Thinking about a diesel VDub?

[ducatiz]

these customers who want to save a buck and shortchange themselves in the long term by not maintaining spec grade maintenance on the vehicle get bitten in the end and the dealers look like they are robbing the customers when they tell them it costs umpteen thousands of dollars to fix all that they themselves caused and then those same persons go on the interweb forums and everywhere else and pregnant dog and give the dealer a bad name because they don't want to be responsible for the damage they themselves caused due to being cheap...

bad dealer story:  recent recall on PD TDIs for problematic glow plugs.  factory ceramic plugs were not heating up correctly.  local dealer did service on neighbor's 05 Jetta but broke off the tip of one of the plugs and left it in the engine.  Long story short -- they blamed the grenaded engine on customer.  Customer towed car to another VW dealer and confirmed smashed pieces of glow plug tip present in bad cylinder.  2nd dealer mech mentions to neighbor "they've done that to 4 cars I have seen so far and have blamed it on customer each time."

I got a notice that the sun roof had a recall for the drains.  I took mine in and they tore the ceiling in the car.  Service rep claimed it was that when when I brought it in, I told him "well that's funny, the pics I have here on my camera that I took in your parking lot the day I got here show otherwise."   he went stonefaced when I asked to speak to the manager.  they replaced the ceiling and detailed the car.

That's my one story about bad dealers and TDIs.  TDIforum has lots more.  Seems the TDI training is lax at VWusa.

I got my belt service done by a shade tree mech who made me work with him and do all the dirty work.  I was happy to do it.  Replaced everything -- bearings, water pump, alt bearing, etc..  And used the right coolant.  Very thorough, triple checked torques.  Took him 4 hours and cost me $300 labor and $115 parts.  Dealer of course was more expensive ($1600).  I doubt I will take my TDI to a VW dealer again.

[Howie]

thank you adding to the weight of what I was saying about the 300D's...but I will have to correct you on seeing 1.9TDi's with high milage...2 employees here have B4 chassis Passat's, 1 with 365K and 1 has 310K and a customer we have has 460K some on his B4 TDi....1 retired employee who doesn't drive as much as he used to has a MK4 Jetta TDi with over 140K on it and I have seen several other TDi cars that are past the 100K range with ease and they usually get traded in for a newer TDi model nowadays instead of driving them into the ground like old tried and true long term diesel owners...because these newer TDi owners aren't diesel converts, they are just wanting more milage for the buck and not wanting a compact hybrid for a premium price and are the "Ooooo-bright shiny" types with ADD wanting the newest and latest and greatest....unfortunately these are the people that in a way Howie is reffering to here...

these customers who want to save a buck and shortchange themselves in the long term by not maintaining spec grade maintenance on the vehicle get bitten in the end and the dealers look like they are robbing the customers when they tell them it costs umpteen thousands of dollars to fix all that they themselves caused and then those same persons go on the interweb forums and everywhere else and pregnant dog and give the dealer a bad name because they don't want to be responsible for the damage they themselves caused due to being cheap...

Yes, there are good dealers.  We used to have one.  I'm sure the dealer you work for is one.  Unfortunately, there are many bad dealers as described by ducatiz.  There is also no shortage of internet whiners.

[mookieo2]

I know this might seem like a crazy idea given this is a motorcycle board, but what about riding your motorcycle?  It may not fit your work situation, but I thought I'd toss that up there. 

Ideally I would love to get a bike not a Duc to commute to work on. I work at night so There is not traffic and I only have to take one road straight through. Its boring. My problem with riding there is that ( I'm gonna hear it for this) I have a problem with falling asleep while driving. My schedule changed so I go in earlier but now I sometimes fall asleep on the way home. I've gotten pulled over for it once or twice over the years. Anyway If I happen to nod off a bit I would rather do it in a cage then on a bike. And no, the bike won't keep me awake. (Please refrain from telling me the consequences because I know quite well what they are and could be) I've been pretty good lately and I try real hard to get as much rest as I can.

[zooom]

Ideally I would love to get a bike not a Duc to commute to work on. I work at night so There is not traffic and I only have to take one road straight through. Its boring. My problem with riding there is that ( I'm gonna hear it for this) I have a problem with falling asleep while driving. My schedule changed so I go in earlier but now I sometimes fall asleep on the way home. I've gotten pulled over for it once or twice over the years. Anyway If I happen to nod off a bit I would rather do it in a cage then on a bike. And no, the bike won't keep me awake. (Please refrain from telling me the consequences because I know quite well what they are and could be) I've been pretty good lately and I try real hard to get as much rest as I can.

have you tried taking 5 Hour Energy?

[ducatiz]

have you tried taking 5 Hour Energy?

i did and it made me want to lick dryer lint and caused me urinate multicolored pee.  i would not touch it.

[Le Pirate]

Bad dealers do seem to be a big part of VW's problems.

When I moved last time for my job, I found a local dealer (my car was still under warranty at the time). I took my car in for a service and while talking to the shop manager discovered that they used an oil different than what the service manual recommends. They put in plain old 10w-30. The service manual for my car recommends a 5w-40 full synthetic.

I don't know if 5w-40 is absolutely nessesary...could be...might not be

But...anytime I here a manager of a certified VW shop tell me that the service manual is bullshit...I tend to think there might be a problem with the dealer chain 

I've stuck strickly to the service manual for my car (minus the brake flushing...need to do that) and haven't had a problem. It's not even that much of a big deal to do at home. I just need to learn how to bleed my brakes....and have someone to assist me at the job. My wife doesn't like to get mechanic dirty 

[lethe]

what's with the brake flushing?
I just had my last free service, the 30k and it listed that they did that.
I thought it was odd at only 30k to do that.
With that being the last free service, I'm debating if they will ever see the car again now.
Not sure if any of the maintenance is going to be enough of a pain in the ass to do to not just do it myself.

[DRKWNG]

the "Ooooo-bright shiny" types with ADD wanting the newest and latest and greatest....

HEY!!  I re(semble)sent that com...  Oh look, a penny.

these customers who want to save a buck and shortchange themselves in the long term by not maintaining spec grade maintenance on the vehicle get bitten in the end and the dealers look like they are robbing the customers when they tell them it costs umpteen thousands of dollars to fix all that they themselves caused and then those same persons go on the interweb forums and everywhere else and pregnant dog and give the dealer a bad name because they don't want to be responsible for the damage they themselves caused due to being cheap...

I was going to bust your chops for that sentence there, but then realized it was all just a ramble... 

[Speeddog]

~~SNIP~~
My wife doesn't like to get mechanic dirty 

No need for her to get dirty, she can sit in the driver's seat and push/release the pedal as needed.