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Pixelated Dragon
Jan 22, 2007

Do you remember how we used to breathe and watch it
and feel such power and feel such joy, to be ice dragons and be so free. -Noe Venable

SiGmA_X posted:

It depends on your mileage per year and, the two different MPG and cost figures. We need more info.

My parents have a 2012 TDI A3 and it's awesome. They also drive ~33k/yr and plan to keep the car till at least 200k, so the MPG difference makes up the base cost difference.

I can tell you that the TDI is pretty maintenance free, all things considered. Tbelt at 130k (folks are doing it at ~110k for good measure) will be $1100, everything else has been DIY. I'm a recently expired certified tech and own a VAGCOM and DSG flush tools though. I think they're at about $600 in parts cost to do 100% of the services since new, including two DSG flushes and 10 oil changes and everything else on the maintenance list.

We put a lot of miles on our cars. My husband's commute is roughly 20 miles each way. We have to drive pretty far to get any errands done because we live in the middle of nowhere. We drive 8 hours to visit my family and 8 hours back; this happens at least five times a year.

We put 25k miles on my husband's "old" car in about a year.

Bovril Delight posted:

How many miles do you drive and how long do you plan on keeping it?

We plan to keep it a long time.

Pixelated Dragon fucked around with this message at 20:07 on Mar 23, 2015

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drizzle
Jul 7, 2004

The world is a fine place and worth the fighting for and I hate very much to leave it.

PoopinClumpin posted:

Has anyone ran into carbon buildup problems on the 3.0TFSI motor in the 2010+S4 and 2012+S5/A6 and some other cars?

I'm curious because my S4 2010 has almost 40K miles on it; and although I haven't noticed any power loss, I'm not sure if there's any preventative maintenance I could be or should be doing about it.

I'm looking to get this done on my 09 gti since I think it's causing all the misfire codes I've been getting for a while. A place near me quoted about $800. Does that sound about right? I know they would need to pull the intake manifold at least which looked like a pain.

VelociBacon
Dec 8, 2009

Anyone have coilovers? I'm looking to spend around $1k on some but it's really difficult to get an objective opinion on this stuff.

SiGmA_X
May 3, 2004
SiGmA_X

VelociBacon posted:

Anyone have coilovers? I'm looking to spend around $1k on some but it's really difficult to get an objective opinion on this stuff.
Honestly that sounds a bit cheap. You probably should post more details.

Pixelated Dragon posted:

We put a lot of miles on our cars. My husband's commute is roughly 20 miles each way. We have to drive pretty far to get any errands done because we live in the middle of nowhere. We drive 8 hours to visit my family and 8 hours back; this happens at least five times a year.

We put 25k miles on my husband's "old" car in about a year.


We plan to keep it a long time.
That type of mileage - if accurate and not a WAG - helps make the case for a TDI. If you post up the estimated purchase price of a gasser and TDI (and year of both) in your area I'll show you some numbers.

Also if the commute is more freeway than city, that helps the case for a TDI. The city MPG diff is about 6mpg, but city is 9-11mpg. Based on ratings of course - I feel my folks A3 gets slightly better mph than rated. But they don't have logs of every fill up so I can't prove that.

SiGmA_X fucked around with this message at 16:08 on Mar 25, 2015

Pixelated Dragon
Jan 22, 2007

Do you remember how we used to breathe and watch it
and feel such power and feel such joy, to be ice dragons and be so free. -Noe Venable

SiGmA_X posted:

Honestly that sounds a bit cheap. You probably should post more details.
That type of mileage - if accurate and not a WAG - helps make the case for a TDI. If you post up the estimated purchase price of a gasser and TDI (and year of both) in your area I'll show you some numbers.

Also if the commute is more freeway than city, that helps the case for a TDI. The city MPG diff is about 6mpg, but city is 9-11mpg. Based on ratings of course - I feel my folks A3 gets slightly better mph than rated. But they don't have logs of every fill up so I can't prove that.

The commute is pretty much a freeway commute. It's mainly along an open state route highway road through the countryside and the speed limit is 55.

