Volkswagen Jetta 2005 and earlier

vocus

I don't know what other people do to their cars, I know I treat mine right and that's all that matters.

I said I was thinking about selling the car soon, but I still wanna treat it right so the next person can enjoy it as much as I have.

venus537

i basically committed economic suicide on a grand scale. i traded in a lease car (with over two years remaining) where the pay off was much higher than what the dealer gave me to take it off my hands. i felt really screwed when i saw what the dealer was asking for my old car. i'm determined to sell my current car myself when that new car itch needs to be itched.

good luck with your situation. it's nice to have a car that should get a good price on the used car market. relatively speaking. if i remember correctly, justin sold off his first jetta for the same reason you are thinking of doing so. you may want to seek his advice (if you haven't already done so).

vocus

You are right, I forgot about that. I have talked to him about that before actually.

So you traded in a leased car with negative equity, eh? I did the same thing with my Protege, although I owned the car. It didn't keep its value very well (lost ~40% in the first year), and I lost money on it. It's good to know that if I wanna sell this car, even though I have 25K miles on it already, that I will get very close to what I owe on it. VWs seem to hold their value extremely well.

justin

let me know how it goes. i wish the best for you, but i don't have a good feeling. there is a leftover midnight blue 2002 Miata LS 6 speed with ABS at my local mazda dealer waiting for me i know i can't get out of my car, but if you can get out of yours, owing MORE than i do, than i might have some luck!

keep me posted. now is the time to buy leftover 2002 convertibles! i want that car!

vocus

Don't Mazdas have 0% interest for 5 years? I thought they did. If you get 0%, getting out of the car might make sense and you might end up paying the same in the long run.

justin

..have 0% for 5 years, but then the price of the car is $24669. if I don't take the financing, then i can get the car with rebates for $22533. i want Mazda to follow Ford's lead, and offer financing specials, AND rebates the car MSRP's for $26295.

vocus

They have rebates on Miatas now?!?!? That's the first time I have heard that. And do they have a bunch of Miatas left or something? I am surprised by that.

bpeebles

VERY VERY BAD FOR ENGINE

With all due respect to folks reading this. I have concerns about anyone that thinks a computer chip can protect against stupidity. If this were true... some of peoples engines should not even start ;-)

Revving a cold engine is just plain stupid. One should drive with moderate load until fully warmed up. (no load (idling/reving) is worse)

Even if the engine was fully up to operating temp, reving in neutral (no load) causes unusual loads on the pistons. (they try to fly off of the ends of the conn rods and may even hit and damage rings on wear-ridge)there is a REASON there is a tool called a "ridge-reamer"!

People that start an engine in the winter and let it IDLE till warmed up are also damaging the engine. Again... I have seen the insides of engines that have endured this treatment.

Unless you have actually held a piston or a camshaft in our hand and seen the damage, you are only guessing at what damage you are truly doing.

All of my vehicles go well beyond 150,000 miles before they RUST out... One has 207,000 miles
I just wish the bodys would last as long as the engines;-)

I LOVED MY RABBIT_PICKUP... but it rusted out at 162,425 miles.

vocus

So how are you suppose to warm up an engine then? My car sits for 60-90 seconds, then I drive off, gently, until the operating temperature is up.

Also, my Bonneville would not go over 4000rpm in Neutral, I hit the gas by accident once and found that out. And most Toyotas will not go over 4000rpm until their engines are warmed up, I found that out in a RAV4 rental.

protege_fan

BPebbles said,
"Revving a cold engine is just plain stupid. One should drive with moderate load until fully warmed up. (no load (idling/reving) is worse)"

vocus

Thanks for pointing that out. I gotta stop reading this site and working at the same time.

justin

it is Friday. going to keep my observations to myself

vocus

Dang, everyone go on vacation at once?

I opened the hood on Sunday to check the oil (got it changed 2 weeks ago), and found they spilled a little oil on the engine cover. It happens, so that's cool. But the VW symbol off the engine cover is gone! I called the dealer and told them about it, and they said they would replace it. That's cool, but it's still weird that they took it off in the first place...

protege_fan

Is there a reason that it would have to come off? Sounds like good ol' fashioned theivery to me.

chmeeee

Perhaps they assumed you were the typical know-nothing dolt that doesnt even know how to open the hood. There are some people that would probably never even notice that.

vocus

Not one little SPEC of anything can be different about my car without noticing it, so apparently they were wrong.

vocus

Yes, there is a reason the symbol came off. It was taken off! When they changed the oil, they spilled some on the valve cover (I can see where they TRIED to wipe it up), and I think they took out the emblem to clean it up and didn't put it back. I know someone else who got their symbol taken as well, but not at the dealer. Anyway, I talked to the dealer this morning and they will be replacing it.

