[Tanveer_2558]

I am too thinking about getting an audio upgrade, Just for a bass punch i had come across an sub with a built in amplifier, For 20k it had 800 RMS which is pretty decent, It can be removed anytime we want and its small so doesn't occupy lot of space as well..

I am thinking to install it soon.. But i wonder if i should swap the speakers too or just keep them same and add the sub, Lets see.

[graaja]

Originally Posted by iliketurtles

As the car hit 35000 kilometres earlier this weekend, thought I'd pen some thoughts on the car in a jiffy.

Awesome! The car does not look like it has done 35K. You have taken care of it very well

I am in the same situation as you are with the upgrade itch. I am planning to upgrade the tires to 225/50/R16 Michelin PS3 and get a remap a little later. Are you planning to upsize the tires as well?

Regarding the audio quality, I have a doubt that the stock speakers have deteriorated. Maybe changing the speakers to better ones should improve the quality significantly. Give that a try.

[iliketurtles]

Originally Posted by Tanveer_2558

I am too thinking about getting an audio upgrade, Just for a bass punch i had come across an sub with a built in amplifier, For 20k it had 800 RMS which is pretty decent, It can be removed anytime we want and its small so doesn't occupy lot of space as well..

I am thinking to install it soon.. But i wonder if i should swap the speakers too or just keep them same and add the sub, Lets see.

I too am a bit stuck between adding a sub or just upgrading the speakers, since the stock ones are very mediocre. There was this interesting thread online that spoke of tweaks to the default equalizer settings, and it did make a difference to the output, albeit not to that great an extent and not for all songs. Lows are still a bit wishy-washy.

I think I'll just change the stock speakers, although a sub could be a possibility if it isn't too large. Let's see. Keep me posted on what you do too!

Originally Posted by graaja

Awesome! The car does not look like it has done 35K. You have taken care of it very well

Thanks man, greatly appreciate it.

Originally Posted by graaja

I am in the same situation as you are with the upgrade itch. I am planning to upgrade the tires to 225/50/R16 Michelin PS3 and get a remap a little later. Are you planning to upsize the tires as well?

I actually followed the conversation on your thread and agree with the view that 16 inch tyres are optimal. I don't want to change the aesthetics or stance of the car, and all I really seek is a balance of performance and comfort. For that, the 16 inchers in the size you specified are perfect, as many have testified on the forum. The only question then remains if I'm to stick with P7's or go with PS3's.

Originally Posted by graaja

Regarding the audio quality, I have a doubt that the stock speakers have deteriorated. Maybe changing the speakers to better ones should improve the quality significantly. Give that a try.

I reckon you're right, except that the speakers were a bit rubbish from the start and my non-audiophile ears only just picked that up As I've been spending more time in and with the car of late, this has become increasingly apparent. I'll check up on this soonish, but first things first, I need more powahhhhhh. I need that remap!

[Epic]

Originally Posted by iliketurtles

Attachment 1487812

Originally Posted by iliketurtles

Attachment 1530216

Is that some reflection in the pic or is that your 'engine oil low' warning glowing below the RPM needle?

[iliketurtles]

Originally Posted by Epic

Is that some reflection in the pic or is that your 'engine oil low' warning glowing below the RPM needle?

Nicely caught! It is an indicator, but for the windscreen washer fluid running low. Which reminds me, I need to top it up. Be right back...

[Tanveer_2558]

Originally Posted by iliketurtles

I too am a bit stuck between adding a sub or just upgrading the speakers, since the stock ones are very mediocre. There was this interesting thread online that spoke of tweaks to the default equalizer settings, and it did make a difference to the output, albeit not to that great an extent and not for all songs. Lows are still a bit wishy-washy.

With what do you play music? I have experienced sound quality goes down a notch while playing via SD card, Music quality is the best i feel while playing through Media IN with my iphone.

For me i would probably stick getting a sub, I don't want to open up all the doors for speakers (Scared of getting new rattles), A simple plug and play sub for me, And 800 RMS is good enough to give a kick.

