2015 Gen 3 Fix Phase 2 - First Impressions

93celicaconv said:

First I would suggest looking for stickers under your hood. That will frame what you have now better.

Second, for these 2.0L Gen 3 engines, most folks who responded to this and similar threads have seen no drive-ability issues. MPG impacts are not clear to me (some say they went down a tad, others say no change, others say they saw a slight improvement). If this was a Gen 1 or Gen 2 question, there seems to exist a lot more negative effects on drive-ability and fuel economy - but not on these Gen 3 engines.

Not getting the fix - downsides? No extended warranty on your engine and exhaust system. And more emissions that the EPA says are harmful to our environment.

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I will check for the sticker, but the VW recall website search shows the recall as open.

If they are extending the emission warranty, it is probably worth it, since her plan is to keep the car long term.

N_Jay said:

I will check for the sticker, but the VW recall website search shows the recall as open.
If they are extending the emission warranty, it is probably worth it, since her plan is to keep the car long term.

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Yes, it's definitively worth getting it done for the extended warranty.
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Gets more interesting. I suggest you get to a dealer soon. I did call the claims hotline because I was curious myself. Like stated earlier, too late for a restitution claim. But you have until 12/30/18 for the dealer to contact VW to authorize the repairs. After 12/30/18 per the court settlement VW is no longer obligated to fix the cars at their expense. At least that's what the rep told me.
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It's probably buried in the court documents. If I come across it, Ill post the link.

Did you buy the car from a VW dealer, any other dealer or an individual?

Lightflyer1 said:

Did you buy the car from a VW dealer, any other dealer or an individual?

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High end independent dealer.

Highly unlikely they or the original owner didn't get the first part of the fix done and collect the money. The VW web site is known to be out of date or wrong, so I wouldn't trust it alone.

Lightflyer1 said:

Highly unlikely they or the original owner didn't get the first part of the fix done and collect the money. The VW web site is known to be out of date or wrong, so I wouldn't trust it alone.

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So, if they got the first part, do we still need the second to get the extended warranty?

Part one got 2/3 rds of the money. I can't answer your question, but why risk it? Get part 2 if needed when you can and just be done with it. The warranty is worth having and if you have any issues you may have to get it anyway due to only the new parts can be used.

sohccammer427 said:

Gets more interesting. I suggest you get to a dealer soon. I did call the claims hotline because I was curious myself. Like stated earlier, too late for a restitution claim. But you have until 12/30/18 for the dealer to contact VW to authorize the repairs. After 12/30/18 per the court settlement VW is no longer obligated to fix the cars at their expense. At least that's what the rep told me.

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The 12/30/18 deadline is only for those who have filed a claim for restitution. In order to get your restitution money, your fix needs to be completed before Dec 31st. You can still get the fix done for free after Dec 31st, you just won't get the restitution money. For anyone else who does not have a claim, such as those who purchased their vehicles after Sep 1st/18 and therefore can not file a claim, and those that bought new old-stock like myself, the fix can still be completed for free after Dec 31/18.

Looks like it had Part 1 done "Proof of Partial Completion" with "Software Update" checked.
7/28/17

Chiroman said:

The 12/30/18 deadline is only for those who have filed a claim for restitution. In order to get your restitution money, your fix needs to be completed before Dec 31st. You can still get the fix done for free after Dec 31st, you just won't get the restitution money. For anyone else who does not have a claim, such as those who purchased their vehicles after Sep 1st/18 and therefore can not file a claim, and those that bought new old-stock like myself, the fix can still be completed for free after Dec 31/18.

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That just goes to show how totally incompetent the claims hotline reps are.
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I went real slow and asked if a person owned a 2015 Passat and had never filed a claim could it still be fixed no charge. She understood the question and said only through 12/30/18. Just like calling an IRS agent. You get a different answer from different agents. lol
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Anyhow picking my 2015 Passat 6 speed up this afternoon. 50,000 miles. 11 days in the shop. Service rep said I did get a new DPF, but what do they know. (Kinda like the hotline reps). I will post the service record tomorrow.

Convinced Daughter's hubby to call and see what they will do, specifically for the warrantee, since they plan on keeping it long term (The norm in our family).

Picked my 2015 Passat 6-speed up from the dealer from having P2 done. EA288 engine. Looks like I got the GEN3 PHASE 2B KIT
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Don't know the parts in the 2B, but was told I got a new DPF. Car has 49,700 miles.
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Doing an OC this weekend. Will drop the belly pan and check thinks out. Might take a photo or two and post later.
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Service manager says no front end alignment required. Car was perfect driving home from the dealer. Wheel centered and tracked straight. Too early to comment any further until I drive is some more. But it did have a much different sound/tone, especially when idling.
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Glad it's done! Now come on CHASE Bank!
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What about the tone was different?

N_Jay said:

What about the tone was different?

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Hard to put into words. VW even documents it in it's "what to expect" literature. Pre P1, P1 and P2 all had a produced a different engine sound. Related to the tuning.
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If this were going to be my daily driver, I'd definitively get a stage 1 tune.
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Really miss driving the Tdi. It's wifey's car now. I'm stuck in a Chevy Colorado. No where near as exciting/fun to drive.

Has anyone else noticed a significant MPG drop after phase 2?
I’m getting about 5-7 less on average, and feels gutless.
Please share.

yurkin89 said:

Has anyone else noticed a significant MPG drop after phase 2?
I’m getting about 5-7 less on average, and feels gutless.
Please share.

