The timing belt seems a little on the cautious side, but it wouldn't hurt to change the oil a little more often, although I've heard of people going 10K with synthetic.  I use synthetic and change it every 5K.  I figure it's just false economy to try to stretch it more than that.  As long as your bearings last longer than the factory warranty, right?

I wouldn't call it a scam.  Any dealership makes more from the parts and service and used cars than new car sales.  Also, many times the dealership gets service bulletins that supplement the owner's manuals recommendations.  It could be something to do with that.  If they start charging you $50 for metric headlight fluid, though, you should call them on it! (everyone knows VWs run just fine with SAE headlight fluid, jeez!) :roll:

Back in the 80`s , VW recommended that all cam belts be changed at 60,000 miles. Then came along the 16 valve GTI which started losing belts at 40,000 to 50,000 miles with horrible results.  VW recommened that the 16 valve GTI belt be replaced at 40,000 miles .The rest of the water-cools including Diesels stayed at 60,000 miles at that time. I don`t know what has happened since unless they started making better belts.
     Most of the "Ricers" say to check the belts around 90,000 miles and replace if nessesary. I think that is to far to run a cam belt on a "Interference" type clylinder head. Its not the possibilty that it will break because it can and will. Warranty or no warranty, I don`t want to be sitting in the middle of no-where with a $ 3,500+ Blown engine caused by a $20.00 rubber band.
   If you have a 8 valve gas engine, all it will do is just stop running with no damage other than than your pride. 8 valve Diesels will always "mash" up valves and possibly make toast out of the clylinder head.
   I don`t know if 40,000 miles is to soon to change the TDI belt or not, but 100,000 miles seems a bit of a gamble to take with a very,very expensive engine
   I agree with Anthony about the oil change intervals. Do it more often using factory original filters please.
   We used to be able to replace a timing for about  $150.00 back in the 70s and 80s.and made good money . I would be curious to know what the "tariff" would be today at the dealership. I think I would find out .  
   Would anybody be willing to make a guess ? I say about $500. What do you say ?
   I still mantain that VW stopped building real cars and vans in 1974.

I know the warning, especially about the diesels as far as oil and timing belts go. But what I'm wondering is if Village isn't keeping their maintenance intervals overly inflated. The 2004 TDi has alot of improvements over prior TDis - the use of a tensioner on the timing belt changed the factory recommended interval from 60K to 100K (older TDis can be retrofitted with the tensioner and get the longer belt life).

I just got off the phone with Village: $564.45 to replace the timing belt and tensioner.

Eric, why don't you call Al Johnson VW in Dalton and ask them what the recommended intervals are?

I'm curious.

We (the club) has a real good relationship with Village Volkswagen and if there is any kind of scam being attempted, I will be willing to bet the management doesn't know about it.

Just throwing in my two cents: if the timing belt breaking would cause the engine to be ruined, I think I'd go with village. No reason to be walking the razors edge.

Again, "scam" may be a little harsh. As far as maintenance costs go, the difference in my fuel mileage at today's fuel costs more than makes up for any increase in maintenance costs. I just finished a 12,000 mile cross-country trip. Driving 600 miles on a 14 gallon tank of fuel is a wonderful feeling! And out West, where regular unleaded hovers around $2.69 a gallon, diesel was the same or a little cheaper.  Unfortunately, around these parts, diesel some times runs the same as Super Unleaded.

But I try to always go to Midnite Oil for by Bio-fix!

My wife and I test drove a Honda Civic Hybrid. My colleague also owns one and I've driven it from Nashville to Chattanooga. The Civic Hybrid is much nicer than the standard Civic. It's VERY, VERY quiet and all the extra weight in the back makes it ride smoother.

However... For the same $$$ we were able to buy a much roomier Jetta TDi Wagon that uses 100+ year-old diesel technology.  We also got leather seats, sunroof, CD, etc., etc. And the car feels like a European import, not a Rice-burner.

This is basically my first new car. I'm used to 25-year-old VW buses, 200K mile Hondas and Toyotas, and even a 180K mile Porsche 911. I plan to drive this car for at least 10 years. That means I plan to drive it well into the years that I have to crack the hood and get my hands dirty. When I looked at the technology of the hybrid: two motors, complex charging system, transmission that magically manages the motors and provides breaking feedback into the charging system, etc., etc. I said "No way!"

Granted, the new "Pumpe-Duese" TDi is a bit of an engineering marvel. The injectors get the fuel up around 30K psi. And being a Direct-Injection and not CRD, the injectors are pricey (about $800 for a set of four). But that's still far less than the price of a new battery-pack for a hybrid.

The diesel is louder than the hybrid. Much louder. In fact, it's louder than a normal gasoline engine. But it's quieter than diesels were 10 years ago and accellerates like a normal car. It also cruises at 90mph with ease.

As far as cruising speeds, we were a little heavy-footed. Driving in the West - long distances and slow-changing scenery - makes you want to just get to where you're going even faster. So we were averaging between 80 and 90. Between Las Vegas and LA, traffic was cruising around 100. I was glad I wasn't in a VW Bus!

I logged my mileage and fuel purchases. I still need to calculate the final usage. Because of our speed, I doubt we got the EPA 42mpg. It was probably closer to 38mpg.

We had absolutely no problems and drove about 12,000 miles.