Most reliable vehicle engines: Volkswagen’s ALH TDI 

Thank you for watching!

The myth about VW being unreliable was mainly spread by Americans who didn't give a crap to proper maintenance of the cars. Here in Europe i see Volkswagens and other VAG cars, such as Skoda on a daily basis with more than 300.000 km on the odometer, even the newer models. Let's not forget about 2.5 TDI, 2.0 TDI, 3.0 TDI, 1.6 TDI, 1.4 TDI first gen, 1.6 MPI, 1.4/1.2 tsi EA211 (second gen). I saw crazy mileages on each one of them

I own two ALH Jettas and my dad bought one new in 2000. He drove it a lot and did timing belt changes and other things himself. The vehicle is still on the road but its odometer stopped ticking once it hit about 630,000 miles. They are amazing cars and I enjoy working on them.

I dunno what you’re talking about, in the UK Volkswagen are the most reliable engines you can buy.

I bought a 2001 Golf TDI brand new and drove it for 18 years. I put 393K miles on it, and the only reason I sold it was the ridiculously low prices on mk7 dieselgate cars. the mk4 was easily the most reliable car I've ever had. It will easily go well beyond the mileage that I put on it. The interior was starting to degrade, but the body was still perfect on it. I miss it a lot, and sometimes regret selling it.

My parents had a 1.9 TDI with 130hp Seat Alhambra. Sold it at 280,000km, the engine NEVER had any problems or anything replaced. Was a daily driver until they upgraded to a Škoda Superb with a 190hp 2.0 TDI

My 2002 ALH just hit 300,000 miles. Plenty of parts available and they're generally cheap. Easy to work on and TONS of enthusiasts out there

ive seen ALH go over 1.2M when regularly maintained and its still alive! stock everything, almost every part replaced due to failure except for the internals of the engine. fricking tank of a motor

The 1.9 TDI is by far the most iconic of the series. Most iconic and definitly the most reliable. Its a very tunable engine and ultra common here in europe. My Volvo has a 2.5 TDI. Basically and audi 100 Engine. It makes 140 horsepower stock. I bought my car for 1000€ and had to do oil changes, a timing belt service and the bosch pump was completly rotted out but it has been sitting for a few years before i bought it. Now it serves me well and it only has 250.000km. I am looking forward to keeping it on the road for as long as i can

I have a 2002 tdi manual wagon, no mods, 425k miles and still runs like new. Always used Mobil 1 and 10k oil changes. Planning on making it to at least 500k, best car I've ever owned.

My best friend gave me his 2003 Jetta Wagon, and this ALH is over 680K km(423+ mi). Still running strong and the car itself is still in pretty good shape. 👍🏻👍🏻

This video is top notch! The narration with pristine English, the music mixing, the clip editing, and accurate information... its a masterpiece!!!

In Europe VW group moved to PD diesel (e.g. ATD) in 2000 so we have fewer ALH left. The early PD unit can be almost as reliable as "ALH" but the real problems started in 2005 with the Bxx engines which used cracked con rods which broke too often.

Bro, old TDIs in balkans are more common then anything else. The car itself falls apart and is hold together just by rust, but the engine, after 20 years, work like a clock.

We are at 250,000 miles on our 2002 Golf MK4 TDI with a 5 speed manual. Love this car.

You forgot about one of its best features -- Filling the neck up another 8L or so to get another couple hundred K. Also, the amazing push out cup holders above the stereo.

One of the first reliable engine that come to mind for me is the alh. Had mine for 10 years now. Have 320k on it. Just did the timing belt and water pump to it. About to throw some shocks on it to. No rust issue on mine except the common interior falling apart.

2004 PD130 ASZ, 215k miles, 245bhp and 500/520nm. 35-40mpg having fun, 50-60mpg driving normally. Absolutely love them.

I drive a Golf mk.2 with the mk.3 AFN 1.9L TDI. It makes about 130hp. The car is also fully painted with Raptor Pickup bed liner

Buying the manual transmission versions are best, although what I learned that with the automatic transmission if you feel like you’re starting to have problems check both the valve body and torque converter, I changed both of those out and I’m up over 330,000 miles on the original transmission.

