MK7 "Random / "Stupid" Questions Thread"

[Conz3]

then I would think you’re set, however I have never upgraded an exhaust on a 1.8 car or changed a rear bumper so please don’t take my word as fact. Verify elsewhere

I will be looking elsewhere but everywhere I’ve looked has currently said the same thing,thanks for your input mate it’s much appreciated

 

[cb1111]

I'm looking at a new 2019 Alltrack SEL DSG - under 10 miles on the odo - and has been sitting on the lot for 400 days.

What maintenance should the dealer do before I pick it up if I decide to buy it? I'm thinking:

Oil change
New battery?
Alignment - nothing to do with time, but many (most? all?) of these seem to come from the factory misaligned.
Cabin air filter

Not sure what to do about the tires or brakes (other than clean off the topical rust from the rotors)

what else am I missing?

In the early 80's, I bought a new 3 year old Ford Granada that had been sitting at the port in Germany the whole time. I drove it for 4 years without any issues (new battery) and sold it for $500 more than I paid for it. Ford did end up repainting the car a few months after I bought it because of acid rain, but they did a great job (with the exception of forgetting to put flexing agent in the plastic bits - Germans didn't have plastic bumper filler pieces back then and this thing had US bumpers).

 

[jimlloyd40]

I'm looking at a new 2019 Alltrack SEL DSG - under 10 miles on the odo - and has been sitting on the lot for 400 days.

What maintenance should the dealer do before I pick it up if I decide to buy it? I'm thinking:

Oil change
New battery?
Alignment - nothing to do with time, but many (most? all?) of these seem to come from the factory misaligned.
Cabin air filter

Not sure what to do about the tires or brakes (other than clean off the topical rust from the rotors)

what else am I missing?

In the early 80's, I bought a new 3 year old Ford Granada that had been sitting at the port in Germany the whole time. I drove it for 4 years without any issues (new battery) and sold it for $500 more than I paid for it. Ford did end up repainting the car a few months after I bought it because of acid rain, but they did a great job (with the exception of forgetting to put flexing agent in the plastic bits - Germans didn't have plastic bumper filler pieces back then and this thing had US bumpers).

The only one on your list that I think a dealer would agree to is change the oil. I've never even thought about the alignment. And I don't get what could be wrong with the cabin filter. It's not like they degrade.

 

[StorableComa]

I'm looking at a new 2019 Alltrack SEL DSG - under 10 miles on the odo - and has been sitting on the lot for 400 days.

What maintenance should the dealer do before I pick it up if I decide to buy it? I'm thinking:

Oil change
New battery?
Alignment - nothing to do with time, but many (most? all?) of these seem to come from the factory misaligned.
Cabin air filter

Not sure what to do about the tires or brakes (other than clean off the topical rust from the rotors)

what else am I missing?

In the early 80's, I bought a new 3 year old Ford Granada that had been sitting at the port in Germany the whole time. I drove it for 4 years without any issues (new battery) and sold it for $500 more than I paid for it. Ford did end up repainting the car a few months after I bought it because of acid rain, but they did a great job (with the exception of forgetting to put flexing agent in the plastic bits - Germans didn't have plastic bumper filler pieces back then and this thing had US bumpers).

Maybe a fuel additive, I know they don't let them sit out with full tanks, but could help if anything started to gunk in the lines.

 

[cb1111]

I'm not sure about the tires, but they're not going to change those. I could ask for a road force balance. If they don't balance out, then they'll have to come up with a solution.

 

[StorableComa]

I'm not sure about the tires, but they're not going to change those. I could ask for a road force balance. If they don't balance out, then they'll have to come up with a solution.

Good idea. I doubt its the case, but worth a check - They should have to replace them if their past the expiration date, though it's 6 years give or take from tire manufacture, so unless the car was unlucky off the line they'll probably be fine; doubt they'd have flat spots either.

 

[cb1111]

Good idea. I doubt its the case, but worth a check - They should have to replace them if their past the expiration date, though it's 6 years give or take from tire manufacture, so unless the car was unlucky off the line they'll probably be fine; doubt they'd have flat spots either.

The flat spots on most modern tires will normally go away once the tire heats up after a mile or so from driving.

The build date is March 2019, so it is unlikely that the tires are getting close to their "sell by" date, but it is a point to check.

