My Jetta MK6 TDI: Lucky dog or tragic victim?

Dozenspeed

Top Post Dawg
Joined
May 1, 2012
I was thinking about my car's cost...which led to a little quick math...:eek:

But I was pleased to figure:

Car: $23,600

To run it: ~$5000

(including but not limited to)

19 oil changes

7 fuel filter changes

3 air filter changes

3 cabin filter changes

16 h7 regular headlamps :rolleyes:

~8 various other bulbs

timing belt, h2o pump, etc (~$900)

right rear door seal (~$170)

aftermarket horn (~$170)


SO about $28,600- divided by 194k mi = <$0.15 per mile. :) That INCLUDES two more years of payments....the paid off price.....today's acheived mileage of the moment against the next 24 months of pre-adjust-paid ownership cost......as if we stopped today...whatever I'm trying to say.


This does NOT include:

Fuel (9 cents per mile)

Tires (<1 cent per mile)

Cleaning ($2500+:eek:) (Don't worry, this cost rate has recently dropped dramatically, while the cleaning regimin has actually increased. :cool:)

This is just what the car's baseline is. And the horn and the door seal isn't really the car's fault. The only thing the car needs today non-cosmetically is another new wiper motor. Add ~$200 for that then.

But still at a quarter if you add in the fuel and tires. Anything else is really subjective.

Now if hypothectically I needed a $5000.00 repair tomorrow to keep going, that would bring my ~14.9 cent per mile figure up to ~17.4....a good two and a half cents.

Whatever it is, the more miles I can run the car invested in, the cheaper per mile cost can be. Once past year 5 (the loan term) I could afford to dump an average of 7gs into her annually and maintain this price point. That would be like buying the car 3 times over in ten years! $35,000 to run from years 6-10? I see room to gain, personally.

BTW to contrast, 10 years of renting the company car is equal to over $90k, so my triple paid for car ($70,000) would still be worth 2 grand a year to me in the end. (Which I need for the bloody bank fees on the credit cards.:mad::rolleyes:)
 

TomJD

Veteran Member
Joined
Jul 9, 2010
Location
St. Louis
TDI
2000 Jetta TDI GLS, 2015 Golf TDI
Intense math dozen! But I'd be interested to hear how many of its 195k miles made you money.
 

Dozenspeed

Top Post Dawg
Joined
May 1, 2012
Well due to the unique nature of the geography of our clientel, combined with end result of my personal discretions and specialties, only about 37% is on the meter. (You can see why dropping 8 cents a mile in fuel overall was lustworthy) But before anyone concludes I'm rich ;) also in those 3 years the company got ~52k and QT got about 17.5k. :rolleyes:
 

Dozenspeed

Top Post Dawg
Joined
May 1, 2012
So 10 days ago my beloved germexican mistress and I went through a traumatizing event. Friday, Nov 7 at ~4:35 AM and 217,007 miles, while winding down for the night and allowing a regen to finish, a big blur of of brown leapt out at us from the right side of the road. It was instantaneous and I'm so annoyed I couldn't see it coming. I reactively stood on the brake until the motor cut out, but it wasn't enough. A sickening thud, a moment of bewilderment followed by the sight of a deer skidding down the street in front of me as it scrambled to get to it's feet. My heart sank, I felt sick, I feared to look. Unbelieveably, this cocky prick stood in the center turning lane and stared at me for a full minute while I cursed him out with every naughty word I know before he ran off. God did I feel sick.

Stupidly, I know, the first thing I did was restart the car. Amazingly the lights worked and there were no warning lights on the dash, but I knew of course I wasn't going to like what I would see. I pulled over a few feet to an adjacent parking lot to get out of the road, inspect the damage and look for leaks, which there appeared to be none. The evidence was there, but I was astounded at how minimal it was.

I called it in and took an obligatory photo of the location, and drove her home. In my over-lit garage, I took more photos, called Oilhammer in a panic for advice and slept off the depression and nausea until the world was awake enough to start getting me answers.

When I was done with that, I had that hopeful moment it was a bad dream, which went away immeditately. So I got it together and set off to the body shop Oilhammer recommended, getting flagged by a fellow motorist on the way who was kind enough to tell me my hood was open. At the body shop I met a nice lady named Judy, who efficiently whipped up an estimated $1731 hit to my wallet, with the not-unexpected "subject to change after we take it apart" clause. At this point in the story I am anticipating your questions and therefore shall tell you that insurance is not an option in this circumstance for reasons far too complicated to explain than I care to.