justin

this morning. when i told the woman that the coolant light came on, she said, have you filled the car with coolant? i was like, no, i did not even (and don't ever plan to) check it, considering you just serviced the car 400 miles ago! she tried to get smart and opened the hood - coolant level was fine. then she said that the coolant sloshes around, and it can trigger the light once in awhile. i told her, i am sure that is true, but my light came on in my drive way first thing in the morning. poor girl. hopefully everything checks out okay. i have not seen the light since i revved the engine that morning (clearing my throat here, haha)....:)

vocus

Revving the engine didn't fix it though. You probably shook the engine and leveled the coolant off when you did that. Is your driveway on a slant? I think the coolant sensor is on the left side of the tank, because the light only comes on when I park with the car leaning to the right a slight bit (right side of the street). I parked in the same spot over the weekend though, and the light didn't come on. (I added some coolant the other day when it came on, just to be safe.) I am going to bring the issue back up again when I take the car in for the engine sybmol that they stole though.

justin

Vocus - someone stole part of your engine? for what? is this like what they do to Integras and Civics? steal stuff to put on other cars?

that is scary. insurance rates will start going up if that is the case....bad news.

brainlessbozo

For the last few (3-4) months, I am more aware of a humming sound coming from the front wheels when I turn my 2000 Jetta (2L 4 cyl). Upslope, downslope, level-doesn't matter. Power steering fluid is OK. I only have 25K miles on this car. Its a leased car, and I have an extended warrenty for another year.

Also, there has been some difficulty starting up in the morning. The engine seems to "miss". The RPM does not climb above 400-600, and the engine dies. After 1-2 tries, its OK, and also for the rest of the day. I dread trying to start my car after leaving town for a week.

Where is the problem? Pick up is great, so I don't think its the fuel pump. Maybe fuel relay?

vocus

When you open the hood, there is a blue/white VW symbol on the engine. They stole that. It's only cosmetic, but the thing is it was mine and someone from the dealer stole it. It doesn't really bother me that it's gone, but the way they got it was unethical and something I would not expect from a dealership's service department.

pat

Stole? Mebbe they just forgot to put it back....

(sorry, I seem to be in a buttinsky mood today. )

vocus

If Kelly Rowland (from the music group, Destiny's Child) can use "Stole" as one of her song titles, I can use the word as well to describe the badge rape that my Jetta had to endure..

newcar31

It either fell off, or they stole it. There is no need to take it off for anything because it's attached to the engine cover and the engine cover comes off.

newcar31

I would declare WAR on that dealership.

pat

newcar -- earlier, Paul said "I think they took out the emblem to clean it up and didn't put it back" after an apparent oil-spill. Seems like something that could have easily just been forgotten/overlooked and not something done on purpose.

That's all I meant.

Paul -- don't even get me started on the (mis)usage of the term rape.

Okey-doke, going back to lurk mode now.

:-)

newcar31

It's a chrome badge that is attached to the engine cover. Either the badge fell off when they removed the engine cover or somebody stole it. If it fell off, they should have noticed. At best, the dealer tech is inept because he/she should have noticed the missing badge and replaced it. At worst, the dealer tech is a thief. Either way, it sucks.

vocus

It's noticeable where the oil was spilled on the engine cover. They didn't remove the engine cover to clean it, they just wiped it up. The badge was right next to where they spilled the oil. I will give them the benefit of the doubt, and think that they forgot to put it back on the engine. I don't wanna think they stole something from my car. Especially since this is where I bought the car from.

Also, there was a problem with the invoice as well when I got the car. There was a coupon for wiper blades at $15 a pair, and they charged me $15 each for them. I brought it to their attention, and I got my next oil chnage free for that mistake, without argument (I was surprised). It doesn't make sense that they would steal the badge, especially since they work for a VW dealership and can probably get these badges for nothing.

newcar31

I am not sure how the badge is fastened to the engine cover or how easy it is to remove. Regardless, they should have noticed, ESPECIALLY since they spilled oil near it and had to wipe it up. I wouldn't even try to pull something like that when I worked at Jiffy Lube.

vocus

I know there are 4 holes there where the badge was secured. I would think it would be a little work (not much) to get off. I am going to talk to the service manager about it, at least.