The best 'MK4 Golf' TDi ALH was the Skoda Octavia 1U. Is a pity they were not sold in N.America. Better built than the Golf/Jetta/Bora. They were basically a Jetta/Bora in hatchback form. Very well factory sealed and they seem to have been built with very good steel, wings last a lot longer than on the VW. Front crash panel also a lot stronger than the VW and a good car to drive. Would love to see the reaction of American VW ALH fans upon driving an Octavia 1U in good order. The rear beam axle also stronger in the Skoda and the base 90PS ALH had rear drums which are not the same as the early Golf 4 drums, same as the Caddy van, that with a new backplates, spring kit and cylinders make them brake like a truck. The Skoda had the ALH up to late 2005 and I think onward in Taxi special order form. If an Octavia had to crash into a Jetta, I'd rather be in the Skoda. They were a typical 2000's taxi and as I heard a Taxi driver say, "you always walk away from an Octavia" As for performance, fresh gear oil with a drop of molyslip, they pull in 5th gear at idle. Change the radiator, re-seal the thermostat and the temp sensor to make sure no coolant leaks, which kill diesels, clean out the EGR tar from the inlet manifold and those engines will do a million miles. Skoda, whos laughing now?

As well as the 1.9 TDI, the PSA (Peugeot/Citroen) 1.9 XUD is quite legendary. In modern times, the PSA 2.0 HDi is quite possibly the best 4 cyl diesel. I would be happy to take any of these three past 400k miles. I've had issues with the newer TDIs (both 1.6 and 2.0), but I'm back in a 2.0 HDi now and plan on keeping it alive for a very long time (currently only on 175k, very sketchy maintenance before me, but still runs as new).

If 1.9 TDi is good engine, then even better is its french counterpart. The mighty 2.0 HDi both 66 kW and 80 kW variant. It has similar MPG, better construction and modern commonrail fuel injection. It runs much quieter, much smoother but it has different torque curve. It does not pull as hard as TDi (although max torque is similar) but it more rev happy. The fun doesn't stop in 4000 RPM.

The ALH is by far the most economical of the bunch. It was my 1st TDI. I put 150,000 km on it before the TB snapped because the fuel distributor locked up for some reason, it was a great car. I'm on my 4th one now.

Almost 900.000 km here with an AFN.. which is weaker and older tech than an ALH, but still on vp37. At 887.000 my afn (on torsen t2 trans) broken cylinder one, BUT.. runing 225bhp and 420nm for last 2 years of his life. Now had a new afn block (from scrapyard), machined arl pistons, arl spray, forged "snapped style" conrods, all around 12.9 bolts, same heads made by my own ideas. Runs much stronger, probably for many years to come (one year from rebuild)

I have a PD150 (ARL) at stage 1 (200bhp and around 320nm torque) and even with a leaky intercooler I still see 47mpg.

A close brother to the ALH , is the ARL . It has 150 hp 320 nm (236 ft) stock . They reach 190 hp 410 nm (300 ft) with just a stage 1

I swapped a 1.9 TDI from a beetle into my 82' Caddy- LOVE IT!!!

Yep, have 317,000 miles on my 01 Beetle that I bought new. Due for timing belt and water pump service.

I did not want it, did not like it first, But my mk4 golf tdi it was the most reliable car i have ever owned and probably ever will, the amount of cost to run is so minimal that puts even the most economical modern cars to shame, really did not want to sell it in the end

Girlfriend has an 06 BEW with 340,000 miles and it’s been pretty maintenance free other than preventative stuff. Think all I’ve had to do in a year was replace the thermostat and tensioner. I’m on my 6th one. Owned BEWs, ALH’s and CJAA’s. Out of all of them I miss my first BEW the most. Deleted with a stage 1.5 Malone tune it got over 600 miles on a single tank and that was when diesel was $2 and some change for a gallon.

I bought a wagon ALH 2003 last summer for pretty cheap, did a couple of repairs, nothing crazy (wheel bearings, brakes, glowplugs, coilsprings) The body is in pretty good shape, I just had to change the rear hatch. Diesel is crazy expensive right now over here but I still love that thing, I got 335k's on it, changing the clutch next summer and she'll run as new 😁

I have a 2003 pd TDI. ASZ engine. And still running since 2003. 19 years ago was first started and still going.