[iliketurtles]

I generally play music via Bluetooth. Always nice to know your phone is a hands length away.

It's a valid point you raise about not opening up the car due to rattles, one I hadn't considered. Maybe a sub is the way to go after all...

[Tanveer_2558]

Originally Posted by iliketurtles

I generally play music via Bluetooth. Always nice to know your phone is a hands length away.

It's a valid point you raise about not opening up the car due to rattles, one I hadn't considered. Maybe a sub is the way to go after all...

I usually connect it to Media In and play music, Plus the bluetooth is connected for receiving calls, Messages are good avoided so doesn't cause any distraction, Also I had Enquired about this sub totally but for now i just cannot recollect the name, Its small, Plug and play in our stock RCD 510 and can be easily removed while giving to the service center, Ill just check again and let you know, If at all we sync up doing the same shall get it done together.

[iliketurtles]

A little more than a week ago, Christmas came early as I popped into the car, with all these lights glowing on the dash.

Long story short, a ratty little rat had sharpened its chompers on some wiring and it ended with the car throwing up all these errors. The error was traced to the ABS sensor wiring. Given I was travelling for a week, it was an opportune time for me to give the car in for repairs and so I did.

Regular followups with the service guy let me know the car was ready in a few days, and I ended up paying approx INR 4700 for the work, which wasn't covered under warranty for whatever reason. No matter. The car is fit and fine, and that's all that matters.

For now, I'm still hooked on the feeling that is driving this black beauty around town and (especially) on highways.

[iliketurtles]

There's never a dull moment with a German sedan in the house.

I sauntered up to the car earlier this evening, and unlocked it. We did the usual dance; welcome and cabin lights came on, I got in the car, lights went off. All was normal.

And then I tried to fire her up. And I got...nothing. She was dead in the water, so to speak. No power, no lights, no turning over of the starter motor, nothing.

This meant a number of things; doors didn't lock at all (except for the driver side, with the key inserted), power steering was not active when I steered the car out to put it on a flatbed (obviously) and most importantly, the gearbox would absolutely not shift to Neutral (since it didn't know better and was stuck in Park).

Now the gear being stuck posed an issue, but luckily YouTube came to the rescue. I'm writing this next bit up as a bit of Public Service Announcement. My good deed for the day is about to be done.

If you're ever stuck in the same situation, don't fret or panic (a lot). The below video came to my assistance, and while it is a little more than 10 years out of date, I'll try to explain the one change to it as best as I can.

Luckily, the top cover of the DSG housing comes off with a little gentle prodding and pulling (don't be overzealous). Check out the video below to get an idea of how much force to apply, which is not a lot.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GFw2j6ufTH8

Now here's where things change a little, since the video is about 10 years out of date. Once you tug the housing and push it lovingly aside, you will see a little yellow lever below it, as seen in the picture below. Simply push it down and you can now engage Neutral to get the car moving.

With that out of the way, it is obviously a bummer to see the car going off to the service center. Clearly, it's a dead battery. But I have a theory. On the evening of the 29th/30th of August (when I took the car back after fixing the ABS sensor issue) when I got the car home, the watchman came up after about half an hour and told me the music system was still playing.

"Rubbish", I thought. "That's not possible. There are failsafes to cut all power to the car once it has been locked."

And yet, against all popular reason, there it was. Singing to me under the evening sky. I don't know how that was happening, except that I tried unlocking and locking the car several times only to see the music system continue to do its thing. In the end, I simply removed the SD card and put it away and that, I thought, was that.

Clearly, it was stupid of me to think that my brilliant plan to remove the SD card would be the end of that. Something must have been running all this time to drain the battery of all the juice it had. Anyhow, I should know by tomorrow what's up with all that. Let's see what the service center says. It's not over until the fat lady sings, unless she keeps on singing and somehow drains the battery of all its power. Until the next update, drive safe. Ciao chow.

P.S: Everyone and their dog came out to see the Black Mamba being towed away. I couldn't help but sing "My flatbed brings all the boys to the yard..." to myself. After all, one has to find humor even in the darkest of situations.

