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Leperflesh
May 17, 2007

sanchez posted:

It is a VW though... Have they become less awful recently?

I never know quite how to respond to this.

The VR6 engine used in early 2000's Golf VR6s had a problem. That engine isn't used any more.

Mark IV Jettas in the late 90s and early 2000s had window regulators that constantly broke. That doesn't strike me as making the car "awful" and it's also not a problem any more.

There have been a smattering of recalls across various cars, but that is true of every manufacturer regardless.

I don't know when VWs were considered "awful" but I think that reputation has been undeserved regardless. There is something of a holy-war atmosphere about it. There's at least two people in AI who will rant and foam at the mouth about how terrible VWs are but I've never seen a lot of evidence for that.

Keep in mind that I bought a Mark IV VW Golf new in 2005 (and loved it) so perhaps I am biased in that I want to confirm that my decision at that time was good? In the 5 years (50,000 miles) I owned it, my car had exactly one problem: a faulty door sensor, which was replaced for free at the dealer once they finally figured out which door was the issue.

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CornHolio
May 20, 2001

Toilet Rascal
I always thought they tended to have a smattering of electrical gremlins that would never quite go away and which would always be impossible to fully track down.

I've never owned a VW, though, so it's just hearsay. I also heard that the VWs built in Mexico had noticeably worse quality than the European-built ones.

Arzakon
Nov 24, 2002

"I hereby retire from Mafia"
Please turbo me if you catch me in a game.
My wife's 2001 Jetta had a terrible interior with a million broken plastic pieces and when the transmission starting slipping every gear at 90K I was so happy to get rid of that piece of poo poo.

Leperflesh
May 17, 2007

Electrical gremlins can be really annoying, but I think when we evaluate a car, we need to differentiate between that kind of issue, and major mechanical faults (engines, transmissions, etc. that break down or need constant work).

Arzakon's issue with the transmission would be something of concern, except that I think transmission/clutch (especially manual) is highly dependent on driving habits, and a clutch that starts to slip at 90k is not that unusual for any car.

That said, 2001 was not a good year for golfs or jettas (the two shared most parts). The early MarkIVs had problems.

If I were buying a new car, I would pretty much always avoid the first couple of years of any new platform, from any manufacturer. You don't want to be an early adopter because you get to be the customers that discover the gremlins and bugs.

kimbo305
Jun 9, 2007

actually, yeah, I am a little mad

Leperflesh posted:

Arzakon's issue with the transmission would be something of concern, except that I think transmission/clutch (especially manual) is highly dependent on driving habits, and a clutch that starts to slip at 90k is not that unusual for any car.

my1999gsr has said that lots of the first DSG trannies have been breaking, and the official VW policy to dealerships doing the warranty repairs is to replace the whole unit because a teardown is no longer worth the trouble. Obviously that's one tranny option you have and VW has undoubtedly tried to fix it, but VWs are far from bulletproof. Of course even cars like a Honda Civic can be prone to serious model issues, like the 1.9L block cracking.

asmallrabbit
Dec 15, 2005
I'm not sure if this is more AI or Finance but I just got a new car and they are offering all sorts of protection plans and accessories now, many of which if I want I have to get NOW at time of purchase according to them. So does anyone have opinions on whether or not I need these or if it's just wasted cash?

Paint protection
Interior Protection
3M (rockguard)
Window Tint
Extended Warranty
Tire/Rim Warranty
Glass coating (water, snow, ice, rocks)

My thoughts are that the paint should be good as is, nothing I can't do myself with regular coats of wax or such. They claim vehicle paint is "soft" and this gives it a hard surface, considering my last truck was 10 years old and the paint looked great I don't really see it.

With interior protection, I can just get armor-all or similar and do it myself every once in awhile again.

The 3M rockguard actually sounds useful but again except for when i drove on gravel roads, I never had much of an issue with rock chips on my truck although it was higher up so i don't know if this is more of a concern with cars.

Window tint I don't care about, extended warranty sounds like it might be useful because of the car, but I'm not sure if it's worth the cost. The default is 4 year/80k

Tire and rim also sounds useful just because of the cost of tires and rims for the car, as does the glass "treatment" because I definately have had chipped windshields and because of the snow/ice buildup in the winters.

