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2009 Jetta 2.5L Potential Purchase Questions

1K views 3 replies 3 participants last post by  VWGUY4EVER 
#1 ·
Car is a 2009 Jetta 2.5L, five cylinder, manual 5-speed transmission. 75k miles. Leather seats, aluminum rims, very good condition. Private seller. Southern car ..no ice/salt roads. Price $6500

Owned (2nd owner) by a german mechanic that specializes in European vehicles. Dual mass flywheel, clutch plate and other related parts replaced by him three weeks ago. No oil, coolant, output shaft seals, steering fluid or transmission gear oil leaks noticed. Engine idles well, no CEL's or apparent misfires. Steering is tight, suspension very good, a/c and heat working very well. Fun to drive and responsive. Everything seems right with this car and he agreed to get it on a lift, pull splash gaurd and inspect it with me. I'm at an intermediate level of shade tree mechanical knowledge. Never owned or driven a Jetta prior to this test drive.

I've researched specs on it, reliabilty sites, review sites and forums. One concern I do have is the timing chain tensioner. Lot of complaints about the 2.0 tensioner and I asked him about it. He said the 2009 2.5L have updated tensioners that are not prone to failure and they are recommended to replace every 125k miles. He also stated that as long as oil level is correct the tensioner should hold up fine. Can anyione confirm this?
Also, are their common issues with these cars?
Are they good cars and does the asking price seem reasonable?

All replies appreciated.
 
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#2 ·
Asking price seems a bit high, 2.5 is pretty bulletproof and sounds amazing (like a mini Lamborghini) with an exhaust. Most issues on those cars were with the interior. Sagging headliners, buttons peeling, etc.



Here's a really good video on the platform and the video is even made by a PW poster.
 
#3 ·
My sister still has her 2005 2.5 Auto Jetta parked outside. Purchased new in 2005. Package 2 so it has dual-zone a/c and the factory 6 disc in-dash stereo still in place.155,000 miles. She's only put 25K on it in the 5 years she's been here in Texas. In that time: Trans conductor plate - common hard shift issue but she was over the class-action settlement mileage. Water and vacuum pumps replaced for leaks, belts & tensioners, driver's door harness - a common problem with 2005 and early 2006 models. Harness was 60mm too short and prone to breaks, but the issue was caused by a window regulator replacement 2 years earlier. They broke some wires and rather than tell her they broke and offer a discount to replace it with the regulator, there's 3-4 Scotch-Lok connectors and a mile of electrical tape on it. I still have the harness. Before the 100K Master Gard expired, it was the regulator and a c/v boot other than normal maintenance. I replaced the crank sensor 2 months ago. She got rear-ended 3 months ago - first mishap other than normal bumps & scrapes. Wasn't major damage. Bumper cover and support.

Otherwise, it's still on original struts, a/c never been touched and blows ice cold, every accessory works, and runs and drives beautifully. Typical for the era, switches like windows, radio buttons, a.c controls have peeling buttons. Current quirks: Right front door frequently does not open from the outside. Driver's door lock actuator needs replacement as it sometimes buzzes when locking and unlocking.

A few months back after I washed & waxed it and the 2012 Forte just before trading it for a 2016 Forte5.

 
#4 ·
Well some learning experiences with this Jetta for me. Replaced the crank sensor 2 months ago. Code came back 2 weeks ago along with some rough running and intermittent stalling. I didn't want her to rely on the AutoZone "code reader" so we took it to Dub Squared. Installed a VW crank sensor and the code cleared. BUT... Coolant temp sensor was intermittent. Reading correctly one minute, -40 the next. So they recommended the sensor and thermostat, which they removed the intake manifold to get at. There was also an intermittent in the MAP sensor, which was oil soaked, BECAUSE the breather built into the valve cover was done for. So with the intake off, they thoroughly cleaned the inside, replaced the sensors and thermostat along with a new valve cover. On their final road test it threw a #3 misfire code so they threw in the coil. I'm sure that means the other 4 coils will start going. Unless those coils were replaced in a recall some years back, they along with everything else were probably original. Oh, they replaced the gas filter too. It was practically rusted through. When she took it to VW for a 40K 2 years ago, I asked that the fuel filter was replaced along with a 40K as it should be. She was told that "We normally do not replace gas filters." Um..... I have to say, it no longer has that long crank and rough running on cold start. It fires up immediately and feels like a different car. The intake was pretty sludged up.
 
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