new to TDI and VW, Potentially buying 2015 GSW TDI.......any tips will help

[willkeelhaul]

That's great, appreciate your constructive input. Congratulations on engineering an ocean in MO. Impressive. Will you carry the financing, zero down? I am also interested in bitcoin and forex investment, perhaps you could broker some deals?

The slave went out on the highway. We bought a warrantee, assumed everything would be covered. The warrantee won't cover work performed by me or an independent shop. It will only cover work performed by a dealer. The slave is internal, requiring Trans removal and entire clutch replacement. Had I known the warrantee was toilet paper I would have done the job in our garage. Now the job has been done by dealer. Dealer has backed 1k off the charge, bringing it to 3600, which is still nuts. We have not yet paid it because once we do it will be impossible to collect from the "warrantee", with which we are still going back and forth in escalations between various people.

If you have suggestions on how to navigate these waters that do not involve the purchase of fictitious property I'm all ears.

Thank you in advance for your infinite wisdom and kindness.

 

[oilhammer]

Hindsight is always 20/20. The sting of mistakes is usually softened if you learn something and apply it to the future.

If anyone ever asks me (and being an automotive professional for 30 years, they often do) about any additional or extended warranty purchase, I always tell them 'no'. They are like casinos, the odds are against you. They are often just a money-making endeavor for the dealers, as they are sometimes able to make MORE money on that than they did selling the car. Seriously. I've been on the other side of that. Dishonesty at its finest.

But, water under the bridge.

I've probably done 50+ 6sp transverse VAG slave cylinder replacements that failed like yours, and never once "had" to replace the clutch. Because when they fail, the fluid just harmlessly dribbles out the bottom of the bellhousing, it never gets on the friction lining. That is a common failure.

Just a quick easy 6 hr labor to R&R the gearbox, and swap in the new slave/release bearing assembly, a couple mount bolts, and you're good to go. It would have been one of two possible parts, Sachs or Luk, neither one costs more than about $150.

I'd have had you in and out of our shop for about $1300. Next time, you'll know.

 

[RIP TDI]

Slave cylinder seal broke. It is inside the transmission so entire clutch assy is contaminated and must be replaced. Purchased car new in 2017 and bought platinum "drive easy" warranty. The drive easy folks are declining the $4600 (not a typo) repair because the clutch is a "wear and tear" item, regardless of the fact that the clutch needs to be replaced because their slave cylinder is a faulty item which has since been updated with metal where there was plastic.

There is an alternative to replacing with a "like for like" LUK clutch set used in North American applications. European models (including the GTD) use a Sachs clutch set with a one-piece slave cylinder that eliminates the weakness of the LUK's leak-prone two-piece design. The two cylinders are not interchangeable, so you would need to replace as a complete Sachs set. I don't know how effective the updated LUK cylinder is, but the Sachs cylinder has been a known durable part from the get go. Going with Sachs also gives you the option of using their SRE pressure plate if you plan on power upgrades in the future.

If you are at the mercy of a warranty, you may not have a choice here, but the Sachs set is priced comparably with LUK, so if you're out of pocket, its worthy of consideration. Darkside Developments has a comprehensive selection of Sachs Mk7 applications. Stateside, FCP Euro has a smaller selection.

 

[oilhammer]

There are cars sold here with both Luk and Sachs. ETKA however is not always correct with VIN decoding I have found more than once.

 

[RIP TDI]

There are cars sold here with both Luk and Sachs. ETKA however is not always correct with VIN decoding I have found more than once.

CRUAs, though?

 

[oilhammer]

I don't recall on those specifically, but the CJAAs they used both.... I also work on a lot of "spark infected" VAG products, too. They all run together sometimes. I just know I put back in what I took out, and I've taken out both brands, and seen both leak.

 

[Nuje]

Yeah, that's really unfortunate what happened to you with your car - sorry to hear about it.

Similar to @oilhammer, I just don't see how the fluid would've contaminated the friction plate. I don't suppose there's any chance you could ask for the "damaged" parts back (?).