The car is an Audi A4 and I'm up in Alberta, Canada if that sways the value of any of these one way or the other. Any thoughts?

Arzakon
Nov 24, 2002

"I hereby retire from Mafia"
Please turbo me if you catch me in a game.
scam
scam
scam
scam
eh
scam
scam

The warranty for the tires likely costs more than a complete set of tires or rims. I guess if you really want an extended warranty go for it but it will likely not pay for itself any better than putting the money in a savings account and letting it accrue interest.

asmallrabbit
Dec 15, 2005

Arzakon posted:

scam
scam
scam
scam
eh
scam
scam

The warranty for the tires likely costs more than a complete set of tires or rims. I guess if you really want an extended warranty go for it but it will likely not pay for itself any better than putting the money in a savings account and letting it accrue interest.

Yeah, that's pretty much what I was thinking. Done a bit of searching on the glass coating and it sounds good but doesn't have anything backing it. I'll stick with the rain-x coating that I can do myself.

As for the tires this is the package:

"We offer a Platinum Tire & Rim Warranty, this program covers damage to your tires and rims from road hazards (debris from other vehicles, nails and screws, fallen rock , glass etc.) for up to 5 year unlimited kilometer coverage, including flat tire repair, replace un-repairable tires, replace rim if damaged and wont hold air, all related taxes & levies, no deductibles, covers mounting, balancing, instillation. Plus it covers original or replacement tires, coverage is not pro-rated and is totally transferable and includes tire change or towing assistance. Must be purchased at time of purchasing your vehicle.
3 Year Program $549.00, 4 Year Program $649.00, 5 Year Program $749.00"

Considering a new set of tires is around $1500+ I'm considering the 3 year one as it doesn't sound completely unreasonable.

CornHolio
May 20, 2001

Toilet Rascal

asmallrabbit posted:

Considering a new set of tires is around $1500+

I know it's an Audi but what the hell kind of tires are these???

I can get a full set of high-end Bridgestone Potenza RE90AS tires for something like $70/tire, figure about $400 total after installation on ~MY BMW~.

edit: The most expensive A4 OE tires I can find are about $1,200 for a set and those are super high performance summer tires:

OE 17" Tires

OE 18" Tires

CornHolio fucked around with this message at 15:44 on Apr 11, 2011

Arzakon
Nov 24, 2002

"I hereby retire from Mafia"
Please turbo me if you catch me in a game.
There is no reason to spend $1500 on a full set of tires for an Audi A4 unless you love handing the dealership money for no reason. Unless you are talking about rims too.

What is going to happen that will make you buy a full set of tires/rims that won't be covered under your insurance? You would have to destroy two rims just to break even.

asmallrabbit
Dec 15, 2005
Brand: GOODYEAR
Description: GOODYEAR EAGLE F1 ASYMMETRIC
Size: 255/35R19
Part Number: 784786298

Item Quantity Price Total
Tire 4 $452.99 $1811.96
Discount 4 -$25.00 -$100.00
Wheel Balance 4 $19.00 $76.00
Valve Stem 4 $3.50 $14.00
Tire Levy 4 $4.00 $16.00

Subtotal: $1817.96
GST: $90.90
Total: $1908.86

I haven't looked around since I'm not actually shopping for tires, this is from Fountain Tire in Canada, not even the dealership. I figure with something like those tires, If I lose a tire due to something on the roads up here, or a rim, it could be worth it. Mind you, I also went 9 years on the same set of tires with my truck since I don't drive all that often. I'll have to check and see if the rims are covered for potholes and such too. Edmonton roads aren't the greatest and that could make it worth it.

Leperflesh
May 17, 2007

That tire is $300 each on Tire Rack. That's US dollars of course.

That's still a seriously overpriced goddamn tire there. Also those are summer tires, so you won't be using htem in the winter anyway. Right? So the danger to them is reduced even further.

Odds are if you need a tire replaced, it'll be one tire, like from a pothole or hitting a curb or something.

