It’s too early for Christmas:( (major fault codes)

MacTechG4

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 7, 2019
Location
Sector ZZ9 Plural Z Alpha, Milky Way Galaxy, Sol s
TDI
2012 Golf TDI (DSG)
Just had a very irritating experience with my CPO TDI Golf (52,000 miles or so)

Previously I had the radio Bluetooth bug fixed, then the air conditioner solenoid, now...

Was driving and the following lit up;
ABS/Airbag/tire pressure/stability/steering wheel, all yellow, tire pressure and steering wheel were flashing, then went solid, then steering wheel extinguished

Called the dealer, they said it was safe to drive in, I’m now in the lounge, fuming with anger, my bloody MkV Rabbit never Christmas treed on me, even with it’s minor cosmetic issues, it’s been more reliable than the bloody TDI!

Don’t get me wrong, I love how the TDI drives, and love the fuel mileage, I’m just getting pissed about it’s poor reliability so far, I’m second guessing my purchase now, if the bloody Toyota’s weren’t so soulless and boring, I’d likely have considered one of them, but I’m not willing to give up driving enjoyment

If only the Honda Fit wasn’t so bloody anemic....

Oh well, I’ll tough it out for now, but if it keeps being unreliable, I may end up trading out of it...
 

TDI Kovács

Veteran Member
Joined
Aug 29, 2012
Location
🌞Florida🌴
TDI
Two Preban TDI's; One "FIXED" TDI.
Get all the bugs taken care of and then drive on. Keep us updated on what you find out.

I love my TDI's and if/when I have issues, I fix and move on.

Good luck.
 

alext91

Veteran Member
Joined
Mar 26, 2015
Location
Northwood, New Hampshire
TDI
1996 Passat TDI, 2013 Jetta Sportwagen TDI 6MT Pano (Sold), 2015 Golf S 4DR 6MT (Sold), 1999.5 Jetta TDI Tornado Red (Sold)
sorry to hear this! hopefully all will be covered under warranty. Also curious to hear about your dealer experience (assuming your're at Rochester IIRC?) Keep us posted.
 

MacTechG4

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 7, 2019
Location
Sector ZZ9 Plural Z Alpha, Milky Way Galaxy, Sol s
TDI
2012 Golf TDI (DSG)
Update; service said a wheel sensor was blocked and sent bad data, they cleared it, and gave it back, as I was driving off, I hadn’t even gone 1/8 mile from the dealer when they all lit up *AGAIN!*

AAAARRRRRGH!

I’m frelling *PISSED!*

Now my mother has to drive in a half hour to pick me up (no loaners available) and drive me back to my place, more unneeded headaches for her...

Thank the Flying Spaghetti Monster and Dread Cthulhu that I still have my MkV Rabbit as a backup car...

Don’t try to piss me off, TDI, I have no emotional attachment to you right now and I could just as easily trade out of you for something more reliable (it won’t ever be a bloody Prius though, I loathe those things)

Yes, it’s Rochester VW, I don’t fault them, they didn’t *build* the car and seem just as annoyed with the situation as me
 
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TDI Kovács

Veteran Member
Joined
Aug 29, 2012
Location
🌞Florida🌴
TDI
Two Preban TDI's; One "FIXED" TDI.
Just as the two threads I posted....wheel sensor.

So you are threatening to trade you car in because the dealer "cleared" the sensor instead of replacing it and it's acting up again. It's not the cars fault that a part was not replaced under warranty in the first place.

Hope you cool down and give the car a chance.
 

MacTechG4

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 7, 2019
Location
Sector ZZ9 Plural Z Alpha, Milky Way Galaxy, Sol s
TDI
2012 Golf TDI (DSG)
No, not planning to trade it for this incident, as it will be covered under CPO warranty, I was just saying that if the reliability remains poor, I’d have no qualms trading out of it

It was just the irritation talking mainly...

Ironically, when I got back into the MkV Rabbit, it had a burnt out light bulb error light on the dash, turns out the inner right taillight bulb burned out, kind of ironically amusing.

