TopherDI
Veteran Member
So its time, after having bought my new to me 2013 TDI about two years ago and only driving “ole smokey” on the occasional weekend its time to get her to a new loving home.
In 2008 when I picked her up my commute was 142-miles/day. A family member was selling his TDI because the clutch was too heavy for his wife and he was convinced that it needed a new turbo (I test drove it in limp mode which didn’t help convince me that I was going to love this car). That’s how I found this site, I knew the way he drove the car (babied it) and was able to get to the point that I was positive the actuator was the issue. So he discounted the price of the car, $1,200 to replace the turbo and the moment that I got it home I tore off the intake manifold, which was nearly 90% clogged, replaced the actuator put it all back together and she was a new beast. He was right, and I put over 200K-miles (339K total) on her over the course of the next 6 years.
Now while this new beast was fun to drive, the site took me deeper into the dark side and in 2010 I started wanting more. That’s when the mod bug bit and I followed the tried and true road map to power, performance and economy.
Motor and Trans:
2.5” downpipe from IDParts to stock midpipe
Mufflerectomy
PP502 nozzles from Kerma
DC Stage 1 clutch from Bora Parts
RocketChip Stage 3+ Custom tune
DieselGeek EGR Delete
Couple of 100K Timing belt jobs
Mobil 1 full synth
While during the mod period I did have to replace the fuel pump and the turbo (eventually) but decided to stick with the stock sizes for both of these items. When I got the tune I was a little unhappy with its roadside manner in stop and go traffic where she was a little too smokey under light throttle conditions. I had RC modify the tune to what in his words was that the first third of the throttle would be strong but smokeless and the remaining 2/3rds would get a little wild. I love the setup and drove it for 4 years of perfectly dependable, powerful and economical driving. Car can be both well-mannered and completely loud, smokey, rude and of course pretty quick. So she had the heart of a beast that set her apart, so now it was time to make her look the part so we started working on the exterior. With the help of a rear ending and a close encounter with a deer a couple of key elements were changed that really set her apart.
Body:
2005 GLI Trunk Lid (with the subtle lip)
Smoked tail lights
Hood Notch Delete
Badgeless Grille
17” Santa Monica’s
Koni STR.Ts with Sport Springs
O-Bar torsion bar
Obviously – I’m happy with the way she turned out, I think you will be too.
So what’s the deal then? Well couple of issues sprouted and it was time for me to move on. First some very limited rust started to appear, a little bubbling at the top of the drivers side wheel well, a little a the bottom of the passenger side front wheel well and a little where the hood notch was filled in. More importantly it was becoming more difficult to shift and I believe that the shifting linkage bushing has gone south and over the past couple of years of sitting more than driving has nearly completely locked up. The AC has a leak somewhere that must have been the result of the close encounter with the deer, everything was replaced but there is a leak somewhere. One of the last repairs that I did was the heater core though so the heat is strong and all set for years to come. There are other 15 year old car issues, but they are all relatively minor and can easily be addressed.
Long story short (too late I know) – get the shifting sorted out and you’ve got yourself a dependable beast capable of super high fuel mileage if you can behave yourself.
Believe it or not there’s more to the story so if you want more information or want to make an offer, please go right ahead and I’ll give you the LD.
Thanks for looking.
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