TDI Advice for New Guy

Hello all. I've heard a lot of good things about the reliability and fuel economy of the VW TDI vehicles...some online and some from personal testimonies from friends and coworkers. I have an opportunity, perhaps, to get in one. I want to know if there are any things I need to watch out for, ask about, or be aware of going into the buying/investigation stage. Here's what I'm looking at.

2012 VOLKSWAGEN PASSAT 4DR SDN 2.0L DSG TDI SEL PREMIUM

69,000 miles, one owner. Can you weigh in? I would appreciate any feedback and advice. I'm a newbie here so I will be learning as I go. I do drive a diesel truck now (GMC Duramax) but nothing like this will be.

Read. Many of the things you want to know have already been posted numerous times. both here and www.myturbodiesel.com. The newer Passats are nice cars.

You know, I bet you're right. I bet everything I've ever wanted to know about this vehicle has already been written somewhere out there. I never would have thought of that. You just saved me countless hours of wading through information that may or may not be relevant depending on if I even purchase the vehicle. Awesome...thanks so much for your willingness to pass along your "veteran" knowledge to a newcomer.

The generation that you are looking for is here:

http://forums.tdiclub.com/forumdisplay.php?f=86

I really do not know much about the 2012 models but there are lots of members here that do.

Yeah I joined this forum about 3 months before I got my TDI. After lurking for about 3 or 4 more months. Smart on your part for doing your due diligence at the tdi brain-trust.

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LubeITMan said:

You know, I bet you're right. I bet everything I've ever wanted to know about this vehicle has already been written somewhere out there. I never would have thought of that. You just saved me countless hours of wading through information that may or may not be relevant depending on if I even purchase the vehicle. Awesome...thanks so much for your willingness to pass along your "veteran" knowledge to a newcomer.

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In Flyer's defense, a lot of people have asked that question. Beating the proverbial dead horse. He is just asking for you to use the search function. If you can't find anything on your question through the search function, then post the question.

But to help you out with topics popular to your question... I would do some research on timing belts, hpfp's, dpf's, and the correct oil spec your car takes. These are things to keep an eye on unless you like expensive repair bills.

Edit: Also, if you know anyone close or can get your hands on a VCDS, scan the car to make sure everything checks out in that regard.

I can understand and appreciate that, but the other folks, including yourself, have at least pointed me toward some specific topics of concern. I guess what I was looking for, as a comparison relates to the other forum I belong to for my truck, duramaxforum.com. If someone is interested in purchasing a truck with a Duramax diesel engine, then they need to know some things to watch out for or consider based on the year of the vehicle. For example, the LB7 has fuel injectors located on the inside of the valve covers, making replacement of an injector costly and more difficult. The next generation engine, the LLY, moved the injectors to the outside. However, it has a restrictive turbo inlet which can cause heating issues when in a heavy towing situation. This part needs to be replaced. The next generation, the LBZ, fixes that, but there are more problems with pistons in a performance situation...so on and so on it goes until you get to the latest. I am just looking for things related to 2012 models.

I wish I had gone with a Passat instead (more interior space), but I was a cheap bastard and went with a Jetta. People already hit on the "issues," so I'll just say that if you can get a decent deal, the car has been properly maintained, and you've factored in maintenance cost (i.e. DSG service)...go for it.

The main thing to keep in mind (to me) is that these are good cars, if you stick to the recommended maintenance intervals. Most of the issues that I've seen posted here (i.e. Timing belt failures) are due to people putting off preventative maintenance.

As for the HPFP failures...many seem to be due to mis-fueling issues...either operator error...or the station having bad fuel. For this reason, I keep EVERY fuel receipt. Yeah...it's excessive, but if I ever run into an issue with my HPFP and my car gets towed to the dealer...I have "DIESEL" right on the receipt (Wawa does that, at least) and I can show exactly where I fueled up (I hit the same station every week). The reason I fuel up there is that their company policy is to cover repairs that result from bad fuel (provided you have your receipt/can prove that you fueled up there). Just my $.02...

LubeITMan said:

I can understand and appreciate that, but the other folks, including yourself, have at least pointed me toward some specific topics of concern. I guess what I was looking for, as a comparison relates to the other forum I belong to for my truck, duramaxforum.com. If someone is interested in purchasing a truck with a Duramax diesel engine, then they need to know some things to watch out for or consider based on the year of the vehicle. For example, the LB7 has fuel injectors located on the inside of the valve covers, making replacement of an injector costly and more difficult. The next generation engine, the LLY, moved the injectors to the outside. However, it has a restrictive turbo inlet which can cause heating issues when in a heavy towing situation. This part needs to be replaced. The next generation, the LBZ, fixes that, but there are more problems with pistons in a performance situation...so on and so on it goes until you get to the latest. I am just looking for things related to 2012 models.

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If you had simply searched you would have found all this all ready linked to in many, many previous posts just like yours. Reposting it thousands of times over just kills the search function looking for relevant info. The common thing in forums is to search first then ask if you can't find your answer. It kind of makes the forum useless if you can't learn from what is already posted here. One other thing. I wouldn't recommend anyone buy one of these cars without knowing quite a bit about them first. A lack of knowledge will eat your wallet and provide a less than quality experience with them. No time spent here reading will be wasted. Please don't act offended as I had the best intent in telling you to read here. The knowledge you gain will be well worth it. There are different sections for different models and an FAQ as well. Good luck!

I have been playing with the idea to purchase a similar Passat.

