Small hole in turbo

Recently I had my TDI in for an oil change. During the summer I noticed I would smell exhaust in the cabin from time to time with the windows open. I asked the dealership to inspect the exhaust system for any problems while they had it in for the oil change.

They reported back to me saying the exhaust is in pristine condition for it's age, but they found a tine a hole in the turbo during the inspection. He went to tell me that replacing the turbo with 221K miles on the car is not worth it. That the turbo is more expensive than the car is worth. I would be fine driving it until the hole got bigger.

When I told them to inspect the exhaust, they took it that I needed the car inspected. Even though my inspection sticker does not expire until 10 of 2019.

I'm not sure what I should be looking for to know the hole is getting bigger. What indicators will tell me that it's too big and time to replace the car? Sluggish power when stepping on the gas? A drop in gas mileage? I still get 44.3 mpg on average as tracked by Fuelly.com app on my phone.

Thanks

A place that sells cars is trying to tell you to buy a new car instead of fixing your current one.

A hole in the turbo is very unlikely. Even if it was the turbo, it would be worth replacing and keep on driving. It's probably a leaking EGR cooler.

Even if you had to replace the cam, EGR cooler and turbo, it'd be worth keeping the car. Many of these cars have seen well over 400,000 miles with no signs of slowing down after those troubled items are taken care of. Fixing your car is cheaper than a car payment, and the new VW gas engines are having far worst issues after 60,000 miles than the BRM gremlins.

Sounds like you need a second opinion.

The turbo itself is a huge piece of cast metal... very very very unlikely it has any kind of hole.

More likely to be a gasket or the downpipe.

Also don't know that I'd throw out an entire car for the want of a turbo, even if it did need one. Couple grand (including labour), back on the road with your favorite car that gets great fuel economy and is getting harder to find... might be worth it.

If it's the turbo. Which it probably isn't.

crazyrunner33 said:

A place that sells cars is trying to tell you to buy a new car instead of fixing your current one.

A hole in the turbo is very unlikely. Even if it was the turbo, it would be worth replacing and keep on driving. It's probably a leaking EGR cooler.

Even if you had to replace the cam, EGR cooler and turbo, it'd be worth keeping the car. Many of these cars have seen well over 400,000 miles with no signs of slowing down after those troubled items are taken care of. Fixing your car is cheaper than a car payment, and the new VW gas engines are having far worst issues after 60,000 miles than the BRM gremlins.

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I think I came across wrong. I'm not looking for a car payment nor do I think that anytime soon my car will die. Honestly I believe that this car will last me a good 10 years or more if I continue to take care of it. I did take the dealership at face value that there is a hole, and wondered what indicators I might see when the hole got bigger.

That said I do appreciate that suggestion of replacing parts. I would take it to another mechanic for a second opinion before even going down that road. Other than the slight smell of exhaust from time to time with the windows open in the summer, I've not noticed any decrease in mileage or performance from the car.

More disturbing is that you went to the dealer for an oil change. They couldn't even get that right. Did you pay for the new inspection sticker?

mohawk69 said:

More disturbing is that you went to the dealer for an oil change. They couldn't even get that right. Did you pay for the new inspection sticker?

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God no. They are not that bad. I've purchased three cars from them going back to 1987 (1988 VW Fox) and have dealt with them more with the purchase of this vehicle.

That said, I need to get back to changing my own oil. Not only that I want to start doing more of my own routine maintenance.