Recent content by JSH1

The Optima Yellow Top I put in my 2005 Prius was $150 and lasted 7 years in Alabama. I replaced it when it started acting up (the Prius is sensitive to low voltage) but it still has enough life to run my trolling motor for the past 4 years.

That was my concern as well but $14,000 for a $28,000 MSRP car with 33,000 miles and a 120K mile warranty was enough to get me to bite. We had a 2003 Jetta Wagon TDI that we had for 10 years / 245,000 miles and loved. This 2014 is a nice car but the mileage is pretty poor at 37 mpg. After 1...

5 years is not bad but my last vehicles went 7-8. At least the battery had the courtesy to fail at home in the garage.

When I bought my Sportwagen the dealer had 220 fixed TDIs on the lot - 65 sportwagens alone. Today he is down to only 77 so I suspect VW is about out of them. The salesman said the dealer got $2000 per car just to take them and then the service department got paid to so the emission rework...

There are no 2020 diesel passenger cars for sale in the USA. That sounds like dead to me.

I replace my original 5 year old battery. I am sure sitting in a VW lot waiting for the emissions update didn't help battery life.

No it isn't. Until recently we had a 2016 Spark EV paired with a 2014 Jetta Sportwagen. The Spark handled my 50 mile commute and trips around down. My wife used the TDI for her 14 mile commute and our trips out of town. We used each car were it worked best. The Spark went back to GM last...

Diesel will be around for decades in the heavy duty market. EVs will work fine for port use, switching trailers, and short depot to depot runs. For long haul it will be diesels for a decade or more. Same with the offroad market. Passenger cars and CUVs for personal use? Diesel is dead.

Diesel are not coming back in the USA and least not for passenger cars. Diesels are dead here and dying in Europe. Now that the EU regulates CO2 and not fuel economy diesels no longer have a 15% advantage due to fuel density. Countries are also getting rid of favorable tax rates on diesel...

I bought a battery at Costco today. Interstate H6(48) AGM for $159.

No. The agreement prevented VW from exporting the cars they bought back. The easiest and cheapest thing to do would have been to buy back the TDIs and export them to a country with lower emission standards. The EPA made VW either fix them or scrap them but they couldn't leave the USA.

I pulled the battery to replace it and found an intake hose with an ID of about 1.5 inches disconnected. What is this hose for and it is possible it was disconnected as part of the emissions Fix or the charge cooler icing problem? https://photos.app.goo.gl/EYqmp2VmpMVhHSjZA This is a 2014...