Phase 2 Fix Question

Hey,

Just picked up my 2015 Sportwagen from the dealership after some service. In the summer I was put on a waiting list for the phase 2 fix, but hadn't heard back from them.

When I asked the service adviser today about when they were going to get it done, she suggested that it was optional. To clarify I bought my rig "new" last year, as it was one of the held back cars that couldn't be sold until VW gave the dealers the ok. Phase 1 was done when I bought the car.

So, I guess is there any reason not to get the phase 2 done? I realize that there have been some issues on some tdi's with error codes popping up post fix.

But I assumed the warranty extension (& $4000 dollars of installed parts - her words not mine) that comes with the phase 2 fix was worth it?

Thanks

Aivars.

ps the car has 24,000 kms on it.

Canada may be different than the U.S. for warranty and fix, not sure....

I can't comment on the warranty language for Canada. But, I can say that I did get several codes after the Phase 2 fix, but it was due to the dealership not having one of the exhaust clamps (pretty sure it was the one upstream of the oxidation catalyst) completely tight. They tightened it down, cleared the codes, and it's been running fine since.

In the US the fix is optionable. You can leave it as is or get it done. If you don't get the fix you lose the extended warranty. If you don't get the fix and have issues you may have to get the fix anyway due to parts issues. Probably won't have the old parts available anymore. I would read up on Canada's version. Probably better to get the fix and be covered. The 2015's seemed to be fairly problem free with few issues from my reading.

In the US it's an EPA emissions recall, it's up to your state to implement rules, if anything drive for another year or so then get the service done. May do our Passat around 40K which should be next summer/fall.

I had my Phase 2 upgrade performed in May after owning the car far a year.
It may have been my imagination, but I felt the car was "quicker" as soon as I left the dealership.
I have seen no change in mileage, and DEF refills are still at 10,000 mile service intervals.

IMO, there is no reason not to do the upgrade, other than the inconvenience of losing the car for a day or two.

pdh said:

I had my Phase 2 upgrade performed in May after owning the car far a year.
It may have been my imagination, but I felt the car was "quicker" as soon as I left the dealership.
I have seen no change in mileage, and DEF refills are still at 10,000 mile service intervals.

IMO, there is no reason not to do the upgrade, other than the inconvenience of losing the car for a day or two.

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It felt to me like the low end was significantly stronger than original after Phase 1, then the low end got slightly softer (but still good) and the top end got stronger after Phase 2.

I had my fix completed in July on my '15 6spd manual. I feel the car is peppier off the line and has a more linear and smooth throttle response in lower gears. Unlike many others I have noticed a slight decrease in fuel mileage. That may be attributed to many other reasons and my particular driving habits. But it's a tradeoff the VW money, the extended warranty and what I perceive as better performance more than make up for.


From an irrational and emotional point of view I already loved this car before the fix but now that it's done I love it even more. Not a day goes buy that I regret the decision to keep it and complete the fix.

CruisingWagon said:

From an irrational and emotional point of view I already loved this car before the fix but now that it's done I love it even more. Not a day goes buy that I regret the decision to keep it and complete the fix.

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Same here. I figured even if the fuel economy decreased slightly and/or urea consumption increased slightly, a person would still need to get a hybrid to get similar fuel economy, but with a less enjoyable driving experience.

Of course, our next car will likely be electric (while keeping the TDI)... I want to see what these VW ID cars end up really looking like and how they perform compared to the Tesla Model 3 and some others on their way to market.

Post phase 2 fix I think the transmission shifts weird and stupidly, like they're trying to make the car as boring as possible. Attempts at spirited driving results in clunking and banging like the transmission is freaking out trying not to do anything that makes any kind of sense. Most people wouldn't notice anything wrong, because it does shift normally if you don't try to confuse it. Was a lot better before the update.

$7000 settlement (for my wife, the owner) was worth it.

Without the settlement money, I wouldn't do it. Will they give you money?

Those of us who bought new old stock don't get settlement money. So I guess the question becomes would you get it done to maintain your warranty?

Does sport mode change the odd behaviour?

In my case, I really want to own the car for a while, so I guess the warranty extension is pretty important.

And as suggested by The Tortoise I didn't get any settlement money.

I love the Sportwagen, am not overally impressed by the DSG shifting patterns, and recognize the benefits of a Malone Tune - as it was the best $500 spent on my 2005 Tdi wagon.

So I'm thinking Phase 2 fix for sure, and maybe considering a tune at some pt, as the engine clearly has a lot more untapped potential. Or just no tune, lowering springs, VCDS mods and drive it.

