TWO Blown turbo's with less than 13k miles!

[adam1991]

That's the problem with the lemming mentality on the forums. Everybody buys into the "moar power" that is necessary to drive a "real" car. Since it isn't their money, people are quick to say "just do it, it'll be fine".

The OP believed what the dealership told him. Combined with what he read here made him think "no problem" and made him forget the cardinal rule - if it isn't in writing then it doesn't exist. A dealer or tuning shop cannot change the terms and conditions of the factory warranty.

The OP learned an expensive lesson and is taking it out on the poor GTI - understandable but not fair to the car or to VW.

This is all the more interesting in light of a recent thread:

https://www.golfmk7.com/forums/showpost.php?p=642167&postcount=7

The OP believed what the dealership told him partly because if you come to forums like this you'll also hear people say ignorant things like "I went APR+ so I could keep my warranty intact".

But whenever someone calls out such ignorance, that person is as likely as not to be attacked for daring to point out the facts.

And that turns forums like this into nothing but a wasteland of what you describe as "lemming mentality" combined with sheer ignorance.

 

[cb1111]

This is all the more interesting in light of a recent thread:

https://www.golfmk7.com/forums/showpost.php?p=642167&postcount=7

The OP believed what the dealership told him partly because if you come to forums like this you'll also hear people say ignorant things like "I went APR+ so I could keep my warranty intact".

But whenever someone calls out such ignorance, that person is as likely as not to be attacked for daring to point out the facts.

And that turns forums like this into nothing but a wasteland of what you describe as "lemming mentality" combined with sheer ignorance.

Or this thread, where I break down the APR+ warranty.

Look, I don't want anyone to not modify their cars - I just want them to mod with their eyes open.

• Drive the car for a long time before you mod. That'll give you time to decide what YOU want to change - not what the forum tells you to change
  
• Determine what the upsides and downsides are. Each mod comes with a downside - or else the manufacturer would have done it.
  
• What are the legalities of the mod. Just because a poster in NV doesn't get pulled over with limo tint doesn't mean you won't get done in GA (who are known for tint tickets - especially on out of state cars). Why does the law say you need a particular item (sidemarker light, cat, whatever)
  
• Are there any possible unintended consequences?
  
• Are you financially and mentally prepared to pay for what your mod breaks? Warranty fraud is a crime. You've got to pay to play.

Again (although I'll get flamed for being anti-mod anyway), mod to your hear's content, just do it intelligently. If it blows up in your face, suck it up, pay for the repair and carry on.

 

[Rafiki76]

Or this thread, where I break down the APR+ warranty.

Look, I don't want anyone to not modify their cars - I just want them to mod with their eyes open.

• Drive the car for a long time before you mod. That'll give you time to decide what YOU want to change - not what the forum tells you to change
  
• Determine what the upsides and downsides are. Each mod comes with a downside - or else the manufacturer would have done it.
  
• What are the legalities of the mod. Just because a poster in NV doesn't get pulled over with limo tint doesn't mean you won't get done in GA (who are known for tint tickets - especially on out of state cars). Why does the law say you need a particular item (sidemarker light, cat, whatever)
  
• Are there any possible unintended consequences?
  
• Are you financially and mentally prepared to pay for what your mod breaks? Warranty fraud is a crime. You've got to pay to play.

Again (although I'll get flamed for being anti-mod anyway), mod to your hear's content, just do it intelligently. If it blows up in your face, suck it up, pay for the repair and carry on.

CB1111 is right on the money. If you are gonna tune, do it however you want it, not because someone else has it. And tuning is expensive, and it could become much more expensive if something breaks. Save money for tuning and also for repairs.

 

[vj123]

Or this thread, where I break down the APR+ warranty.

Look, I don't want anyone to not modify their cars - I just want them to mod with their eyes open.

• Drive the car for a long time before you mod. That'll give you time to decide what YOU want to change - not what the forum tells you to change
  
• Determine what the upsides and downsides are. Each mod comes with a downside - or else the manufacturer would have done it.
  
• What are the legalities of the mod. Just because a poster in NV doesn't get pulled over with limo tint doesn't mean you won't get done in GA (who are known for tint tickets - especially on out of state cars). Why does the law say you need a particular item (sidemarker light, cat, whatever)
  
• Are there any possible unintended consequences?
  
• Are you financially and mentally prepared to pay for what your mod breaks? Warranty fraud is a crime. You've got to pay to play.

Again (although I'll get flamed for being anti-mod anyway), mod to your hear's content, just do it intelligently. If it blows up in your face, suck it up, pay for the repair and carry on.