And it's a moot point now because he already impulse-purchased it for 18K. :suicide: So much for let's think about it and keep exploring our options. It only has 32K miles on it. Not bad I guess.

SiGmA_X
May 3, 2004
SiGmA_X

Pixelated Dragon posted:

The commute is pretty much a freeway commute. It's mainly along an open state route highway road through the countryside and the speed limit is 55.

And it's a moot point now because he already impulse-purchased it for 18K. :suicide: So much for let's think about it and keep exploring our options. It only has 32K miles on it. Not bad I guess.
Wow. I spend too much time in BFC. That's ridiculous. Impulse purchasing anything over $50-100 is a bad idea, and many things under that.

Was the PPI clean? CarFax? Etc? Hope it works out.

VelociBacon
Dec 8, 2009

Is it normal to get that wind reverb thing with all the windows up and the sunroof all the way back? 07 GTI.

Literally Lewis Hamilton
Feb 22, 2005



VelociBacon posted:

Is it normal to get that wind reverb thing with all the windows up and the sunroof all the way back? 07 GTI.

Yes. Depends on the speed and car, but very common.

VelociBacon
Dec 8, 2009

Bovril Delight posted:

Yes. Depends on the speed and car, but very common.

I've never had this before on my way less expensive/new cars! I guess VW didn't want to take the styling hit that a pop-up wind deflector would have dealt them.

SiGmA_X
May 3, 2004
SiGmA_X

VelociBacon posted:

I've never had this before on my way less expensive/new cars! I guess VW didn't want to take the styling hit that a pop-up wind deflector would have dealt them.
Funny. Older VAG's don't do this. My gf's B5 A4 Avant has more general wind noise than my friends B5.5 Passat or my BMW's have, but no reverb bs.

Pixelated Dragon
Jan 22, 2007

Do you remember how we used to breathe and watch it
and feel such power and feel such joy, to be ice dragons and be so free. -Noe Venable

SiGmA_X posted:

Wow. I spend too much time in BFC. That's ridiculous. Impulse purchasing anything over $50-100 is a bad idea, and many things under that.

Was the PPI clean? CarFax? Etc? Hope it works out.

Yeah, the CarFax is fine, 18K seems par with what a reasonable price for that vehicle should be. It's factory certified, if that means anything at all. It had been leased previously so it was routinely maintained and the CarFax shows no accident history.

I just didn't want to spend that much money on a car right this second. We do need another car anyway but it could have waited a couple months and I would have preferred something less expensive if we were going with a used car. Oh well.

Pixelated Dragon fucked around with this message at 02:40 on Mar 27, 2015

CommieGIR
Aug 22, 2006

The blue glow is a feature, not a bug


Pillbug

VelociBacon posted:

I've never had this before on my way less expensive/new cars! I guess VW didn't want to take the styling hit that a pop-up wind deflector would have dealt them.

:shrug: Both my Audi 4k and my Audi 90 have a wind deflector in from of the sun roof when opened

Hansolio
Nov 4, 2009

I W A N T M Y M T V

VelociBacon posted:

I've never had this before on my way less expensive/new cars! I guess VW didn't want to take the styling hit that a pop-up wind deflector would have dealt them.

There is a little pop-up wind deflector, but it doesn't pop-up enough. If you push up on it after the sunroof is open it makes the reverb stop, I wanted to look into stiffer springs or something but never got that far into looking at it.

SiGmA_X
May 3, 2004
SiGmA_X

Hansolio posted:

There is a little pop-up wind deflector, but it doesn't pop-up enough. If you push up on it after the sunroof is open it makes the reverb stop, I wanted to look into stiffer springs or something but never got that far into looking at it.
I'd ask the stealer. That's eater odd. Sounds like your deflector is defective!

Residency Evil
Jul 28, 2003

4/5 godo... Schumi
I have a 2010 GTI that I purchased in 2012 with 36k miles on it. In almost 3 years, I've only put 12k miles on it. I did the 40k service and change the oil regularly, but should I be doing anything ahead of the "regular" service interval since I don't drive it that much?