Estimate in hand, I go to the cab company, and seek out my friend the president who tells me first thing that when he heard, he prayed for me. I don't know him to be a particularly religious man one way or the other but it was nice to hear. I explained to him I already had my estimate and plans to repair my car that had no mechanical damage whatsoever with working lights and everything in the hopes I could still work in the car at night, in the dark, (as I often do anyway) during the upcoming weekend in order to afford the repair. He reminded me of what I already knew, which was in these circumstances as an owner/operator, I had the option to use one of their gas-guzzlers for an extra $30 per day. To which I replied that that idea was, no offense intended, abhorrent to me as now I am spoiled rotten after 3 1/2 years working in my baby. He cheerfully agreed with me, and said "let's go out and take a look."

Fingers crossed and expecting her to be deemed too much a blight for the company image, he says "I'm going to say you can absolutely use this car until you can get it repaired, this is the least deer-damaged cab I have ever seen." Relieved, I shake his hand and feel most of the weight lift off me. Now the mission course was clear, all I had to do was drive my tail off. I took her home, gave her a tender bath by hand and set off.

My wonderful, wonderful car heroically drove 1100 miles in that state to fund her own repair without skipping a beat. Damn I love her. Amazingly, not one customer noticed or said anything about my crinkled car.

I gave the body shop notice on Friday afternoon after I got word my car was cleared for the weekend. The parts would be in Monday, my wife was off Tuesday, so that was the drop-off time I selected. They said if I was there when they opened, I should have it back Wednesday afternoon. I sweet-talked them into begining paint work on the hood before I showed up with the car and the 50% deposit, to placate to my desire of maximum cure time. (Also, I had been wanting to have a window retinted for a while due to minor damage from being clawed at for 3 years by drunk people, and when the shop foreman did his best to remove a stubborn regulatory sticker from it but gave up when film began to tear, I siezed the opportunity of down time to have it corrected by DALO the original tinter first thing Monday.) When I stopped for coffee on the way to the body shop that Tuesday morning, a second person at the gas station thought to inform me of my open hood.

I met and made my pleas with the body shop crew to explain to them how much the car meant to me and I would bribe them with a box of doughnuts if I could go behind closed doors and photo-document the process. They were all very accomodating, pleasent professionals and I would use them again. Forgive the plug, but since someone is likely to ask, it was CarStar Collision at 9425 Midland Blvd in Overland, Missouri.

Since I took this job I quickly realized the unique dilemma of it, in that you live in a constant state of "I never HAVE to work, but I always CAN work." One constantly questions and debates whether or not to be lazy or ambitious, to call it a day or take one more fare because of the relentless potential opportunity of it being big money. Well, that is how it affects me anyway. So I found it to be a strange feeling to be away from a car, and thus this potential that I am never more than 300 feet away from 99% of the time. However, I did my best to use this experience to enjoy a true night off.

Miraculously, the amended parts list after taking off the broken bits only added a $51 piece of plastic something or other. I do have a new small tear in the bumper cover, which I cheated on as it is rather negligable. The shop kindly reinforced it with some fiberglass for me. They also had to add in the 3 underhood stickers I insisted on in my desperate attempt to keep her as original, proper and correct as I could afford. The revised bill: $1884.84 The repair was performed at 218,117 miles and I got her back Wednesday afternoon as promised and of course, put her right back to work. This was 1390 miles ago.

Here are the invoice highlights:

Grille: $155
Headlamp, right side: $320
Hood: $440
Radiator deflector: $51
A/C Label: $6
Warning Label: $12
Emission Label: $60 (I know right? Apparently because they are custom-printed to the car)
Paint & Materials: $179
Labor: $558

So, while I have much better things to blow 1900 bucks on, I know it all could have been far worse, and I am pretty grateful for that. She is fully recovered and lives proudly to fight on, albiet with a tiny scar from that 200 pound rat I will always resent. A war wound I guess. By all accounts, this car ain't meant to be tough, but I wouldn't dare tell her that.

Now, without further ado, the moment you all have been waiting for, gory pictures!