Also they only replace your rim if it "won't hold air" it looks like, so merely scarring the gently caress out of the rims on a curb might not be covered?

It seems like a gamble to me, I wouldn't pay it. If you really think there's a good chance of you destroying a rim or two, though, then I suppose you might come out slightly ahead on the deal.

kimbo305 posted:

Of course even cars like a Honda Civic can be prone to serious model issues, like the 1.9L block cracking.

Yeah that's pretty much my point. I'd never claim that every VW is mechanically perfect, but no manufacturer really has a claim to that, so I think it's wrong when some people claim VWs are all crap. With a couple of exceptions in the last decade, they're good cars.

Leperflesh fucked around with this message at 18:10 on Apr 11, 2011

asmallrabbit
Dec 15, 2005

Leperflesh posted:

That tire is $300 each on Tire Rack. That's US dollars of course.

That's still a seriously overpriced goddamn tire there. Also those are summer tires, so you won't be using htem in the winter anyway. Right? So the danger to them is reduced even further.

Odds are if you need a tire replaced, it'll be one tire, like from a pothole or hitting a curb or something.

Also they only replace your rim if it "won't hold air" it looks like, so merely scarring the gently caress out of the rims on a curb might not be covered?

It seems like a gamble to me, I wouldn't pay it. If you really think there's a good chance of you destroying a rim or two, though, then I suppose you might come out slightly ahead on the deal.


Well the tire is 300 but you still have to have it installed, balanced etc. Tire rack doesn't provide any of that do they? Fountain tire includes all of that + free lifetime repairs, balancing etc so I think it somewhat makes up for it. But yea, we tend to get screwed on prices in Canada, far less volume sold so prices are higher.

I will have to check if it would apply to both summer/winter tires when I switch them or if it only covers one set, what exactly it covers as far as potholes, damages etc. I'm not that worried about destroying the tires, I've had 10 years of driving a truck now to practice NOT hitting potholes and scraping curbs with my tires/rims, but I've never had low profile tires before, and truck tires tend to be pretty tough as is.

It's basically the only one of the services and protections they are trying to sell me that seems like it might be worth it that I can't just do myself.

IOwnCalculus
Apr 2, 2003





I bought a tire/wheel protection package with my Miata. The one time I ever tried to use it for a flat tire, Discount tried for half an hour to even get a hold of the fuckers, before telling me that companies like that are notoriously impossible to actually deal with, and just fixed it for free anyway.

The only time that package makes sense would be if you managed to smack something hard enough to break all four wheels, and even then you could just make a normal insurance claim under your collision insurance.

Window tint I would hardly call a scam, but you can almost certainly find someone cheaper to do the same or better work at an independent shop.

Tire-wise you have a lot of choices that aren't Goodyear, anyway. Goodyears do tend to be good tires, but they are very expensive for what they are. Tire Rack has both Hankook and Kumho tires for $189 in that size that will offer the same or better performance (but probably with shorter treadlife), and a Continental at $229 that might not grip quite as well but is an all-season with better tread life.

Leperflesh
May 17, 2007

There's a review on there for the goodyears that implies they only get 11000 miles life anyway. That doesn't seem too great even for a summer tire.

Do you really even need ultra performance super track summer tires? $300 tires just seems outrageous to me.

CornHolio
May 20, 2001

Toilet Rascal

asmallrabbit posted:

Well the tire is 300 but you still have to have it installed, balanced etc. Tire rack doesn't provide any of that do they?

They most certainly do, it's where I've taken my cars for about ten years now. I think they're the only people I've seen properly torque the lugs, too.

|Ziggy|
Oct 2, 2004
My automatic antenna isn't working anymore. The motor runs, but the gear isn't catching, the antenna is bent, or something like that. I'm fairly sure I could fix this myself, but I can't get the tire off(to get to the motor/antenna). The lug nuts are on too tight for me to take off myself. Is there anything I can do other than get it fixed at a shop for a few hundred dollars?

