Greetings fellow TDIers, I finally have the time to announce the purchase of my first TDI.
I bought it off of a forum member. Here is the link for the for-sale add (http://forums.tdiclub.com/showthread.php?t=134772). Kevin was a very straight forward person, pointed out the small chip on the hood and one in the windshield. After test driving the car for a bit, and looking it over, I made my offer for $12,500. I left him with a deposit and we made a contract on the spot stating that it was $500 of total $12,500 for car with VIN XXX. I came back a week later with the cash & my bank check for the loan. THis was probably the smoothest used car purchase I have ever made. Also the most expensive, usually I pay straight up cash & drive the car for 2 - 4 years until it's dead or cancer gets to it on salty VT roads.
A couple of questions about the TDI that I've noticed since buying it. It had 107,7xx on it when I bought it on 20 May. I have put almost 2,500 miles on it the 18 days I've owned it. So I haven't had much time just due to getting to & from some job sites, other work, holidays, and National Guard duty.
Things I've noticed:
1) Engine:
I have a shudder when CC is active, doesn't matter what the speed is, just when the car is going down a slight hill. Steep hills it doesn't do it as much. But almost every time I go down a hill, it will shudder. From what I read, it is a result of IQ with the IP. This car has 5spd nozzles, hammer mod, and a stage 3 Rocket Chip. I have also installed an Old Navy CCV. I don't have a VAG-COM yet, but a friend down the road has one. What settings should I look for, and what are the optimal settings? I'll have to see what the hammer mod set the IQ to and then I'll double check with you guys again to make sure before I make any adjustments. Is the shudder bad for the engine? If it isn't, I'm not was worried about it. If it is bad, then I'll stop driving it until I get it figured out.
I was told by my friend with an '03 TDI to get an Old Man Intake. What is an OMI, what does it do, where do I get it from, and what is the cost?
What is the maintenance interval for the Old Navy CCV? I got one from my friend along with 5 filters for it. What is the source for the filters, or can I just clean them with some K&N reusable filter cleaner?
2) Transmission: I don't like how it shifts. Kevin thinks that there are several modes to the transmission and that it might be in the adaptive mode. I haven't had a chance to verify this. Does anybody know about this? I'm a fairly aggressive driver and when I want to pass someone, I just put my foot to the floor & go. There are not many good places to pass on 2 lane roads in VT, and when I have a spot, I don't like getting close to the end of it. Thank god passing on double yellow lines is legal in VT. If there are other modes for the auto trans, how do I access them & can I fine tune them for summer/winter driving? Also, I read a how-to for changing the filter and oil in the trans. Can that how-to be expanded or does anybody know how to flush/change the fluid in the torque converter? I would like to do a 100% fluid change in the auto trans, after reading that the fluid looked ugly at 80K in some cars, it's time to change the "life time" fluid. Maybe it was designed to be for the life that the first owner keeps the car for.
3) Windshield: It has been very rainy for the last couple of months here, but I've never had a windshield fog us as much as this one. Just a slight bit of heat & humidity makes it fog up. I have to turn the A/C on to ge it to clear up. Sometimes, when I have the A/C on, it's humid enough to keep my wipers on to keep the fog off the windshield.
4) Other: I need a set of steel wheels & hubcaps for my studded hakkas for winter driving. What cars are viable donors to keep an eye out for in the for sale adds? I also need an oil pressure sender adapter block. I need one with 4 outlets. 1 for the stock pressure sender, 1 for the gauge I'll put in the dash, 1 for my Amsoil bypass oil filter, and 1 for the Ams-oiler precharger. I could settle for a 2 or 3 outlet one & use T's, but I'd like to keep it cleaner & have less chance for a leak.
5) I have 110,500 miles on the car now. I changed the oil to Amsoil Euro formula 5w40. I'll go with 7,500 - 12,500 mile oil changes until I get the bypass filter installed. I'm also waiting to get raped by the local dealership for my skid plate, $379 installed. That's for the plate, mounting hardware, and 45 min install. I know it doesn't take that long, but oh well, I don't have the time right now to do it for myself.
6) My friend down the road has off road B100 that I buy off of him every time I'm over at his house. I've gone through about 1/2 of a tank from his supply & then another 1/2 tank at one of the stations with B100. I'm still thinking about if I'll run WVO/SVO and get the spare tire tank or not. It's all time & $$$ dependant. I know it'll save me long run, but I'm still trying to factor in how much time it takes to collect & filter it. Anybody that's doing WVO/SVO, can you give me an estimate on how long it takes to collect & filter it before putting it into your tank? Also, what is the safest kit to use? I mean as far as having the purge cycle set so no WVO goes to the standard fuel tank and no air gets into the system when purging.
7) Keys ... I only have 1 remote & then the vallet key. Where do I get the 2nd key made up? Do I have to go to the stealership for that?
Do you have any tips or suggestions for me? Or links I should look at? I like this car & plan on keeping it longer than my other cars. I currently have 242K miles on my 89 BMW w/ AWD and still going. So at 40K miles/year I should get at least 5 years out of this car if I take care of it. I'll keep the AWD for real icy/snowy/nasty days, that way if I wreck it, I'm only out $5K and not $12.5K.
