tinks
Active member
I started this thread. I was referred to the regionals. It is suggested I am being fleeced. Can someone help me? I live in Conway, AR about 35 miles outside of Little Rock. I am also posting this in this regional forum because Memphis is only about 2 hours away from us.
Ok, so I have three issues cropping up with my car right now. This is bothering the daylights out of me, because I never let anything go on my car. Right now, I have to prioritize because of finances.
Here goes:
2004 Jetta TDI, bought with 1 prior owner in early 2006 with 40k miles on it. It now has 148k miles on it. I have had every scheduled maintenance on it within 1-2k miles of it being due including oil changes, timing belt etc. I love my little Jetta and plan to keep it for quite a while. I commute 35 miles each way to work and though I do ride my motorcycle as often as possible, I usually wind up needing to drive 3x a week so my car gets quite a bit of highway miles.
I have had a recent Panzer Plate installation after the loss of a 2nd acoustic shield. Right now my car has the following known issues:
CV Boot on passenger side has slight crack and a bit of seepage. There are no symptoms to this problem right now, but it looks like I will need an axle at some point. My car gets regular 4-wheel alignments, tire rotations and I keep my pressures checked weekly. I always get four new tires and I got 70k miles out of my last set of tires. ($350)
Oil pan drain plug is buggered up. This is what I get after our local dealer changed my oil while I was getting some warranty/recall work done by them at the request of corporate VW instead of my regular mechanic doing it. Well...that and an overly tightened oil filter cover ) so now my plug has a slight leak and I have to get a new oil pan. ($575) I cannot express how upset I am over this. Really. I am beside myself and want to puke about it.
Timing belt service incl. water pump, etc. (at 160k miles) and with my commuting, this means it will come up pretty quickly. ($1,000)
This is a good $2k worth of work that I have to save for and I have kids, a job (thank goodness) and am a 1/2 time student so this stuff doesn't come easily. I am confident I do not have the skill to tackle the timing belt service, I would be pretty leery about the axle and I haven't yet found how hard/easy the oil pan may be. My skills are basic, but solid.
Can I get some advice on how to prioritize these things? It drives me absolutely crazy to think that anything is undone on any vehicle (hell, I had a mechanic check the specs on the valves on my bike and do the 12k service, but just the fact that the 'time to service the engine code' wasn't reset is driving me bonkers ). I only get uptight about maintaining my vehicle because it is paid for, I love it and I understand the value of preventative maintenance.