2003 jetta 1.8 turbo standard trans. After sitting for 12 or more hours, the car starts and idles fine. It just won’t
move. It will stutter, buck and sometimes stall. RPM at start up is 1250. After about a minute the RPM is just below 1000 and it goes with no problem. VW tellm me to use better gas. Doesn’t help.
“Use better or different gasoline” is basically the equivalent of saying “I don’t know.”
I would find an independent mechanic that knows VW rather than using VW.
The first thing I would look at is your fuel pressure at start up. Your fuel system is probably losing pressure over those 12 hours (which is probably not all that uncommon) and it is taking your pump a while to get it consistently back to specs. This may indicate that a pump replacement looms.
Of course, that’s a WAG - since you haven’t given anyone any information. Is all of the maintenance up to date on the car? Plugs? Wires? Filters? Always start there and do the maintenance if it is even close to being due.
When it idles at cold start, does it idle smoothly?
Any check engine light?
All maintence is up to date plugs, wires etc. All done by dealer. The check engine light does not come on and the cold start idle is smooth.
Find out what the fuel pressure specs are for the car.
Slap a pressure gauge on it, and start it up. See what you have. Fuel injection is very sensitive to fuel pressure.
If that’s beyond what you want to get involved with then just leave it with a shop overnight.