CornHolio
May 20, 2001

Toilet Rascal

|Ziggy| posted:

My automatic antenna isn't working anymore. The motor runs, but the gear isn't catching, the antenna is bent, or something like that. I'm fairly sure I could fix this myself, but I can't get the tire off(to get to the motor/antenna). The lug nuts are on too tight for me to take off myself. Is there anything I can do other than get it fixed at a shop for a few hundred dollars?

Pull up to a gas/service station, give the guy in the shop $10 to loosen them. They'll come out and use their impact to loosen them, then tighten them with the spare tire kit wrench, one at a time.

Alternatively, use a long piece of pipe to increase your leverage on whatever tool you're using (assuming the tool can support the additional stress of course)

Leperflesh
May 17, 2007

CornHolio posted:

They most certainly do, it's where I've taken my cars for about ten years now. I think they're the only people I've seen properly torque the lugs, too.

Eh? Tire Rack is a mail-order only company, as far as I know. Do they have an actual physical location somewhere?

|Ziggy| posted:

My automatic antenna isn't working anymore. The motor runs, but the gear isn't catching, the antenna is bent, or something like that. I'm fairly sure I could fix this myself, but I can't get the tire off(to get to the motor/antenna). The lug nuts are on too tight for me to take off myself. Is there anything I can do other than get it fixed at a shop for a few hundred dollars?

CH got it, but remember that you have to loosen the nuts while the tire is still in contact with the ground - then jack up the car, and remove them the rest of the way. If you try to loosen them with the car already raised, the slop/play in the wheel will prevent you from getting enough oomph on the nut.

asmallrabbit
Dec 15, 2005

Leperflesh posted:

There's a review on there for the goodyears that implies they only get 11000 miles life anyway. That doesn't seem too great even for a summer tire.

Do you really even need ultra performance super track summer tires? $300 tires just seems outrageous to me.

Almost certainly not, I only looked those ones up because I was trying to get an idea of what winter tires would cost and was using it as an example. (Fountain tire had a grand total of 3 tires show up so I just looked at all of them.)

Also, I wasn't aware that tirerack had physical locations either. I thought it was strictly online. Hopefully I won't be needing new tires soon anyways (barring winter ones anyways)!

Thanks for the opinions and feedback.

kimbo305
Jun 9, 2007

actually, yeah, I am a little mad

Leperflesh posted:

Yeah that's pretty much my point. I'd never claim that every VW is mechanically perfect, but no manufacturer really has a claim to that, so I think it's wrong when some people claim VWs are all crap. With a couple of exceptions in the last decade, they're good cars.

While Consumer Reports and JD Power are both majorly flawed measurements with the self-selected groups (owners of brands) identifying problems, I think it's significant that VW continues to be average to below average in two sets of mass data for reliability.

Leperflesh posted:

Eh? Tire Rack is a mail-order only company, as far as I know. Do they have an actual physical location somewhere?
He lives by their HQ. It was a nothing statement since no one else can benefit (unless they want to lock and load and venture into Indiana).

Arzakon
Nov 24, 2002

"I hereby retire from Mafia"
Please turbo me if you catch me in a game.
Either way, it doesn't cost $150/ea to mount a tire, and its been shown you can get 19" tires for ~$200. If he has 17" rims he can get the Firestone Wide Ovals I just got for my Mazda for $150/tire, buyer 3 get one free at Firestone for a whopping $450+tax+disposal fees. I was out for under $600 with an alignment.

Don Lapre
Mar 28, 2001

If you're having problems you're either holding the phone wrong or you have tiny girl hands.
Walmart charges something like, $11 per wheel to mount and balance. If you are paying more than $20/tire you are getting taken.

Duckman2008
Jan 6, 2010

TFW you see Flyers goaltending.
Grimey Drawer
drat I wish I saw this thread before buying our current car. Curious on input for this though. My fiance and I got a Volkswagen Passat 2006 from the owner of my company (who also has a car lot). Dude has been trustworthy on other things and I got good reviews. Anyway, we paid just about $11,700 after taxes. The $11k was at the cost he got it from the VW dealership, and it was certified pre-owned, he said he always drives the cars 3,000 miles to make sure they are ok (which is what he did). The car has all the extra stuff, leather seats, 6 CD changer, heated seats, slide sun roof, etc. We are not necessarily into all the fancy stuff, but for the price point it seemed to be a great deal. I think the engine is a 2.0, or whatever the higher up one is.

