so my mother is looking to get a new jetta tdi. she is used to having a 4x4 truck so she is worried how it will handle in the snow because she has to drive from tonawanda to west seneca for work everyday. so im just wondering if anyone out there has a jetta and how it handles in the snow
Its front wheel… Im sure itll be fine. Throw some good snows on it in the winter and have at it
We throw studded tires on our jetta TDi and it’s one of the best cars I’ve ever experienced in the snow. Good feel for the roads, good torque to get out of snow, you can idle for 10 hours on a gallon of diesel to warm up the car.
Just make sure to keep an eye out for seriously cold temperatures as the diesel can solidify or some shit. We put some kind of preservative in it to keep it from doing that, I think past -4 degrees F?
And let the gloplugs warm up for a few seconds before starting… unless you can plug it into the garage outlet.
Except most diesels won’t warm up by idling in the cold. In fact, I’ve watched the temp gauge drop in the Jetta TDI I owned when it would sit and idle in cold weather.
As long as you buy fresh fuel from stations that sell a lot of diesel fuel, you won’t have problems with gelling. Add some PowerService from the white bottle if you’re really concerned.
Always let the glow plug light go off before trying to start the car. Regardless of whether it is plugged in or not.
That’s pretty funny, it must have been pretty cold for the temp to drop at idle. Ours always heated up in 4-5 minutes, but maybe the heated seats played a roll.
Anything under about 20*F, that little 4 cylinder isn’t going to be making much heat at all (at idle). Now once you start driving it and putting load on the engine, it heats up no problem. At least until you get really cold…below zero. Then you’ll want to block off the radiator opening pretty well.
+1, I will be doing that this year… most of the winter my car never fully warmed up. And gelling on regular diesel would require temps well under 0. In the TDI, the tank is under the back seat so that makes it less likely to gel (unless the car sits in it for days at a time)…
ya never had problems with gelling, and last winter was stinking cold had to park it in a family dollar lot over night (no pluging in) never used additive. just used diesel at high turn over places (IE truck stops), not sure how the ULSD is compared to LSD in the winter though 
in the winter I got stuck a few times, not a huge fan of the winter driving (good for FWD/ sucks compared to AWD) I had the Evo for one winter and an A4 for another. I think this winter I will again pick up a AWD…
But I also drive more in the winter then most (700-1000 miles a week)
If she is a truck fan she should just get the Tourage 2, has a 3.0 V6 TDI, still gets decent fuel economy and has AWD… (thats what i would do if i could swing it.
i had my tdi for just about 4 years as my daily driver.
personally i never put a block heater or coolant heater on it for the winter and i never had a problem starting it. dont let that sway you from getting one, i am just saying they are crucial.
the heat issue does suck. you get used to it tho. you have to drive it for it to warm up. for example i live in allentown i would get on the 190 at niagara heading north and by the time i would pass the scajaqueda i would be almost fully heated up and i would turn on the heat inside the car then.
i never had a problem with gelling at all, just add the amsoil additives.
as far as winter driving its all what you make of it. my tdi was lowered and i put a gli front lip on it and i never got stuck.
thanks for all the info
Can anyone that has a tdi give me some real life gas mileage figures? I’m thinking of buying one also. Of course I don’t have to worry about cold weather or snow.
Depends on which years and what transmission. A 99.5-03 5 speed will get 45+mpg.
My car gets zero GAS mileage, MPG’s are a whole different story 
I hate vw’s but A+ to the jetta tdi.
MK4 TDi’s have been know to hit 800 miles to a tank with a tune, nozzles and with the upper vent opened so its 16.5 gallons
math:
800 miles/16.5gallons=48.5 mpg
The TDI will do fine. You really don’t need 4x4 on that run. If it’s that bad, stay home. I grew up in North Collins and drove f-bodies my whole youth and only couldn’t move for 2 days in 4 years.
As far as the VW, those cars are awesome and you can’t go wrong.
I’ll go ahead and chime in here. Fantastic cars. It would be silly NOT to buy one. Get her a good winter tire package, and she’ll be just fine.
I really think VW is missing the boat my not offering AWD on their TDI jetta. that is what stopped me a while back when I was looking…
That was a poor decision.
I wanted a fast TDI but I refuse to make another FWD fast. If it was offered in AWD I would own one instead of my 19 year old SHO.