You hit it right on the head, and I don't know the answer either, but I'll bet it is somewhere in that group of suspects. The Great Unwashed are a large part of the problem, blithely allowing themselves to believe the marketing lies that a car is nothing more than an appliance, needing little more than fuel and aiming.
I was actually *proud* to own a CRD after selling my 01 Jetta TDI. It was built in Ohio, by UAW hands (I'm an entertainment industry union member) and I thought it might have some good quality despite being a Chrysler. The brand has burned my family before with other vehicles.
For a short while, it was a good and strong vehicle... I think that ended after the test drive however. I drive at least 36k miles a year, and this year (September to May is my busy season) is looking to be as much as 50k. I barely got one full year of use from the CRD without a major failure. Never more than 30k miles in a row without a huge failure and months of downtime.
Conversely, my 01 Jetta TDI with the "fail-o-matic" automatic transmission (unmodified on that vehicle) which usually ate the trans in about 100k miles... I beat the SNOT out of that car, driving it like a go-kart for 150k miles. I only towed a couple small things with it, because I didn't know anything really about towing at that time. I DID however (for about 12 miles) pull my 1997 Grand Cherokee with that Jetta. Yes, a 3000 lb 1.9 liter 4-cylinder pulling a 4300lb V8 SUV. It wasn't the most fun tow, but it was the situation. The Jetta handled itself supremely. I only ever modded the nozzles on that engine, and installed ARP studs. No major mechanical failures to speak of.
I sold it and last I knew, the guy who bought it, still has it. He wanted to know what was wrong with his OTHER TDI... Because mine was so dang fast.
I'm back in the same vintage, a 2003 Jetta TDI Wagon, with the same transmission. This time, I put an external cooler on the transmission, and promptly changed the fluid 3 times in rapid succession to flush out the old crap... Which had 244k miles on it! The transmission might need a valve body or a torque converter... But thanks to this forum and that buggy CRD, I now know how to handle that without just writing off the trans or intentionally ignoring a problem and waiting for it to burn up.
Given the choice... I think I will be pilot of "Das Auto" for quite some time, especially if VW brings some of their more interesting vehicles to the USA like they have been making noises about.
Unfortunately - I won't believe the hype about the "coming soon" TDI options until I see them in a dealer's showroom. EVERY manufacturer pulls the same line of bull with their hype machine, and we all have been burned enough to know it by heart by now.
_________________ Proud supporting vendor of LOST Jeeps TRAVELING CRD TECH. I come to you! Need help? Just ask! I've taken it apart more than most. Email jeep [at] maincomputer [dot] com - BOARD MESSAGING IS BROKEN Over 225 CRDs currently driving with my valves, timing belt, rockers, or ARP Studs. Bad noises = REALLY bad things.
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