Quote from: thewizard16 on February 09, 2019, 10:47:54 AM
...Watching how our threads evolve is like having a conversation with an elderly dementia patient. Start out by asking Ms. Jenkins if her foot hurts and by the end of her answer she's telling you that the Pope doesn't allow her to bake pies like she used to.

It's good to see you back here, man.  I hope everything is going well for you.

Quote from: thewizard16 on February 09, 2019, 10:47:54 AM
...Watching how our threads evolve is like having a conversation with an elderly dementia patient. Start out by asking Ms. Jenkins if her foot hurts and by the end of her answer she's telling you that the Pope doesn't allow her to bake pies like she used to.

Quote from: dazzleman on February 09, 2019, 10:52:30 AM
It's good to see you back here, man.  I hope everything is going well for you.

Thanks! Things are pretty good!

Quote from: thewizard16 on February 04, 2019, 08:21:00 AM
5 year update:

The Passat is dead. RIP.

I had a love-hate relationship with this car after the first year or so but it will be somewhat missed.

Things I won't miss:
-Unpredictable (yet predictably expensive) maintenance issues/sensor failures/turbo problems that they since re-designed but did not issue recalls for
-Electronic gremlins that liked to randomly open the sunroof, turn off lights for being "burnt out" (despite being stock LED), etc.
-Piss poor long term quality control (both side mirrors literally fell off due to a "known issue" with poor adhesive, the chrome around the shift boot bubbled and wanted to peel off, etc.)
-Mediocre air conditioning (do Germans not get hot?)

Things I will miss:
-Turbo pep. It was a fun engine even if it was too complicated and perhaps over-engineered
-Aggressive heated seats. On level 5 I'm pretty sure you could cook a thanksgiving turkey on those.


What happened:
Chicago had a record breaking cold snap last week. Temps into the -20s and such, and unfortunately I still had to work/commute in that mess. At some point the first cold day the car started idling rough. It has done this in the past when it gets below 20 degrees so I thought nothing of it but was very cautious to give it ample time to warm up before going anywhere. The second day it started idling rougher and sounding like a 4 wheeler at low RPMs no matter the speed. The third day the sound progressed to what I have termed "diesel tractor that smoked 4 packs a day for 40 years". It finally started throwing codes that day and indicated the camshaft position sensor was responding slowly. Okay, sure, it's basically Siberia here at that point, can't be too surprised if a 10 year old sensor fails. Had the sensor replaced... Then things really went to shit. The sound stayed horrible but the throttle response became very unpredictable and it started stalling randomly in stop and go conditions and additionally sometimes when the RPMs dipped below 2000. This was irritating and obviously needed to be addressed but when it started happening while at speed (engine cut off and I was coasting doing about 40 on Lake Shore Drive), it went straight to the dealership. After a few hours of "diagnosis" they revealed that at some point the timing chain had slipped a couple teeth which threw something off with the camshaft synchronization which then put strain on the timing belt and had thrown it off too (as well as damaged the actual belt). The engine was not totally nuked, but to fix the timing issues alone their quote was ~$3800. There were also some other issues they labeled "serious" that had developed, some in conjunction with that issue and others related to the suspension, that pushed the total recommended repair bill to $7200.   

...No. Nope. No thank you. The car was worth maybe $3k at this point so it's time to cut the losses and move on. We'll see if CarMax or an auto salvage place wants to buy the remains, but as of today I bid farewell to the German.

VW gonna VW.

Quote from: Char on March 02, 2019, 06:04:29 PM
VW gonna VW.

As soon as I went to make that post I thought of you and the crow I would have to eat about this.

Quote from: thewizard16 on March 04, 2019, 08:21:10 AM
As soon as I went to make that post I thought of you and the crow I would have to eat about this.