I don’t know of any car on the market that balances fun, versatility and a driver focused feel at a reasonable price like the Golf platform anyway, it’s fun factor outweighs any transient annoyances

The Corolla is soulless and boring
The Prius is the antithesis of fun
I don’t trust Ford product (my first “car” was an ‘88 Escort Pony that *DEFINED* Murphy’s Law)
The Fit is underpowered
The Mazda 3 hatch is about as close as I can get
The Impreza is out of my price range and is hard to find with a manual in my area, and I’m *NEVER* going to own a CVT
I find nothing appealing in Nissan, Chevy or Dodge

The Golf is the only platform that ticks all my boxes
......maybe if Honda released an Element or Fit with a turbo diesel.....
 

MacTechG4

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 7, 2019
Location
Sector ZZ9 Plural Z Alpha, Milky Way Galaxy, Sol s
TDI
2012 Golf TDI (DSG)
Just got a call from the dealer, car is ready, the left rear tone ring was bad, they did a test drive to confirm a solid repair and Christmas is now over :)

We’ll have to see when I pick it up to see if Santa needs to put the car on the Naughty List...

....hmm, as it’s a Diesel, would the traditional “lump of coal” be seen as a “bad” gift, or a “good” gift for a Diesel? ;)
 

MacTechG4

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 7, 2019
Location
Sector ZZ9 Plural Z Alpha, Milky Way Galaxy, Sol s
TDI
2012 Golf TDI (DSG)
It's been over 24 hours since the "Christmas Tree Dash" incident, and the issue has not returned, looks like replacing the tone ring was the correct repair :)

I hope I have no more issues with this car, it's just plain fun to drive.

I was watching an amusing YouTube vid about a fellow New Englander (who lives in Lewiston Maine) who did a road trip from Lewiston to just outside of Richmond Va. in his Chevy Bolt EV, to "prove" that road trips in EV are possible and "easy"...

roughly an 1100 mile trip one way, he had to stop roughly every 3-4 hours to top off his EV at around 20-45 minutes per, and charge up at hotels overnight....

in my Golf, the same trip would only require me to fuel up once, at no more than 10 minutes, and if I wanted to push it, I could make the trip in one day...

Yes, EV's are getting better very rapidly, but this same trip wouldn't even faze a diesel, plus, the Golf has more cargo room than the microscopic (and admittedly cute) Bolt EV, the Golf is still far more practical as a daily driver.
 
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'lectricjeff

Active member
Joined
Mar 23, 2019
Location
Eastern PA
TDI
2003 Jetta Sedan 5 Speed
No, not planning to trade it for this incident, as it will be covered under CPO warranty, I was just saying that if the reliability remains poor, I’d have no qualms trading out of it

It was just the irritation talking mainly...

Ironically, when I got back into the MkV Rabbit, it had a burnt out light bulb error light on the dash, turns out the inner right taillight bulb burned out, kind of ironically amusing.

I don’t know of any car on the market that balances fun, versatility and a driver focused feel at a reasonable price like the Golf platform anyway, it’s fun factor outweighs any transient annoyances

The Corolla is soulless and boring
The Prius is the antithesis of fun
I don’t trust Ford product (my first “car” was an ‘88 Escort Pony that *DEFINED* Murphy’s Law)
The Fit is underpowered
The Mazda 3 hatch is about as close as I can get
The Impreza is out of my price range and is hard to find with a manual in my area, and I’m *NEVER* going to own a CVT
I find nothing appealing in Nissan, Chevy or Dodge

The Golf is the only platform that ticks all my boxes
......maybe if Honda released an Element or Fit with a turbo diesel.....
The Chevy Crize is pretty decent. They make a diesel version of it but they seem hard to come by, even harder to come by with a manual transmission. Chevy actually eliminated manuals completely from the new vehicle line.

It bothers me that in a decade or less most manufacturers won't offer manual in the North American market.
 
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