There you go.

People are crazy to think about ECU tunes even before buying the vehicle. And later come here and whine how bad is VWs reliability when things get messy.

 

[cb1111]

CB1111 is right on the money. If you are gonna tune, do it however you want it, not because someone else has it. And tuning is expensive, and it could become much more expensive if something breaks. Save money for tuning and also for repairs.

Thanks Raffi.

Before I make a mod, I ask myself "why do I want to do this?"

Which of the below is the wrong answer?

A. Now that I've driven the car a while, I think it needs ....
B. Everybody on the forums is making that mod. I want to be the cool kid on the block too.
C. I like the way it looks or sounds
D. I've done my due diligence and have decided the mod is either safe or I can live with the consequences.

The problems with forums is that once we've made a mod, spent our money and time on it, then we don't want to admit that we made a mistake or that the mod didn't live up to the hype. Accordingly, we'll defend that mod until we're blue in the face.

It is much too easy to mod these days. We read about a mod on the forums, click the link and buy it with our credit card. Two days later it shows up on our doorstep and we plug it in. We no longer spend a lot of time thinking about we are buying.

When I started modding there was no internet. Most mods required getting very, very dirty and tearing engines apart. We read about about a mod in a magazine or at the track. We talked to people who made the mod face to face. We went to speed shops and talked to the guys there.

When we were ready to buy, we wrote a check, put it into an envelope, put a stamp on and waited a few long weeks for the part to come in. Or we ordered it at the speed shop and they ordered it for us.

We had to think about our mods. We had to have the cash to pay for them. If the item itself broke, then we might be able to get a refund, but it would never cross our minds to ask anyone else to pay for any related damage. We had actual help from actual people to put it in and when something went wrong, we went back to the speed shop to get advice.

 

[Jamie007]

The reason why I modded, is because I had a goal of 300whp like my last two cars. I did my research, and APR seemed like the best way to go. That is the perfect amount of HP for me, and was a safe amount of HP on my last three cars. On this car, not so much!

I'm sorry if I'm a "whiner," but what VW is doing is so not cool... My car broke down over a week ago, when I was 1000 miles from home. They tell me they will have it fixed in 5 days. Then after a few days, they say it's TD1, and have to fly someone to look at the car. They do not tell me when this person will be here, or how long it will take. They expect me to just put my whole life on hold while I wait for them. All I asked of them is one thing, "when will the guy be here, and when will I know if it's covered?" That is it. They won't even tell the dealership. I never have been treated this way by any other car manufacturer. I can see why they have such a bad reputation. You would think after the whole Deiselgate thing, they would treat their customers better. Since I had no answers, I have a job, and life 1000 miles away, I had to fly back home WITHOUT my car. How crazy is that? $375 plane ticket, one way... I am now renting a Hyundai Accent for $250 a week, more than my damn car payment. Flame me all you want, but this is f'ing ridiculous.

 

[Tsi7]

The reason why I modded, is because I had a goal of 300whp like my last two cars. I did my research, and APR seemed like the best way to go. That is the perfect amount of HP for me, and was a safe amount of HP on my last three cars. On this car, not so much!

I'm sorry if I'm a "whiner," but what VW is doing is so not cool... My car broke down over a week ago, when I was 1000 miles from home. They tell me they will have it fixed in 5 days. Then after a few days, they say it's TD1, and have to fly someone to look at the car. They do not tell me when this person will be here, or how long it will take. They expect me to just put my whole life on hold while I wait for them. All I asked of them is one thing, "when will the guy be here, and when will I know if it's covered?" That is it. They won't even tell the dealership. I never have been treated this way by any other car manufacturer. I can see why they have such a bad reputation. You would think after the whole Deiselgate thing, they would treat their customers better. Since I had no answers, I have a job, and life 1000 miles away, I had to fly back home WITHOUT my car. How crazy is that? $375 plane ticket, one way... I am now renting a Hyundai Accent for $250 a week, more than my damn car payment. Flame me all you want, but this is f'ing ridiculous.

You do understand VW won't waste their time and resources for a flagged TD1 car? I HIGHLY doubt Subaru (or any other car maker for that matter) would've wasted their time and resources sending a rep from headoffice to check out a car with voided warranty... I'm actually surprised their sending someone from VW head office to see your car, I really don't understand what their so curious about.

Now that this second dealership didn't proceed in the best of ways is NOT VW's fault... you have to remember each dealer is independently owned, be it a giant group with multiple dealers, or a mom and pop shop. VW (and other car makers) have no control on how a dealership is run, they can only impose certain rules they have to follow, and as long as VW sees that they are following the rules and money is coming in their bank account, they don't care about the rest... this is just business and I wouldn't fault the car itself for it...