Below is the scene of the crime. This is the 7800 block of Gravois Rd. I was in the right lane, a mistake in hindsight as that would have possibly made the difference. Car is facing direction of travel, ahead within a half a mile is the St Louis City Limit. There is 10 miles of St. Louis County suburbia behind me. He came from the parking lot through those trees. This area is lined with buildings very near the road. To the left is a cemetary, where one would be more likely to expect a deer I guess but our theory is he was scavenging the trash cans. Notice there are no street lamps, and don't be fooled by my trick photography, it is very dark here. Everyone in the know is amazed that this happened here where deer are much more rare than the territory I frequently romp in, where my "deer-dar" is far more active. I admit is was down due to the location.



Here are some shots in the repair shop:








The impact dented my 2Micron filter. It didn't leak obviously but it is being replaced at next service. This means finding out how long it takes to clog has been delayed, as 28k miles of testing go down the drain.




Well, there you have it. I might love the car more than ever and I don't care who knows it or how irrational that seems. If she spontaneously combusted tomorrow, the good times and her loyalty thus far cannot be taken away or questioned, but she seems to want to live on despite the odds of the harsh destiny I have thrust upon her.

I'm sorry guys, (sob) I just get a little emotional, but I just want to hug this thing sometimes!
 
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FVWVWF

Veteran Member
Joined
Sep 18, 2011
Location
Canada
TDI
Sold - 2012 TDI Highline Manual
Nice license plate. :D

PS. You should write a book someday, reading your last post seems you got the skills.
 

fowvey

Veteran Member
Joined
Jan 11, 2014
Location
Phoenix
TDI
(2014 Jetta TDI DSG) -Gone, but not forgotten, 2014 Audi A6 TDI
Wow, what a story.

IIRC there was a European mandate to have hoods "bonnets" raised from the engine ever so slightly and in a way so that if a pedestrian or some other object were to hit it, they would not be hitting the engine immediately and would have some leeway. Perhaps not with the Mk6 but just something I thought of when reading this.

Good to hear that she's back in runnin shape.


Lucky dog or tragic victim? All of the above please :D
 

kjclow

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Apr 26, 2003
Location
Charlotte, NC
TDI
2010 JSW TDI silver and black. 2017 Ram Ecodiesel dark red with brown and beige interior.
I agree with your boss. That is very little damage from a field rat. Glad to hear that you're already back on the road.
 

beam_panhard_tdi_2013

Veteran Member
Joined
Aug 13, 2013
Location
Jordan, Minnesota
TDI
2013 Jetta TDI 6MT Premium
Sometimes there is only that much one could do. Dozenspeedz has been taking care of his car all the time. Glad you are safe and your car is back to good condition:)
 

2micron

Vendor
Joined
Mar 23, 2012
Location
Canada
TDI
None
Lucky Dog

Dozenspeed, it is clear your car is certainly a "Lucky Dog!!" No matter what happens to your car, it is truly an inspiration to us all!!
Your Germexican Princess is in better shape @ 217K miles than most cars with 17K miles.
Great work, sorry to hear about the accident, but we all love the story!!
All the best!!
Andrew
 

TomJD

Veteran Member
Joined
Jul 9, 2010
Location
St. Louis
TDI
2000 Jetta TDI GLS, 2015 Golf TDI
The hood is so shiny that is makes it hard to see damage with the light. That gave me a good laugh knowing your OCD over maintaining this cab.
 

Dozenspeed

Top Post Dawg
Joined
May 1, 2012
I appreciate all your kind comments everyone. :) I wasn't all that keen on sharing this story, but 2micron urged me to. Everything has been hunky-dory since, and she's been through oilhammer's hands since. We elected to not relpace the 2 Cat filter just yet since it is not leaking or constricting flow. So the tabulation continues but I need a new gauge- brake cleaner ruined the sight lens!
 

JaredC01

Veteran Member
Joined
Aug 20, 2011
Location
St. Louis, MO
TDI
2015 Passat SE - 6MT
Do you have your old headlight by chance? I'm looking for a broken one to experiment with.

Sent from my LG G3 using Tapatalk
 

JaredC01

Veteran Member
Joined
Aug 20, 2011
Location
St. Louis, MO
TDI
2015 Passat SE - 6MT
I do! I was going to play with it maybe, but instead perhaps I'll just observe you mess with it. :)
I'm up for that. First and foremost is finding the best way to cut them open, last time around it wasn't the best. I have a fresh set waiting for mod work, but I'd like to have a test subject before butchering more good lights.

