so did you guys try those LED bulbs yet? deAutokey or watever they were called.

 

I used some we bought off Amazon. Huge improvement! Can actually see now.

I'm keeping yours in mind if these fail prematurely.

 

 

Felix The Fit and my daughter are back home safely after a long drive in heavy rain and traffic. Whew. She said that the garage said the pad assembly had indeed ground down into the rotor.

 

Glad to hear your daughter made it back home safe & sound. Now you get to crawl under & search for leaks. Good luck.

Got a call from my son the other night. Seems someone thought it would be a good idea to do a U turn in front of him. His Fit fared better than the KIA Soul he hit. He will need a bumper repaint & alignment. The Soul was hit in both left side doors. The Police came, but didn't cite anyone. The other driver even said it was her fault, but the police basically did nothing. I bet he will have to eat his deductible. He is in LA so I can't help him. Oh man!!!

 

Ouch! Sorry for his back luck!

I can't imagine having a kid away, let alone away WITH a car!

 

sucks ash! the repair on your GK is not going to be cheap. not sure why the police did not cite the other party if she did a u-turn in front of your son. she collided into him even if its on the side of her car. ive dealt with LA police when i lived in socal, but they're a hit or miss. its like they are so understaffed that unless someone got hurt or killed they dont give a dogs crap.

hope the deductible can be recovered from the other party's insurance. GL with the repairs.

 

According to my son the officer said if there were injuries he'd have done a report otherwise no report. Son said he seemed to be in a hurry to get out of there. I'm hoping his insurance will go after the other party, but I'm not putting much hope on that. The other party who accepted blame at the scene may have a change of heart about that since she wasn't cited. Best thing is no one was hurt. Body work isn't cheap, but to me it doesn't look too bad. Fingers crossed.

Thanks for the thoughts guys. My son is 30 YO, but he's still my kid. Yes it's tough having him on the other side of the country when he has a problem

 

At some point in life, there seems to be a role reversal. I now have my Dad calling and asking me how to repair things.

Last week it was his garage door opener. He is so incredibly inept at mechanical things that it's painful. I told him a hundred times that the problem was either the eye sensors or the tension setting. It took me 5 days to get him to be brave enough to adjust the tension setting. Fixed the problem. I wanted to reach through the phone and turn the darn screw! Normally I just have him hand the phone to my Mom. She's fearless.

 

 

Ouch Ash! I'm glad that he's okay. Thankfully the Kia didn't crunch the Fit's wheel/axle. Hopefully he can use public transportation while the Fit is in the shop. I don't know much at all about LA, but I'd imagine they have pretty good public transport.

 

Went under Felix The Fit today and found only small questionable evidence of an engine seal leak on the passenger side, a glossy droplet on a raised area and a bit of semi-gooey crud around. There is no evidence of oil being slung around under there -- the inside of that dang lower plastic cover that hides both ends of the engine is clean. I didn't remove the lower cover for a perfect view, as it looks to be a time-consuming pain.

I wiped everything clean and will monitor it, Looking at things, I could well be some engine oil I slopped down the block sometime back. I'll check it again in the spring and see what's up.

 

Glad you didn't find a big leak Alco. It has been my experience that all engines will seep or weep a bit. Not a big deal unless it's making a big mess & needs topping up regularly.

My son is flying home for Christmas. His plan is to get it into the shop tomorrow so it will be done when he returns home.

 

I'm continuing to find VW maintenance costs to be considerably higher than Japanese or US cars. Much harder to work on as well.

If you don't believe me, watch YT videos for the procedure required for changing the transmission fluid. It's downright insane that there isn't a top fill. Filling requires pumping fluid in through the bottom of the pan with a complicated procedure. I was going to do it myself, but forget it!

Dealer quote for the service is $320 AND they only change 5 liters of the fluid. In addition to that, spark plugs are required every 40k. I didn't even get a quote for those since I'll do them myself, but I'm sure the total 40k service would be near $1,000 if done at the dealer.

In comparison, the transmission service on my Lincoln includes 15 quarts of fluid and costs $179. I'm sure Honda would be considerably less than even that since they don't make anything that could hold half that amount of fluid. LOL

Still like the car, but I would tell anyone considering a VW to make sure they factor in maintenance costs that are substantially more expensive than other options. Heck, I guarantee you it has already cost us more to get the Golf to 40k miles than it cost us to get our Fit to almost 200k. Honda's are just much less expensive to operate.

 

wow, that's a big difference in maintenance costs vs the GD.

huh, ive not seen the diy's for tranny fluid change for the Golfs, but sounds quite intense if ure saying it is. ive done like those hand pump fills for tranny and diffs on my j-cars but nothing like that?

 

Yeah, that's the norm, but way too simple for German's. Take a look at this YT video and decide if you want to do yours when the time comes...

DSG's are similar in their insanity.

Like I said, I still like the car and we're not getting rid of it, but the deeper we get into ownership the more I realize I'm a Japanese or US car guy. I don't need more stupidity in my life.

 

Anything that requires a fluid change should have a bottom drain and top fill. That's just common sense and holds true for anything else I've owned from the early '80's forward.

That being said, I spoke with a friend today who swore off BMW's a decade ago and he said this is just typical German BS.

 

it reminds me of overhauling my RC car's gear box and its oil filled gear diffs. lol so much work just to wat, bring it back to stock. wtf yah, definitely too much work for such a simple task. should have a drain and a filler on the side of the gear case as u said. but i suppose it could be a fun(?) weekend project for those who might have the time to do it.

i wonder if it's the same on the MT gearbox. not that i'll hit 30K miles any time soon on my Golf-R..

 

Agree with everything you said, so I'll just roll my eyes and pay the money to have it brought back to stock.

I jump at the opportunity to buy cool stuff and install it on my car. Just hate paying money for things I don't enjoy.

Still like the car and glad we own it. Just has to be included in a factor of ownership if someone is reading this and wondering if a VW is right for them. Pluses and minuses like most things in life.

I've never owned one, but am thinking the right Lexus model may be sort of a nirvana level. Gives you the European/luxury car experience with Japanese maintenance and reliability.

 

For the MK6 with MT it is as easy as a Fit. Drain and Fill. VW says the fluid is lifetime which to me sounds ridiculous!

40k miles for plugs seems ridiculous when Honda's are 100k but ill be doing mine along with the coil packs (maybe) at 40k. I am also saving for a Stage 1 tune :)

I think you hit the nail on the head and why Japanese luxury cars have become so popular. I understand the whole German car driving experience thing now but the Japanese are on the same level especially when they want to be. Toyota is know for reliability and not a "drivers" car but this is the same company that gave us the MR2, Supra and FRS. They can but market and the majority just need reliable comfortable transportation from A to B.