I bought a DSG tranny sportwagen for my wife. I didn't realize how much the delay from pressing the accelerator to the actual forward motion of the car would bother me. Even a little dangerous in my opinion when trying to merge into busy traffic. Doesn't seem to bother her though.

I would prefer the manual but then she wouldn't be able to drive it when needed....

I wound up getting the vehicle. So far I love it. I will miss having a truck as that is all I've driven since I was 16 but it is a good move for this stage of my life. Thanks to all for the advice and opinions. I have been on the forum continuously since I joined trying to pick up little bits of knowledge here and there. I'm looking forward to this journey. I'm about 500 miles from 70,000 and there is no service history on the Car Fax...which doesn't necessarily mean it wasn't done because there was an oil change static sticker on the windshield...but apparently it wasn't reported. So I will probably go through a few things at the 70K mark. Oil and filter, cabin filter just because it smells a bit off, I will check the air filter and make a decision on that, not sure on fuel filter either. I hate to change it if it has been done recently but then I don't have any way of knowing.

Already subscribed to that.

If I were you I would wait and do a complete 80k service including all filters and fluids including the DSG to get it back on track with the proper maintenance schedule. I would do an oil and filter change now though at 70k.

Good idea. Thanks for that.

Have you checked the list for your nearest trusted mechanic from the list? Do you own VCDS (http://www.ross-tech.com/) or know who does near you? A scan would be good to see if anything shows up there. You should know both of these. If you don't plan on doing any/all work yourself a local trusted mechanic is a very good thing. VCDS is a very good thing to have yourself or available at least when owning these cars. The Passats are nice and come with the least amount of worry of any of the cars since 2009 IMHO. My 2013 was very nice and I had no trouble with it really to speak of. Good luck with yours! The 80k service with DSG will be expensive, especially at the dealer.

Lightflyer1 said:

If you don't plan on doing any/all work yourself a local trusted mechanic is a very good thing.

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VERY much worth it!

When I had my Saabs I had the best mechanics in the entire Seattle area working on them. When I was going to get a second car I brought it to them for evaluation (pre-purchase check). They went through the car thoroughly; I KNEW exactly what I was looking at, what it would take to get the car up to proper maintenance and operational levels. Seller (stupid dealer) got all squirrelly on me and I walked away: they couldn't accept that I was willing only to pay FAIR value- I was not to be the sucker to cover their trade-in loss. The cost of the inspection was well worth it.

Second the "get it checked out by a trusted mechanic before buying". One of my co-workers decided to switch from company driver to owner-op, and bought a truck before finding a mechanic. I made the mistake of recommending mine - and got an earful about what the idiot did next time I brought my truck in. Turns out the truck he bought had a bad flex pipe ($700 part) that would have been caught (and fixed on the seller's dime) if he'd had it checked out (roughly an hour's labour).

For a 2012 your turbo or hpfp is covered to 120k miles don't remember which.
Change the oil...507 spec.
Being winter I'd change the fuel filter if no record says it was done at 60 k miles.
Research the maintenance schedule.
Recognize the navigation is slow at best.
Read up on the dsg and what to expect as to hill hold, how to induce with the brake and accelerator what you want it to do next, ie upshift or downshift.
Research vagcom and trusted guru list.
Remember to smile at 800 mile tanks of fuel.

Lightflyer1 said:

Have you checked the list for your nearest trusted mechanic from the list? Do you own VCDS (http://www.ross-tech.com/) or know who does near you? A scan would be good to see if anything shows up there. You should know both of these. If you don't plan on doing any/all work yourself a local trusted mechanic is a very good thing. VCDS is a very good thing to have yourself or available at least when owning these cars. The Passats are nice and come with the least amount of worry of any of the cars since 2009 IMHO. My 2013 was very nice and I had no trouble with it really to speak of. Good luck with yours! The 80k service with DSG will be expensive, especially at the dealer.

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I have checked out that VCDS Ross-Tech site and I'm very curious and interested in purchasing one of those kits for myself. I haven't spent enough time on it to determine what I actually need yet but I will. I plan to do the majority of the work myself at home. I have an Edge Insight CTS that I took out of my truck when I sold it and it's able to view/clear DTCs but it also doesn't have a specific selection for the VW manufacturer so I don't completely trust it. I've checked for dealers in my area and unfortunately all of them are between 90-120 minutes away...which I knew that going into this but I also knew that these vehicles are pretty solid and that I planned to do most of the work myself if possible so dealership location wasn't a huge deterrent for me in my decision.

dbias said:

For a 2012 your turbo or hpfp is covered to 120k miles don't remember which.
Change the oil...507 spec.
Being winter I'd change the fuel filter if no record says it was done at 60 k miles.
Research the maintenance schedule.
Recognize the navigation is slow at best.
Read up on the dsg and what to expect as to hill hold, how to induce with the brake and accelerator what you want it to do next, ie upshift or downshift.
Research vagcom and trusted guru list.
Remember to smile at 800 mile tanks of fuel.

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HAHA...nice!

If you plan on doing your own work you will need VCDS. Also learn who our online parts suppliers are. There is a forum here you can look through to see who they are. I use IDParts a lot as well as an online dealer for some things (http://www.expressoemparts.com/). There are some specialty tools you will need and http://www.metalnerd.com/ can supply them as well as some other vendors. You should also get the manual. It can be had for $35 for one day charge. Download everything you can from there. The site can be found here somewhere, I don't remember if it was erwin or ebahn or soemthing.