So the wife has gotten increasingly jealous of the recent FR-S purchase. We weren't planning to get her a newish vehicle for at least another year, but it seems she lacks patience. Much like myself when it comes to these sorts of things if I'm being honest.
Anyway, we traded in our '14 Elantra GT for a one owner '13 TDI Wagen. It has a tick under 27k miles and appears to be well maintained and garage kept. New tires etc. due to the buyback stuff with Dieselgate or whatever that thing was. Best of all it's a 6 speed manual. When me and the wife first met 15 years ago, she drove a Saturn Ion with a 5 speed, and ever since has settled for a slushbox. 15 years for her to come back to her senses seems extreme, but I'm glad she is back in the saddle.
The interior is flawless. The leather is good, real good.
The dual panoramic sunroof and lack of window tint create quite the greenhouse. Tint is in the short list of items needed.
I like the car.
The cargo area is nice, especially compared to the Elantra.
Rear a/c vents for the kiddos are nice.
Anything I should look out for on these? I see I could throw a tune at it for more powers eventually, but for now the wife doesn't seem interested. I really just want it to be reliable, and the only cautions I have read so far on these is to use the proper oil. Not much else.
Link to car ad....
In reply to jonnyd330 :
I'll have to read through that a bit.
I forgot to mention we were given a 100k mile powertrain warranty or 100 years, whichever happens first. Oil changes have to be done at the dealership or an ASE certified place that will fill out a slip of paper to verify. Dealer oil changes are about the same or slightly higher than the usual quickie lube, so not that big of a deal.
Interesting... A condition of the warranty is that DIY oil changes aren't allowed? I honestly think that kind of attitude would make me not buy the car.
In reply to captainawesome :
Where did that warranty come from? Sounds like a no brainer deal...
The warranty is with the dealer we purchased through, not sure if it is VW backed or not. We had a similar warranty with our Elantra through the same dealer network but it was a factory backed bumper to bumper.
Not unusual for dealerships to extend the powertrain warranty if you have the oil changes done there.
Sounds like a good purchase. I have a good friend who drives a ton and has run at least a couple of VW diesels over 250k miles with no major issues.
The only issue I had with mine of that era was that the low pressure EGR system can allow moisture in the intercooler if you drive in a cold climate, and it freezes up. The freezing isn't an issue, it's that I'd park it in my garage, and it would melt overnight, leading to a hard start/no start in the morning. So on really cold days, I'd leave it in the driveway overnight (kind of ironic having to leave a diesel outside in the freezing weather so it would start). Ha... that may have even been addressed in the TDI fix that the dieselgate cars got. That said, no other issues, and I racked up 100K+ on it before turning it back in for dieselgate.
Most of the issues they had seemed related to emissions equipment, things like dpf failure can get expensive. Depending where you live, a bevy of tunes/deletes exist to rid of those items if feasible for you. Otherwise, just drive it as-is and enjoy. They really are quite nice to drive.
Those panoramic roofs I've had friends with having water issues, but it's almost always related to clogged sunroof drains. Keep up on those and you should avoid the wet footwell scenario.
In reply to xflowgolf :
I assume any DPF failure would be covered under the 100k warranty, but I'll look into that more.
I'll check the drains as well. Eventually I'd like to get both cars in the garage but it's a tight fit.
I own a 2012 TDI and from what I've read the innercooler freeze up is most likely to happen when you have cool humid air that allows the build up of water in the innercooler and then you get freezing weather. A lot of it occurs based on how you drive the car and the weather in your area. I usually drive mine easy and have parked it outside since new and have only had a couple of hickups that I attribute to the engine injesting a bit of water shortly after I drove it on a cold winter day.
It's best to drive it easy at first in cold weather until the innercooler has warmed up and melted any ice. Some owners have reported a no start due to near total blockage of the innercooler due to ice build up but that is rare.
I also own a F150 Ecoboost that on their forum it's been suggested to drill a small hole (1/16" inch) in the bottom of the innercooler to allow any water/moisture to be forced out rather then have it forced into the engine.