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No, in fact we've noted that the performance and MPG (miles driven divided by gallons pumped) have improved by a small factor. "Indicated MPG" has always been too generous. Performance has always been very good, but certainly not as good as our 2015 Golf R DSG. Something is wrong with your mileage and performance and it should be examined by a different dealer.
-Rod

ROD-TDI said:

No, in fact we've noted that the performance and MPG (miles driven divided by gallons pumped) have improved by a small factor. "Indicated MPG" has always been too generous. Performance has always been very good, but certainly not as good as our 2015 Golf R DSG. Something is wrong with your mileage and performance and it should be examined by a different dealer.
-Rod

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Agreed. I’ve seen a slight improvement in both categories as well with my 2015 Passat TDI SEL Premium in hand calc’d MPG and feel of performance. No reason for yours to be different , except with the possibility something went wrong with your Phase 2 or something stopped working properly. It would be great to have had a snapshot of your live data before your Phase 2 to compare against your live data now. Something isn’t right with yours.

Driving around today I’m doing about 34-35 MPG at 65-70mph highway.
Miles to empty keep drastically dropping, more than usually (wife’s driving)
Will be calling the dealer on Monday, something is not right.
I was always around 39-43mpg on the highway prior to the stage 2.

yurkin89 said:

Has anyone else noticed a significant MPG drop after phase 2?
I’m getting about 5-7 less on average, and feels gutless.
Please share.

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Winter fuel...even in Sac.

It's also 50 degrees right now in Sacramento, which is also going to impact your mileage more at freeway speeds in particular.

bizzle said:

Winter fuel...even in Sac.

It's also 50 degrees right now in Sacramento, which is also going to impact your mileage more at freeway speeds in particular.

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Doesn't a lower air temp tend to increase your actual gas mileage? What am I missing?

lvrpl said:

Doesn't a lower air temp tend to increase your actual gas mileage? What am I missing?

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No, it doesn’t. To a very minor degree, in and of itself, it does on a gasoline engine. I’m in Wisconsin, we won’t see 50 deg until May, and I get in the low to mid 40 MPG’s at 65-70 MPH highway speeds now. There is something not right on this TDI.

Do you only take very short trips? Are your fans running most of the time when you shut the engine off? Just want to rule out a DPF that is clogging up on you due to a change in driving habit since Phase 2 as a possible cause.

Driving around watching the lie-o-meter isn't a reliable way to determine fuel economy either. Tank averages calculated needs to be done. You will get nothing but heartache doing what you are doing. Go drive downhill with your foot barely on the go pedal. The numbers will go up and make you feel better. The first rule of doing this is to have accurate numbers. You don't.

I would say 25% of the time fans are running after shut off.
Most of my trips are about 10-20 miles.
DPF wasn’t replaced since I’m only at 22k miles.
Just did a full tank fill up and reset odo. to get more of a clear calculation.
Arrow still drastically falling (non aggressive driving). Have a long trip tomorrow, we’ll see how this goes.

I wouldn't expect very high economy at your driving ranges. My Beetle only gets about 35 mpg under those conditions. You should also monitor your dpf regens to insure they complete when needed. Vag-Dpf works for me.

Colder air is denser, which means it requires more energy to push the vehicle through it than during summer temperatures. All else being equal, it requires more fuel to push a vehicle down a freeway during winter than summer. The impact it has on this particular person's mileage is unknown, but to put it in perspective here you guys are telling him something is wrong with his car over a 1-2% change in mileage.

What you guys are talking about is in regards to shoving more cold air into an *intake*. Even in that example, however, you don't end up with more *efficiency* but rather more *power*, which is achieved by using more fuel (not less).

I'm not sure where the idea that CAI increases MGP. Maybe a hundred years ago when we were using carbs some people tuned them lean, but every time I tuned a carb it was for performance and every time I've used a CAI (or discussed them with someone) they were in the context of a performance vehicle. It may be true that more power can equal better fuel economy, which always seemed counterintuitive to people when we did larger engine swaps and they ended up surprised with better fuel economy.

Regardless, the basic principle applies (and this is even more true with electronic controlled systems): more air = more fuel

I don't know Wisconsin weather patterns as well as I do California's. The fact you say you won't see 50 until May leads me to believe you aren't experiencing the massive temperature ranges we get in the Central Valley. The average highs for the past three months were: 90, 80, 60, and this month it's 50. If he's tracking his fuel usage over those past few months, the weather needs to be taken into account. Regardless, it's misleading to say, "well I get 40mpg in Wisconsin so something is definitely wrong with your car."

The numbers he's reporting are well in line with mileage dropping when winter comes to California. Do a search on the boards because this topic is well covered and it's seems to come frequently from people in arid conditions.

As an aside, there's no possible way that engine is getting up to operating temperature in 10 mile increments.

yurkin89 said:

Has anyone else noticed a significant MPG drop after phase 2?
I’m getting about 5-7 less on average, and feels gutless.
Please share.

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Negative. Feels much more responsive than with P1, and I’m getting much more consistent MPGs during this winter vs. last year.

Mine seems to drive very similar. Only thing I’ve noticed so far is the idle with hot engine is at 1k. I think it was lower before.

First commute to DC beltway tomorrow.

Yours may be different but usually a 1k rpm means a regen is in progress.

Lightflyer1 said:

Yours may be different but usually a 1k rpm means a regen is in progress.

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Thanks. Is there any other indication Regen is going? I’ve had the car for a year and have never noticed one.

Also, rpm at idle is down to @790 this morning, so perhaps you are right.

Lightflyer1 said:

Yours may be different but usually a 1k rpm means a regen is in progress.

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Same for me regarding when idle is as high as 1k. Also when in gear and letting off of the brake slowly (DSG).