 

[uberdot]

Do people still smoke?
Do people still smoke in cars?

 

[Strange Mud]

C,

I would just do normal pre-delivery checks and reset maintenance monitor. Oil is clean, battery that isn't the best but I wouldn't replace it until it goes and good luck getting an adjustment. Wtty starts from delivery so if it fails early you MAY get wtty replacement. I'm not sure what the battery wtty is Tires don't matter unless you have to normally replace by time not wear it. You can ask for a alignment print out and a thorough pre-delivery but will have to take their word on the latter.

J

 

[Dog Dad Wagon]

I'm looking at a new 2019 Alltrack SEL DSG - under 10 miles on the odo - and has been sitting on the lot for 400 days.

What maintenance should the dealer do before I pick it up if I decide to buy it? I'm thinking:

Oil change
New battery?
Alignment - nothing to do with time, but many (most? all?) of these seem to come from the factory misaligned.
Cabin air filter

Not sure what to do about the tires or brakes (other than clean off the topical rust from the rotors)

what else am I missing?

First, congrats! Is it Marrakesh brown? If so I'm jealous. If not, either way you will LOVE your Alltrack. I like mine a lot more than my previous 3 GTIs.

If you go the oil change route, remember to request that they utilize 5W-40 instead of the new 0W-20 shite ( when I brought my AT in for its first oil change under the "VW Care" package which inlcudes 2 oil changes, I requested the 5W-40 instead. The service manager pushed back, stating that "since this is warranty work by VW it has to be what they're prescribing." I responded that VW's 502 spec still applies to the new engines, they just created a NEW spec and the new ones come from the factory with THAT spec. From a VW/Warranty perspective, they don't care whether you use 0W-20 or 5W-40, as they've ALWAYS required 5W-40 until the 2019MY. The only difference is the 0W-20 nets 3% better gas mileage and doesn't statistically increase the likelihood of warranty payouts, so they went with that for marketing reasons. 5/0W-40 is still the business.

No dealer is going to replace a battery that is functional. You could VCDS it and see what the battery life is like and if it reports poor health you could ASK for a replacement. If they say no, get it in writing. If the battery fails on you in the first year/12K miles they'll replace it for you, since you have a paper trail proving you did your due diligence, they denied you, then the exact issue you were hoping to avoid occurred.

You could wager with them on the alignment. "Perform the alignment. Show me the specs. If it's within spec on all 4 corners, I'll pay for the service. If it isn't, it's on your dime."

Cabin filter... The car hasn't been running much at al so I highly doubt the filter is messed up. They're also like $5 or $10 on amazon for a mann filter so if you want to ask you can, but it's unnecessary and either way wouldn't cost you basically anything. I'm sure they're already not making money on the car, so they're likely not gonna be too interested in eating more expenses. But it's been 400 days, and they've gotta get rid of it. So you do what makes sense to you.

This has nothing to do with the amount of time the car has sat on the lot, and wouldn't be covered by a dealer anyway, but I changed my haldex fluid at 5K just for peace of mind. I've heard too many issues of VW under or overfilling Haldex and DSG units from the factory. Just too important of a piece of equipment that costs too much to fix out of warranty for me to take the "chance" they didn't fill it properly from the factory.

 

[sterkrazzy]

Is there something I have to do to save the position of my passenger side mirror? I enabled the dip in reverse a long time ago, but it always returns to a position that's aimed too high so I'm constantly adjusting it down.

 

[Dog Dad Wagon]

Is there something I have to do to save the position of my passenger side mirror? I enabled the dip in reverse a long time ago, but it always returns to a position that's aimed too high so I'm constantly adjusting it down.

You need to install the OEM auto-folding mirrors. They have a memory module in them that the non-auto-folding mirrors lack.

 

[sterkrazzy]

You need to install the OEM auto-folding mirrors. They have a memory module in them that the non-auto-folding mirrors lack.

Guess I'll just live with it lol

Thanks

 

[Dog Dad Wagon]

Guess I'll just live with it lol

Thanks

yeah, if you don’t live in a city or park your car in a tight garage there’s little value to it.

 

[uberdot]

If a bolt (let’s say a coil pack retainer bolt) had its corresponding hole stripped out would the loctite-d bolt still keep a grounded connection through the adhesive material?

Asking for a friend...