I can offer feedback on a 2003 tdi beetle.  Bought it new last october.  You can now get the TDI on the base beetle model, which makes a tdi a bit more affordable.  I cant speak for 1998, but maybe since it was the first year of the car, and a concept car on top of that; that it had a few "bugs" to work out.

I have had no problems on my beetle.  Easily gets 50 mpg.  No trouble starting in a very cold past winter.  The tdi has a long history and speaks for itself.  You can perform all the general maintenance yourself, what little there is- oil and filter change, fuel filter drain and change, air filter...  The only complaint I have is that most everything comes standard; electric windows, locks, trunk...  I could do without all the electronic crap.

overall very satisfied.

david

Fred Brittain <vanpire@CITLINK.NET> wrote:

>Yo,
>
>Anybody looked up VW's on JD Power. They don't seem to think too much
>about our elite German, Mexican vehicles.
>
>I have wanted a VW TDI since I first found out about them. I just ran
>a long term quality check on JD involving several cars. 1) '90 Vanagon
>(oldest listed), 98 Jetta, 98 Passat, 98 Beetle (my choice of commuter
>replacement), '94 Geo Metro (my present commuter vehicle).  The ratios
>represent rating over possible of five.
>
>Results: mechanical dependability     accessory dependability
>body and interior
>
>90 Vanagon       3/5
>2/5                                    3/5
>
>98 Beetle            3/5
>2/5                                   2/5
>
>98 Jetta              2/5
>3/5                                    2/5
>
>98 Passat            2/5
>2/5                                     2/5
>
>94 Geo Metro    3/5
>3/5                                      3/5
>
>This is set to seventy column so hopefully it is legible. Interesting.
>I can tell you I bought the Geo new, driven 100k miles and have done
>only routine maintenance.
>
>I WANT a TDI. New Beetles are the most easily accessible (available
>and affordable). I would appreciate any feedback, especially regarding
>the overall quality of a '98 New Beetle TDI. (that is the hitherto
>unstated purpose of this post)
>
>I apologize profusely if this is considered off-topic. It is,
>however,  of interest to me that the '90 Vanagon is considered second
>in reliability only to the Geo.  Go figure.
>
>Fred
>89 Westy
>shopping for TDI
>Moab, UT
>

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