353,000 Mile Jetta Sportwagen Update

"Mercedes Streeter" (smart) 09/01/2020 at 13:42 • Filed to: TDI

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This thing is easily one of my favourite cars, ever! I’m not sure how these things drove before the Dieselgate fix but it’s pretty zippy and happily eats all the miles.

( Yeah, I parked over the line. I centere d it after the pic.)

Oh, and here’s a pic of the interior. Hard to believe it has darn near a half million miles and the interior looks so good.

I still need to install the 17s I have sitting around, they would really make the car pop. :) And wheels aside, I’d love to find some new headlights, maybe GTI style?

I have run into my first problem with the car. The DMF (dual mass flywheel) occasionally makes a clatter. I’ll have my indy look at it and replace if necessary. It’s otherwise perfect so I can’t complain.

A part of me is happy I fell in love with smart first, or else my name may have ended being “Volkswagen”, ha.

SBA Thanks You For All The Fish > Mercedes Streeter 09/01/2020 at 13:50

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Those are just great cars in that generation.  Really great.  Keep us posted-- this will be great OPPO.

Tripper > Mercedes Streeter 09/01/2020 at 14:00

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That is really nice! Congrats! Pretty sure oppo is 75% golf at this point

I like cars: Jim Spanfeller is one ugly motherfucker > Mercedes Streeter 09/01/2020 at 14:01

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Didn’t know you had this!

I know some guys with Mk5/6 TDIs. The DMF is just like that, especially at high miles. The best fix is to delete EGR, put a tune on, and get a single mass. Lots of threads on it on TDIclub.

jminer > Mercedes Streeter 09/01/2020 at 14:07

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I really love my MK6 TDI sportwagen and you’re right it is an amazing road trip vehicle.  Chews up the miles and sips fuel like nothing else.

Just Jeepin' > Mercedes Streeter 09/01/2020 at 14:14

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At least one fan of yours was encouraging Rory to hire you...

https://jalopnik.com/were-hiring-1844909903

SBA Thanks You For All The Fish > Just Jeepin' 09/01/2020 at 14:18

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I’ll second that.  Nobody’s on the Gambler Beat either!

VW Max > jminer 09/01/2020 at 14:22

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They truly are amazing. Sufficient power, fantastic handling for a normal car, and all the space and fuel economy in the world.

jminer > VW Max 09/01/2020 at 14:32

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It is a great car, the only reason I’ll get rid of it is to maybe consolidate vehicles into a mild off road exploring rig.

Mercedes Streeter > Just Jeepin' 09/01/2020 at 14:36

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D’aww! I actually applied for that position on Friday. I occasionally check G/O’s job listings and my recent check revealed that one. :D

Mercedes Streeter > I like cars: Jim Spanfeller is one ugly motherfucker 09/01/2020 at 14:38

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For whatever reason I’m really in love with VW right now. I have this, a B5.5 Passat TDI, and the manual W8 that is no longer misfiring. :)

Oh that is good to know! I’d gotten some annoying conflicting stuff. Some are like “they all make noise, it’s fine so long as it doesn’t sound like it’s about to grenade” and others have been “any noise at all and you need a new one”. lol

BaconSandwich is tasty. > Mercedes Streeter 09/01/2020 at 15:25

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As I sat in traffic today, while looking at a small cloud of burning oil coming from under the Civic’s hood, I was wondering how reliable these are, and what they sell for these days.

AMGtech - now with more recalls! > Mercedes Streeter 09/01/2020 at 15:31

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I’ve had a theory for a while now that you are such an automotive enthusiast you will find something to love about damn near anything you get to drive, and each new thing will be a fixation for a while. Which I think is a really fun way to go about it all!

Mercedes Streeter > BaconSandwich is tasty. 09/01/2020 at 15:31

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Given mine’s incredible mileage, I got it for about $2,5 00. It looks like examples with 100,000 fewer miles are asking about $5k, then $6k+ for examples with 150k or fewer miles.

From what I’ve read they are pretty reliable, however “fixed” ones like mine have been known to eat up the emissions equipment faster than before Dieselgate.