As to the cost, my line of thought would be looking at the service invoice and pointing out all of the things that had to be done to cover the cost of replacing the slave (most of that $4600 has got to me labour, right?); and say - all of the removing the transmission work has to be covered by warranty.

If they decided the clutch needed to be done (I'd ask for an explanation of how it would've been damaged) and they're denying coverage of that, then ok - you pay the $1000 or whatever the clutch costs, plus half an hour of labour to remove and replace.

[Warranties offered by dealers] are often just a money-making endeavor for the dealers, as they are sometimes able to make MORE money on that than they did selling the car.

I'll beg to differ there and way they are sold ONLY as a money-making endeavour. Over the course of your life, if you declined every extended warranty provided to you (electronics, appliances, vehicles, weird Amazon stuff (really?! a $6 warranty for my $20 phone charger?!), yes - at some point, you may be on the hook for the full cost of something that would've been covered by warranty, but (a), getting that fixed under their warranty's terms may be just as costly (or more so as evidenced in your case) and definitely a time suck; and almost definitely (b), you'd come out thousands of dollars ahead.
Extended third-party warranties exist for exactly one reason: To take your money and put it in the pockets of the sellers and warranty companies. And remember their business model is "take money from people; avoid paying out as much as possible".

 

[turbobrick240]

I always decline the add on warranties on everything. Latest was just the other day on a Harbor Freight 6.5hp Chonda clone for my troy built tiller. I gotta say I'm very impressed with the engine so far. Sure, it had some manufacturing residue inside, but a couple oil changes after an hour of running took care of that. Runs smooth as butter.

 

[oilhammer]

We had one of those engines in a log splitter... it didn't make it to its second season. Crankshaft broke in two. With no warning.

Meanwhile, the Briggs engine in the old log splitter (from 1992) still working fine.

Let me tell ya, not much will brown your BVDs like a little engine running full tilt and suddenly blowing chunks of metal and hot oil out the side while you are sitting two feet from it splitting wood. Forget any warranty, they need to sell a schrapnel guard for them!

 

[turbobrick240]

I've had good luck with the Chondas so far. Ordered one for my neighbors log splitter about five years ago and it starts first or second pull every time. And it sees quite a lot of use and abuse every season. He loans it out to anyone on the road who wants to use it, and it might get an oil change once a year. He only runs it at half throttle, but God knows how the other half dozen users run it. Probably does 25-30 cord per year.

The original 8 horse Briggs industrial on my tiller lasted 25 years. The 6.5 Briggs Intek lasted 10. I'd be happy with 5-10 from this Harbor Freight unit. Takes all of 10 minutes to swap out.

 

[JM Popaleetus]

I'll beg to differ there and way they are sold ONLY as a money-making endeavour.

They're just insurance policies.

And for certain things, I pay the premium.

 

[Nuje]

At the risk of totally derailing this thread (and being a total pedant ), insurance and a warranty are quite different products.

Premiums for insurance - absolutely worthwhile.
Home insurance: good idea. Protection against house burning down or pipes bursting, etc.
Car / liability insurance: good idea. You're in a crash and deemed at least partly at fault (assuming no mitigating factors like DUI) - if someone was paralyzed in that crash, you're not having to pay the seven-figure settlement out of your pocket.

Warranties, though...
New home warranty: PITA, barely worth the paper it's written on.
Extended car warranty: see above for the experience of the OP.

 

[JM Popaleetus]

Take AppleCare, Apple's extended warranty program. It has a premium (upfront or monthly), and a deductible for certain claims. How is it not an insurance policy? Asurion and SquareTrade's (Allstate) extended warranties protection plans are literally issued by well known insurance companies.

"Extended Warranties" are insurance offerings. Some are good, some are written to screw you over.

I am aware insurance and warranty are different. But extended warranties and protection plans are not.

EDIT: Though if you really want to get pedantic, I could easily debate that manufacturer warranties (as in actual warranties) can be equally useless. Requires the company to exist and/or honor it. Some VW TDI owners might understand .