I almost feel bad for saying 'I told you so' but you live and learn

Quote from: Char on April 08, 2019, 06:00:04 PM
I almost feel bad for saying 'I told you so' but you live and learn

..."Almost" being the key word.
I'm 2ish months or so in with the Lexus and it hasn't done anything bizarre yet which is almost unsettling compared to what I had become accustomed to. It's ridiculous but I had to adjust to being able to leave my left turn signal on at a long light/intersection without worrying about having to restart the car (to clear the code that kept turning off my taillights if they had been signaling too long).

Quote from: thewizard16 on April 10, 2019, 03:12:05 PM
I had to adjust to being able to leave my left turn signal on at a long light/intersection without worrying about having to restart the car (to clear the code that kept turning off my taillights if they had been signaling too long).

Sorry for laughing at your vehicular misfortunes, but that's quite the bizarre problem.

Quote from: thewizard16 on April 10, 2019, 03:12:05 PM
..."Almost" being the key word.
I'm 2ish months or so in with the Lexus and it hasn't done anything bizarre yet which is almost unsettling compared to what I had become accustomed to. It's ridiculous but I had to adjust to being able to leave my left turn signal on at a long light/intersection without worrying about having to restart the car (to clear the code that kept turning off my taillights if they had been signaling too long).

Well, the "Almost" means you got a better car out of it. You're in a better place right now, and that's the silver lining.

Quote from: BimmerM3 on April 10, 2019, 03:18:55 PM


Sorry for laughing at your vehicular misfortunes, but that's quite the bizarre problem.

My Jetta has similar electronic gremlins.  A few more days and I should be able to pull the Mustang out of storage.  Then I start the search for a "new" winter car to replace the VW that isn't a VWAG product.

Quote from: thewizard16 on April 10, 2019, 03:12:05 PM
..."Almost" being the key word.
I'm 2ish months or so in with the Lexus and it hasn't done anything bizarre yet which is almost unsettling compared to what I had become accustomed to. It's ridiculous but I had to adjust to being able to leave my left turn signal on at a long light/intersection without worrying about having to restart the car (to clear the code that kept turning off my taillights if they had been signaling too long).

lol, wut?

Quote from: Soup DeVille on April 10, 2019, 05:29:29 PM
lol, wut?

Quote from: BimmerM3 on April 10, 2019, 03:18:55 PM


Sorry for laughing at your vehicular misfortunes, but that's quite the bizarre problem.

Apparently it wasn't too bizarre for that Passat. Though it was apparently normally the right side that had the problem and mine was on the left. Owners were actually adding in resistors to the factory wiring because they'd tried everything else.

It did many other strange electrical things too but that one was pretty frequent. More frequent if it was hot out, for some reason.

Quote from: thewizard16 on April 10, 2019, 09:12:02 PM
Apparently it wasn't too bizarre for that Passat. Though it was apparently normally the right side that had the problem and mine was on the left. Owners were actually adding in resistors to the factory wiring because they'd tried everything else.

It did many other strange electrical things too but that one was pretty frequent. More frequent if it was hot out, for some reason.

I've never had a good explanation of why they shut off power when detecting an open. Its a complication without purpose, which can be said about a lot of modern VWAG designs.

Its so odd, because I genuinely love the original Beetle and other early VWs because of the sometimes ingenious ways they kept things simple.

Mine has been great, but it did this weird thing with the windows when it was cold out. I would lock the car, and exactly 60 seconds later, the car would spontaneously unlock and lower both the windows. I don't have that feature where I can hold down unlock and the windows will go down. It would only do this (and would reliably do it) below like 10F.

This first happened at a McDonalds where it did the window thing after I had entered the building, so I came out and thought I must have fucked up by opening the windows. Then we got to a hotel and I thankfully forgot something in the car, I went back outside and again, the windows were down. I then stood there staring at the thing like a psychopath in 0F weather, and surely enough, it did it again. I just took valuable shit inside with me- I didn't know what else to do. Didn't do it again after that week of freezing weather.

Aside from that it's been perfect, though the driver's side switch to control the passenger window decided to shit out on me. This car definitely hasn't scared me away from VW, but I do think the MkVI Golfs are known to be quite good.

Lucky it didn't snow and completely trash your interior.

