TDI, you get an extra 33% miles/gallon TDI over gas.  So as long as diesel is less than 1.33 * price of gas, you are still ahead, and the carbon footprint is less with the TDI. The engine will also last much longer than any gas model, which is my main concern.    

I am hopeful that the new 2009 TDI will have software improvements to get higher mpgs, and the only things I did not like with the purchase was paying full sticker (there is a list I was on for the last 6 months to get the car), bumer-bumper warranty is 3/36, drivetrain is 5/60, so consideration of extending to 100K miles has to be considered if you drive a lot.  I chose not to spend the extra $750 to get the added 40K miles on the drivetrain and hope that any issues with the new model will be solved before I hit 60K.  It's been only a week and we've put 900 miles on the car...  
So, for anyone asking opinions of the new TDI, buy one! It is a great car!!  

Wait till you drive the GTD version we have had here in Australia since late last year. 170hp and 350nm stock, and I smile driving this little car everyday. My TDI is still stock, but already the guys here and in the UK are turning up the wick and are into the low 200hp mid 400nm area, and still getting 6.5L/100 average, which is roughly where my stocker sits.  (I definately don't drive with economy in mind.) Downside is at 15000k's my front tyres are almost had it, and i drive with traction ON!

Turn it off and it's a rubber roast fest!

A 2L diesel shouldn't be able to run this well, with a particle filter on the exhaust and all!

To answer the initial question, we have very little problems with the current Mark 5 overall here in Australia, and I hear the Mark 6 is designed to be less complicated, reducing potential problems. Certainly the only drama's in the Mark5 TDI's are guys in the lower power 2.0 TDI chipping it up and blowing the odd turbo. The higer power GT version is a very different motor, several major changes to cope with the extra grunt, including bigger turbo, forged crank etc etc.  

Yeah, a GTD 4-door or GLD Jetta SportWagen would be my choice. Again, I've been burned by VW's quality in the past, but I'm willing to give them another chance with the TDI.  

I bought an 09 Jetta TDI about and just rolled over 7000 miles on it. I got the stick version, man let me tell you its a blast to drive! I test drove a prius and a Mini Cooper before I heard about VW releasing the new TDI. WAY more fun to drive then both, (especially the Prius! Haha). On the highway it really shines, at 70 I get about 42-44 on the highway, but I haven't had a chance to try it again here lately. The break in period I experienced was about 5000-6000 miles. Then mpg numbers exploded! I will say this, in 6th at 60mph you can get about 50mpg, and you don't get to your destination much slower. (30 mile commute to job everyday). My only complaint is right now its hard to find one with all the options, colors, tranny choice etc. that you want. I ordered a blue auto and ended up with a grey manual. But hey, its a blast to drive, and gets great mpg. Its what I needed right now and it doesn't dissapoint.  

Hello all. I've purchesd a Ram diesel with the 6.7l and am looking for info on airboxes and programmers.  

hi, i worked at vw for the last 10 years, and run diesel since then, we just trade our 1357000km 87 1.6D for a new jetta TDI, we also have an 05 golf tdi, the difference beetwen both are huge, the new one runs better than the 05 TDI. with the new one i drove from montreal to new-york and back with 40$ of diesel(65mph cruise) it's fabulous. i love that car, but one hint, don't touch the DSG tranny we've got problem with them on TDI too much torque.

they upgraded it but i'll wait and see before i'll buy one....  

Hmm...I was wondering about the reliability of the DSG. So if I were to chip it, the manual would be the better route to go, I take it?  

if you think of doing performance mod to it, don't touch, the DSG tranny...  

No help for me?