Talk me out of a SportWagen TDI

[Dumbest Known Time]

Got it, no sunroof. Never quite got the appear of massive sunroofs anyways.

Does anyone know if you can pick these up directly from Volkswagen dealers with the extendo warranty? Seems like most of the ones I'm looking at don't mention that aspect.

[Djongo Unchained]

I can address some of this stuff.
I've had 2 JSW's, a 2009 that I sold back and my 2012 daily driver now.

I love it.

It helps to be a little bit of a car guy. It can be finicky like most deutsche cars but it delivers in so many ways.

I drive a 2011. It’s been reliable. Warranty is in the process of expiring.

Oil changes are expensive. Diesel is currently expensive, but made sense when gas and diesel were the same price and I was spending most of my commute on the freeway averaging 45 mpg+ at 70 mph. Diesel is about a dollar more expensive per gallon than gasoline. I think there is a major service at 130,000 miles.

Don’t get the sunroof, it’s a total leaky pain in the ass.

I wouldn’t buy one today, but I think the all in cost of ownership is going to be pretty low and I don’t plan to replace it anytime soon.

Warranties for '09-'14 were limited to 48k or 4 years. The 15's got a much longer one at something like 10 years, 120k; you'd have to google that tho.
'15s were a little different too, going from the mark 6 model to the mark 7...Def jug and beam rear suspension. MK6's all have an Independent rear suspension and exhaust burn takes care of cleaning the spew.

I had a sunroof on the '09 and wish I had one on the '12. They do have issues but it's not overly common and issues are easily dealt with.

Cleaning out the drain tubes is easy. No need to pull wheels, etc. Debris clogging is the issue, so parking under a tree that drops tons of shit on it isn't ideal.
Sunroof appreciates a little maintenance...lube the rails occasionally, a good reflective tint helps a TON and don't open it while the cover is closed, the wind will pull it off of the autoroller.
On great weather days, it's a super addition.
Mine never had any issues.
They have gotten stuck in hot environs when the roof/glass interface expands and it locks up. Rare. Park in the shade and it'll loosen up.

Oil changes are every 10k, not 5k or 3k. Low ash, clean diesel specific oil is required. I bought a gallon jug of mobil1 last month on sale for $33 and a $12 filter.
Easy to change if you're remotely inclined.

120K is a Timing belt change and Trans fluid change. More indepth but not hard and a one time cost for most owners. Replace trans fluid every 40k religiously though, it's key to the DSG.

Dzl isn't usually quite so much more than reg and often less.
I average about 36 mpg ripping around town; between 38-60 on the highway.
38mpg doing 85 for hours across Texas or 60 mpg doing 75 mph down Togwotee pass.
The 2.0l tdi's sweet spot is 65mph and getting 40-43mpg.

We got one for my mom...a 2014. It has been incredible and if you put some studs on it they're unstoppable.

No doubt! I have flat hauled ass on some snow covered interstates with studded snows and it never gets squirrelly.
Low profile, long wheelbase, tons of torque and FWD is a
great winter combi.

I have a 2015 Golf Wagon bought in 2017 after the stop sale was lifted. It currently has 105k km. I have 6 years and 160k km left on the dieselgate warranty.

I've only had two issues.

The passenger seat heater died and was replaced under warranty.

Then in the winter I had a check engine light related to the DEF system. It ended up being a punctured line. It was covered under the warranty but the dealership did fuck me around for a while before they agreed it would be covered. I had to open a ticket with VW to get it moving along. But that's a shitty service manager issue as other dealerships in the city have approved without hassle.

I really really like the TDI. It has lots of character yet is still quite refined. It pulls hard when you want it to and gets great mileage even if you're driving it hard. 800 km to 40L is doable all day long.

I have the DSG, so maintenance costs and current diesel prices take away a lot of the fuel economy savings, but the long warranty does evens things out.

If it were to get written off I'd probably look for an AWD model with a stick (lots were sold in my neck of the woods), but that's mostly because TDIs seem to be more expensive.

I don't love the seats in the base model that I have. I keep wanting to swap some GTI seats but my wife doesn't like the pattern.

And I'd try to avoid the sunroof. Lots of reports of them leaking.

Only the 2015 came with the Def jug and it needs filling once or twice a year, coinciding with an oil change.
I've never heard of an AWD model Sportwagen. Otoh, Canuck models got a few things that the US models did not; factory engine block heaters for example.

Dealing with VWoA can suck. But for the 75% of them being stealerships, 25% are excellent.
Not hard to find a decent TDI tech if ya search. The TDI forum is an excellent resource for all things TDI

I wonder if the leaking sunroof issue can be kept at bay by cleaning out the runoff tubes on a regular basis?

Yup. ^^^

Got it, no sunroof. Never quite got the appear of massive sunroofs anyways.

Does anyone know if you can pick these up directly from Volkswagen dealers with the extendo warranty? Seems like most of the ones I'm looking at don't mention that aspect.