Anyway, since getting it we have just had fun with all the problems. Check engine light started coming on, I take it in and it says its a problem with the turbo engine. My mechanic is an extremely trustworthy dude, and he said he wasn't sure if it was a major issue yet or not (because it drives fine), but just to check out the problem was $500ish, and it was one of two things, either a piston that would be $300 after labor to replace or the entire turbo engine which would be $2000 to replace.

This was 2 months ago (got the car in January), and i vetted to the owner and he said if there were major problems he would possibly help us out (he has the money to and I am number 1 in the company numbers wise). Anyway, last week the car won't start. So AAA manages to get it started by poking the starter, we take it in to a different mechanic (recommended by my owner, does Euro cars exclusively) and they say its the starter going out, $500 to replace it.

We are paying the $500 now to replace that, but the turbo part worries me. My fiance is freaking out now thinking we got a bad deal or got ripped off, and its just an awkward situation. Curious on anyoner's input on if i should just keep driving the Turbo like we have been or just get it fixed? Did we get a good deal?

CornHolio
May 20, 2001

Toilet Rascal

kimbo305 posted:

He lives by their HQ. It was a nothing statement since no one else can benefit (unless they want to lock and load and venture into Indiana).

Whenever I'm there I see cars from all over the midwest. So people really do venture out here.

They actually have a shitton of installation bays and they're always very busy. Living by their HQ does have its benefits. :cool:

IOwnCalculus
Apr 2, 2003





Duckman2008 posted:

We are paying the $500 now to replace that, but the turbo part worries me. My fiance is freaking out now thinking we got a bad deal or got ripped off, and its just an awkward situation. Curious on anyoner's input on if i should just keep driving the Turbo like we have been or just get it fixed? Did we get a good deal?

"The turbo part" is absurdly vague, it'd be like someone handing you an Evo and telling you "It doesn't work". :)

You did get ripped off on the diagnostic most likely, depending on how in-depth they went. If they just pulled the code and talked to you, that should have cost you exactly $0 at an Autozone or similar parts store. With some more information on what that issue is - what code is/was set, are there any symptoms, did they do any in-depth diagnostics like a compression test and if so what was the result, etc.

Get that extra info together and post a thread in AI.

Duckman2008
Jan 6, 2010

TFW you see Flyers goaltending.
Grimey Drawer

IOwnCalculus posted:

"The turbo part" is absurdly vague, it'd be like someone handing you an Evo and telling you "It doesn't work". :)

You did get ripped off on the diagnostic most likely, depending on how in-depth they went. If they just pulled the code and talked to you, that should have cost you exactly $0 at an Autozone or similar parts store. With some more information on what that issue is - what code is/was set, are there any symptoms, did they do any in-depth diagnostics like a compression test and if so what was the result, etc.

Get that extra info together and post a thread in AI.

I'll do that. And for the record they didn't charge me for the diagnostic, they just said to completely determine what the problem is they would have to. Appreciate it.

And yeh, I do have to say having car problems makes me much more understanding when I get customers who don't know how to change their ringtone or whatever. Everyone has their strengths.

Arzakon
Nov 24, 2002

"I hereby retire from Mafia"
Please turbo me if you catch me in a game.
If it makes you feel better, there is almost nothing anyone could have done to determine the turbo was going to start failing or that the starter was going to go. Its likely the last owner didn't change the oil frequently enough and the lack of lubrication fouled up the turbo. Starters just go, nothing can be done about that. $500 seems excessive for a $110 part and 2 or 3 bolts but I can't speak to how easy it is to get to in a '06 Passat.

An '06 for $11K seems pretty cheap. How many miles does it have on it? Might want to start saving for a timing belt change. They are required probably somewhere around 90-105K and by required I mean you get to buy a new engine if you wait too long and the belt snaps.

Sorry about the German car tax.