I get that you're frustrated, but you can't blame it on the car, you really can't. You tuned it, it blew up, it got fixed (in what manner who knows) and it blew up again (probably because of the way it was fixed first time)... had you been in this situation without tuning it, then maybe we (members here on the forum) would've been a little more empathetic

I've worked enough in dealerships to know how things go, which is why I try to separate the actual car from the business aspect. I still think VW's are well made cars and with all the headgasket issues that Subaru has had, I would still pick a VW, even with the weak engineering points (not the business aspect). That's just my 2 cents

 

[cb1111]

The reason why I modded, is because I had a goal of 300whp like my last two cars. I did my research, and APR seemed like the best way to go. That is the perfect amount of HP for me, and was a safe amount of HP on my last three cars. On this car, not so much!

I'm sorry if I'm a "whiner," but what VW is doing is so not cool... My car broke down over a week ago, when I was 1000 miles from home. They tell me they will have it fixed in 5 days. Then after a few days, they say it's TD1, and have to fly someone to look at the car. They do not tell me when this person will be here, or how long it will take. They expect me to just put my whole life on hold while I wait for them. All I asked of them is one thing, "when will the guy be here, and when will I know if it's covered?" That is it. They won't even tell the dealership. I never have been treated this way by any other car manufacturer. I can see why they have such a bad reputation. You would think after the whole Deiselgate thing, they would treat their customers better. Since I had no answers, I have a job, and life 1000 miles away, I had to fly back home WITHOUT my car. How crazy is that? $375 plane ticket, one way... I am now renting a Hyundai Accent for $250 a week, more than my damn car payment. Flame me all you want, but this is f'ing ridiculous.

Nobody is beating up on you for modding - but - you did know it was TD1 and, after your first failed turbo, knew that VW wouldn't cover any repairs in the future (but the original dealer/tuner might).

This doesn't excuse VW not giving you information. Have you spoken with VW corporate (I may have missed a post or two) and what did they say?

Remember that there is a difference between dealers and VW. Think of dealers as independent contractors that do repairs and then charge VW for the repairs. If VW denies the claim then the dealership is stuck with the bill.

If you haven't called VW, then do it now and tell us what they say.

 

[Tsi7]

Nobody is beating up on you for modding - but - you did know it was TD1 and, after your first failed turbo, knew that VW wouldn't cover any repairs in the future (but the original dealer/tuner might).

This doesn't excuse VW not giving you information. Have you spoken with VW corporate (I may have missed a post or two) and what did they say?

Remember that there is a difference between dealers and VW. Think of dealers as independent contractors that do repairs and then charge VW for the repairs. If VW denies the claim then the dealership is stuck with the bill.

If you haven't called VW, then do it now and tell us what they say.

Yes good point. I should've mentioned this also in my prior post

 

[Bvstp]

This may have no factor in your turbo issue, but I was told not to use a K&N filter on this car due to the “oil factor” by a friend who worked as a service tech for VW. He now works at a Euro mod shop. You may want to look into that also.


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[cb1111]

This may have no factor in your turbo issue, but I was told not to use a K&N filter on this car due to the “oil factor” by a friend who worked as a service tech for VW. He now works at a Euro mod shop. You may want to look into that also.


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No. I'm not a big fan of K&N and over-oiling can cause some issues - but no more with these cars than with any other.

 

[Bvstp]

What’s coincidental is that my Speed6 had blown the turbo at around 34,000 and I did have a K&N filter in it. Fortunately it was covered under warranty just before it was about to end!


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[Parabola]

I really don't understand your beef with VW op...you fucked with your car, obviously voided manufacturer's warranty, yet you expect manufacturer to put you on top of their priority list for repair or even warranty claim, because you are...what a car enthusiast?
Imagine if you were running a business and people were braking your product by modifying or abusing it, making you loose money, reputation in the process...how would you react?

 

[imthanick_a]

Jesus Christ, anyone else want to take their kicks on OP while he's on the ground?


I'd like to hear more about the oiled filter issues. If anybody has a link to a thread with some info, would you post it or PM me? I recently cleaned and oiled my pod filter on my Neuspeed intake and hope I didn't make a mistake in over oiling or anything of that nature

 

[Bvstp]

I’m referring to the K&N air filters. Just so that’s clear. Not oil filter. K&N uses oil to trap debris. That’s my understanding. I will ask my tech friend if he can better explain the issue.


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