A big must for vw diesels is using Quantum oil! They will go til the body rots away. My BJB 105hp is at 189000 miles, in second gear box, third turbo, straight thru exhaust and K&N air filter goes really well and gives back 36-45 mpg !!

I drive a '06 golf plus. Nothing fancy. But with the 1.9 TDI it's got plenty of power for towing and pullig itself across any road. Also, not a single speck of rust has touched my small working machine!

Not only the ALH, also the AHF/ASV are very reliable, if not equal. But yes, you can also use old oil in a 1:2 mix with fuel and drive it completely normal without any harm, so it's definately the best engine in my opinion. On my ALH, I now have 480k, on my AHF, only 390k - both without any problems except rust, which is quite common in Austria.

I have a 2005 Passat wagon B5.5, 96kw tdi + power box instaled and it drives like a rocket. its over 360000km

I have a 1.9l in my toyota pickup with a stage 4 tune! Lots of power at 150whp but mine needs so much work. Never left me stranded though!

I work at a VW in the service department and the amount of water pumps and heater cores we have changed since I started 3 months ago is insane. I love VW and always will, but there are some things they seem to never learn. Water pumps have been a problem for over a decade on most if not all VW vehicles. That being said, the info that has been documented about the faults on their vehicles is so readily available it is pretty easy to be ready for when these items fail and get it replaced before it happens.

Just bought a 2002 ALH one owner with 48k miles 5 speed. It’s a base model with manual windows and paint isn’t in best of shape. But just bought it to daily drive

I have a Volvo V70 -98 with the 2,5 TDI engine in it (they only sold in Europe what I know) and it has rolled 580000 kilometers (360395 miles) a friend of mine had one that had 970000+ km (602730) on it and was running flawlessly and with optimization box on it we had it down to half a liter to 10km. Absolutely amazing engines

Years back i bought a cheap mk4 golf pd130 (with the unit injectors) with 150,000 miles and good service history and receipts etc, did the cambelt an w,pump, mapped it to 160hp and fitted a better intercooler, drove it everyday for 7 years quite hard, although i serviced it regularly, an sold it with 230,000 miles, with still factory clutch, turbo an stock internals never changed, best car i've ever had, and the six speed gearbox is the best ever.

I myself daily an Audi A3 8L with the 1.9 TDI AHF which is very reliable + the body does not rust, because its galvanized so its basically a Golf Mk4 without the rust.

Awesome! I own a UK Passat b5 1997. Dad offloaded it to me in 2004. It's still going strong. 225,000 miles. Economy driving on motorway (60mph) get me 60 ish to the gallon! You're right about other parts falling off tho 😆 I see you have the SE trim like me 🙂 I enjoyed the incongruous steel drums music too

all 5 tdi's ive owned have almost if not well over 300k miles, current tdi has 322k on it. All of which ran amazing

I got an 01 tdi manual, love it to death and do all the work on it myself. very easy to work on and incredibly reliable, I putting a veggie oil conversion kit on it soon so I can get 300mpg lol

Got my first golf 4 tdi 1.9 4motion with 100hp and has about 300k but drives like crazy well maintained imported from austria

Mines a 2008 1.9TDI had it since 2009 and it’s only got 54000 miles, still going strong

I have an ALH. I wish I got this car when I was 18 and just kept it. Best car ever and I love the sound and torque.

Loved the video and I can confirm everything. I have a 1st generation Škoda Octavia from 1999 with AHF (81kw version) TDI. It is currently at 395 000km and counting. That car has never let me down even though it is a definition of a beater. It ran in our family for 11 years and 200 000km without a single engine issue. Only the EGR was clogged so that was blanked out when I took over the ownership. Still after 24 years it passes emisions with flying colors although I didn't believed it would pass them. Unfortunately as you said everything around the engine starts to fall apart. That laundry list of issues ranging from bad interior seals to busted suspension and shot syncros in transmission haunts me every day. I have a lead foot and still never managed to get over 6l/100km (39 US mpg / 47 UK mpg) however fast I went and however much I revved it which is just astonishing. With a lighter foot and longer routes mainly on highways and higher speed roads I got around 4l/100km (58 US mpg / 70 UK mpg). VAG rotary pump diesels are the best workhorses or daily drivers. Absolutely bulletproof whatever you do to it and mpg to be envied by every auto maker. I'd go as far as to say that there is no better diesel from that period in europe (unfortunately no cummins for us...) and it can be seen on the roads. Every time you see a milenium VAG car in these lands there is a 80% chance it is a diesel with that engine. I love that car but time goes on and a new vehicle is on the horizon, hopefully it will life to see at least those 400 000km under my brothers ownership.

