2013 VW Jetta TDi Sportwagen, help!

[Rotarei]

Yo I just bought a 2013 VW Jetta TDi Sportwagen with 31,000 miles for $8,900.

I absolutely LOVE this car. My first ever VW. I have always been a Honda guy. This is my first diesel also, and it's a 6 speed manual transmission.

I just changed the oil, using Castro Professional 5w-30 full synthetic 507 compliant, 6 quarts from Amazon for like $70. I also bought a 5 liter jug of Liqui Moly 5w-30 Top Tec 4200 Longlife III, also 507 compliant.
I went to the VW dealer for the oil and fuel filters.
Don't have a scan tool for it yet, so was just gonna saturate the fuel filter and fill the housing with clean diesel as best as I can

Background: ASE Certified Master Technician with L1 for over 15 years, currently working on cars, trucks, diesels, and heavy equipment.

Just looking for a bit of advice. Ok to change the fuel filter without the scan tool? 5w-30 only, regardless of the season? Castrol vs Liqui Moly? 10k oil change intervals or sooner? I bought Power Service Diesel Kleen +Cetane Boost. Any preferred fuel additives? Any benefit to using Lucas additives in the crank case or transmission? Probably will clean the MAF soon.

Any tips or guidance would be appreciated, I'm fairly competent to do everything myself. But seasoned VW veterans might have important advice I could use.

Thanks!

Also, any filters preferred over stock?

 

[JSWTDI09]

Any 507 oil is OK. It can be Castrol, Liqui-moly, Mobil 1, etc.
10k oil changes is fine and it is what is recommended. With the right oil it could go a lot longer, but VW likes to sell oil changes. There are actually valid reasons to NOT change the oil earlier than recommended.

No oil (crankcase) additives are recommended.
A cetane booster won't hurt but a good lubricity additive might not be a bad idea. There has been a lot of debate here about which additives are best, but any brand name additive will not cause any harm and it might help.
The stock air intake is an excellent Cold Air Intake and your turbocharger can easily supply all the air your engine could want. There is no good reason to modify the intake and the stock filter is better than most aftermarket filters.
A scan tool is recommended for replacing the fuel filter, but filling the filter container and not using one doesn't seem to cause any problems.


I think I tried to answer most of your questions.


Have Fun!


Don

 

[MichaelB]

Yo I just bought a 2013 VW Jetta TDi Sportwagen with 31,000 miles for $8,900.

I absolutely LOVE this car. My first ever VW. I have always been a Honda guy. This is my first diesel also, and it's a 6 speed manual transmission.

I just changed the oil, using Castro Professional 5w-30 full synthetic 507 compliant, 6 quarts from Amazon for like $70. I also bought a 5 liter jug of Liqui Moly 5w-30 Top Tec 4200 Longlife III, also 507 compliant.
I went to the VW dealer for the oil and fuel filters.
Don't have a scan tool for it yet, so was just gonna saturate the fuel filter and fill the housing with clean diesel as best as I can

Background: ASE Certified Master Technician with L1 for over 15 years, currently working on cars, trucks, diesels, and heavy equipment.

Just looking for a bit of advice. Ok to change the fuel filter without the scan tool? 5w-30 only, regardless of the season? Castrol vs Liqui Moly? 10k oil change intervals or sooner? I bought Power Service Diesel Kleen +Cetane Boost. Any preferred fuel additives? Any benefit to using Lucas additives in the crank case or transmission? Probably will clean the MAF soon.

Any tips or guidance would be appreciated, I'm fairly competent to do everything myself. But seasoned VW veterans might have important advice I could use.

Thanks!

Also, any filters preferred over stock?

Good use of the search function will answer all your questions without anybody having to repeat what is known here and repeated over and over again.


Have Fun!


Michael

 

[03GolfTDI]

Rotarei - welcome to the forum!

Power Service is a well regarded supplement, easy to locate at pretty much any parts store and the price is very reasonable. For your climate silver bottle during summer and shoulder seasons, white bottle for winter (under 20 degrees). The bottles make it pretty easy to splash off the recommended dose (doesn't have to be perfect) but for the 14.5 gallon tank 1/3 of the 16oz bottle is a very slight underdose vs the recommended. The silver usually has more of a cetane boost than the white - even for northern climate folks powerservice recommends switching back and forth between the white and silver.

I would just recommend not keeping the bottle in the car. The stuff stinks and you really don't want it to spill in your car. Get a box of disposable gloves to deal with the additives and some of the nasty diesel pumps you may encounter.

Also try to find stations that have a high turnover of diesel, if you have any well known truck stops near to you (Loves, TA, etc.) those are always a safe bet to get decent diesel.

Good luck and enjoy your new car!

 

[ranger pete]

You found a 13 6MT with 31k for 8900?

Wow, you got a deal. Where are you?

I paid 9500 for an 11, 55k.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Lightflyer1]

Welcome to tdiclub! Similar to what MichaelB said this forum is useless if you don't use the information that is already here waiting for you. All of the questions asked have been answered here many times over. Your owners manual should also cover some of these things. If you didn't get one you should try and get one. The maintenance schedules are here.

http://forums.tdiclub.com/showthread.php?t=372242

Additives are not needed per VW but can be used if you really feel a need. High volume fuel stations are preferred. Any 507 oil is okay and you probably won't notice any difference between using one over another. Read up here on regeneration of the dpf system so you are familiar with what goes on and what is needed to keep it healthy. Good luck with your car and happy trails!

