Revisiting the Jetta TDI

This is a rehash of a subject that comes up periodically in these forums. My partner drives a 2002 Jetta TDI, on biodiesel, and we have friendly comparisons being made at the dinner table. His biodiesel guru, and former supplier (until he began making his own) is of the TDI/biodiesel group who believes hybrids are BAD. Apparently, if you log onto the various TDI chat rooms, there is A LOT of anti-Prius sentiment...even more than there is anti-TDI comments on Priuschat.

I like to think that we are all part of the solution, not competitors for a prize. That said, however, I went on line and found this link to a forum on automobile reliability by make and model. When the webpage opens up, there will be a Google box in the upper left quarter of your screen. If you type in "Jetta TDI" (or any car model), you will get commentary from owners about their cars.

Sadly, the commentary about VW is not very favorable, overall. For the 2004 Jetta TDI, the reviews are mostly positive; it's reviews on cars with a few years under their drive belts where the problems surface. Check reviews for 2001, 2002 and 2003. The problems go across model lines and many of them are body/mechanical problems, not necessarily diesel engine related. The VW Beetle, diesel, has similar problems to the Jetta, which you'd expect since they have virtually the same engine. And I say "sad", because I think the Jetta is (potentially) a great car and would be if it had a better maintenance record. I want all of us who are concerned about energy use to succeed, and I think biodiesel has a big part to play in helping us out of the energy crisis. It's incumbent on VW to rise to the challenge and improve their quality.

The web link: http://www.carsurvey.org/review_81126.html

Bob

 

Not so. Biodiesel is vastly cleaner than petro fuel, diesel or gas, and is CO2 neutral, which the Prius is not. Biodiesel has great detergent capability and will clean the sludge out of diesel engines quite rapidly, which is why it's necessary to change out fuel filters often when first converting. Other than the filters, there is no conversion "hardware" involved. We've done some research which shows that my partner's Jetta is an approximate environmental equal to my Prius; he scores better on CO2, I score better on other emissions.

There is a good amount of misinformation on both sides of the Biodiesel/Hybrid debate, fueled (no pun) in part by the bad rep diesels have because of poor quality engines in the past, and dirty fuel. And there's some prejudice as well, as if each side believed the other was stealing the thunder. For us, the question is do we support "alternative fuel technology" or "alternative power train technology"? As a life partnership, we've opted to support both.

My point, however, is that if biodiesel technology is to really catch on, we need a source of reliable diesel engine cars. Apparently, the diesels sold in Europe meet higher pollution and reliability standards than the models available to us. I'm happy with my Prius, but I respect what the other guys are doing, too.

 

Go to the National Biodiesel Board's website and you'll find info about biodiesel and emissions. Site is: www.nbb.org

Under "fuel fact sheet", there's info about emissions.