It might seem that I am making a big deal out of something, but to me they (may have) taken something off my car that wasn't theirs. People I am trusting to work on my car are stealing from me? I think NOT. Since I don't know for sure if they left it off by accident, I am going to tell the service manager about it, and not blame anyone. They will cover the part though, I already called this morning and they told me they would.

protege_fan

It might seem that I am making a big deal out of something, but to me they (may have) taken something off my car that wasn't mine

Say what?

vocus

Sorry, I made a boo-boo. I fixed it.. :0

protege_fan

I think petty theft occurs more often than we'd all like to believe.

A piece of gum, some loose change, etc. And those are in areas the customer would be sitting in...I don't think it's too far fetched to believe that one might take an emblem from under the hood.

Anyway, maybe the emblem got too dirty and couldn't be cleaned, so the tech just took it off and didn't bother replacing it.

Good idea not blaming anybody and just mentioning it as you don't know what really happened.

vocus

I will believe that they did take the emblem off to clean it and forgot to replace it. And VW is going to replace it anyway, but still...

blueguydotcom

i think they took it hoping he'd be so angry he'd never come back.

Service Manager, "his car is back for the 10th time this month. We gotta find a way to keep him away from here. I got it...just take something off his car, then we'll deny it ever happened."

Mechanic, "You want me to steal?"

Service Manager, "Nah, think of it as just saving us a huge amount of time and energy with this screwball. His car is here more than mine. Hopefully he'll be so miffed he'll go to the other dealership."

Good Customer Relationship Management includes knowing when to end an unprofitable relationship with a consumer. Maybe they tried to make the decision for Vocus.

vocus

Screwball? Geez, thanks.

And I usually never get service done at the dealer either, but the car was there already for something, so I figured I would do it. They also had a coupon online that I used as well.

That'll teach me, trying to get two birds killed with one stone.

fish8

I also have a "slight" humming coming form my car when I turn. I have a 2002 Jetta 2.0. It sounds like the power steering pump. It does not sound that severe so i am not worrying about it. I think it is probably normal.

vocus

I went to grab a coffee at Starbuck's last night, and ran into a friend who is a VW mechanic. I told him about the engine symbol thingie missing, and that I thought it was stolen. He enlightened me with the fact that they are glued on to the engines, not fastened in any way. He said from the engine heating up and cooling down, over and over, the glue can melt and the emblem can fall off. I am glad I ran into him last night, otherwise I might have gone into the dealership and said something I could have regretted. Well I feel better now that it probably came off rather than was taken off. But I am surprised that VW wouldn't fasten these to the car. Oh well, in my experience, their fasteners need replacing sometimes as well.

vocus

Well hello stranger! Where have you been? How's the Jetta holding up?

justin

and low and behold, i had to park in the driveway again last night instead of the garage. guess what light was blinking after i started the car this morning??? yup. of course, i just shut down and restarted - no light. my car does not like sitting on hills overnight for some reason.

no biggie. all of my change was in my ashtray when i got my car back too. they actually did fire the person that stole from me last time, hopefully.

vocus

I am telling you, every time you park on a slant the light will come on, until you add some coolant. I added some before because of this, and the dumb mechanic said I overfilled the tank. If I did, it was by a little tiny bit, because I didn't add that much fluid to it. Anyway, they drained it to the level it should be at. And lo and behold, the damn light came on when I parked on a right incline again.

What incline is your driveway? Is it backward, or to the side? Just curious, and trying to prove my theory.

justin

i have to drive UP into my garage. my driveway does not lean right or left, but the hood of my car sits higher than the trunk when i park in the driveway instead of in the actual level garage.

anonymous02

Don't worry, he's going to be parking in the back yard soon, if his Jeep Wrangler search is fruitful.

fish8

Hey Vocus!!!!

I have been around. I went away for a long weekend and just got back Sunday. My Jetta is actually doing great. It seems like the rattles have gone away for the time being. I still need to get the dealer to fix the plate around the light switch when my car is serviced again. The noise associated with that has not appeared again.

justin

do i have another Edmunds stalker?

anonymous02

I was gonna ask you that!

(Hey, you have good taste, what can I say?)

vocus

I have heard from VWVortex.com that VW sent letters to a couple people, stating they know the problems with the window regulators, and extending the warranty on them to 7 years with unlimited mileage, also including reimbursals for previously paid for repairs. I don't know if the letters are going to everyone, but I know at least one or two people have gotten them already. Maybe VW is finally admitting this problem, it took them long enough!

beanboy

So things are falling off the VW eh? If you had a Neon, you wouldn't have to worry about engine cover emblems...

-B

vocus

I would have to worry about alot more than engine covers if I had a Neon, from my experience with my ex-roomate's. At the same mileage my car is at, he had to have the radio, power steering pump, and front strut replaced already. And the dashtop pad cracked in half as well.