Duckman2008
Jan 6, 2010

TFW you see Flyers goaltending.
Grimey Drawer

Arzakon posted:

If it makes you feel better, there is almost nothing anyone could have done to determine the turbo was going to start failing or that the starter was going to go. Its likely the last owner didn't change the oil frequently enough and the lack of lubrication fouled up the turbo. Starters just go, nothing can be done about that. $500 seems excessive for a $110 part and 2 or 3 bolts but I can't speak to how easy it is to get to in a '06 Passat.

An '06 for $11K seems pretty cheap. How many miles does it have on it? Might want to start saving for a timing belt change. They are required probably somewhere around 90-105K and by required I mean you get to buy a new engine if you wait too long and the belt snaps.

Sorry about the German car tax.

60,500 miles on it. I am reading your post as saying i replace the engine IF i don't replace the belt, so...How much would a timing belt change be?

Arzakon
Nov 24, 2002

"I hereby retire from Mafia"
Please turbo me if you catch me in a game.

Duckman2008 posted:

60,500 miles on it. I am reading your post as saying i replace the engine IF i don't replace the belt, so...How much would a timing belt change be?

Depends on the car but $700-1000 isn't unreasonable if you get the water pump and thermostat while they are at it. Check your service interval and it will tell you when it needs to be done by. Then Google when the internet thinks you should get it done. There was a bit of a stink in the early '00s about VW moving their service intervals for timing belts from 80K to 105K to meet regulations without actually changing the belt to possibly last 105K.

The timing belt keeps the pistons and the intake valves "in sync". If the belt is lost some valves will be stuck open (in the combustion chamber) while the pistons are still moving with crank. As the path of the valves and the pistons overlap, the valves not moving back before the pistons get there results in the piston smashing into the valves, destroying both, and typically requiring a complete engine replacement. Google "interference engine" for a more technical explanation.

Throatwarbler
Nov 17, 2008

by vyelkin
You can check on gates or dayco's site but I'm pretty sure the B6 Passat's 2.0T is the newer timing chain type.

NOTinuyasha
Oct 17, 2006

 
The Great Twist
After a month of waiting for an Elantra I had a change of heart, canceled my deposit and went searching again. I found an '08 mercedes C300 sport RWD, with 35k, listed for $26,000. That was 4 grand below the KBB; it had been sitting for 5 months and had been marked down over and over. Great shape, new tires/brakes + 15 months warranty. I bought it today, financed for 66 months/1.99% with 8 grand down. The insurance actually worked out a bit cheaper then the Hyundai which didn't make much sense but whatever. Because I bought an overpriced brand name German import that takes premium when premium costs 4 dollars a gallon I'm not sure if I'm allowed to whine about VWs in this thread anymore.

alreadybeen
Nov 24, 2009

NOTinuyasha posted:

After a month of waiting for an Elantra I had a change of heart, canceled my deposit and went searching again. I found an '08 mercedes C300 sport RWD, with 35k, listed for $26,000. That was 4 grand below the KBB; it had been sitting for 5 months and had been marked down over and over. Great shape, new tires/brakes + 15 months warranty. I bought it today, financed for 66 months/1.99% with 8 grand down. The insurance actually worked out a bit cheaper then the Hyundai which didn't make much sense but whatever. Because I bought an overpriced brand name German import that takes premium when premium costs 4 dollars a gallon I'm not sure if I'm allowed to whine about VWs in this thread anymore.

Haha drat, that seems like a total 180 from a modest Hyundai compact. To each their own though... Hopefully you don't need 66 months to pay it back, that seems like such an odd term.

SlapActionJackson
Jul 27, 2006

asmallrabbit posted:

The 3M rockguard actually sounds useful but again except for when i drove on gravel roads, I never had much of an issue with rock chips on my truck although it was higher up so i don't know if this is more of a concern with cars.

The 3M rockguard is definitely not a scam, but you can almost certainly get it installed for much less at an auto tint shop instead of the dealer if you call around.

