Taking care of a used 2.0 TDI ?

[Greg Roles]

Best advice is to avoid filling it up with petrol. That's bad.

[jets]

I read somewhere than a firm right foot helps keep the turbo vanes moving.

True, but can also carbon up the EGR, inlet manifold & cyl. head when mixed with crankcase blowby. Avoid too much right foot. Keep it below any black smoke appearing from the exhaust.

[DaSkwurl]

Keep it below any black smoke appearing from the exhaust.

Now maybe I'm not as flexible as you, but without sitting in neutral and static revving the engine till I see black smoke rising, how exactly would I do that?

Back to the OP's query;

As prev stated, good fuel is a must! I generally use BP and Shell. I'll put in Caltex if I must, however it'll only be small amount to tide me over. I made the mistake of putting in United diesel... Once.
You can hear the difference in the engine, it'll be substantially louder, and imo not run or start as well.

When taking off at the lights if I want to get ahead I usually wait till 2nd has engaged before I fully open her up to avoid wheel spin.

I don't know if this issue carrys over from the Passat to the Golf, but there can be issues with faulty park brake switches / controllers.
If you have a traditional hand break then no worries.

No doubt you'll have seen the enthralling discussions about fuel additives... I'm still undecided on this debate HOWEVER VW have now released their own additive. Just a thought.

Find yourself a good mechanic, my family are all vdub owners and only get our cars serviced and repaired through Burwin VW, they are expensive but have always looked after us very well.
That being said, there are many excellent independents that deal purely with VAG maintenance and are often a more cost effective choice and in some circumstances able to source parts a lot faster as they don't have to wait for them to be shipped from Singapore.

DIY - search out a copy of the repair manual for your car, trawl through page after page in the forums trying to find something possibly even closely related to your issue, ask in those same forums, Google, YouTube (sometimes the best resource as it shows you what to do (like how to replace the headlight bulbs in a mk4 golf without taking apart the front bumper)) and don't forget your local wreckers, not pick-a-parts or jollys, you want one that specialises in euro or vag cars. They're a wealth of information and when you break that part you thought you could fix yourself they'll happily tell you where you went wrong as you pay for a replacement part. (From personal experience it hurts when you end up having to pay a mechanic more to fix your car because you thought you could do it. Apparently they don't like cars arriving on tow trucks with a box of removed parts in the boot.)

Servicing, especially the majors and timing belt / water pumps are important. If you don't know when these things are due to be done, ask.
(FYI on the off chance your belt / pump haven't been done, it's due at 105,000kms or seven years. Mines due now and I'm getting a major service done as well and am looking at around $2200)

Lastly, modifications, if you decide to go down that path research, research, research!
If it's all too much to understand, ask in the forums and I'm sure the members of VWW will be more than happy to confuse you more... Eeerm I mean explain it to you.

or just babble on for a few paragraphs thinking they've been helpful as they post their reply... Like I'm about to

[unrealshots]

Our local caltex and shell servos are filled by the same United tanker for diesel...

We drive both our cars by getting in, start and drive... They are modern vehicles and shouldn't require babying

[jets]

Now maybe I'm not as flexible as you, but without sitting in neutral and static revving the engine till I see black smoke rising, how exactly would I do that?

Black smoke is easily seen at night with the headlights from the car behind. I live in the hills so every time I go to the burbs the engine works coming home uphill. Its very easy from experience to determine how much pedal I can use without black smoke appearing.
My recent EGR replacement [that was relatively carbon free] is testament that my driving style works.

[DaSkwurl]

Touché!
Will have to give that a try one night.