Volkswagen Gen 1 Fix: First Impressions

On July 27 Gen 1 TDI owners waiting for an EPA fix for their cars got good news:

Today, Volkswagen received approval from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and California Air Resources Board (CARB) for an emissions modification for affected Model Year 2009-2014 2.0L TDI vehicles with Generation 1 engines in connection with our settlement program.
This includes the following vehicles:

VW Jetta TDI (Model Years 2009-2014)
VW Jetta SportWagen TDI (Model Years 2009-2014)
VW Golf TDI (Model Years 2010-2014)
VW Beetle TDI and VW Beetle Convertible TDI (Model Years 2012-2014)
Audi A3 TDI (2010-2013)

This modification has only been approved for customer owned or leased vehicles that remain in their possession. For clarity, the approval has not been provided for vehicles in VWGoA or dealer inventory for purposes of resale. In the coming weeks we will update you on the status of the availability of previously bought back vehicles for purchase and resale as well as the process for selling any remaining new dealer stock.

We have a ‘10 Jetta Sedan, manual transmission, here at IDParts. Paul Clark VW in Brockton completed the recall (their first!) on August 14. Since the recall, we’ve driven the car several hundred miles. Our impressions:

  • As predicted by VW, the engine is louder, both at idle and cruising speeds. At 70 MPH the engine noise has increased enough to cause drivers to turn up the radio when cruising.
  • Power delivery is smooth, accelerator response is improved. Overall, the car feels quicker than before the fix.
  • There seems to be a little bit of turbo lag, especially in second gear.

Otherwise, there seems to be little penalty to the fix. We haven’t driven the car enough to get a reliable pen and paper fuel economy comparison, but so far the FE seems little changed, if at all.

One odd note is that within a mile or so from the dealer after the fix the car initiated a regen. Perhaps it idled for a long period during the service, causing the regen, or perhaps it was “catching up” after the re-flash. Either way, since that event regen frequency seems unchanged. It’s supposed to be more frequent post-fix, but if that’s the case the difference isn’t dramatic.

We’ve read that some drivers have other impressions of their fixed Gen 1 cars, and we welcome feedback from your own fix experience in the comments section below. We’ll update our impressions before the end of 2017.

2017-08-31 10.43.04 1

  1. So, while I ended up with a new intake manifold (didn’t know about the p2015 and it’s fix), the fix on my 2011 was very positive. I didn’t notice a regen out of the gate, but it does feel stronger, while louder… and no real change in mpg. Mine actually got better due to a clean intake manifold (I kept the old one, and after 153k, there is a 1/8in. Layer of carbon build up all over everything. Car is bone stock and had all services done by me, parts bought solely from you guys.

    Reply

    1. Great, Ted! 👍

      Reply

  2. I had the fix done, then immediately took the car on a 4K mile West Coast trip (from Oklahoma), pulling our camper. Since I had the camper the entire time, I don’t know yet about fuel economy but I certainly haven’t noticed any difference in noise. Just didn’t make a difference from what I’ve observed. Malone Stage 2 will make a bigger difference. 😉

    Reply

    1. Thanks for the update, Chris! Malone, RocketChip, all good options!

      Reply

  3. Erichsen Kollmar October 1, 2017 at 2:16 pm

    Have 2012 Jetta Sportwagon, with stick. Had 180,000 miles on it. Had the fix done, and I’ve noticed no shortcomings so far after 3000+ miles.

    Reply

  4. I have the similar 2010 Jetta TDI, MT pictured above with 204000 K on it. Contemplating for the fix, but want to know if you guys so far happy with the emission fix on CJAA engines as far as fuel economy and drivability issues are considered..
    Thank you for the responds.

    Reply

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