8ender
Sep 24, 2003

clown is watching you sleep

Residency Evil posted:

I have a 2010 GTI that I purchased in 2012 with 36k miles on it. In almost 3 years, I've only put 12k miles on it. I did the 40k service and change the oil regularly, but should I be doing anything ahead of the "regular" service interval since I don't drive it that much?

An extra check on the tires, hoses and rubber bits to make sure they're dry rotting wouldn't hurt, otherwise not much.

Hashtag Banterzone
Dec 8, 2005


Lifetime Winner of the willkill4food Honorary Bad Posting Award in PWM
Did you replace the DSG transmission fluid already?

veedubfreak
Apr 2, 2005

by Smythe

VelociBacon posted:

Is it normal to get that wind reverb thing with all the windows up and the sunroof all the way back? 07 GTI.

Does yours have the 2 stage sunroof? If you let the button open it to max it won't buffet, but if you use the manual part of the knob to open in the extra inch or so it'll buffet with the windows up. I usually just crack the side windows (rear when I had a 4door) and that keeps it from making noise. All of my cars have done it.

VelociBacon
Dec 8, 2009

veedubfreak posted:

Does yours have the 2 stage sunroof? If you let the button open it to max it won't buffet, but if you use the manual part of the knob to open in the extra inch or so it'll buffet with the windows up. I usually just crack the side windows (rear when I had a 4door) and that keeps it from making noise. All of my cars have done it.

I have the dial thing. I just want it to buffet fully open with windows up. I'll check the thing that pops up to see if the springs are soft.

SiGmA_X
May 3, 2004
SiGmA_X

Hashtag Banterzone posted:

Did you replace the DSG transmission fluid already?

That's part of the 40k service, right?

Hashtag Banterzone
Dec 8, 2005


Lifetime Winner of the willkill4food Honorary Bad Posting Award in PWM

SiGmA_X posted:

That's part of the 40k service, right?

Yeah it is. I got it mixed up with the brake fluid schedule, which VW does recommend changing every 2 years. That's the only thing I can think of off the top of my head.

Residency Evil
Jul 28, 2003

4/5 godo... Schumi

Hashtag Banterzone posted:

Did you replace the DSG transmission fluid already?

It's a 6-speed.

rockear
Oct 3, 2004

Slippery Tilde
I just bought an '08 Passat wagon and I'm having trouble with the rear hatch. It won't open using the fob, the interior switch, or the switch inside the exterior handle. I can hear some whirring when I push the button but there is zero movement. You can pull it open, but it feels like you're fighting the motor. The auto-close works perfectly, and it never gives a warning about the hatch being open on the dash.

It seems from VW forums that people have a lot of issues with the B6 wagon hatch, but I haven't found anything conclusive on a fix. Anybody have experience?

DrChu
May 14, 2002

What would an average price to pay a shop to change the timing chain tensioner on a 2010 GTI?

VelociBacon
Dec 8, 2009

DrChu posted:

What would an average price to pay a shop to change the timing chain tensioner on a 2010 GTI?

Probably 500-750 depending on cost of the part.

remigious
May 13, 2009

Destruction comes inevitably :rip:

Hell Gem
My 87 Jetta just started doing this really fun thing where I can shift between gears, but it doesn't seem to recognize that I have shifted. So the RPMs keep climbing and I can't really go faster than 30 or 40 :( I'm going to give my shop a call, mostly just wanted to vent.

VelociBacon
Dec 8, 2009

remigious posted:

My 87 Jetta just started doing this really fun thing where I can shift between gears, but it doesn't seem to recognize that I have shifted. So the RPMs keep climbing and I can't really go faster than 30 or 40 :( I'm going to give my shop a call, mostly just wanted to vent.

So you're physically shifting gears in a manual transmission car? If so you need a new clutch, sounds like it's just slipping.

remigious
May 13, 2009

Destruction comes inevitably :rip:

Hell Gem

VelociBacon posted:

So you're physically shifting gears in a manual transmission car? If so you need a new clutch, sounds like it's just slipping.

