VW Clean diesels.... how did they get them so clean?

[MossRoad]

I worked as a sub-contractor at Lufhansa. at JFK, late 70's-early 80's. They were the cleanest, most detail oriented, airline operations office I ever saw; and we serviced the display data for many of the major airlines at JFK's International Arrivals Building, (IAB).
Every airline had the ability to use locked codes on their entry doors to their ops office. Lufhansa was the only one that always used a code and changed it several times a week.
Back then I could go anywhere with my sub-contractor photo ID, including onto the runways, throughout the IAB, in the air traffic control tower, with the possible exception of the air traffic control room, ( I don't remember if it was restricted to my clearance- I had no need to access it even if it was)... etc.

Can't fault folks for being sticklers for routine and detail orientation. It will sometimes come back to bite them on the arse though...

That reminded me of the Lufthansa heist. Not a knock on Lufthansa, of course. Wasn't their fault. Just reminded me of it...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lufthansa_heist

 

[Garandman]

One thing about this, the whole story will eventually come out.

I managed a company in Germany almost 20 years ago that our American company purchased. One day I got a visit from a Vice President of Ford Motor Company suggesting that someone in our company had bribed one of their purchasing agents and wanted me to investigate it. I did the investigation; actually we brought in an accounting team from the US and they did a thorough audit.

I can't say exactly how it turned out, but what I can say is that I was amazed that all the records were there, everything, every detail.

When they wdo the investigations at VW they will find every detail of what went on will be written down. They found the same thing with the Nazis and the death camps. The Germans have a compulsion to keep very detailed records. They can't help themselves.

Do you what the difference is between heaven and ****?

In heaven the chefs are French, the mechanics are German and the police are English.

In ****, the chefs are English, the mechanics are French and the police are German.

 

[Garandman]

Long ago and far away (1960's Berkeley ) I worked in a gas station. Couldn't believe my eyes when a customer bought a quart of motor oil and poured it in the gas tank before filling up.

It was a late model -at that time- Saab, a 2-cycle automobile, which specified this as normal refueling.

Twas a three cylinder and the transmission had a freewheel so when you backed off the gas it coasted. Four speed on the tree. The bottom was perfectly flat and people would take them tobogganing. The heater was about the same size as the engine. They were the dial tone for winter driving (replaced by Subaru). I had a 1969 with the Ford Taunus 1.5L V4. Rare most places but common in New England. SAAB ran an ad able up a town in VT where everyone owned one. Then they turned into yuppy puppies.

 

[RalphVa]

Well, we had to go to Richmond to see my eye surgeon 2 weeks away from the DSEK surgery. He removed the stitches and showed my wife how clear the left eye looked vs. the right one with Fuchs still.

Anyway, it was raining. So, I drove slower than the speed limit. Got almost 51 mpg for the 150 mile trip and brought the tank average up to almost 45 mpg on our 2010 Jetta TDI.

Most capable, fuel efficient vehicle we've ever owned. Great car.

Ralph

 

[IslandTractor]

Anyway, it was raining. So, I drove slower than the speed limit. Got almost 51 mpg for the 150 mile trip and brought the tank average up to almost 45 mpg on our 2010 Jetta TDI.

Most capable, fuel efficient vehicle we've ever owned. Great car.

Ralph

I've never doubted the TDIs were fuel efficient and capable driving machines. The real issue with VW TDIs (before dieselgate) has been the "cost to own" calculation. Yes, they are fine automobiles but very expensive to repair and maintain compared to the competition. $8000 for a high pressure fuel pump repair to replace essentially the whole fuel system wipes out a whole lot of MPG savings. And there is actuarial data to suggest running costs are quite high. I was thinking of getting a Passat TDI until I realized that the cost of an extended warranty from the same company (via USAA) was almost two and a half times as much as for a similarly efficient hybrid. I'd love to see a comparison of VW to Cruze diesel cost to own too but we don't have much experience yet with the Chevy.

 

[truckdiagnostics]

Twas a three cylinder and the transmission had a freewheel so when you backed off the gas it coasted. Four speed on the tree. The bottom was perfectly flat and people would take them tobogganing. The heater was about the same size as the engine. They were the dial tone for winter driving (replaced by Subaru). I had a 1969 with the Ford Taunus 1.5L V4. Rare most places but common in New England. SAAB ran an ad able up a town in VT where everyone owned one. Then they turned into yuppy puppies.

Told my kids about the car and they thought I was nuts. Room mate had one when we where in college in central Michigan. It was a blast on the gravel roads outside of school, and living off campus in the winter getting to school was...... if my kids did anything like that?, as long as I don't know?

 

[truckdiagnostics]

Here is Diesel progress's take from September issue. Sums up what has been said here fairly clearly, in something that can be printed and shared. Steve
View attachment dieselprogress oct 1015.pdf

 

[tcartwri]

I've never doubted the TDIs were fuel efficient and capable driving machines. The real issue with VW TDIs (before dieselgate) has been the "cost to own" calculation. Yes, they are fine automobiles but very expensive to repair and maintain compared to the competition. $8000 for a high pressure fuel pump repair to replace essentially the whole fuel system wipes out a whole lot of MPG savings. And there is actuarial data to suggest running costs are quite high. I was thinking of getting a Passat TDI until I realized that the cost of an extended warranty from the same company (via USAA) was almost two and a half times as much as for a similarly efficient hybrid. I'd love to see a comparison of VW to Cruze diesel cost to own too but we don't have much experience yet with the Chevy.

The pump fiasco was for one year only, 2009. Cost to own is mitigated at the time of resale, where a ten year old tdi with 300K will still fetch $10K, if not more. Two and three year old tdi's sell for basically new prices... They are a cult for sure.

 

[IslandTractor]

The pump fiasco was for one year only, 2009. Cost to own is mitigated at the time of resale, where a ten year old tdi with 300K will still fetch $10K, if not more. Two and three year old tdi's sell for basically new prices... They are a cult for sure.

I didn't think it was only the 2009 TDI. There are about 20 threads on HPFP on the TDI forum so I assumed it was a broader problem. Feds Close Probe Into VW, Audi TDI Vehicles for High-Pressure Fuel Pump Failure | Edmunds.com Surprised VW hasn't issued an extended warranty and rebates to those who have replaced them if it really is just that one year. I saw several posts about owners who had to replace the pump twice too.

Agree about the cult status, mostly deserved. The difference in purchase price is easily made up by higher resale if you intend to sell the TDI at least if you live in New England or the NW.

 

[aczlan]

The pump fiasco was for one year only, 2009. Cost to own is mitigated at the time of resale, where a ten year old tdi with 300K will still fetch $10K, if not more. Two and three year old tdi's sell for basically new prices... They are a cult for sure.

Not always. In 2012 I sold a 2002 TDI with ~220k miles on it and I had a hard time getting $4500 for it. It wasn't in superb shape, but there was very little rust (just one fender with a spot that should have been warranteeable).

Aaron Z