I just went over 195,000 miles while I've driven it over 26,000 miles this year with the only failures being the original 15 year old Bosch alternator and the spark plugs needing to be replaced.
Bosch has a support site that shows what alternators they recommend for your VIN number. AL20X (65A) and AL172X (65A) are the two Bosch shows. However most of us know the original was a 90A unit AL30X.
check the charging at the battery while the car is running about 2000 or 2200 rpm with multimeter. The alternator should be charging at 14 volts (give or take a little)
Alternator wise, I'd definitely spend the money and acquire a nice Bosch unit to replace yours if you were gonna swap it.
Sorry for the late reply. just to go ahead and close this out, it was a bad alternator. Took the 400 dollar hit to my wallet and bought a new one. Spent a few hours yesterday replacing it. So far I've driven it about 30 miles without the battery light coming back on. Thanks everyone for the help.
oddly enough, I've only ever been completely stranded by failed alternators. once in my '98 Jetta GLX VR6 and once in my '09 Outback 3.0R
Upon retrieving the information to answer you correctly I discovered that my original alternator was a Bosch 140Amp/14Volt. My new alternator is an A-Premium 140Amp/12Volt.
When I finally bought another car and started preparing the Bora for sale, the alternator failed. The only real issue it ever gave me.
I picked up a 07 jetta 2.5 from the auction for a good deal and only 95k on it. The problem is the battery is not charging, figured ok needs new alternator put a bosch unit in and it is still not charging the battery. Put multi meter to the post on alternator and it is only putting off 11.5v.
even a simple job like changing the alternator is difficult due to where they place it. There's not a ton of space to work on the car in the engine bay.
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