Yeah, that makes sense. I am especially frustrated because I just got it back from the shop about 2 weeks ago for a boa load of other issues and there is only so much money I am willing to throw at a 30 year old car.

bennyfactor
Nov 21, 2008

rockear posted:

I just bought an '08 Passat wagon and I'm having trouble with the rear hatch. It won't open using the fob, the interior switch, or the switch inside the exterior handle. I can hear some whirring when I push the button but there is zero movement. You can pull it open, but it feels like you're fighting the motor. The auto-close works perfectly, and it never gives a warning about the hatch being open on the dash.

It seems from VW forums that people have a lot of issues with the B6 wagon hatch, but I haven't found anything conclusive on a fix. Anybody have experience?

Is there some kind of auto-opening motor on this hatch, or are you meaning the motor that actuates the latch? If it's the latter, I had a similar problem in my B5; closed the hatch on a load of laundry when it was quite windy outside, and a shirt tail got stuck in the latch mechanism, which the actuator motor proceeded to bend.Got it back open once with the motor but after that it was stuck. I could hear the motor trying to actuate the latch but it wouldn't ever make it all the way. I had to take the door card off the hatch from inside to force the latch open manually. The latch is only about 40 bucks online and pretty easy to replace after you get to it.

rockear
Oct 3, 2004

Slippery Tilde
Yes it is supposed to open and close under its own power. I think I'm going to try replacing the latch, which like you said is cheap. I guess there is a micro switch inside the latch assembly that can go bad and cause a problem like this. If it's the main motor I think I'll just try to find a way to disconnect it. I don't really need an auto-opening hatch, and I would imagine that's a much more expensive part and more difficult to install.

Fifty Three
Oct 29, 2007

I have a set of BBS RC336s. I know nothing about VW wheels. They're mounted on my WRX with 57.1/56.1 rings. My question concerns center caps- these originally came on the 25th anniversary Golf with the fancy hex caps (part # 09.29.519). I don't have any center caps for them and screw paying like $300 for hex caps for a $500 set of wheels. The part number for the original center caps, I think, was 09.24.292. Can I just use those without the hex caps?

Fifty Three fucked around with this message at 23:41 on Apr 6, 2015

AnimalChin
Feb 1, 2006
Are wheel spacers a bad idea?

http://www.ecstuning.com/News/VW_MKVII_GTI_ECS_Flush_Kit_2015/ES2779804/

I like the flush look, but not if they're going to impact performance or safety.

Or warranty.

Alabamarama
Aug 22, 2013
Apologies if this has been covered before, but I am interested to know what it would be like living with a 95 audi s6 avant.

I have done a little research, and while plenty of people are quick to say "yeah they are reasonably reliable" or "good luck ever finding a replacement front bumper cover," I cannot seem to find any information on how much of a pain it is to actually own one.

Does the urs6 suffer from your typical VAG "oh god why would anyone design a car that way?!" issues? Do I need tiny hands to work on anything/everything under the hood? If I want to replace the shift boot do I have to start by removing the trim panels in the trunk?

I am not scared about getting elbow-deep in 20v turbo audi, but it would be really nice to get some extra input before I go and do something financially stupid.

And yes, I have tools, jack stands, steady income, an empty garage bay, and a second vehicle.

veedubfreak
Apr 2, 2005

by Smythe

Alabamarama posted:

Apologies if this has been covered before, but I am interested to know what it would be like living with a 95 audi s6 avant.

I have done a little research, and while plenty of people are quick to say "yeah they are reasonably reliable" or "good luck ever finding a replacement front bumper cover," I cannot seem to find any information on how much of a pain it is to actually own one.

Does the urs6 suffer from your typical VAG "oh god why would anyone design a car that way?!" issues? Do I need tiny hands to work on anything/everything under the hood? If I want to replace the shift boot do I have to start by removing the trim panels in the trunk?

I am not scared about getting elbow-deep in 20v turbo audi, but it would be really nice to get some extra input before I go and do something financially stupid.

And yes, I have tools, jack stands, steady income, an empty garage bay, and a second vehicle.

