Smart Car advice please

[daugen]

A Kubota orange pin stripe? I don't think so...but good idea.
though I could get a cute license plate saying my other car is a Kubota...yawn.

I'm going to call Crutchfield and see what they have and I'll ask about the factory radio too.
What it really needs is better speakers...which is easy to do.
Let's see, four 12 inch subs in the trunk, good thing I don't play golf...
oops, I don't have a trunk...

hmmmm.
http://www.amazon.com/Replacement-Touchscreen-Navigation-Volkswagen-Installation/dp/B0082EJE9Y

 

[Scooby074]

good to know. VW sets a specific spec for TDI oil, and I'll likely get some Mobil 1 that meets the spec. The oil filter is a cartridge type, and must be high capacity to last that long.

ok, pin stripe color? I need help here....never had a white car before.

Zoom in on the steering wheel pic, very few of those icons were intuitive to me. What I thought was the cruise wasn't, it appears to be on a stick, which I remember from an Audi 5000 I owned many years ago.
So much of the steering wheel stuff now is phone related, which has zero interest to me, and just forces the buttons to be smaller to fit it all in. The rest of it seemed pretty straightforward, the nice looking screen is radio only. Need to get a Garmin.

This car will treat you well. I like the understated good looks of the Golf.

We had a Jetta that was diesel and I soooooo miss the mileage. It was amazing, especially up here in the land of $1.30/l gas.

Oil is VERY important to these cars. I suggest reading up on the VW forums like TDIClub (and even BITOG) before deciding on a oil. VW has quite specific requirements. A 10K change is fine by the VW manual, with the proper oil, and shortening the interval just wastes money (and increases the likelyhood that you'll use a cheaper oil).

The Euro oils are very good (ELF, Motul) and meet VW spec 505.01 or better. I personally would not use M1. There is also a LOT of lively debate on whether 5w30 or 5w40 are better for the engines wear... Im not touching that one lol

 

[IslandTractor]

A Kubota orange pin stripe? I don't think so...but good idea.
though I could get a cute license plate saying my other car is a Kubota...yawn.

I'm going to call Crutchfield and see what they have and I'll ask about the factory radio too.
What it really needs is better speakers...which is easy to do.
Let's see, four 12 inch subs in the trunk, good thing I don't play golf...
oops, I don't have a trunk...

hmmmm.
http://www.amazon.com/Replacement-Touchscreen-Navigation-Volkswagen-Installation/dp/B0082EJE9Y

Be careful of the low cost no name in dash GPS units. Many are from fly by night Chinese companies and they have an atrocious customer and technical service record.

 

[KubotainNH]

A pin stripe to match the tow vehicle? Or huge Vdub letters on the side...lol. Really though, what color will it be after dragging it 1000 miles across the country? I'm thinking a dull gray.

 

[newbury]

Welcome to the club!

This is my 2009 JSW TDI when I was hunting for a house in Mississippi. Bought it from Chris Farnham, Langhorne VW.

I previously owned a '79 Rabbit diesel that got up to 65mpg on long trips.

I still think you would have been happy with the Fit.

I thought you had also dismissed the VW.

Definitely join the TDIClub.com. Lot's of good people and good advice.

Also be aware of the discussion of biofuel and Bosch injector problems with the low lubricity US fuels.

 

[daugen]

drove it home tonight after they put the new tires on and changed all the brake pads.
Dropping it down into Sport did make a difference, but there seemed to be so much torque it wasn't really needed.
Reminds me of putting the Suburban in tow/haul mode...holds gears longer, but other than that, I'm not sure the change in milliseconds of the shifting speed is going to make or break my day...
But if the TDI across from me opens his window and waves a twenty, well....down into Sport I go...

Already got what I think is a TPMS fault light. Will look it up in the morning. And while the guy was going over the dash icons with me, the burned out bulb indicator came on. Turned engine off, indicator goes off. Ok...

Newbury, is a diesel additive recommended? I use the typical stuff in both diesel tractors and they seem to smoke less and run smoother, though it could be all in my head.

 

[newbury]

Newbury, is a diesel additive recommended? I use the typical stuff in both diesel tractors and they seem to smoke less and run smoother, though it could be all in my head.

YES
Don't fill a tank without it, primarily for the lubricity issue.

Here's what I used as my break in procedure:TDIClub Forums - View Single Post - Break-in Period

Also - if you buy or find someone with a VAG-COM you can do some neat things and find out exactly how well your VW is running. I made my windows raise and lower with my remote.

I bought it thinking I was going to use it to tune the engine, but haven't needed it for that for 50,000 miles.

 

[daugen]

Be careful of the low cost no name in dash GPS units. Many are from fly by night Chinese companies and they have an atrocious customer and technical service record.

very cheap product lousy fm reception, very bad product, too much money for this crap, i'm trying to get my money back

Don't buy this. Nav is in Chinese radio sucks can't figure out how to use nav with the radio at same time. This shouldn't even get one star

Tyso Usa will not support product they sell . You will be talking to a wall after one e-mail BEWARE

Yup, I'd say there's some real unhappy folk out there with the 350 dollar level units. OEM is 850 online, simply fyi.

 

[daugen]

YES
Don't fill a tank without it, primarily for the lubricity issue.

Here's what I used as my break in procedure:TDIClub Forums - View Single Post - Break-in Period

Also - if you buy or find someone with a VAG-COM you can do some neat things and find out exactly how well your VW is running. I made my windows raise and lower with my remote.

I bought it thinking I was going to use it to tune the engine, but haven't needed it for that for 50,000 miles.

thanks, there was some really interesting info in there.
I found this almost humorous:

DO NOT CHANGE THE ENGINE OIL UNTIL 10,000 MILES!

sure have never seen that anywhere else. But then they put in a special break in oil and that's what they want to stay
in for the whole 10K I suppose. Also, while mostly broken in by 10,000 miles, the TDI engine does not reach its highest compression until 60K miles.

I'm really wondering about that tire sensor light. I thought it understeered and wasn't too nimble on the on ramp coming home, maybe one of those brand new tires really is low. or maybe they never filled it up. Tomorrow morning will tell.