Pushing 2Y, bought-back '15 Passat 6MT

r11

Veteran Member
Joined
Mar 6, 2012
Location
NJ
TDI
2012 Passat TDI SE 6MT (BB'd), 2015 Passat TDI SE 6MT
Bought it in March of 2017 with 8800 miles on odo

Had 0 issues so far. Just had 40K oil change. At $70-ish and dealer being so close, I dont bother. A DIY kit pushes $60. Complimentary car wash seals the deal.

Still do my own fuel filter and everything else, $$$aving here.

Solid 50+ Mpg in the summer , on longer runs. All the torque :)

Every other week get another wty extension letter it seems. Last one was the 120K on wheel clock spring.

Will delay the Phase 2a/b for as long as I can, idea is to get that post-2b 60K wty bump to matter. It is a stretch to get that, will have to wait about 5-6 years :cool:

For those trying to make a decision on TDI today, situation is a bit different.
We have the '19 1.4L Jetta - these come with 6MT, sell for under $18K and get really close to 50 hwy MPGs on regular ;). Laster in the year, rumor has SportWagens will be offered in same config.

But - smaller than Passat by few inches, esp noticeable less rear leg room. Much less torque. And, since she's a direct injection, intake valves require serious TLC every ~30K ($1000 abrasive blasting, ouch !) . And even new car wty cant touch what we got with bought-back TDIs - but that matters for those few that plan on keeping the cars till they fall apart.

About the only concern is the diesel price. Here in NJ regular is about $2.20.
Diesel is $3 :eek: . Gub'mint has 0 issues raising diesel prices as high as they want, as it is passed on (to customers) by trades & truckers.

Regens, now that they do them at 250 (?) miles instead of 460, are mildly annoying, these sap ~5mpg when they run.
 

turbobrick240

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Nov 18, 2014
Location
maine
TDI
2011 vw golf tdi(gone to greener pastures), 2001 ford f250 powerstroke
The government isn't responsible for much of the diesel fuel premium over RUG($.06/gal). It has more to do with refining costs and global supply/demand. It does seem to have spiked unusually high in comparison to gasoline this winter. I don't think it will stay that way for long. Especially now that the Europeans are losing their affinity for diesel vehicles. And ultra low sulfur gasoline on it's way to market.
 

Mark_J

Veteran Member
Joined
Aug 17, 2003
Location
Deer Park, Washington
TDI
2015 TDI Passat SEL Premium, 2017 Fiat Spider, 2017 Ford F350 6.7 Diesel crew cab PU, 2016 Harley Trike, 2016 Tesla Model X P90D (I know went to the dark side)
turbobrick240 is correct, the government has nothing to do with the price of fuel besides the taxes they add on. Diesel is higher in the winter because the refineries start making more stove oil in the fall and winter, which cuts down on the supply of diesel supply. In the summer the diesel price is below regular, at least where I live due to the fact the refineries are only making diesel, no stove oil, so there is more supply. I work in a refinery in the Hydrocracker unit and we make lots of jet fuel and diesel and yes in the winter it does cost more to make diesel because we have to lower the freeze of the diesel so it doesn't gel in the winter. We do this by adding more heat to the tower to drive out more of the heavier hydrocarbons from the diesel draw tray which means we have to drive the boiler harder to add the extra heat to the tower, which drives up the cost. Also because we lighten the diesel fuel, there are less BTU's in the diesel, so that is why so many of us see worse mileage in the winter. In the summer the diesel is heavier due to a higher freeze target, and heavier fuel has more BTU's and burns hotter, so it takes less fuel to propel your vehicle.
 

r11

Veteran Member
Joined
Mar 6, 2012
Location
NJ
TDI
2012 Passat TDI SE 6MT (BB'd), 2015 Passat TDI SE 6MT
Mark

good stuff, thanks for in depth on refining, so much explained in a short post (I am a bit of a gear head) ! How about the ULSD - did that make it more expensive to refine diesel and if so, by how much ?

Do you use propane to heat up the towers (the byproduct of refining process itself) or nat gas ?

In NJ, the tran'n fund ran out of money, so they added something like extra 40 cent tax on fuel. Set to expire in 4 years IIRC, but I doubt it ever will. If not for it, RUG'd be around $1.80, and diesel at $2.50, this time of year.

I am close to where fuel comes in (Bayonne, Elizabeth GIANT terminals), so transportation costs are minimal. Further away from the shore it gets more expensive.
 

Mark_J

Veteran Member
Joined
Aug 17, 2003
Location
Deer Park, Washington
TDI
2015 TDI Passat SEL Premium, 2017 Fiat Spider, 2017 Ford F350 6.7 Diesel crew cab PU, 2016 Harley Trike, 2016 Tesla Model X P90D (I know went to the dark side)
Forgot about the ULSD. Yes we had to build another diesel unit for the purpose of removing the H2S (sulfur) from the diesel, so yes it costs more to make. But we convert the H2S to liquid sulfur for fertilizer.

We use what we call Off Gas which is some of the lighter gasses from the towers to run our boilers. We sell the propane and besides the off gas is heavier than propane and more efficient.
 

Yukon4Runner

Veteran Member
Joined
Nov 20, 2016
Location
Connecticut
TDI
2010 Golf (buyback) 2015 Golf Sportwagen (buyback buy)
Running joke for new hires was that the “off gas” was actually collected from local restrooms.

Forgot about the ULSD. Yes we had to build another diesel unit for the purpose of removing the H2S (sulfur) from the diesel, so yes it costs more to make. But we convert the H2S to liquid sulfur for fertilizer.

We use what we call Off Gas which is some of the lighter gasses from the towers to run our boilers. We sell the propane and besides the off gas is heavier than propane and more efficient.
 

Mark_J

Veteran Member
Joined
Aug 17, 2003
Location
Deer Park, Washington
TDI
2015 TDI Passat SEL Premium, 2017 Fiat Spider, 2017 Ford F350 6.7 Diesel crew cab PU, 2016 Harley Trike, 2016 Tesla Model X P90D (I know went to the dark side)
Nice, haven't heard that but have to remember it.
 
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