Dealing with a 20 year old VAG (heh) that isn't an air cooled just sounds like a huge pain in the rear end waiting to happen.

No. 6
Jun 30, 2002

Alabamarama posted:

Apologies if this has been covered before, but I am interested to know what it would be like living with a 95 audi s6 avant.

I have done a little research, and while plenty of people are quick to say "yeah they are reasonably reliable" or "good luck ever finding a replacement front bumper cover," I cannot seem to find any information on how much of a pain it is to actually own one.

Does the urs6 suffer from your typical VAG "oh god why would anyone design a car that way?!" issues? Do I need tiny hands to work on anything/everything under the hood? If I want to replace the shift boot do I have to start by removing the trim panels in the trunk?

I am not scared about getting elbow-deep in 20v turbo audi, but it would be really nice to get some extra input before I go and do something financially stupid.

And yes, I have tools, jack stands, steady income, an empty garage bay, and a second vehicle.

Check with the guys at http://www.quattroworld.com and http://www.audiworld.com. There are quite a few 20vT owners there that can give you a good idea what you're getting into.

intheflesh
Nov 4, 2008

Alabamarama posted:

Apologies if this has been covered before, but I am interested to know what it would be like living with a 95 audi s6 avant.

..................

I don't have first-hand experience with an S6 of that generation, but I did own both a C4 A6, which is identical aside from the engine, and a 90 20V, which shares the same transmission and basic engine minus a turbo (I know the 3B and 7A have innumerable differences aside from the turbo, but they share basic architecture, accessories, and typically suffer from similar problems).
The A6 only had a couple problem areas in regards to the body/electrical, chief of which was the ignition switch which apparently is very susceptible to failure due to heavy keys. Pay attention to the keys which the previous owner uses, if they have a million things on the keyring, an ignition switch or entire key interlock replacement is likely in your future. This involves removing the majority of the dash on the driver's side and part of the steering column if the interlock is involved. Nothing too complicated, but unless you are careful, you will break some clips and introduce some new rattles. Either a day full of swearing at your interior trying to find THAT LAST loving SCREW HOW THE HELL IS THIS HELD IN STILL or throwing 600 dollars at somebody to do it. Aside from that, the only common failures are the stock CD changer which loves to jam, little lights in the gauges going out, especially the three little gauges off to the right, and other little minor stuff which is typical of old cars in general.

Suspension components are cheap if you go stock or aftermarket OEM replacement, but performance oriented stuff is harder to find and expensive. Some luck can be had with German Ebay, but I typically don't trust ebay to begin with, let alone with a layer of misunderstanding due to language barriers on top of that, so I can't speak for the efficacy of that. 2Bennett is well respected but megabux, 034 makes some good stuff and is much more reasonable priced. ECS tuning is always a good standby. The shift lever is an incredible easy upgrade, and I highly recommend it. The stock shift bushing tends to fall apart, new unit made me like my car shift like new.

As for the engine, the cooling system in the 90 was a huge failure point, but shouldn't be as much of an issue in the larger bodied S6, more room for cooling in the engine bay. The stock fuel injectors are pure crap, and can be replaced for relatively cheap with a 034 kit, or spend as much as you want on bigger units if you plan to add power later. There is a huge amount of information out there for these engines, like was said before mainly on quattroworld and audizine and audiworld, the trick is finding what applies to you. On some of those boards, the technical discussion is dominated by guys shooting for the stars in terms of horsepower, a little harder to find information if you are trying to be more reasonable. An upgraded fuel pump and replaced fuel filter are recommended, as even on my non turbo those seemed to help the performance, apparently same case on the 3B engine, as the fuel pump is rated for only a small bit of overhead at stock power levels. That engine is also very picky about what kind of spark plugs are used, apparently.

