Mdarius
Active member
Hello! I just picked up a 2013 Passat TDI SEL with DSG with 69k miles for $6k out the door at a small local dealership. I feel like I got a great deal on (hopefully) a pretty good car and I love it so far.
I am your worst nightmare. I like to work on my own vehicles, I know NOTHING about diesels (OK, next to nothing...), nothing about VW's, and I do a lot of, "I wonder what this do...oops!" when I'm fixing my cars.
However, I know that I don't know what I don't know and I like to learn, and I'll share what I learn on the forum as I learn it if it's not already covered. I know how to use "Search" and "FAQ's".
First error: I know. Intro's are in the 101 forum. Yuck. I expect to have more NMS specific interactions. Hope this is ok.
My car:
It's a salvaged title with all the recalls done and an emissions warranty good to 123k miles or fall of 2022. I got $500 knocked off the price for an inoperative stereo/maps unit, which I fixed with a YouTube video, 20 minutes of labor, and a $1 fuse. I don't think there's anything else wrong with it, other than it has too small tires on it from the dealership. I reset the TPMS (owner's manual works!) and will get new tires when these wear out.
My usage:
I've had it for a week and already put 1,000 miles on it...this has been an exceptional week. I expect to drive about 17,000 to 20,000 miles a year with a commute of 70 miles (round trip) a day and kids living out of state and going to college. I think I've experienced a DPF Regen already...fan was running when I got home one day. I am nervous about this aspect of ownership and have more to learn. I'll be buying an OBD2 dongle and use the VAG Link app (I think that's it...seems a little inappropriate...) to monitor going forward. I expect to get a minimum of 1 year of fairly trouble free use out of a vehicle (standard maintenance only) for every $2,000 I spend on it, including reconditioning costs.
My Resources:
I've got a friend that is a service writer at a VW dealership in SLC and another friend that is a certified master mechanic and instructor. He just bought a 2015 and we are planning to put this on his lift soon and go over it end to end together. All my work will be done in my driveway or by local mechanics unless I can persuade him to use his shop more often.
I'm a Land Cruiser guy and have learned a lot about mechanics by building and keeping old Cruiser's on the road. This is my first diesel and first "enthusiast" car I've owned outside Land Cruisers. I do consider it an enthusiast car because I am becoming an enthusiast, and I recognize it will require more than just oil changes and fill ups to keep it on the road. Ssoooo....there's that.
I've put an effort into sounding intelligent in this post, using abbreviations and acronyms I picked up on the forum today. Really, talk to me like I'm 4. I don't know what I'm doing, what to look for, and how to take care of this car so it doesn't end up costing me a fortune. All the VW stories, and even some posts on this forum, have me a little nervous that I just stepped in a bucket of turds. I'm counting on all of you to help me avoid some easily avoidable newbie mistakes. Thanks for reading!
I am your worst nightmare. I like to work on my own vehicles, I know NOTHING about diesels (OK, next to nothing...), nothing about VW's, and I do a lot of, "I wonder what this do...oops!" when I'm fixing my cars.
However, I know that I don't know what I don't know and I like to learn, and I'll share what I learn on the forum as I learn it if it's not already covered. I know how to use "Search" and "FAQ's".
First error: I know. Intro's are in the 101 forum. Yuck. I expect to have more NMS specific interactions. Hope this is ok.
My car:
It's a salvaged title with all the recalls done and an emissions warranty good to 123k miles or fall of 2022. I got $500 knocked off the price for an inoperative stereo/maps unit, which I fixed with a YouTube video, 20 minutes of labor, and a $1 fuse. I don't think there's anything else wrong with it, other than it has too small tires on it from the dealership. I reset the TPMS (owner's manual works!) and will get new tires when these wear out.
My usage:
I've had it for a week and already put 1,000 miles on it...this has been an exceptional week. I expect to drive about 17,000 to 20,000 miles a year with a commute of 70 miles (round trip) a day and kids living out of state and going to college. I think I've experienced a DPF Regen already...fan was running when I got home one day. I am nervous about this aspect of ownership and have more to learn. I'll be buying an OBD2 dongle and use the VAG Link app (I think that's it...seems a little inappropriate...) to monitor going forward. I expect to get a minimum of 1 year of fairly trouble free use out of a vehicle (standard maintenance only) for every $2,000 I spend on it, including reconditioning costs.
My Resources:
I've got a friend that is a service writer at a VW dealership in SLC and another friend that is a certified master mechanic and instructor. He just bought a 2015 and we are planning to put this on his lift soon and go over it end to end together. All my work will be done in my driveway or by local mechanics unless I can persuade him to use his shop more often.
I'm a Land Cruiser guy and have learned a lot about mechanics by building and keeping old Cruiser's on the road. This is my first diesel and first "enthusiast" car I've owned outside Land Cruisers. I do consider it an enthusiast car because I am becoming an enthusiast, and I recognize it will require more than just oil changes and fill ups to keep it on the road. Ssoooo....there's that.
I've put an effort into sounding intelligent in this post, using abbreviations and acronyms I picked up on the forum today. Really, talk to me like I'm 4. I don't know what I'm doing, what to look for, and how to take care of this car so it doesn't end up costing me a fortune. All the VW stories, and even some posts on this forum, have me a little nervous that I just stepped in a bucket of turds. I'm counting on all of you to help me avoid some easily avoidable newbie mistakes. Thanks for reading!