 

[Rotarei]

Why my 2013 VW Jetta TDi Sportwagen with 31k mi. was only $8k

You found a 13 6MT with 31k for 8900?

Wow, you got a deal. Where are you?

I paid 9500 for an 11, 55k.


I'm near Cleveland, Ohio. I was driving a 1994 Buick Roadmaster, with the 5.7L engine, and the ex wife drew a line in the sand: I couldn't transport the kids in it anymore. I had to act, so I went to a "Bad Credit?" used car place. North Coast Auto Mall. They had bought the car at auction. The windshield is scratched and scored beyond repair by the IDIOT previous owner who never changed the failed wiper blades. I dabbled clear coat paint on the scratches, which helped a bit... But I'll eventually replace the windshield ($200).
The front bumper was hanging off on both sides. Some brute force and a tube of Steel Stick and some touch-up paint later: bumper is secure and looks ok.
The paint is scratched EVERYWHERE, especially the rear bumper where their dog(s) entered and exited the vehicle. Dirt and dog hair inside was easy enough to clean. Lexol Cleaner and Conditioner made the interior look brand new.
Rear tires were BALD on the inside edge, and had such a bad hop (not a shifted belt) that it was noisy and uncomfortable at speeds above 50 mph.
Front tires had been replaced, but with the cheapest crap Chinese tires money can buy.
Service history was completely unknown, and the dealer could only tell me their last service date was in 2015.
Driver's door: oh boy, I thought I'd have to replace the entire door. The door skin by the hinge had been horrifically bent outward and mangled, with surface rust, making opening the door an uncomfortable and noisy endeavor. The door skin by the handle had separated from the frame. I was able to bend and hammer the mangled mess by the hinge more or less straight, sanded it, Steel Stick, and touch up paint: now it's not bad. Surprisingly the door opens andd closes perfectly now, and is perfectly aligned.
The skid plate is completely missing, engine cover was cracked, hood insulation was shredded from a nesting mouse and hanging down....
But mechanically it seems great. And the interior is immaculate after a thorough detailing.

Now, the interest rate is 14.5%. My plan is to fix my credit this summer, then transfer the balance to my Credit Union at a far lower interest rate.

Hopefully this answers why my 2013 VW Jetta TDi Sportwagen with 31k miles was only $8900.

But it's perfect for me. All it needed was some TLC just like the Charlie Brown Christmas Tree.
For all the enjoyment this car provides me, I'll shower my love and affection on this vehicle like it deserves.

Note: I'm not going to make love to the car, like that one weird guy who has sex with cars. I just really like it in a platonic way.

 

[Lightflyer1]

Sounds like you way overpaid then. Bad credit can do that to you as you are forced into places that buy crappy cars. Then foist them off on people who have no where else to go, and charge them sky high interest rates, along with overcharging on the car. Good luck with that! I would have kept the Buick or bought a car cheap for cash. Best way to repair credit is not have any debt. Think of it as financial slavery.

 

[SkiBumJH]

^^^^Wow, that's gratuitously negative, even if it may be true.

Rotarei seems extra positive considering his sitch. Sounds like he's got his hands full without some stranger piling on. At least he had the nuts to give us an honest account of the cars negatives.

Advising to keep the Buick is laughable.

 

[Lightflyer1]

It may be negative but it doesn't make sense to go into debt to buy a used car, especially one that is in disrepair itself if you already have a car that is licensed and driveable. He didn't mention anything wrong with the Buick except the fact his wife said no. If you are already in credit trouble this really makes no sense. Sometimes the truth is needed even if it hurts. Now if there was something substantially wrong or safety wise with the Buick then that may change things a little.

 

[JELLOWSUBMARINE]

You found a 13 6MT with 31k for 8900?

Wow, you got a deal. Where are you?

I paid 9500 for an 11, 55k.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

That is better than ave price. After alittle nego., I picked up my 11' w/ 69k for 10k out the door (about $8600).

 

[ednahughes]

Useful to know.

google street view​

 

[Diesl]

It sounds like your car mostly needed fixing cosmetic damage (windshield, bumpers), new (or better used) tires (I got a great deal on pretty new summer tires when I bought my winter wheels), and maybe a new skid plate, depending on the debris and pothole situation in Cleveland.

Financing a car (or anything) at 15% is not optimal, but that doesn't make the car a bad car. There are many reasons to like the 2.0 TDIs, all still valid even if the car is a bit scratched up, and the ones with manual transmission have a special fan base here!


I hope you'll find the forum useful. It might be worth scanning the car at some point (find a forum member with VCDS near you), to determine DPF load etc..


What's the fix situation for this car? Assuming it wasn't done, would the OP still get the extended warranty if he has the fix applied? Or is it just the fix for free (which you might want to skip, in that case).

 

[Lightflyer1]

If you have an android phone VAG_DPF app can be useful for dpf purposes. It works for my car but you would have to try and see for yours. Try the free version first to test.