07-03-2014, 11:47 AM
Well it's been a relatively uneventful year with this car, seeing as I forgot to make any updates. I just crossed over 70k miles so I've put about 12k on the car.
I've only had 2 minor issues with the car since I replaced the intake manifold.
Sometime last winter the car started stuttering and losing power. It did it once or twice and only seemed to happen when it was raining, but pulling over and restarting tricked it into thinking everything was ok. It was fine for a week and then it really crapped out on me on my way to work one day. I think the DSG must cause a lot of drag, because when it went out I slowed DOWN. Practically had it floored just trying to limp it onto the shoulder. I gave it 5 minutes and got it going again, figured out there was a TSB for the throttle body wiring and had my shop replace the pigtail to the TB. Not fun, but far from the worst issue to deal with.
After that it was very well behaved. I did an oil change and had to throw a battery in it last month, but otherwise I haven't touched it.
...Until this week. The car wasn't warming up all the way and finally threw a CEL for the thermostat. It's in my shop right now getting a new Thermostat and ECT installed. Normally I'd do something like that myself, but one of the lovely features of a shrink-wrapped FWD car is an impossibly tight engine bay. It will take my shop 3 hours to get to the t-stat which is mounted on the WP directly under the manifold and behind the TB. If I was going to try to tackle it it would take me 8 hours if I was lucky, and I don't have that kind of time since we're going to get a puppy tomorrow.
So for those keeping track at home, here is the current total of VW electrical fuckery after ~16 months and 12k miles of ownership:
Intake Manifold - $180, installed at home
Wiring TSB - $190, installed by shop
T-Stat + ECT - ~$400-475, installed by shop
Total = Roughly $800 or $50/mo
Far from owning a Civic but also somewhat reasonable for a 70k mile German turbo-car, at least from my tainted perspective. It would also be considerably less if I wasn't such a lazy fuck and was willing to work on this thing myself.
Future Plans:
There is a recall out for the HID ballasts. Mine seem to work ok but I might as well go get a new part if it's free.
At 72k I'm due for an oil change, tire rotation, seafoam to steam clean the valves, and I need some new brake fluid. I'd also like to address my rattling driver's window which probably just needs new clips. At 80k I'll need to do the DSG service but I might do it a little early, couldn't hurt.
I *think* I have an eBay catch can kicking around from when I thought the valve seals were going out on the BMW. I want to see if I can make it work on this car, the amount of crud that ends up back in the intake of this thing is absolutely insane. And then the assholes charging $499 for a freaking catch can are also insane. That's about 100x what I'm willing to pay for a can and some tubing.
As much as I'm coveting the MKVIIs I'm probably going to do the fiscally responsible thing and keep running this thing for a least another year. Once I sort through some of this minutia I've been thinking about getting it tuned, the idea of 300ft-lbs to get me on the highway in the morning is just too intoxicating.
My shop will do a Revo tune for me at their cost. I just want to make sure the car is good and solid before doing anything so I don't waste money on a tune when I really need LCAs or something. If I do it I'll wait until fall and make it a birthday present to myself.
I've only had 2 minor issues with the car since I replaced the intake manifold.
Sometime last winter the car started stuttering and losing power. It did it once or twice and only seemed to happen when it was raining, but pulling over and restarting tricked it into thinking everything was ok. It was fine for a week and then it really crapped out on me on my way to work one day. I think the DSG must cause a lot of drag, because when it went out I slowed DOWN. Practically had it floored just trying to limp it onto the shoulder. I gave it 5 minutes and got it going again, figured out there was a TSB for the throttle body wiring and had my shop replace the pigtail to the TB. Not fun, but far from the worst issue to deal with.
After that it was very well behaved. I did an oil change and had to throw a battery in it last month, but otherwise I haven't touched it.
...Until this week. The car wasn't warming up all the way and finally threw a CEL for the thermostat. It's in my shop right now getting a new Thermostat and ECT installed. Normally I'd do something like that myself, but one of the lovely features of a shrink-wrapped FWD car is an impossibly tight engine bay. It will take my shop 3 hours to get to the t-stat which is mounted on the WP directly under the manifold and behind the TB. If I was going to try to tackle it it would take me 8 hours if I was lucky, and I don't have that kind of time since we're going to get a puppy tomorrow.
So for those keeping track at home, here is the current total of VW electrical fuckery after ~16 months and 12k miles of ownership:
Intake Manifold - $180, installed at home
Wiring TSB - $190, installed by shop
T-Stat + ECT - ~$400-475, installed by shop
Total = Roughly $800 or $50/mo
Far from owning a Civic but also somewhat reasonable for a 70k mile German turbo-car, at least from my tainted perspective. It would also be considerably less if I wasn't such a lazy fuck and was willing to work on this thing myself.
Future Plans:
There is a recall out for the HID ballasts. Mine seem to work ok but I might as well go get a new part if it's free.
At 72k I'm due for an oil change, tire rotation, seafoam to steam clean the valves, and I need some new brake fluid. I'd also like to address my rattling driver's window which probably just needs new clips. At 80k I'll need to do the DSG service but I might do it a little early, couldn't hurt.
I *think* I have an eBay catch can kicking around from when I thought the valve seals were going out on the BMW. I want to see if I can make it work on this car, the amount of crud that ends up back in the intake of this thing is absolutely insane. And then the assholes charging $499 for a freaking catch can are also insane. That's about 100x what I'm willing to pay for a can and some tubing.
As much as I'm coveting the MKVIIs I'm probably going to do the fiscally responsible thing and keep running this thing for a least another year. Once I sort through some of this minutia I've been thinking about getting it tuned, the idea of 300ft-lbs to get me on the highway in the morning is just too intoxicating.
My shop will do a Revo tune for me at their cost. I just want to make sure the car is good and solid before doing anything so I don't waste money on a tune when I really need LCAs or something. If I do it I'll wait until fall and make it a birthday present to myself.
Now: 07 Porsche Cayman S | 18 VW Tiguan
Then: 18 VW GTI Autobahn | 95 BMW M3 | 15 VW GTI SE | 12 Kia Optima SX | 2009 VW GTI | 00 BMW 540i Sport | 90 Mazda Miata | 94 Yamaha FZR600R | 1993 Suzuki GS500E | 2003 BMW 325i | 95 Saab 900S