I have a seat toledo 1.9 TDI ALH. It has 440 000km. Sadly the oil pan got hit and i didnt notice until the oil presure lamp light out. Run without oil 400km. The best engine ever made

Mk4 1.9 tdi ASZ 131 hp automatic 2002 year of production. Fast as hell and now has 389.000 km same engine no issues at all.

In europe this engines they tune over 500whp

I have a Polo 6R with 75HP and this thing pulls like a beast till 70mph no problem even after 240.000 miles. And it is very very good on gas.

I had the arl engine with 150bhp from factory. Its was very very good and never went wrong. Also 40 mpg minimum. Fantastic car, mk4 golf.

Highly recommend the dieselgate TDIs! I had a 2014 Jetta sport wagon 6 speed manual had 140HP stock and 240TQ stock! I have a Touareg TDI now which has 225 HP and 420 TQ but if tuned will make 300 HP and 500 TQ!!! Incredible engines

I bought a 2005 Golf mk5, 1.9 TDI for 3050 EUR in August 2021. Man this car is fun. Will stage 1 tune it soon to get that little extra oomph out of it, but generally it has not needed much. Swapped the Timing belt and water pump for a new one as soon as I bought it as I didn't know when the one it had was put in, costed only $140. After it shut down on me while driving (luckily close to home and my trusty mechanic) it meant that the original fuel pump had finally given out, so I got that replaced also fairly cheap, for $240. It runs like a dream, fairly economic only half a tank of diesel a month. Can't recommend this car enough.

Yk what also is pretty reliable. The 5 bangers and the 2.0 slow. Not alot of power but they run smooth

Loved that car. A brand new 2003 Jetta w/ 5 speed and last run of ALH engines. Sold it due to a growing family in 2016. Really miss that car. The next owner got a mint, well maintained, stock car w/ only 200,000 miles. Now have a diesel-gate Touareg. Great car but insanely more complex and problematic.

Yes yes one of the most reliable engines ever produced. I worked in the Pennsylvania Westmoreland plant when the very first VW diesels hit the US market, we put conveyors in the plant. It was a hoot watching the Rabbits get 55 mpg and running for hundreds of thousands of miles, my late friend Frank VanHagen put 424K on one before trading it and it still ran excellent. He ran off-road diesel in it it's entire life as he own a huge sod farm here in Michigan and had an abundance of off-road available and the Dept of Ag inspectors didn't catch it when they did the math..lol

I love them so much, I started a company MountainTDI.. I dimple the pistons, cerakote heads, pistons, manifolds and turbo

I have a Audi A4 avant 1.9 tdi AFN engine and it has 360 000km on it it is tuned to 140 hp and has no problems. Just change oil regularly. Lots of power

I had 2 TDIs, a 13 passat CKRA and an 01 golf ALH, 5 speed manual. The passat ran pretty good despite its random issues it's had, and my alh came from auction so I'm in the process of fixing its front end damage, I've driven it a few times and it's a tank.

I have owned several vw’s and even several diesels. Just bought my first ALH and managed to find a golf with 95k original miles. Needs some paint work and some interior stuff fixed, but I’m glad I bought it. Drove over 300 miles on half a tank of fuel. Can’t wait to get it tuned.

MY BKD 2.0 140HP HAS 450000KM... NO OIL COSUMPTION AND STILL GIVING 130HP... 20 YEARS WITH NOT EVEN REGULAR OIL CHANGES. I'LL SCRAP THE CAR BECAUSE OF THE RUST BUT OTHERWISE THE GEARBOX AND ENINE ARE PERFECT. I'M GONNA MISS THIS ONE...

My first and still only car is an '03 VW New Beetle TDI MT with the ALH in it. Nearing 200k miles on it and only major thing to go on it was the OEM suspension after 13yrs of driving which got replaced with a full Bilstein kit to liven it up a small bit. Haven't bothered messing with internals but I figure once it comes time to fully rebuild the engine in the usual maintenance cycle, that's when I'll build it to the edge and then back it off a bit to salvage any bit of reliability as I'll likely have a new daily driver sorted out by that time.

