'09 Salsa Red Sportwagen: a fun adventure

birkie

Veteran Member
Joined
Nov 25, 2002
Location
Syracuse, NY
TDI
'13 jetta wagon, red
Background
Last week, our '09 TDI Sportwagen, which had been on order since late January, arrived a month earlier than scheduled. The specs were simple:
  • Salsa Red with anthracite interior
  • Rear side airbags
..everything else is standard (6speed manual, 16-inch 'ditto' wheels for the Syracuse potholes, etc).

This purchase was replacing my old '98 jetta TDI. It's still a great car, but was developing rust (it had been in an accident before I bought it), and had a few other issues that some time and effort would solve. We decided to keep the '98, but take it off the road for now until I had time to work on it and perhaps have some fun with engine mods. So, we decided to move it to a farm about 60 miles away for safe keeping.

Anyway, we get a call that the car is here ahead of schedule, so we decide to move the old Jetta to the farm, and pick up the SportWagen the next day. Three things happened in the whole process that made it memorable

The Offer
Just as we were about to depart, a pickup truck pulls up to us. Someone had been eyeing the '98 for quite a while, and asked if we wanted to sell it. I was definitely tempted. I showed him the car and everything currently wrong with it, but he was quite excited at the prospect of having a TDI to mod.

After talking it over with my wife (who is extremely perceptive and supportive), I realized that I really did want to keep the '98, especially with the chance to store for free and work on it at a leisurely pace as time allowed.

The trip with the bad shift linkage
Prior to this, the '98 had been having some difficulty shifting into 5th. However, just in time for its trip to the farm, it broke entirely. Basically, something happened to either the mechanics below the shifter, or to the cable. I lost side-to-side movement of the shifter, and I couldn't budge the cable by hand. Disconnecting the cable, I was happy to find that I could manipulate the mechanism on top of the transmission to shift easily into any gear.

To diagnose & fix this, as I understand, would likely require dropping the cat and moving the heat shield (as the cables travel through the heat shield), and there some bolts that are only accessible from the bottom. Anyway, we didn't have much time left in the day. The offer on the car looked more tempting, but in the end, we decided to try to move it anyway.

Since there was no lateral movement in the shifter, I could pick which pair of gears I wanted, and set it in place. I chose 3rd and 4th. Gingerly, with my newly minted 2-speed transmission, we went on our way. In the end, we made it with no problems at all. Launches were a bit slower and deliberate, but it didn't stall or disrupt traffic at any time. When we got to the farm, I put it into "1st or 2nd" mode, and drove through the mud and ruts to its temporary resting place.

The bump
Having successfully dropped off the old Jetta, the next day, we picked up the SportWagen. It was a smooth procedure, and the dealership was actually a joy to deal with.

15 miles later, I am at a red traffic light right near our house. I feel a lurch. It felt like a stall, but I was just sitting at the light out of gear with my foot on the brake. A van was trying to cut across the street and get into the right lane, and clipped me in the process! He said there was no damage, but I waved him over to a nearby gas station so we could verify. Fearful of what I would find, I combed the bumber for damage - but could find nary a scuff.

Epilogue
So far, no more scares. We've been enjoying the SportWagen immensely. It's a truly great car.

A few final notes:
  • Yes, it did not have the fold-flat front seat. I tried the suggested trick of moving the front passenger seat fully forward and reclining it, but that doesn't get even close to flat! I'm going to keep an eye out for anthracite fold-flat seats. I carry wood occasionally and can get away with running them over the center console, but a folding passenger seat would be nicer and allow more carrying capacity
  • Waiting for a cable so I use vag-com to check which lighting CECM I have. I've heard that some recently manufactured TDI SportWagens have the highline CECM. That would be reallly nice, as I'd like to put in fogs the OEM way
  • I've decided I'd like to try Collinite #885 Fleetwax as a good protextive wax, and perhaps Waxoyl hardwax in a few strategic places on the underbody
 

birkie

Veteran Member
Joined
Nov 25, 2002
Location
Syracuse, NY
TDI
'13 jetta wagon, red
I have some latent images on a not-yet-developed roll of film that I am planning to post (especially of the front seat as "flat" as it can get). Until then: descriptions, specs, and stories of this member's TDIs are what I have to share. Thanks for your interest :)
 
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