Need advice, shopping for a new/used family car

[DHC6twinotter]

Yes it is.

[Seanz0rz]

Good call on the Vibe. should be less $ than a Matrix and are identical.

[slosurfer]

This is probably a little more than I want to spend, but what are your thoughts on Volkswagen TDI
2010 Golf TDI

[Good Times]

bob was looking into one of these. I have zero knowledge on the vw tdi's reputation so I can't comment but it looks sexy!

[Seanz0rz]

My friend bought an 06 gulf TDI a few years ago. The first 6 months I think he had it a grand total of 3 weeks. The turbo would fail (or waste gate, or something else related) and he would take it back to carmax to have it fixed. They offered to buy it back minus the transport cost he paid, so he said no. They furnished him with a rental the whole time it was in the shop. They finally figured it out, and it has been somewhat trouble free since.

buying used, I think I would avoid it. If I was to buy a new one, I might consider it.

Diesel is a tough decision as well. here it is usually at least the price of mid grade unleaded, sometimes significantly more (.50 or more /gallon) and the fuel economy gains might not be enough to justify it, not to mention the higher cost of the car, and the other "downsides" to a TDI such as sounding like a tractor

[slosurfer]

I could be wrong but I think the 2010 is a different motor than the 06, I will have to check it out.

Fuel wise, I think it is worth the extra $ per gallon since these are getting mid 30's in town and high 40s highway.

I will have to research them some more. Its a lot of money, but at least someone already took the depreciation hit for me.

[slosurfer]

Looked at the Golf today briefly on my way home from work, just to see if it was even big enough. I didn't get to test drive it, but I did start it and sit in it while it idled, the diesel was much quieter than I expected. Honestly, with 2 kids in the car, engine noise is not one of my big concerns. LOL! April is going to go look at it tomorrow, to see if she even thinks it will work, and possibly test drive it. The trunk space is obviously smaller than a midsized, but the hatchback would allow us to put the dog in the back if we needed to run him to the vet. Backseat will fit 3 kids just fine.

Researching them tonight, most people absolutely love them, but there can be an issue with catostrophic failure of the fuel pump. Right now, most are being covered, even if out of warranty by Volkswagen (unless it was due to human error of filling with gas instead of diesel).

[Robinhood4x4]

Looks like there's a recall for those to replace an injector because a vibration resonance could cause an injector to crack and spill fuel all over the place.

Also it looks like when the fuel pump goes, it sends metal flakes throughout the whole system and everything needs to be replaced which costs about $5000 if not covered under warranty.

Seems like they also like to stall on the freeway or in the middle of intersections, which may or may not be related to the fuel pump and injectors.

I always do a search for known defects at nhtsa.gov
http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/owners/SearchVehicles

Back in ought 2 (that's '02 for you youngins), I was looking for a car for the wife and looked into VW's. They had a whole bunch of problems, mostly with the transmissions. VW's and Audis have never been that reliable.

[L33T35T Tacoma]

Chris,
If I'm not too late, let me make a recommendation.

2007-2011 Honda CRV. My dad has one (2009) and it's a really nice riding car. I took it to Vegas last year (220 miles) and I got 30+ mpg! We have had ZERO issues with it. It only comes in automatic in the US market, though. 2001-2006 are nice also; we've owned a 2005. The newest generations are ugly. I'd HIGHLY recommend one of these for the family. Tons of room in the back and a good size cargo space.

[slosurfer]

Thanks for all the advice people! Definitely helped us out! We decided against the used 2010 Golf TDI with 53,000 miles that was listed at Blue book of almost $21000 and then another $2300 for a warranty out to 120000 miles. Discovered that April wasn't ready to get a manual transmission, hehe , but that she loved the car. I was bummed, but glad because I really didn't want to spend that much on a used vehicle. Decided to just check and see how much a new one was, figured they were upwards of $28000 (actually the lowest model is $27,100), and discovered that the local dealership had just listed two (a white and black one) at $3,101 off the MSRP, putting it at $23999 for a Golf TDI auto! I was the first on the lot in the morning and the salesman thought it was listed at $25000 and I had to show him the new price. Anyways, I drove it and then later April came and drove it, and then he helped us hide it from all the people coming in looking for it, while we haggled. We ended up getting the white one, and I think the black one sold last night as well. First 36,000 miles all maintenance and bumper to bumper is covered (I will only pay for tires and brake pads), powertrain is out to 60000 miles. I extended the bumper and bumper out to 7 years 75000 miles and got them to give me more service and maintenance out to 60,000 miles. I really was just shooting for past 40,000 because the auto has a filter and fluid change at 40,000 that cost about $400, but was stoked that I got it out to $60,000. I don't have to work on this thing at all if I don't want to.