Phase 2-Extended Warranty Starts Over

I purchased a 2015 Passat TDI 6MT in September 2019 from a dealer in Milwaukee. Love the car. It has only had Phase 1 done. It had 49K on the odometer when I purchased it.

The extended warranty pamphlet says that phase 2 will be due when the care passes 70K miles. When phase two is completed the extended emissions warranty will reset for another 5 years/60K miles (whichever comes first).

What I am wondering is, can I just wait until I get the DPF failure/replace codes on the MFI? If the car goes to say 120-130K miles on the original SCR/DPF/DOC the warranty would then extend for another five years or 60k miles. That would take the care close to 200k with full fuel/emissions warranty coverage.


Why would I want to replace these hardware components right at 70K? This extended warranty would wind up being SHORTER that the 10 year/162K mile "From 1st Date of In Service". I also think it is a little strange that VW says the vehicle "usable life" is 150K miles, but the emissions warranty runs to 162k miles.

So has anyone done any research to know if we can just put off the DPF/SCR/DOC replacement (phase 2) until we actually need it? Is there a calendar date cut off at which VW will no longer supply the parts? Maybe the original 10 year warranty from in service date? That would mean 2024-2025 for most 2015 model year vehicles. If a guy could make to 2024 or 2025 and then get the phase 2 done we could potentially have warranty coverage for 15 years.


The reason I ask is I put on around 40K per year. If I can push the warranty to cover me for 200K or more miles by delaying phase 2 as long as possible I could potentially get emissions covered for the TRUE usable life of the car. I would assume 300-500k miles would be the TRUE life of the car when most other components will be worn out or I am just sick of sitting in the same car.

I had a 2009 Corolla 5MT that I totaled in 2019. It had 256K miles on the odometer. When I bought the car it had 18 miles. Did 10K oil changes after the 3 year/36K expired. Never had a problem with it. The car WAS pretty worn by the 10 year mark. Seats were worn out, plastics were turning colors, clips holding on body panels were breaking, the exhaust heat shield fell off three times, etc. Stupid stuff due to plastic being used.

I am currently only using Cenex Roadmaster XL diesel. Haven't bought fuel anywhere else. I pay a little more, but they use additives to increase lubricity, increase cetane, detergents, etc. They guarantee a very low ash rating for reduced DPF regens and reduced soot.

My dealer is using Mobil 1 ESP 5w30 for oil changes. That is about the best oil out right now for TDI's. Buying Hengst fuel filters, etc. etc.

Warranty Period
The warranty period for the “Extended Emissions Warranty” limited
warranty extension shall be the greater of:

 11 years or 162,000 miles, whichever occurs first, from
the vehicle’s original in-service date; OR

 5 years or 60,000 miles, whichever occurs first, from the
date and mileage of Phase 1 of the emissions modification.
At the time of the subsequent Phase 2 modification, the
extended warranty will be honored for 5 years or 60,000
miles, whichever occurs first, from the date and mileage of
the completion of Phase 2

So yeah you could milk it to 200K but I think VW knows the phase 1 fix is hard on emissions equipment, so you may have a hard time reaching 130K without issues. Anything that will require warranty work I think VW will force you into phase 2 fix starting that clock second clock.

Also VW has been designing cars for usable life of only 150K for prob greater than a decade, they are in the business of selling you new cars you know

I think the 150K design life is get the TDI variant engines to pass emissions. Emissions tests require the car to pass when it is at it's "Design Life." If you read the CARB rejection letter for the 2012-2014 MY Passat TDI 6MT it is very specific that the cars must pass emissions tests when at the "design life" of the vehicle.


The three vehicles that were sent for testing all had very low mileage. They ALL passed at the mileage they were sent in at. The test requires a linear mathematical calculation to "estimate" emissions at 150K miles (design life). I am almost positive that is why VW chose 150K. Their internal testing showed that was the mileage that emissions would still pass. Not necessarily when the vehicle would stop working.


The 2015 MY TDI with the EA288 engine didn't need anything for Phase 1 other than a software fix. This removed the cheat software for emissions and modified the amount of DEF being used (increased it in most cases). That is all it did.


The Phase 2 is just replacement of the SCR/DOC/DPF equipment, one additional oxygen sensor and updated software to take into account the additional sensor. The SCR/DOC/DPF are exactly the same as the ones the car shipped with. Phase 2 is NOT going to reduce the amount of emissions from the car. Phase 1 fix does not put out more emissions than phase 2. Phase two is simply an equipment replacement.

My GUESS is that as the DOC wears the amount of NOx, CO, SOF and goes UP! The fact manual transmissions are set at 70K miles would indicate the DOC isn't doing a good enough job at this point to pass emissions. That is why the 70K mark was picked. 40K for the Auto's was most likely picked as the car would be in for DSG flush anyway. The emissions would probably NOT make it to 80K and still be CARB/EPA complaint. After the new DOC/SCR/DPF are installed at 70K miles on the manual transmission the car will most likely meet emissions at 150K. After 150K miles, as the DOC wears out and the DPF begins to accumulate more ash, the car most likely would not meet emissions. Hence the 150K mile design life of the vehicle.