Mercedes Streeter > AMGtech - now with more recalls! 09/01/2020 at 15:54

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I think that theory has a very high chance of being correct! I’m pretty sure I could daily drive a school bus and be crazy enthusiastic about it. :)

RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars > Mercedes Streeter 09/01/2020 at 16:14

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I might be thinking of the generation before this, but personal experience of seeing these up here in Nova Scotia tells me they may not hold up to salt very well....again, I could be thinking of the gen before this, but almost every Golf or Jetta I see of this age has some serious rust on the body in certain spots up here...?

Mercedes Streeter > RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars 09/01/2020 at 16:25

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You would be correct, unfortunately. Mine is towards the beginning of the A6 generation. The two prior generations..

A5

And A4

Are known to rust somewhat badly in areas with salt usage in the winter. The A6 Jettas like to rot out in the quarter panels (front and rear) while the A5s will like to rust first around the rocker panels, then the trunk and quarters.

The Passats hold up to corrosion a lot better than the Jettas and Golfs of the same year, but they’ll come with their own problems.

RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars > Mercedes Streeter 09/01/2020 at 16:38

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Yes, it’s always the wheel wells or rockers I see that are shot on them.

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars 09/01/2020 at 18:12

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That’s odd. We get a lot of transplant cars over here and the only ones you are likely to see with visible rust are GMT600 trucks. I’ve seen tons of 2000s Silverados and Sierras that have through rust in the doors. 

ZHP Sparky, the 5th > AMGtech - now with more recalls! 09/01/2020 at 19:00

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And this is how I find myself dreaming about WRX swapping my wife’s ‘16 Outback someday. Bring back some long lost glory from my ‘05 manual Legacy GT wagon days.

I like cars: Jim Spanfeller is one ugly motherfucker > Mercedes Streeter 09/01/2020 at 19:05

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You have a W8? Since when?

dogisbadob > Mercedes Streeter 09/01/2020 at 19:09

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Is that a DSG? I wondered how they held up

How is it to drive? I heard they’re not as smooth as a regular automatic.

Mercedes Streeter > I like cars: Jim Spanfeller is one ugly motherfucker 09/01/2020 at 20:49

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About the same time I got the Jetta, actually!

Originally got it as a Gambler project, then I learned just how crazy rare they are, especially the 6 speed! So instead it’s just a resto project.

It needs a dent pulled, a correct passenger door, new sunroof glass, and the misfire fixed. Misfire was a bad coil on number 6. I’ll pull a sunroof from a junkyard car, and hope to find another Passat with a black leather interior to take the door card from .

It has an addictive custom exhaust and a mile of service records leading up to the incident that took out the sunroof and passenger door.

I like cars: Jim Spanfeller is one ugly motherfucker > Mercedes Streeter 09/01/2020 at 20:57

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Sweeeeet. So you have the TT, Jetta, an the B5?

Also, you do know that W8 is a ticking time bomb and it’ll make you broke if you choose to fix it when it breaks, correct ?

Mercedes Streeter > I like cars: Jim Spanfeller is one ugly motherfucker 09/01/2020 at 21:00

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Doubly correct! 4 VW/Audi things in total.  All of them work... for now. lol

Yeah, I’ve heard pretty much anything with the W8 could put you into the poor house. I paid basically nothing for it though so challenge accepted!

Taylor Martin > Mercedes Streeter 09/01/2020 at 21:08

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That’s 353,000 miles old?? I had to read the title twice, I thought it read 35,000. That looks super clean , you could’ve fooled me.

AMGtech - now with more recalls! > ZHP Sparky, the 5th 09/01/2020 at 21:12

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Meanwhile, working on cars for years has turned me into a negative Nancy and I'll find something to complain about on just about everything I drive.

Slant6 > Mercedes Streeter 09/01/2020 at 21:21

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Nice! I also have a white Mk6 Tdi wagon! Great car, you’re going to love it!

I believe since the fix has been done there still should be some warranty on the emmisons bits if something goes wrong there.

Mercedes Streeter > Taylor Martin 09/01/2020 at 21:58

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It does! Single owner car and the owner raced back and forth about the country. 

Mercedes Streeter > Slant6 09/01/2020 at 22:01

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Twins!!! Oh I absolutely ADORE this thing. I’m getting 50 mpg around town and I’m not even driving economically. :)

According to VW's site, the fix was done two years, 60,000 miles ago, so no more warranty. lol

Steve in Manhattan > Mercedes Streeter 09/01/2020 at 23:14

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Clearly I’m behind on the MM updates - when did you get this thing, and how many miles at aquisition?