Yeah i don't think I would just live with stuff like that. I have been pretty lucky with all the VW/Audi's I have owned. My current Golf has been perfect so far.

I mean, what do you do if its snowing and you can't park it inside? Do you keep a tarp and bungies in the trunk?

Wow. You guys are way more patient than me.

Quote from: Soup DeVille on April 11, 2019, 07:22:37 AM
I mean, what do you do if its snowing and you can't park it inside? Do you keep a tarp and bungies in the trunk?

I got lucky in that I had access to a parking structure all weekend (and at home)  but you're abs right. The car did stay garaged for a large part of that month which was not okay. I did think about how fucked I'd be if it did snow and it were outside

Quote from: MrH on April 11, 2019, 07:28:50 AM
Wow. You guys are way more patient than me.

It bugged the shit out of me, but what could I do? I took it to a VW shop that couldn't figure it out either. Hasn't done it since so I'll ignore it.

Pop the hood, shut off the car, and run around to pull the battery cable before your 60 seconds is up?

I mean, I accepted a while ago that modern VWs have some issues, but never did I expect the sort of bullshit that their owners just accepted.

The windows open themselves when its cold. The turn signals shut themselves off if you use them too much, or if its hot out?

Quote from: CALL_911 on April 11, 2019, 07:34:51 AM
It bugged the shit out of me, but what could I do? I took it to a VW shop that couldn't figure it out either. Hasn't done it since so I'll ignore it.

Not buy a VW

Quote from: Soup DeVille on April 11, 2019, 07:35:52 AM
Pop the hood, shut off the car, and run around to pull the battery cable before your 60 seconds is up?

I mean, I accepted a while ago that modern VWs have some issues, but never did I expect the sort of bullshit that their owners just accepted.

The windows open themselves when its cold. The turn signals shut themselves off if you use them too much, or if its hot out?

Didn't consider that. I let it be because we got to destination at about midnight and my GF had an interview (where she's going next year!) starting at like 7am. I went into full "fuck this" mode and just ignored it.

Quote from: Soup DeVille on April 10, 2019, 09:19:09 PM
I've never had a good explanation of why they shut off power when detecting an open. Its a complication without purpose, which can be said about a lot of modern VWAG designs.

Its so odd, because I genuinely love the original Beetle and other early VWs because of the sometimes ingenious ways they kept things simple.

Yeah, at some point they completely flip flopped. It's unfortunate

Quote from: thewizard16 on March 04, 2019, 08:21:10 AM
As soon as I went to make that post I thought of you and the crow I would have to eat about this.

You're dead on about the Passat's AC and heated seats. The GTI also has the shittiest AC ever, but its heated seats could double as my stove

Quote from: MrH on April 11, 2019, 07:36:19 AM
Not buy a VW

Good deals on Alfas these days....

I have only known two people in my lifetime that didn't have any trouble with their VW's and only one of the two owned their car past 60K miles (that was ironically a 2003 or 2004 Passat 5MT). There seems to be better luck when it is purchased new and owned by one person the entire time so perhaps that is the key. That having been said, other manufacturers now offer many of the virtues that are synonymous with Volkswagen without the inevitable electrical and repair nightmares that seem to be part of the ownership experience. Local VW dealers offered brand new GTI's for 21-22K (and standard Golfs for 16-17K) and I just couldn't pull the trigger knowing that I would likely have a car that will need constant attention after the warranty period expires.

I had a B6 Passat 2008 - 2016. Run it from new till 180k km, and while it did have it share of problems, it had nothing of that .... amd neither the 2002 - 2008 B5.5

Quote from: CALL_911 on April 11, 2019, 08:12:52 AM
You're dead on about the Passat's AC and heated seats. The GTI also has the shittiest AC ever, but its heated seats could double as my stove

I'm surprised; our Rabbit blew ice cold through our southern winters.

I've said it before but after the Civic I will only buy cars in the summer. My FIL (who bought it from me) STILL complains about the weak A/C. On warm days I see a lot of people in them with the windows open.