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VW - Drink the Kool-Aid

I drank the kool-aid.. I bought a Volkswagen. I blame Andi...

While it's not computers, it is machines, and I needed a spot to hold this info. So, here we are.

My HOWTOs

I am the proud owner of a 2001 Jetta 2.0L. I really love that little car. It's been a lot of fun. My only complaint is that I couldn't find one in a stick shift and turbo in my price range when i was buying.

It has been quite the learning experience. I'm doing all the maintenance on it myself, and have really improved my understanding of vehicles with it. The VW has really proven to be an excellent platform for a person to do their own maintenance on. Overall access to the various parts is good, and it shows a thoughtful layout for maintenance. Some special tools are needed for certain tasks, but generic versions of most of the tools are available for reasonable prices.

So far, I have tackled these items (outside of the normal day to day maintenance like oil changes):

  • Spark plugs (I did this on my first car too.. VW takes a special tool though, duh!)
  • Break pads and rotors (I had done this one before too on some other cars)
  • Thermostat
  • Temperature Sensor
  • Water pump
  • Timing belt
  • Rack and Pinion

Next repair will be the exhaust system as the pipe is developing a gap at one of the joints.

I've used these two vendors for parts (aside from the local dealer). I had good experiences with both of them.

My main source of information, outside of the Bently manual, as been the forums on VWVortex.com. Very good community of DIY'ers. Definitely a must read site.
I browse the MKIV forums the most of course.... Forums by Model, MKIV HOWTOs.