[graaja]

Originally Posted by iliketurtles

There's never a dull moment with a German sedan in the house...

Oh Man! Flatbed once again!? Wishing your car is back soon.

If the HU was "On" even after locking the car, there are two possible culprits - the HU itself or the CAN gateway that sends the command to the HU that the car is locked, and turns it off. Or it could be some wiring issue with the CAN wires as well. As the car is under warranty, I think there is nothing to worry. They will replace the faulty components and charge the battery and things should be fine.

If the HU does not turn off, long pressing the volume knob in the HU also can turn it off.

And thanks for sharing the video on the procedure to engage neutral on the DSG.

[hubolt]

The head unit goes off once you remove the ignition key, if you switch it on after removing the key, it does not do off even if you lock the car , but it's pre timed to go off after about 15 mins , not sure about the exact time it runs after locking the car, but it does go off.

[iliketurtles]

Originally Posted by graaja

As the car is under warranty, I think there is nothing to worry. They will replace the faulty components and charge the battery and things should be fine.

Yeah yeah, I'm not too worried, just that something like this shouldn't have happened in the first place, it was completely avoidable. I did power down the head unit by long pressing the volume knob, but I don't usually switch it off, I always keep it on.

Originally Posted by hubolt

The head unit goes off once you remove the ignition key, if you switch it on after removing the key, it does not do off even if you lock the car , but it's pre timed to go off after about 15 mins , not sure about the exact time it runs after locking the car, but it does go off.

Those were my thoughts exactly. It has always gone off whenever I've switched off the car, which is why I was very stumped when I saw it running even after half an hour or so. Really baffling. Anyways, I'm going to have them check it out. Let's see what they say.

[iliketurtles]

Teeny weeny update, since I don't want to leave you guys hanging.

Got the car back yesterday, and all is well on that front. The battery had gone bone dry (obviously) and I paid in as much as it makes no difference INR 8,200 to get a new battery from VW with a 2 year warranty.

My concerns about possible wiring issues were swept aside by the advisor who said the scan came back clean and no issues were detected over the 1.5 days the car was with them. I paid the money for a new battery thinking one of the following two scenarios plays out.

A) I'm right, and the battery drains out again within a year, and I get them to fix whatever issues might be there + get a new battery completely gratis.

B) I'm wrong, and things just carry on as they were, with only my overly active imagination playing tricks on me.

And so, life goes on and the miles will keep on getting clocked on my road warrior. C'est la vie.

[iliketurtles]

Given that I’ve got a biggish road trip in the offing after a few weeks (Goa beckons, baby), I felt it was prudent to send the car in for its 45,000 kilometer service a month or so ahead of schedule.

I had a simple list of must-do’s for the service guys at VW.

The must-do’s

1. Change of all necessary filters
2. Change of all necessary fluids
3. Anything else mandated by VW as part of the 45k KM service

Over and above this, I had a few other requirements

1. One of the headlight washers had broken, so that nozzle had to be replaced
2. 2 of the reverse sensors had come loose (1 through my mistake, the other through unknown circumstances), so I wanted them fitted back to factory spec
3. The beading on one of the doors had got ripped, so I wanted to know how much this would cost to replace
4. The unit housing the service buttons in the roof of the cabin had come loose (haven’t a clue how), so I needed this to be fixed.

The customer is king...or not, apparently

I clearly instructed the service advisor not to do anything unnecessary that would drive the bill up (such as engine decarbonization, washer fluid, et al), and so I was livid when I saw that he added wheel alignment+balancing and AC disinfectant to the bill. The former I don’t mind so much, except for the fact they won’t do anywhere near as good a job as I’d expect. The latter is an eyewash that added a wholly unnecessary Rs. 1500 to the bill.

Suffice to say I chewed out the advisor over this somewhat viciously and as a sweetener he promised to get the interior cleaning done gratis when the car comes in for a checkup in 6 months.

