Anyone NOT thrashing their TDI or skipping maintenance/upkeep?

[bird67]

Lots of threads about how much you can get away with before turning in the TDI. Financially understandable. But it would be contrary to my automotive nature - it would be really hard for me to let a car deteriorate, go unmaintained, or even get too dirty. GRANTED my TDI, a 3.0, may never be subject to buy-back. But the loaded manual 2014 Golf TDI I traded for the Touareg in May 2015 was too sweet to neglect. I'm sure I would have maintained it to my typical excess. The Touareg now has new winter tires, a fresh coat of winter wax...

Anyone countering the "thrash it before turn-in" thought?

 

[derekmw]

Nope, not going to waste money on the car, and also neither will I spend the time I usually spend detailing the car. Time is money. I clean my other care more frequently instead. I thoroughly vacuum my other car twice a week now. lol

 

[JMFS]

I'm kind of curious how long you can drive a TDI with gasoline before it is ruined. There is a BP station across the street from the dealer I would prefer to turn it to.

 

[Jimbabwe]

Since I don't have an offer yet, I was planning on driving the car for years, and I am waiting for the proverbial unicorn to show up in my replacement car crosshairs, last month I talked my dealer into giving me my $695 40k service for the $500 balance on my VW apology card.
I assumed that they may still be holding onto the belief that I may buy a replacement VW from them.

 

[BuyMeBackSoon]

No thrashing, no driving as it sits waiting for buyback day. I wouldn't spend any money on it if i was driving it.

 

[dmarsingill]

Business as usual for me. Whomever gets mine if I do the buyback, will get a good one.

Donald

 

[JSWTDI09]

Business as usual for me.

Same here. I am driving a depreciation-free vehicle and I am in no hurry to "turn it in". I seriously doubt that they will "fix" 2009 models, but I will eventually allow VW to pay me about double what my car is actually worth to get it off the road. Maybe some time next year when all of the people who feel cheated have finished their "adventure" with VW, I will take VW's money too. There is no other vehicle on the market with the same combination of versatility and economy, so I am in no hurry to stop driving it. I don't put a lot of miles on it, so it will be worth the exact same amount next November as it is today. Sweet!

Have Fun!

Don

 

[Rico567]

We will turn our Passat in for the buyback in two years, at the end of he prescribed period. During that time, we will drive it just as we would if Dieselgate had never occurred, and do maintenance by the manual*. It will then be turned in with all the same parts on it that were there when we drove it off the dealer's lot.

*NB: I just did the 50K engine oil change, and I anticipate doing the 60 and 70K services. I don't anticipate going over 80K, but if that happens, it won't be by much, so I'll probably just do the engine O&F and the fuel filter, and let the DSG go...

 

[nucklehead]

I've been changing the oil/filter every 7k miles since the car was new. It turned 21k a few weeks ago and since I already have the oil (Amsoil Euro Spec 507.?) and oil filter (Mann) filter - and air filter change (already bought months ago) I went ahead and changed those out. So this was the 3rd oil change. No oil consumption whatsoever. I don't have anything that can use the 'Euro-spec' oil so I'll end up with 6 quarts & filter with nothing to put it into. The fuel filter was supposed to be changed at 20k - since the car has 21k and driven very little I'm not going to worry about a clogged filter. Just waiting now for that final hurdle - I turned in the notarized final offer acceptance on Nov. 13th. Each time I log into the VW claims portal it says still waiting for my fax. How long does that take? Another 10 working days? So far that's 5 days and counting.

On a side note - I read here about guys/gals calling the claims center every day or two & some call multiple times per day! People need to be more patient - that would speed this process up for all of us - right?

 

[skinnyb]

I went ahead and parked mine right before the 110K service so I wouldn't need to do it... I also wanted to stay in the 105-110K mile bracket... Pulled my stock tires and wheels from storage that are extremely bald and switched them out... Hoping to get my offer letter soon as mine has been parked for almost 4 weeks now.

 

[CT_Gman]

Both of my cars are well cared for. Washed regularly and garaged. Maintenance is current on both as well. That said, I won't be putting on enough miles to hit another maintenance interval on either of them. I won't be stripping them either.

 

[ericy]

Mine is going to be a nice car for someone. Good condition, even still has a bit of the new car smell in it even though it is 2 years old.

I even ran it through the car wash earlier today.

I was having critters of some sort eating acorns in the engine compartment (they leave the shells behind) - I put a mothball block in there to try and get them to eat elsewhere. We will see how well that works.

 

[fan of fanboys]

at 41K miles I did an oil change and 40K service

I am at 59,8xx miles now and I have not done an oil change or any service since the 41K mark. no car wash, nothing

I am hoping to be out of my car before the end of this year

 

[galoot]

at 41K miles I did an oil change and 40K service

I am at 59,8xx miles now and I have not done an oil change or any service since the 41K mark. no car wash, nothing

I am hoping to be out of my car before the end of this year

i'm right there with you, but at 56k, not touching a thing

 

[TDILeo]

Nope. I don't thrash vehicles. Driving it only sporadically. Now at 7100 miles. Someone will get a good one at turn-in time. For now, the car is comfortably ensconsed in the garage.