Lol... the options are staggering and endless.

There is also a stand alone DSG tune you could get. Might like the shifting better.

https://malonetuning.com/ecu-tuning/dsg

The Tortoise said:

Does sport mode change the odd behaviour?

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Sport mode is better in some circumstances. I think this is mainly because it holds gears longer, and the less it shifts, the less opportunity there is for it to shift badly. It was better before the update.

Normal mode just seems to want to get you into high gear as soon as possible. I found this to be a real problem on damp roads. Because the TDI has a lot of torque, you can’t press the accelerator too much right off the line or you’ll just spin the wheels and traction control will interfere. So if you give it light throttle to get moving, and then increase throttle when you’re going fast enough to do so, you find that the transmission has already made its way into third gear or something and then it needs to downshift because you’ve increased the throttle. Or if you do spin the wheels a bit, which is very easy to do on a wet road, the transmission may shift while the wheels are spinning which makes such an awful clunk you almost expect parts to be littering the road. It upshifts because you aren’t giving it much throttle, I guess.

Sport mode does mitigate some of that behavior, simply because it doesn’t try to shift too soon.

So the transmission issues are more of a wet road problem. On a dry road it’s less of a problem because you don’t have to modify your throttle input to avoid spinning wheels.

I guess I’m just too accustomed to a manual transmission which allows me to do exactly what I want. The automatic just doesn’t understand what I’m trying to do, I guess. It’s great if you drive it like an appliance.

Didn't your Golf come with paddle shifters? If I want mine to do something special I shift it over to manual mode and paddle shift it. I have a base Beetle and was surprised it came with the extra dash gauges and paddle shifters.

Phase 2 disappointing to say the least

Just had Phase 2 completed.
Phase 1 got rid of long hesitation on initial take off. There was no loss of power. Other than running a little rougher, with less fuel mileage and more DEF I could live with this fix. The car was fun to drive.
However after Phase 2, the changes were somewhat of a nuisance. Engine noise and vehicle shaking, immediately noticed.
Just letting off the brake at close to 900RM, the engine revs up and the car launches in whatever gear, forward or reverse. Then continues to roll at about 1150RPM.

The initial throttle response is worse than before the Phase 1 fix. The engine hesitates too long, then roars with super power, launching the vehicle. Easy to loose traction spinning on wet roads. Unpredictable.
The phase 2 also has week push to pass. The hesitation continues at any speed.
Stepping on the throttle to pass, the hesitation is again problematic/hesitation. The transmission seems to be impaired and going through a manual to find out what to do. Then the vehicle is week, to pass. Nothing like Phase 1 at all. A completely different vehicle to drive, then what it drove like the day before.

VW quoted in the settlement that Phase 2 updates are expected to have no further impact on overall vehicle reliability, durability, fuel economy, engine sound, performance or driveability. Not true in my case. That may be another legal matter.
I dislike the entire Phase 2 update. Performance, driveability and sound have all changed in a negative manner.
The dealer concurs with all my observations. The dealer stands firm that they have done everything properly and I will have to wait and see if VW comes up with a new software update that will correct the problems that they cannot do anything about.
I have to wait! This whole situation is the fundmental, trial and error.

2015 Sportwagen TDi CRUA

Damn. That's tough to read considering I've booked phase 2 for the 23rd.

I can't imagine VW will provide another fix down the road.

Sent from my XT1635-02 using Tapatalk

paddle shifters

Even if you didn't get the paddle shifters, you can use the tip mode on the console shifter. Either way, you can easily override unwanted early (the usual complaint) shifts by DSG in standard drive mode.

I prefer a clutch, but none were available when I got my Stage I fixed new 2015. The paddles are nice, but I switch between left position for start up and then push to the right and control shifter after it gets into third gear (essentially EVERY time). early shifts don't have too much effect at lower speeds, but once in 3rd gear, it ALWAYS shifts to 4th way too early if I do not push the shifter to the right and take over.

This strategy gets me BETTER mileage because those lower rpm shifts might reduce NOx, but lugging the engine like that with early fuel injection timing REALLY kills the better FE we should get.

This strategy of letting the DSG computer shift to 2nd, then to 3rd most of the time then taking control before it shifts to 4th gets me better mileage. I can get up to speed more easily up between 1800-2200 rpm and the FE doesn't drop any worse (maybe not as bad in fact under most conditions) as the early shifting in full DSG computer shift control.

I am glad to have tip mode. The paddle shifters make it even better. I seem to get better mileage ALL of the time by keeping the rpms up higher than the DSG computer would allow!