I own an 98 A4 with an AFN engine. I removed the EGR valve and cleaned the intake manifold when I bought it at 260000 km. Now it's at 390, and I often pull a trailer with it. Never had any repairs myself and according to the log it only got a new turbo once. Before this I had an Audi 80 with an 1Z engine. Only repair on that was new return pipes on the injectors. I dumped it at 480000 kms, but the engine was running perfectly.

I drive a 1.9 TDI ALH Bora (european variant) just changing oil and fuelfilter.. this car runs since 5 months above 30k kilometers. Best

I have owned 5 ALH in both Golf and Jetta. I easily miled up to and over 400,000km. Great car for the highway.

I have a 2000s VW Golf 4 1.9 tdi 4motion (AJM engine). 115hp factory, around 150 tuned stage 1. Still rocks with 420.000 km on the odometer. My first car, but i have it since 2017 and just don't want to buy a new car.

I have a 99 golf tdi,its 110hp stock,I have it over 5 years and it's really good car,but like the video said,you have to maintain it,body wants to rust,so it needs a paint job every now and then,but its worth it. I live in europe and I have converted it to us spec,20th anniversary look,so my is the only one like that in my city,love it and recommend to everyone!

These engines are known in Europe as PD motors( Pumpe duese) and very highly regarded in Europe - this isn't news to us.With regular Oil changes ( CORRECT Spec ) and a decent oil filter they are capable of Starship mileages.Probably the best small Diesel engine ever made - there are thousands of them with huge milages still on the roads in Ireland.

my 2003 Mk4 jetta tdi is chilling at 369k miles

Don't forget the previous 1Z, AFN and AHU engines

1996. MK3 (sold 480K 2000. MK4 (sold 380K)same 90HP, now 2.0 140hp MK51 2012. 200K. DPF and EGR OFF.....loving it Dad has MK1 1.1 benzin, after 1.6 diesel, MK2 TD Golf for life

Volkswagen actually did make some reliable engines. The EA827, a series of n/a (and supercharged) 4-cyl. petrol engines within a range of 1.6 to 2.0 litre, was found in many Passats, Golfs, Jettas (technically any VW with an 1.8 l or higher engine) between the 70s and the 90s and had some serious reliable engines, particulary the 1.8 l ones.

I got my dad to buy a 2000 Golf TDI. He was driving all over the west coast and needed something reliable and efficient so it was perfect. He drove it a ton, I drove it a ton then it went to my cousin. She took her driver's test in it after I taught her how to drive stick. She drove it for a few years and had an accident but it was fixed up. Her little sister got it, took her test in drove it a ton, and had an accident 🤦‍♂️. It still ran great when it went away with about 375k miles. Now I drive a 2014 Sportwagen TDI manual. Got it in 2020 with 27k miles and I now have 104k miles, tuned and get about 50 mpg!! We'll see how long this last, I don't have any plans to get rid of it for many years!!!

Have owned several VW's the 1st 2001 Golf TDI still have coming up on 300,000, a set of Bentley manuals and do all maintenance. 2007 GTI for about a year traded in for 2009 Jetta SW TDI and 2010 Golf TDI. Diesel gate came and sold the Golf back to VW and bought a 2004 Golf TDI BEW fixed it up and gave it to my parents. Dad told me son wish you'd done this long time ago, he averaged 43mpg with it. The MKIV's / MKIII's get the best MPG highway driving have gone over 800 miles on a tank with my 01. Only upgrades being a cold air intake and an .068 5th gear, planning on a 3bar map.

Many many years ago in the previous century, i bought a 110 hdi Citroen, over 17 years i drove it 504,000 miles or over 800,000 km. We poped the head off to take a look inside, see if it needed anything. All was good.

