Piston Slap: Diesel Love, or The Fuel of the Devil?

Steve writes:

Hi TTAC, long time follower here with a 2006 VW GOLF Diesel 1.9L.

The car was one of the last batch Mk.4 Golf’s with a diesel engine purchased in Canada where I live. Since then, it has had small and large repairs galore including temperature sensor replacements, an entire transmission (Automatic Tiptronic, 09A, a big regret) replacement at 21000kms, rear hatch wiring adjustments (I noticed the hatch will not lock), front door hinge adjustment because the front 2 doors were rubbing against the top tips of the rear two doors and chipping away paint with eventual rust setting in. Later on, suspension bushings up front were replaced, the left front headlights went out a few times and then came back by itself, the dealer could not find any fault.

From the second winter onwards, the car would randomly enter limp mode when the weather gets cold, but not directly correlated with the temperature. At first we all thought it was diesel gelling, but eventually this past summer, the vehicle started entering limp mode in the summer as well. A few scary times when I was passing someone on the highway with the throttle floored or pulling onto on ramps and the car cuts power. Already a low power diesel, imagine what limp mode on highway was like! A trip back to the dealer first resulted in “no fault found” then after my insistence to take the vehicle out for a spin on the roads, the car was diagnosed as “turbo vanes seized” and promptly had its turbo charger replaced. At roughly the same time, the car developed leaks through the passenger side foot well, where a stream of water runs down like tap water when its raining with the sunroof closed, as well as the back hatch area periodically floods.

The dealer performed some recall work on the sunroof drain hoses. The center console clip mechanism broke, the signal ticker mechanism malfunctioned (continuous tick non-stop), right headlights leaked, and the left headlights went out again, all of which had to be repaired. Then the front right bearing started screeching and the rear windshield washer sprayer hose got clogged. Those last few repairs were just made days after the warranty expired and I’ve had to fork over 4 digits…

So far, that’s the length of the fairy tale in VW land. All of that aside, when I was purchasing this car, I was really looking for a decent quality car that was frugal on fuel and simply did its job. I didn’t see that long list of problems coming my way taking previous VW owner’s experiences to heart. Apparently VW did build quality cars prior to the 2000’s.

I am hoping to keep the car if nothing else acts up, but I cannot honestly expect that given its record so far. I fell in love with diesel vehicles, but the market hasn’t changed much to diesel lovers. Should I keep the car or find something else? If else, what would it be?

Sajeev answers:

Love is love, but the market will never change! One of my mates in the UK refers to diesel as the “Fuel of the Devil.” He’s kinda right, because diesels aren’t cool enough for mainstream automotive consumption until gas prices remain significantly more expensive than diesel. You know, from here to eternity. Or if price of diesel remains artificially low, a la the Ethanol habit here in the states.

I’m not calling for a mandatory gas tax to make things better for diesels, but I strongly encourage you to sell this heap to someone more, uh, appreciative of the joys of Fahrvergnügen.

To put it mildly, VW build quality has been hit or miss for the past decade or so. Parts and service is expensive, too. So it is time for a new ride. I’d avoid diesels in general, unless you tow 5000+lbs on a regular basis. Canada’s auto market is different than the US, but one vehicle that might work is the Acura CSX: it imitates the premium German ownership experience with an efficient powertrain in a fairly bulletproof and unquestionably reliable package. Even Acura of Canada liked TTAC’s slant on the CSX, enough so to post a link on their website.

So buy a gasoline powered small car. And keep it with established Japanese, South Korean or US brands for now. Maybe VW will regain their bulletproof rep in the next decade, but certainly not now.

Send your queries to mehta@ttac.com. Spare no details and ask for a speedy resolution if you’re in a hurry.