Release of Volkswagen's highly anticipated, 50-state, four-cylinder clean diesel engine is being pushed back. Again. Brandweek reports that the German automaker's now saying their new oil burner will arrive stateside next summer. You know what's awesome about that? Nothing. Keep in mind that VW doesn't offer a single naturally-aspirated four-cylinder engine to its American customers, eroding VW's once-famous econo-cred. VW's turbocharged 2.0T engine, spectacular as it may be, delivers modest mileage in exchange for premium fuel. Many automotive customers associate "diesel" with "VW" (Volkswagen sold more than 815k diesel-powered vehicles in the U.S. since 1977) and "reliable" (another facet to VW's brand image that disappeared down the reality rathole). In short, VW needs a 50-state clear diesel to recover their premier position in the minds of the holy trinity of America's European (Mexican?) car buyers: efficiency nerds, torque snobs and Euro-lusters. Even with diesel costing 15 percent more than regular petrol, we reckon the TDI would have been a hit. Now, we wait.
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Perhaps the delay is associated with the availability of better quality diesel fuel in the US?
I posted previously that paying premium gas on a 1.8T Passat costs the same dollars per mile as the much larger Honda Odyssey. VW needs the new TDI to get first mover advantage to niche into econodiesel light cars and CUV’s. Otherwise, Honda, Nissan or Toyota will.
Hey the Dieselution tour! I actually got to drive a GTI at that! They came to my uni like a month or so ago. The GTI was quite nice, thought it made a bit of a ‘school bus’ noise ;)
@qa:
VW cited random mechanical issues as the reason for the delay.
They have said that 2008 will also see the launch of a V6 Passat diesel, which sounds interesting. I’d hope it’s a smaller V6 (2.5 liters, 175 horsepower) rather than a range topper (3 liters, 225 hp) because I think the smaller engine will better highlight the characteristics of a diesel engine.
Back in ’99 I bought into the TDI reliability hype.
Thank god both for the 10/100 powertrain on 99 New Jettas, and further thank the maker that I bought an extended warranty.
Car survey dot org recounting of my TDI experience.
There is a lot of hype about the VW diesels, but scratch the surface and I think you’ll find more people with stories like mine than anecdotal evidence might otherwise suggest.
A years worth of savings on fuel by driving a TDI is often wiped out in a single unscheduled trip to VW dealer’s service department. It is amazing that dual propulsion vehciles from Toyota and Honda are far more reliable that VWs with single oil/gas burning engines.
@Justin
They have said that 2008 will also see the launch of a V6 Passat diesel, which sounds interesting.
No way. They don’t have any V6 diesel that fits into the current Passat. The old Passad hat a longitudinally mounted engine, the new one doesn’t. And they killed the VR6TDI.
The 2.0 TDI will work in the Passat (golf based, thus transverse) but why bother if it’s in the Jetta?
And don’t tell me that hybrids are without problems. they are, they get towed in all the time, and Toyota has delayed the new one again themselves.
Well guys, I have a 2002 Jetta TDI with 115,000+ miles on it… half of that on homebrewed fuel. Trouble-free miles I might add. I’ve performed most of the maintenance myself, with the exception of the timing belt change. The only parts I’ve replaced beyond belts, oil, filters, etc are a water pump, and injector nozzles.
It has been back to VW 3 times for recall items (a window issue, a seat heater issue, and a brake light switch issue). Recalls and warranty items are the ONLY thing I’ll ever visit a dealer for, as they are basically licensed criminals, in both sales and repair.
Our world will be a far better place without car dealers. They are a drain on the entire industry, in both good will and loyalty.
I’ve run the numbers here before but in summary, I’ve recovered more than the entire purchase price of the car in fuel savings since I bought it, over a car or light truck in the 18-25 MPG range. The TDI turns a consistent 50 MPG for me and my production costs for homebrewed fuel are about a buck a gallon. By the time I run it into the ground it will have paid for itself and then some.
I’ll never buy a gasoline powered car (for daily use) ever again.
–chuck
http://chuck.goolsbee.org
I’ve got an ’03 Jetta TDI with about 99000 miles on it, and it’s never been to the stealer for service. Nothing has broken. Just routine maintenance has been performed; either by myself, or by a local TDI guru if it’s something I can’t handle. TDI ownership is a special thing. Some even say it’s a cult, hehe. If you buy one and can’t or don’t want to do your own maintenance, you will go bankrupt by talking it to your local VW dealer. People that don’t like to be bothered with trivial things like car maintenance should buy themselves a Borolla. But if you like the whole passenger car diesel experience, there’s nothing better than a TDI.
I was sad to read about the delay, but it’s apparently due to problem with the exhaust treatment system. This time around, VW is being wise and not releasing this known problem into the wild and worrying about the effects afterward. It’ll be interesting to see if VW or Honda ends up with a diesel on the market first.
By the time VW brings their new Diesel to the NA market, Honda will have their 2009 Accord Diesel available. I don’t know how reliable the Euro version of the Honda Diesel has been, but put the mileage numbers up there with Honda’s reliability reputation and you have me looking pretty seriously.
@Wulv
Does anybody cross-shop Jettas and Accords?
And did Honda really announce more than “We’ll have a diesel in the US, eventually”?
1.9TDI is a mechanics nightmare – so many typical problems that you could write a book on it. I drove a 1999 Passat 1.9TDI 115hp – I had about 20% of those faults listed below:
http://www.tdiclub.com/TDIFAQ/TDiFAQ-8.html
And don’t tell me that hybrids are without problems. they are, they get towed in all the time, and Toyota has delayed the new one again themselves.
Statistical evidence prove that Prius is far more reliable than any TDIs.
@ Mirko Reinhardt:
You are absolutely right. I mis-read the VW memo about upcoming products.
“And did Honda really announce more than “We’ll have a diesel in the US, eventually”?—did vw not just do the same thing? Honda said theyre bringing a hybrid and they did, so i would assume this will make it here also,and if its a hit i wouldn’t doubt gas goes down in price cause the oil companies don’t want to encourage 70mpg cars to much,they’ll lose profits.
Looks like Volkswagen has delivered, although diesel is about 20% more than RUG at present. Also, the new clean diesel emissions technology is awfully complicated from the tailpipe backwards, and I just have to wonder if Volkswagen erred by reducing their bumper-to-bumper warranty to 3 years/36k miles.
Coincidence? Hmmm.
Also, many VW dealers are marking up the price of the Jetta TDI and Sportwagen TDI beyond MSRP.
Woe be unto those who buy at inflated prices now, only to find the prices of these diesel offering drop dramatically in 6 months or so, either because gasoline prices come down, Honda/Acura bring a competitive diesel to the U.S. as threatened, VW’s TDI system proves to be problematic from a mechanical standpoint, or any combination of aforementioned items.
Farfanuugenheimer.