 

[Cptcrnch]

As long as I'm making the payments I'll be doing all scheduled maintenance on time, washing and detailing, and driving it with care.

 

[k1xv]

No, not thrashing it. In fact, driving it little, and when I do, conservatively. Don't want to break it two weeks before turning it in!!!

 

[HBarlow]

Mine was recently washed and vacuumed inside, has about a half tank of diesel fuel, a new windshield earlier this year, new Michelins late last year, and received a dealer oil and filter change at 110k miles. Odometer is now at 119,xxx. It has WeatherTech floor mats and cargo mat - still in place.

Registration expired last day of October so it's parked inside a garage awaiting it's last drive to the dealership.

It's a good car that gave me 60,000 miles of reliable, economical, and practical transportation. Fun to drive as well.

I had no plan to sell or trade it but the excessively generous buy back offer and pending scheduled maintenance persuaded me.

The thought of neglecting, damaging, or stripping parts never crossed my mind.

 

[maybe368]

Mine will need its 3 year service in April, if I still have it then, I will do the service myself, I plan on removing the backup camera and fender stereo that I put in, as well as the Panzer plate. Other than that the next owner will get an ultra low mileage (13k) 3 year old sweet car. Being a car guy and a pretty good mechanic, I consider it a sacrilege to damage a mechanical device for spite or any other reason ...Mark

 

[gulfcoastguy]

I'll do the scheduled maintenance on time ,which is when it will get washed, but I won't make any modifications or improvements to it, the original weather tech floor mats had better last. As for flogging it, I'm too old to be a boy racer any more.

 

[s_e]

Did my scheduled maintenance and still taking good care of it. Except: someone spilled some sort of red substance on the side of my car. It mostly came off, but not quite entirely. I was pissed for about 2 seconds. Then I realized it didn't matter

 

[goodysgotacuda]

The car has been a rental to me for the last several months. It's going to need tires and a few other things when it goes back..

 

[Eggieztdi]

Mine is a 2015. I'm sure they will be able to fix it without ruining the reason people buy TDIs (mileage and torque). That said, I want someone to get this car in the future. I will keep in it great shape until then, no stripping. It's garaged, and will stay that way until the buyback date.

 

[atomicfront]

Just did 30k service a couple of weeks ago. It was free. If we keep car until 40k I will do the oil change. No reason not to. I don't want to risk car engine going up and then VW using lack of oil change to not honor power train warranty.

 

[nick1994]

Nope. Front grille is broken, windshield is broken, fuel filter is 12,500 miles past due, oil change is 1,500 miles past due, the 8 month old Pirellis are being taken off and stored in the garage for the Toyota replacement and the cheapest used bald tires on Craigslist are getting spun on for trade in. A/C still only intermittently works and the steering still growls and moans.

VW can have this heap back.

 

[Eggieztdi]

Nope. Front grille is broken, windshield is broken, fuel filter is 12,500 miles past due, oil change is 1,500 miles past due, the 8 month old Pirellis are being taken off and stored in the garage for the Toyota replacement and the cheapest used bald tires on Craigslist are getting spun on for trade in. A/C still only intermittently works and the steering still growls and moans.

VW can have this heap back.

WOW! Lol

 

[VeeDubTDI]

We're keeping up on the maintenance of our Passat, and actually doing some upgrades (18" SEL Bristol wheels just went on) while we continue driving it. Our intent is to sell it back in 2018 when its replacement vehicle becomes available, and until then, we'll enjoy every minute of it. Oh, it just got its AdBlue module replaced under the extended warranty program, too!

 

[Camarones]

Thrashing? No. I move mine enough to keep the neighbors from thinking it's abandoned but I doubt I put more than 10 miles on it since I bought it's replacement in September. It certainly hasn't been washed since then. Seems like every time I start it now there's a new dash light.. coolant low, p2015, etc. Yesterday I did the final clean-out ( never realized how many packs of dental floss were floating around in there!). My buyback appointment is about 3 weeks out, can't come soon enough.

At 115000 miles it has a little less than half what I put on my ALH, probably had a lot left in it. But between fix uncertainty, perhaps another hpfp failure down the road and who knows what else, I decided to move on.

 

[2015vwgolfdiesel]

I'm kind of curious how long you can drive a TDI with gasoline before it is ruined. There is a BP station across the street from the dealer I would prefer to turn it to.

WOW

Would not put too much gasoline in it

Might not make it one mile before you own a heap of nothing

 

[2015vwgolfdiesel]

Keep it clean clean clean

if nothing else ~~~ need to see clearly out of windows

Have joy and pride in my TDI ~~~ mostly ~~~ drove it to Mom's house yesterday ~~~ nice ride.

.... but would scratch the eyes out of the vw thugs