If you have any experience with other 90s-early 00s VAG stuff, many things will be familiar to you. The C4 is a very solid, if not somewhat hefty platform. The engine makes a decent amount of sense and is fairly easy to work on, especially due to the extra room in your engine bay, and the body and suspension is relatively simple, as VAG had just debuted the B5 platform and its clusterfuck of control arms and over complication, and none of that bled over to the older C4 cars

DO IT

intheflesh fucked around with this message at 18:57 on Apr 14, 2015

SiGmA_X
May 3, 2004
SiGmA_X

veedubfreak posted:

Dealing with a 20 year old VAG (heh) that isn't an air cooled just sounds like a huge pain in the rear end waiting to happen.
My gf's VAG is 16yo and while it gives me some problems, we have a good time. I replaced the chain tensioner in less than book time - on stands none the less, my buddy was using my lift - and then spent a half hour trying to figure out why it was running on 3 cylinders.... A coilpack wasn't firing - for no reason at all (swapped coils and all 4 fired, swapped back and all 4 fired..). It's been OK for 1k-mi since.

That saying "if it's got a skirt or four wheels, it's gunna give you trouble" applies so strongly to VAGs. But I'd rather gently caress around with a difficult VAG than a Honduh any day. (Why can't BMW make e39 touring AWD 4cyl's? Then we could keep it an all-Bimmer family...)

CommieGIR
Aug 22, 2006

The blue glow is a feature, not a bug


Pillbug

veedubfreak posted:

Dealing with a 20 year old VAG (heh) that isn't an air cooled just sounds like a huge pain in the rear end waiting to happen.

:colbert: I beg to differ.

Uthor
Jul 9, 2006

Gummy Bear Heaven ... It's where I go when the world is too mean.

SiGmA_X posted:

My gf's VAG is 16yo and while it gives me some problems, we have a good time.

Phrasing!

------------------------------------------

This is from the Old AI questions thread.

uthor posted:

VW GTI MKV 2.0T

I also have a CEL question. Coincidentally, I bought a scanner and Torque over the weekend!

Code is P0100, MAF sensor.

The problem is last time I got this code a few years ago, it turned out to be a symptom of a bad intake flapper motor and cost a few hundred bucks to fix.

I've been feeling an occasional jerky motion from the engine under constant partial throttle today, which is similar to a symptom I had last time.

I've also heard that a bad PCV could throw the code and those aren't reliable on this engine.

So, is there a way to verify that the sensor is bad? Or how to check other components to make sure they aren't the problem?

I had Torque monitor the air flow on my drive home and I saw some spikes corresponding to the jerks from the engine, then the signal went flat at the maximum value after a mile or so and I didn't feel any more problems.

I don't know the program really well, so I don't know what else I could check with it.

Since then, I played with Torque a little bit. It looks like the signal from the MAF has defaulted to being open and the car drives just fine (though it seems to take a little longer to start on cool mornings, I'm guessing because the sensor readings are off).

I have swapped out the MAF with a new(ish) one that I bought last time I had the MAF code, which didn't fix anything.

I hear that PCV valves can sometimes cause these symptoms. I also think I need a new one anyway (sludgy oil around the oil cap during the winter). Would it be better to buy the $40 one or spring for a $100 revamp version in the hopes that it's the last PCV I need (this would be the second time I'm replacing it)?

If that doesn't help, how should I track down the fault?

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No. 6
Jun 30, 2002

For those that don't read the horrible mechanical failures thread, my 4 month old PCV valve started making a lot of noise this past week.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bkG5NW4YJWw

I managed to carefully open the valve and rinsed it with hot water before giving a gentle wipe down with paper towel. I also stretched the valve spring ever so slightly for good measure. Everything seems to be back to nominal.

In typical Audi fashion though, one thing fixed is another broken. I'm fighting an occasional lean condition which is triggering the MIL every couple weeks. Today I attempted to find the source. Suspecting a vacuum leak I monitored the short-term and long-term air mixture while spraying copious amounts of carb cleaner all around. I couldn't seem to find any sort of a vacuum leak so I logged my MAF grains per second while doing a 3rd gear run.


From what I'm told those readings are a bit low. I'm gonna try throwing a new Bosch MAF on the Big Pig to see if that helps, unless someone has another suggestion.

No. 6 fucked around with this message at 01:43 on Apr 19, 2015

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