I bought it off of a forum member. Here is the link for the for-sale add (http://forums.tdiclub.com/showthread.php?t=134772). Kevin was a very straight forward person, pointed out the small chip on the hood and one in the windshield. After test driving the car for a bit, and looking it over, I made my offer for $12,500. I left him with a deposit and we made a contract on the spot stating that it was $500 of total $12,500 for car with VIN XXX. I came back a week later with the cash & my bank check for the loan. THis was probably the smoothest used car purchase I have ever made. Also the most expensive, usually I pay straight up cash & drive the car for 2 - 4 years until it's dead or cancer gets to it on salty VT roads.
A couple of questions about the TDI that I've noticed since buying it. It had 107,7xx on it when I bought it on 20 May. I have put almost 2,500 miles on it the 18 days I've owned it. So I haven't had much time just due to getting to & from some job sites, other work, holidays, and National Guard duty.
Things I've noticed:
1) Engine:
I have a shudder when CC is active, doesn't matter what the speed is, just when the car is going down a slight hill. Steep hills it doesn't do it as much. But almost every time I go down a hill, it will shudder. From what I read, it is a result of IQ with the IP. This car has 5spd nozzles, hammer mod, and a stage 3 Rocket Chip. I have also installed an Old Navy CCV. I don't have a VAG-COM yet, but a friend down the road has one. What settings should I look for, and what are the optimal settings? I'll have to see what the hammer mod set the IQ to and then I'll double check with you guys again to make sure before I make any adjustments. Is the shudder bad for the engine? If it isn't, I'm not was worried about it. If it is bad, then I'll stop driving it until I get it figured out.
I was told by my friend with an '03 TDI to get an Old Man Intake. What is an OMI, what does it do, where do I get it from, and what is the cost?
What is the maintenance interval for the Old Navy CCV? I got one from my friend along with 5 filters for it. What is the source for the filters, or can I just clean them with some K&N reusable filter cleaner?
2) Transmission: I don't like how it shifts. Kevin thinks that there are several modes to the transmission and that it might be in the adaptive mode. I haven't had a chance to verify this. Does anybody know about this? I'm a fairly aggressive driver and when I want to pass someone, I just put my foot to the floor & go. There are not many good places to pass on 2 lane roads in VT, and when I have a spot, I don't like getting close to the end of it. Thank god passing on double yellow lines is legal in VT. If there are other modes for the auto trans, how do I access them & can I fine tune them for summer/winter driving? Also, I read a how-to for changing the filter and oil in the trans. Can that how-to be expanded or does anybody know how to flush/change the fluid in the torque converter? I would like to do a 100% fluid change in the auto trans, after reading that the fluid looked ugly at 80K in some cars, it's time to change the "life time" fluid. Maybe it was designed to be for the life that the first owner keeps the car for.
3) Windshield: It has been very rainy for the last couple of months here, but I've never had a windshield fog us as much as this one. Just a slight bit of heat & humidity makes it fog up. I have to turn the A/C on to ge it to clear up. Sometimes, when I have the A/C on, it's humid enough to keep my wipers on to keep the fog off the windshield.
4) Other: I need a set of steel wheels & hubcaps for my studded hakkas for winter driving. What cars are viable donors to keep an eye out for in the for sale adds? I also need an oil pressure sender adapter block. I need one with 4 outlets. 1 for the stock pressure sender, 1 for the gauge I'll put in the dash, 1 for my Amsoil bypass oil filter, and 1 for the Ams-oiler precharger. I could settle for a 2 or 3 outlet one & use T's, but I'd like to keep it cleaner & have less chance for a leak.
5) I have 110,500 miles on the car now. I changed the oil to Amsoil Euro formula 5w40. I'll go with 7,500 - 12,500 mile oil changes until I get the bypass filter installed. I'm also waiting to get raped by the local dealership for my skid plate, $379 installed. That's for the plate, mounting hardware, and 45 min install. I know it doesn't take that long, but oh well, I don't have the time right now to do it for myself.
6) My friend down the road has off road B100 that I buy off of him every time I'm over at his house. I've gone through about 1/2 of a tank from his supply & then another 1/2 tank at one of the stations with B100. I'm still thinking about if I'll run WVO/SVO and get the spare tire tank or not. It's all time & $$$ dependant. I know it'll save me long run, but I'm still trying to factor in how much time it takes to collect & filter it. Anybody that's doing WVO/SVO, can you give me an estimate on how long it takes to collect & filter it before putting it into your tank? Also, what is the safest kit to use? I mean as far as having the purge cycle set so no WVO goes to the standard fuel tank and no air gets into the system when purging.
7) Keys ... I only have 1 remote & then the vallet key. Where do I get the 2nd key made up? Do I have to go to the stealership for that?
Do you have any tips or suggestions for me? Or links I should look at? I like this car & plan on keeping it longer than my other cars. I currently have 242K miles on my 89 BMW w/ AWD and still going. So at 40K miles/year I should get at least 5 years out of this car if I take care of it. I'll keep the AWD for real icy/snowy/nasty days, that way if I wreck it, I'm only out $5K and not $12.5K.