HammerheadFistpunch > Mercedes Streeter 09/01/2020 at 23:24

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what year?  We had a 2011 we loved

Mercedes Streeter > HammerheadFistpunch 09/01/2020 at 23:39

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2012!

Mercedes Streeter > Steve in Manhattan 09/01/2020 at 23:43

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I got it within the last month or so. 352,000 when I picked it up. Also in the same timeframe I picked up a Passat W8 with a manual and a Passat TDI wagon. And depending on how long ago you last read an update, I now have an Audi TT, too!

Slant6 > Mercedes Streeter 09/02/2020 at 06:42

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T hat’s some good millage. I average about 25mpg but that’s with 6 miles a day of 100% city driving, never above 45mph. On the highway though I can average about 45 mpg, but that’s at like 70mph, so it’s closer to 38 at practical highway speeds.

Too bad, you missed the warranty by 9000 miles! 

dieseldub > Mercedes Streeter 09/02/2020 at 14:54

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Whoa! Most customers with these things say they’re only getting low 30s around town post-fix. Only get low 40s highway too.

But still, generally better than your old B5 was and is in a much sprightlier chassis and fast DSG transmission.

I picked up a 14 Passat TDI last December (sadly, no wagon since we haven’t gotten any Passat wagon of any kind since the B6 generation ended around 2010-11).

Mercedes Streeter > dieseldub 09/02/2020 at 15:18

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It’s probably the speeds I’m running. 30-50 with few stops. Last reading from the car’s onboard MPG estimator was 45.6. :)

VW’s site said mine was fixed two years and about 60,000 miles ago, so the PO’s definitely got in some driving since the fix, ha.

Funny enough, I picked up another stupid cheap old B5.5 to play around with (wanna teach myself some tuning, maybe) and indeed the Jetta feels so so much better.

dieseldub > Mercedes Streeter 09/02/2020 at 16:02

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What’s funny with the sportwagens is despite the Mk6-looking nose on them, it’s all still mk5.

Mk5 seats, center console, door panels, exterior mirrors with turn signals , chassis (though the real Mk6 Golf is just a lightly revised Mk5 anyway).

You sit in a Mk6 Golf, non-wagon, and you’ll notice all these little differences.

Mercedes Streeter > dieseldub 09/02/2020 at 17:51

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That does explain my observation with a lot of the bits and pieces in my interior. lol I remember when I first saw the seats I was like “has VW not changed the seats over a generation or am I crazy?”

Here’s to hoping the rust of the Mk5 didn’t carry over. Mine just has a couple surface spots that’ll be easy to knock out. Nothing like what’s on Marketplace with fenders clearanced by rust. lol

Dual Showman > Mercedes Streeter 09/04/2020 at 10:05

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With that mileage, I wouldn’t doubt if it’s on it s second DMF. I wouldn’t go with a SMF due to the resulting vibes, but it would certainly be a few bones cheaper. 

Mercedes Streeter > Dual Showman 09/04/2020 at 10:53

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I’ll check the service records that came with it, but I would wager you’re right about it being on the second DMF. I’ve heard converting to a SMF in the DSG can result in some bad splines down the road?

Dual Showman > Mercedes Streeter 09/04/2020 at 13:38

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I would imagine that if a competent mechanic says that the SMF could lead to spline wear, there’s truth to it. The DSG is such a nice transmission in stock form, I couldn’t imagine any improvement in ‘daily-driver’ performance with a SMF. My wife has a ‘15 Golf TDI with the DSG and it’s such a pleasure to drive.

I just replaced the clutch and DMF on my manual JSW TDI. Whoever owned it before me was a sadist. I asked a VW nut about putting in a SMF, and his reply was “You’ll likely regret it for a host of reasons”.

Oh, and use the parking brake without fail. I can imagine a differential overhaul is quite the job.

Steve in Manhattan > Mercedes Streeter 09/05/2020 at 18:37

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So much VAG (Volkswagen Automotive Group, get your minds out of the gutter). Good thing you can work on them all ...