2004 Volkswagen Jetta TDI from North America - Comments

No problems since the purchase of the car.

Regular maintenance needed oil, tire rotations.

This car is fun to drive and has a lot of "zip" to it. I drive a manual transmission and have never had to downshift going up a hill. The acceleration of this car is incredible!

I have had difficulty starting the car in cold weather. I should point out that I do not have an oil pan heater plug for the car which would greatly help. I recommend purchasing the oil pan heater if you live in an area where temperatures near 0 degrees Fahrenheit. To the car's defense it has started every time for me including mornings of -24 degrees fahrenheit!

I have also driven my car through quite a bit of snow and ice conditions. This car handles very well on snow and ice and its only drawback in this type of weather is that it sits lower to the ground so it cannot handle mass amounts of snow, but I don't know many cars that can.

This is a good vehicle with a lot of pep to it. The diesel gets excellent mileage and is not difficult to find stations that sell diesel.

My jetta gets anywhere between 45-51 MPG. One warning for potential jetta buyers, don't believe the dealers when they say that you car will get 60 mpg or something like that because it just is not true. The best I have gotten was 51, and that is with a manual transmission which gets better mileage than an automatic.

The diesel has much more pep to it than a standard 4 cylinder car and makes you feel like you are driving a much more powerful car than you are.

I use my jetta to commute 50 miles to and from work everyday and I only need to fill up about once a week. I would say I average about 550 miles per tank of gas.

One tip if you do purchase the diesel is that diesel fuel foams up like soda being poured into a cup. To get your gas tank completely full you will need to wait a few seconds after the automatic shutoff stops the pump and then slowly fill it the rest of the way to get a full tank.

You don't have to wait until the foam subsides. There is a button inside the fuel tank neck on the left side) that when depressed by the pump nozzle will relieve the pressure and allow additional diesel to be added.

They call that "venting", and you need to be careful doing it. It allows the fuel to settle to the bottom and vent air when the fuel cap is in, and you can cause problems if you vent it while you fill it up. I don't remember precisely the whole story about when you should and shouldn't do that, I just remember it's something you need to understand before doing it, so search online and read more ;)

You can also perform a "ventectomy" and not have to fool with holding the vent button... works like a charm for me.

I own a 2004 TDI Jetta. Although the fuel mileage is around 46 - 48MPG in the winter, I have gotten 62 MPG in the summer. That is all highway miles, and driven at about 1600 RPM with a 5 speed manual. I did keep my shift points low, and although I was told to drive it like I stole it, if I do drive very conservative, I do get an average of 58 - 60 MPG. In the winter here in WI I get about 600 miles to a tank, and during the summer months I can get 850 - 875 miles before a fill up pretty easy. The only modification I have done to the car is a K&N air filter. The car now has about 93000 on it, and it runs like it was new.

On the fuel tank venting! There is a bladder in the neck of the fuel tank, below the little valve that is opened when you tighten the fuel cap. The bladder allows for fuel expansion as the fuel heats up in the tank. (The excess fuel that the engine doesn't need is constantly recirculated to the fuel tank) If you open the valve with the fuel nozzle you stand a chance of not leaving room in the tank for fuel expansion!! It could cause some troubles!!