It's not just useful on gravel roads, either. I drive on concrete freeways a lot with suvs and trucks with no wheel flaps that are very good at picking up debris from the road and throwing it at my car. It's very hard on paint & windshields. I have the clear bra but the kit I got only goes about 1/3 of the way up the hood. The paint under the clear bra is still perfect, the paint above it is chipped to hell from the daily sandblasting.

The next new car I buy I will find someone to cut me a custom kit to do the full hood, fenders and A-pillars.

Auron
Jan 10, 2002
<img alt="" border="0" src="https://fi.somethingawful.com/customtitles/title-auron.jpg"/><br/>Drunken Robot Rage

CornHolio posted:

Something with a V8 would be pretty friggin sweet but it's likely be a gas hog.


I don't know if you like WJ Grand Cherokee's...but they came with the 4.7 V-8 and generally get better mileage than the inline 6. The 6 is rated 1mpg better in city/highway but from every jeep forum I've been on, and based off my own experience the 4.7 gets better mileage. I average around 16.5 in the warmer months, with a best of 22 mpg on the highway at 70 mph.

CornHolio
May 20, 2001

Toilet Rascal

Auron posted:

I don't know if you like WJ Grand Cherokee's...but they came with the 4.7 V-8 and generally get better mileage than the inline 6. The 6 is rated 1mpg better in city/highway but from every jeep forum I've been on, and based off my own experience the 4.7 gets better mileage. I average around 16.5 in the warmer months, with a best of 22 mpg on the highway at 70 mph.

I heard the Jeep V8s were pretty troublesome, though. A buddy of mine as a Grand Cherokee and he blew both head gaskets on two separate occasions. He had a number of engine problems with it as well I think. Granted it could have been the owner's fault, but I seem to remember other problems with that engine. while the 4.0 is pretty legendary for its reliability. Correct me if I'm wrong please.

sanchez
Feb 26, 2003
If nothing else a v8 WJ will have quadratrac or quadradrive awd which is certainly more trouble prone than the selectrac 4wd available in the 6cyl models.

I think the engines themselves are ok, not as strong as a 4.0, but few things are.

Auron
Jan 10, 2002
<img alt="" border="0" src="https://fi.somethingawful.com/customtitles/title-auron.jpg"/><br/>Drunken Robot Rage

CornHolio posted:

I heard the Jeep V8s were pretty troublesome, though. A buddy of mine as a Grand Cherokee and he blew both head gaskets on two separate occasions. He had a number of engine problems with it as well I think. Granted it could have been the owner's fault, but I seem to remember other problems with that engine. while the 4.0 is pretty legendary for its reliability. Correct me if I'm wrong please.

I've heard a couple things about head gaskets popping/valves burning up, but it doesn't seem to be a real common problem. I've only got about 133,000 on mine, but a friend of mine has a 01' with 225,000 or so with no engine/tranny problems.

The 4.0 is pretty bulletproof, but it's also an anemic turd.

Duckman2008
Jan 6, 2010

TFW you see Flyers goaltending.
Grimey Drawer

Arzakon posted:

Depends on the car but $700-1000 isn't unreasonable if you get the water pump and thermostat while they are at it. Check your service interval and it will tell you when it needs to be done by. Then Google when the internet thinks you should get it done. There was a bit of a stink in the early '00s about VW moving their service intervals for timing belts from 80K to 105K to meet regulations without actually changing the belt to possibly last 105K.

The timing belt keeps the pistons and the intake valves "in sync". If the belt is lost some valves will be stuck open (in the combustion chamber) while the pistons are still moving with crank. As the path of the valves and the pistons overlap, the valves not moving back before the pistons get there results in the piston smashing into the valves, destroying both, and typically requiring a complete engine replacement. Google "interference engine" for a more technical explanation.

To follow up on this, we had the starter replaced (mechanic said that's why the car wouldn't start). 2 weeks later, car starts, but engine "is having trouble keeping it going," according to my girlfriend.

I think this car is cursed.

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Nocheez
Sep 5, 2000

Can you spare a little cheddar?
Nap Ghost

Duckman2008 posted:

I think this car is cursed.

Nope, it's got soul. Welcome to VW ownership!

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