In the uk I believe we have diff engines to what you get we get the pd130 and pd 150 asz and blt Stage 1 on the pd 130 takes u to 170bhp no exhaust mods needed Pd150 stage 1 takes it to around 210 again no exhaust mods needed A lot of people have put hybrid turbos in with front mount intercoolers making over 250 for every day use have a look at darkside or just search 1.9 hybrid turbo

I had a 06 1.9 tdi jetta had 353k before I got rid of it and still ran good I currently have a 2013 passat 2.0 tdi I brought with 82k in 2017 I now have 249k on it no issues still runs new I did do a egr,def and dpf delete from Rawtek wit stage 2 tune that's it I love mines

The naturally aspirated version that pushed out an outstanding 67hp is arguably even more reliable as it doesn't have a turbo so you can run it at low-ish RPM it's whole life without the turbo getting clogged with exhaust junk (it is easy to unclog the turbo, just press the pedal down a bit and let it clean itself). So yeah it'll last forever as long as you change the timing belt and it has oil... and something in the fuel tank that more or less resembles some kind of oil... if the liquid burns when you pour some in a cup put a wick in it and light it then the engine will eat it without complaints.

would even say that the 2.5TDI is even more solid engine than the 1.9TDI, many t4 vans go 1mil km

Got a September 1999 Skoda Octavia SLX TDi (110 bhp) estate which I've owned from new. It's got the ALH engine surrounded by a good car body. The car was part galvanised panels from new and 'wax oil' impregnated to all box sections, doors, etc. no rust visible any where. It's been unused in the garage (run and moved periodically) for many years. Got all the parts(cam bely, etc) to put it back on the road, just waiting for warmer weather. The best part, it's only done 49,000 miles from new.

Uhm, have you heard of old VWs and tanks that they used to build.... we still have many 1.6d and 1.8 on the roads here (besides famous 1.9tdi). VW used to make seriously great engines, that old 1.8 is insane, we did everything we could and neglected it as much as possible... it finally gave up at aprox 430k km and it was fairly easy fix to keep it going but I had a spare engine so I just swapped it. VW is famous for being reliable here tbh

Mp 1.9 TDI Polo is over 300 000KM i decided to do a full recon on the engine and it should last another 300 000 km easily but its a awesome car

We had golf III 1,9D for 13 years, every day on the road, changed oil maybe 3 times, 1 battery and many light bulbs. Das auto.

Bought my first car about 2 years ago. Audi A4 B5 with the 110hp afn engine. Stock everything and chiptuned to around 140hp. All problems I have had with it is, vacumleaks, boost control solenoid and recently discovered a failing injector seal that I haven't come to fix yet. I believe my clutch is gonna fail this year though. Another thing is that the check engine light doesn't work how you think they do on these cars, they basically doesn't show anything. Your car can go into limpmode or you run on three cylinders you will not get a check engine light. Shorted out map sensor? No engine light. However you will feel this and you will get a fault code.

I just bought a 03 Jetta with the ALH non-running rust free because you can rarely find them here in South Florida and if you do they’re very expensive with a little bit of rust. You only really find the BEW‘s down here

I have owned several of these cars. When my first one roted to oblivion the engine was transplanted into my pick up. TDI ranger now

Just got a mk4 golf tdi with 412k on the clock. $1700 for a commuter. Hopefully she stays legendary

I made a hotrod ALH with Rosten rods, girdle ARP head studs, etc. I believe I spent under $5000 on parts. Now I'm good to 340hp

The ASV is also a legend for its reliability with the only cloud over it being the VNT turbo and even better was the original AFN with the separate water pump.

i own 2003 mk4 with this engine and i can say this engine really is buletproof, all you need is just to check if timming belt is good, change oil, dont floor it when ist cold and this engine will run forever. Also if you decide to work on timming belt you need to do it really precisely.

I have a 2014 Audi Q5 TDI with 125,000 miles on it. Still going strong.

I’m driving a MKV TDI with the BXE motor. 320,000 km just replaced the starter motor brushes and glow plugs. The DSG transmission is superb and I haven’t touched it. I don’t think you should recommend manual for high mileage.

I have a 2000 golf TDI. I rolled it and totaled it but it still runs and would drive if I could get in it 😂 definitely an indestructible engine 💯

2.5 tdi ACV here. 353,000km and still pulling hard.

Revolutions per second huh? RPS. I just learned a new acronym!

I love how they went we need to build an engine as simple as the bug's boxer i have a 1.9 tdi van no matter how long it's sitting you just throw the battery in and it starts with no problem