A breakdown of the damages, plus other bugbears

So the bill itself came to Rs. 15xxx+taxes for the essentials + Rs. 5xxx for the headlight washer nozzle + Rs. 4xxx for the pair of sensors to be fixed with fresh brackets. I passed on the chance to get the beading changed since it would cost Rs. 5000 + taxes, which is ridiculously expensive for a pure play rubber part. People buy smartphones for far less!

The rear right taillight also has a hairline crack that can’t be felt after I introduced it to a wayward pole that evaded my sight, and I passed up on the generous offer to replace it for the paltry sum of Rs. 9000+taxes. Perhaps later, but not right now when we’re all living in a virtually cashless economy of the wrong kind.

Annnoyingly, despite keeping the car for 5-6 days, they didn’t fix the service button unit in the cabin as requested. They took the unilateral call of not calling for the bracket and so asked them to get the part and I’ll fix it next weekend by taking the car in. What an unnecessary waste of time..

The other major matter over which the service guys and I had a bit of a pow wow were the fact that they advocated a change of brake discs as well, all at the young-ish age of 40000 kilometers. I believed there was no way the discs would need replacement at this point in its life and wouldn’t have more than the usual ridges that develop over time. After much heated debate (and my asking the service to give me advice in good conscience, which I don’t believe they did), friendly Team BHPian Tanveer popped in and concurred with my view that the discs showed wear and tear, but could still do duty until next year’s service. Let the photo below speak for itself.

How mucho peso?

The total tab for this service came to 27,979, of which I estimate the mandated essentials account for approximately Rs. 17000 in as much as it doesn’t matter. Make of that what you will, but I believe the base service charge is reasonable for a car of this quality and class. Below is the invoice itself, for your viewing pleasure.

My verdict on the service

With some things done as per mandate (the bare essentials), some things foisted on me as per their wishes (the AC disinfectant and wheel alignment/balancing), and other things not done even after me giving them a mandate (the service button unit in the cabin), it is safe to say that the entire experience was quite a mixed bag.

The cost itself doesn’t make me balk as much as the lengthy timelines these guys play with and the laxity that creeps into their approach unless you loom large over their head. The thing is they’re not far off making the experience a really good one, it’s just a question of ironing the kinks out.

The thing is, I’m not sure if there is an intent from the top down to make that happen in the way that Toyota or Maruti are committed to complete customer satisfaction. Just as VW’s cars are built around the passenger, so too must their service standards. As long as that isn’t addressed, they will continue to fall short of fulfilling their true potential in India.

The update-sized elephant in the room

The service guys got the much debated software update (a recall by any other name) done on the car, claiming that it was mandatory and that it was flashing on the screen before the diagnostics were even run on the car, meaning that it had to be processed in order to conduct the service at all.

I don’t buy that argument in the slightest, but it is what it is. Coincidentally, at the same time as I was getting the car serviced, Tanveer told of the woes he faced with his Jetta post the update. Gone was the delicious wave of torque that you could ride all the way forward from 1800-2000 RPM onwards.

Without it, the car drove like a dog, and not an enthusiastic one yapping away playfully either. Think of a lazy dog that could barely be bothered moving to please the whims of its humans and you get an idea of the new nature of the updated Jetta.

To be honest, I wished to drive the car first and then take a call on how it drove, but circumstances conspired to ensure that Tanveer and I sent in our Jetta’s to Pete’s on the same day it was delivered to me to get it remapped. They are, after all, running a special Christmas offer where the remap will cost approximately Rs. 15,500 for the Jetta. That’s a steal by any stretch of the imagination, and one we had to make the most.

And so, I’ll be without the car for a few more days as Pete’s works their magic, but it’s going to be a painful wait. They were unable to unlock the ECU here and so had to ship it off to Kochi for the motherlode to work their magic. They expect it back by Tuesday/Wednesday and for it to be back with me by Thursday at most. As such, I await the return of the Black Mamba with bated breath and can’t wait to see it spew venom anew in its 180-190 BHP avatar.

What next?

In a nutshell, succinct details and pics on how the remapped Jetta feels, with a tire change imminent in the near future. Perhaps Bilsteins and some performance mods too, who knows. I’ll let you guys know as soon as I do. Until then, drive safe. Ciao.