They all got the warranty extension after they got the fix. The rare unfixed TDI was owned by someone who opted out of the fix and just took the money. I'd say 99% were fixed or crushed. The '09's mostly got crushed as their first design exhaust system was a bigger deal to fix so VW preferred to junk them.

Ya might even find some CPO's left at dealers.

My '09 cost me about $8500 in 2016, sold it back in late '17 for $14,000.
Bought the '12 in '18 for $12,000 w/CPO.
They list for more today. ~$15k


Finally, I'd say don't buy this car specifically for the warranty, although the extension on the '15 is hard to look past.
It's a pretty tough rig and not prone to major issues.

Knowing the 'known' issues, via researching on the TDI forum, will put you in a better place for decision making.

[Dumbest Known Time]

Damn Djongo, solid write up! Much appreciated.

[jackattack]

I have a few (4?) quarts of the tdi spec Castrol 507 00 oil leftover from our 2015 if any of you tdi owners are interested for the price of shipping

[Timberridge]

Please educate me on cleaning the rear drains on the sunroof on a ‘11. I can’t figure out how to access them without pulling the rear wheel and wheel well covers.

Can you get to them from the top? Even so there were pinch drains on the end by the wells I liked to clean them out using some string trimmer string from the top. My mechanic used to blow them out with a small shot of compressed air.

[oldnew_guy]

Can you get to them from the top? Even so there were pinch drains on the end by the wells I liked to clean them out using some string trimmer string from the top. My mechanic used to blow them out with a small shot of compressed air.

The fronts are obvious. You just open the sunroof and the drain is right there. The rears appear to be under the rear glass panel, which doesn’t move AFAICT.

The rear drains end behind the wheel well cover, which can’t be removed without removing the wheel.

I already cut the spider traps off.

The only way I have found to clean the rear drains is to pull the wheel, remove the wheel well cover and then thread a string trimmer line up the drain to clear it. I would love to know if there is an easier method.

[Timberridge]

Gotcha. I don't know that sunroof design so was just guessing. Good luck!

[Djongo Unchained]

The fronts are obvious. You just open the sunroof and the drain is right there. The rears appear to be under the rear glass panel, which doesn’t move AFAICT.

The rear drains end behind the wheel well cover, which can’t be removed without removing the wheel.

I already cut the spider traps off.

The only way I have found to clean the rear drains is to pull the wheel, remove the wheel well cover and then thread a string trimmer line up the drain to clear it. I would love to know if there is an easier method.

I thought for sure there was another method but I can't seem to locate the instructions. Ultimately, you may be right and the rears are just a pita.

There is a way to remove that rear glass panel, can't remember though just how and not sure it'd be easier.

Another issue is that the hose meets anipple at the top port and these were poorly dry fitted. Many folks go in and seal the top with some sealer/gasketmaker.

Generally I think for those that run into this problem, once addressed, it rarely repeats itself.



Also, I have a vcds for diagnosing any and all things electronically inclined on the Vdub. It's priceless.
Unlimited vin's too.

[alpinevibes]

The fix for our ‘17 Alltrack was to just pull the “spider plugs” from the bottom of the drain tubes. That allows water+crud to [in theory] fully drain out the tube and not plug up and leak. We’ve been good for three years now [knock on wood].

Welp... spoke too fucking soon!

We drove our Alltrack to the PNW for a roadtrip over the last few weeks and while loading it up one day I noticed we had water staining down the back half of the headliner. Our VW service manager coincidentally called to "check in" mid-trip [about our July nightmare coolant system issue]. I told him that was all good but that the drains leaked. I need to circle back and see if I can get them to take care of the tube cleaning and interior clean. They honored, no problem, but that was when I was under warranty and the whole class action suit was in motion. Seems like that momentum has died off now.

[XXX-er]

I drive a 2011. It’s been reliable. Warranty is in the process of expiring.

Oil changes are expensive. Diesel is currently expensive, but made sense when gas and diesel were the same price and I was spending most of my commute on the freeway averaging 45 mpg+ at 70 mph. Diesel is about a dollar more expensive per gallon than gasoline. I think there is a major service at 130,000 miles.

Don’t get the sunroof, it’s a total leaky pain in the ass.

I wouldn’t buy one today, but I think the all in cost of ownership is going to be pretty low and I don’t plan to replace it anytime soon.

I had an 01 and an 02 I drove for business and did all the expense/ CCA write downs at a time when Diesel would have been usually .50 cents a US gal cheaper

it made $ sense at that point but it wouldn't if diesel was the same price or more then RUG

I wouldn't buy one today in NA and i always felt like a big repair bill was right around the next corner, I had the timing belt & pulleys changed religiously, the guy i sold it to didn't change the timing belt and that was the end of the engine

the dealer told me to drive it like a sports sedan ( rev the piss out of it ) I kept the revs above 2000 rpm at all time and it ran good