Sent from my LG G3 using Tapatalk
 

Dozenspeed

Top Post Dawg
Joined
May 1, 2012
Today is the 4th anniversary of the purchase of my TDI, and her odometer currently reads over 1/4 million miles. Convenient, eh? :p



So yes it is time again for a little self-indulgent brag fest of pictures showing how she looks today, after 4 years, one-quarter million miles, and some estimated 9500 engine hours and 18,000 paying passengers; post the annual "dewinterfication" where I attempt to detail to the nines.....









I confess, that is a new front bumper. More on that later....



Gratuitious door jamb shot....



An engine shot, even though I didn't finish detailing it.....

 
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Dozenspeed

Top Post Dawg
Joined
May 1, 2012




Below I'm trying to illustrate the carpet fade and the trim wear on the most-trafficked carpet mat...



Below: Best shot of trunk I could manage....





Below: Steering wheel is still nice! (Sorry, most taxi steering wheels look like a dog chewed it)



Below: Knob is nice, a couple tiny wear and tear holes in the shift boot, if you can see that....



I still don't know what to do about this impending doom....

 
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Dozenspeed

Top Post Dawg
Joined
May 1, 2012
After multiple incidents in recent months with furry creatures, I splerged on a new front bumper for $828. I've been fairly questioned on this, but I'm the one who gets to run the car and control the money for it's condition. In vein of trying to keep her as cherry a working cab can reasonably be, I just hated the front being tatty. Getting the paint right with the original type and color was questionable...and....well first here is a pic showing what was bugging me:



Close up of the rock scrape:





The above shot (from below) clearly shows the crack from raccoon 2. Also damaged was the fender lining (2) and the front "spoiler" (1). (3) went mia and that is a replacement.



Porn shot!

Below is where we had a problem:



Yes as I'm sure you can see even in the photograph that the bumper does not match despite efforts to use the same exact stuff! The top under the headlights was also incomplete. Turns out the painter didn't realize which end was up. The underside was gorgeous! Poor bastard had to strip back all the way to the material and do some 13-step process reserved for cheap aftermarket bumpers.

But anyway, two days later and here we have the world-famous oilhammer fitting the second attempt.



Final result: (Before I had to drill the license holes)




So in conclusion, all is a well as ever. :)

Oh, almost forgot, a shot of rear factory brake pad!




Replaced parts to date:

Horn (twice, oem, then Hella twin)
Wiper motor (oem, also bad)
Wipers (one set)
Battery
Tires (on set 6, inexpensive tires every 50k)
Right rear door seal (due to passenger wear)
Headlamps (total of 21)
City lights (2)
Brake lamp (1)
Tail Lamp (3)
Licence lamp (2)
Front sidemarker (2)
Timing belt, waterpump, etc (twice)
(This NOT counting maintenance filters done on schedule)

Body parts:

Hood
Pass headlamp fixture
Grille
Inner grille support
Bumper cover
LF wheel housing liner
Front spoiler/splitter
Driver front grille cover
Logo Wheel Caps (3, fell off)
Hood Stickers


I bought a second set of oe wheels. I have rotated 2 of them in the latest set of tires since 249,816. Switched out the one bent one.

Add-ons:
Panzer plate
2micron Pure (~157k) and Contain (~190k) flow Kits
Various taxi equipment and electronics.

Recalls done:

Something with a fuel injector line
Something to do with seat mounting
They swapped out my crome tip with a shorter one


Code history:

The n75 turbo boost controller quit at around 183k. Resoldered the fray wire and fine since.

P2015 at ~198,3xx. Lived with it for a while, then "fixed" it with a zip tie. 50k of free codeless miles since.


What is currently imperfect with the car, functionally:

The radio does not recognize the CDs in it. Hoping a power source reboot might fix.

The wiper motor still makes noise

The right rear window auto-up function does not work from the driver door


Pretty sure that is EVERYTHING.


End of line.
 
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oilhammer

Certified Volkswagen Nut & Vendor
Joined
Dec 11, 2001
Location
outside St Louis, MO
TDI
There are just too many to list....
I should add that this is, by far, the nicest, cleanest, best cared for taxi cab in the area, possibly on the planet. I am one of the lucky few who has ever driven it besides Vince, and I will say it runs and drives as good as new. It is holding up quite nicely.
 

kjclow

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Apr 26, 2003
Location
Charlotte, NC
TDI
2010 JSW TDI silver and black. 2017 Ram Ecodiesel dark red with brown and beige interior.
Haven't I seen that face on the wall in the post office?

Looks great for that many miles. My wife looked at and said that we are all obsessed and need real lives. I told that was your real life and she just rolled her eyes.
 
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