My only concern is making sure the car keeps going down the road without problems for as long as possible. Hence wanting to wait as long as possible before replacing these emissions control devices. The DPF and EGR equipment are my only real concerns as the other components can work at lower capacity and it doesn't affect the driveability of the car.

Looking at the CARB limits for NOx and combined Hydrocarbons, I don't see how most diesel engines meet these limits. I don't see how most gas engines with a turbo meet these limits either. They are so low that it seems like they are designed to push diesel engines off the road.

Nahh 150K is the usable design life of the entire chassis, they just slide what ever emissions system into each car as needed. Heck before dieselgate and extended warranties were a thing, 90% of the emissions system was only federal covered under 2yr/24K. 8yr/80K was only for like 2 things on the car.

We had phase 2A performed at 36K, still stock emissions components, they just added the O2 sensor, I'm thinking she'll last until 100K or so, but I'll be keeping my eye on regen frequency.

December 2018 happened quite some time ago, unless you're a time traveler.

Maybe the 150,000 mile design parameter is what is used for all autos by all manufacturers for things like emissions rules?

Are you absolutely sure only Phase 1 has been done? No matter where you bought it from, they could not legally sell it unless all recalls were completed.

Have you run your VIN at vwdieselinfo.com to verify completion?

Yes. I use vwdieselinfo.com on all prospective 2015s. I pass them by if Phase 2 has already been done. The phase 2 warranty will most likely run out on all but very high mileage cars long before the 11 year, 162k mile warranty will.


All you have to do is look for "Partial" on vwdieselinfo.com to very that ONLY phase 1 has been done.

That doesn't seem to be correct as mine says "partial" but it has had 2A done.

bringing this back from the dead….I just purchased a 2015 GSW tdi 6mt with 244k on the clock. Vin lookup says only phase 1 had been completed. Has anyone gone to VW for phase 2 this late in the game?

They are obligated by the court order to do the fix anytime it is requested.

ummm def think the 164K clock is up on that one, but it'll be interesting to see what the dealer says.

Also the courts and lawyers have moved on to Chevy Bolt EV fires, don't think anyone will care.

What matters is WHEN phase 1 was completed:
Warranty Period The warranty period for the “Extended Emissions Warranty” limited warranty extension shall be the greater of:  11 years or 162,000 miles, whichever occurs first, from the vehicle’s original in-service date; OR  5 years or 60,000 miles, whichever occurs first, from the date and mileage of Phase 1 of the emissions modification. At the time of the subsequent Phase 2 modification, the extended warranty will be honored for 5 years or 60,000 miles, whichever occurs first, from the date and mileage of the completion of Phase 2. The vehicle’s original in-service date is defined as the date the vehicle was delivered to either the original purchaser or the original lessee; or if the vehicle was first placed in service as a “demonstrator” or “company” car, on the date such vehicle was first placed in service.

Personally I was so excited to have this nice long warranty after getting the "fixes" and then realized i could take my buyback money, delete it, have money left over and have a great running car from that point forward and never worry about malfunctions leaving me stranded....

I just got my notice for the Phase 2 70K Cat replacement 2 weeks ago. Funny I rec'd that letter the day after I hit 70K.

I have a related question. My MY 2015 Passat TDI SEL Premium had it's Phase 2A completed on 8/13/2018 at 19,000 total miles. I bought the car from a VW dealer after Phase 1 was already completed on it. As such, I only got Phase 2A, not all the rest of the hardware. My extended emissions warranty (5 years/60,000 miles) will expire on 8/23/2023. I now have 103,000 miles on it. I never got a letter regarding having Phase 2B done on it after it got over 70,000 miles. Can I just take my Passat to a VW dealer and tell them I want Phase 2B completed? And if I can and if they will provide, will m extended emissions warrant be extended to 5 years/60,000 miles from the date Phase 2B is completed on my car?

See you other thread for my reply.

Just bought a 2014 Passat with 68,000 miles. The website says that the emissions modifications have been completed. Is phase 2 only for the 6MT units?

I have a check engine light but it runs good.

is the 11 years and 162,000 coverage specific to certain models

mine lists 10 years and 120,000 miles.

Thanks

deshet said:

I have a check engine light but it runs good.

is the 11 years and 162,000 coverage specific to certain models

Click to expand...

The warranty differs based on generation, see:

Have a club member with VCDS check your CEL.

deshet said:

Just bought a 2014 Passat with 68,000 miles. The website says that the emissions modifications have been completed. Is phase 2 only for the 6MT units?

I have a check engine light but it runs good.

is the 11 years and 162,000 coverage specific to certain models

mine lists 10 years and 120,000 miles.

Thanks

Click to expand...

phase 1 and phase 2 was only for 2015.

2012-2014 was one and done and warranty extension.