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Old 24th January 2017, 10:43   #301
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re: Platinum Grey VW Jetta 2.0 TDI Highline DSG comes home EDIT: Sold!

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Originally Posted by maglev View Post
Hi Graaja,

I am facing an issue with the sensor placed on the dashboard. Something which you faced a while ago. Could you please share how you got this resolved, thanks.
Hi Maglev, when I had left the car for the repairs from the small accident (bumper, fender and alloys replaced), they had changed this sensor or had fixed it correctly. When I got the car back, I found the sensor was perfectly fit. As there were many things that were of high priority at that time, I forgot to ask them what they did to fix this - replaced the sensor, or did some jerry rigging.
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Old 24th January 2017, 12:23   #302
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re: Platinum Grey VW Jetta 2.0 TDI Highline DSG comes home EDIT: Sold!

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Originally Posted by maglev View Post
Hi Graaja,

I am facing an issue with the sensor placed on the dashboard. Something which you faced a while ago. Could you please share how you got this resolved, thanks.


PS: Pictures taken from your thread itself.
Thats a common issues with jetta's, Just show the service centre and they will probably just get it fixed in a matter of minutes, For me they had applied some sticky substance and pressed the sensor inside after which it never popped up again.
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Old 27th March 2017, 12:52   #303
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re: Platinum Grey VW Jetta 2.0 TDI Highline DSG comes home EDIT: Sold!

Since I have been concentrating on the DIYs on the Polo GT TSi, got a lot of backlog in updating this thread.

The car has crossed 36,000 kilometers (it is nearing 37,000 as I write this), and is doing excellent with that explosive power and handling, except for a couple of things.
  1. I feel that the suspensions have become a little loose and make some noise. I had thought that this was due to the worn out tires. But even after changing the tires, I still feel that the car is not as tight as it used to be. Could this be because of the suspensions getting worn out? But the car has done only 36,000 kilometers. Would the suspensions wear out that soon? Or could this be something else like lose suspension mount etc.? I need advice from other Jetta owners on this.
  2. I hear lot of distortion from the audio these days. The sound is not as clean as it used to be. Could this be due to the speakers going bad? Do I need to upgrade the speakers to better ones?

Battery Change:

The battery gave up on 1st of January. I had gone with family to a friend's farm near Anaikatty, which is located a little away from regular roads. On the 1st of January, when we were about to return back the car would not start. In fact, the battery was totally dead. Even the instrument cluster was not powered up. I called VW road side assistance, and a flat bed truck arrived within 2 hours. The plan was to try jump start the car, and if it does not work take it on the flat bed to the VW dealership. I was fervently hoping that jump start would work as I did not want to see the car on the flat bed. Fortunately, jump start worked. The service guy said not to turn off the car till we reach home. Followed his advice and reached home. Once I turned off the car, it would not start again. This meant either the battery had gone or something was wrong with the alternator. As this was already a replacement battery for the OE battery that failed within 16 months, I did not want the battery replaced at the dealer. So, I called a local Amaron dealer and asked him to check if the battery would charge. If it does not charge, then we would replace it. He took the battery and called me to say that one of the cells in the battery had opened. This was completely matching the symptoms. So, got it replaced with Amaron Pro. Comes with a 60 month warranty (36 mnths replacement and 24 months pro-rated). Paid 8.4K including the exchange of the defective battery.

The new battery
Platinum Grey VW Jetta 2.0 TDI Highline DSG comes home EDIT: Sold!-battery.jpg

Fixed inside the engine bay. As the battery is a little longer than the OE, it did not fit the battery cover that comes with the original battery.
Platinum Grey VW Jetta 2.0 TDI Highline DSG comes home EDIT: Sold!-battery-mounted.jpg

Tires Upgraded to 225/50/R16 Michelin PS3 ST:

I had changed to Michelin P3ST 205/55/R16 straight out of the showroom. These tires were super silent, and at the same time offered very good grip. I was very satisfied with these tires. As the odo crossed 36,000 kilometers, I started feeling that the tires were not gripping as they used to and the road noise also had gone up significantly. The tires had also developed lot of cracks. I had earlier decided to upgrade the tires to 225/50/R16 Michelin Pilot Sport 3. A year back, there were issues sourcing these tires. But then Michelin re-introduced Pilot Sports in India. I called the tire dealer and he said he has stock of 225/50/R16 Pilot Sport 3 ST and the cost is 12K per tire.

Took the car to the dealer and they removed the older tires and that is when I found that the tires were from 2015 lot. I asked the dealer if he could get at least 2016 manufactured ones, but he said that Michelin will only import further stocks after existing stocks are cleared. I wanted to make sure that getting old stock will not affect performance. I checked with a couple of friends who have good experience with tires and they said there is no problem with 1.5 year old stock if fresher ones are not available. I believe Chethan_BG also had to go with older stocks, but he was satisfied with the performance. So went ahead and changed the tires to 225/50/R16 Michelin Pilot Sport 3 ST. The tires have a slight bulge, as the stock alloys are 6.5j. 7.0j would have been ideal. But as I did not want to spend on alloy upgrade and as there are many fellow Jetta owners who have good experience with 225's on stock alloys, I decided to live with this. Post tire upgrade, I feel significant improvement in grip, cornering and braking. However because of the problem I mentioned about the suspensions, I have not been able to fully enjoy the new tires.

The cracks on the old P3STs. Though the tires had enough tread depth to last another 3K to 4K kilometers, these cracks made them quite dangerous to uuse.
Platinum Grey VW Jetta 2.0 TDI Highline DSG comes home EDIT: Sold!-cracks.jpg

The 225/50/R16s
Platinum Grey VW Jetta 2.0 TDI Highline DSG comes home EDIT: Sold!-new-tires.jpg

The treads are asymmetrical and quite deep. Maybe this results in the superior.
Platinum Grey VW Jetta 2.0 TDI Highline DSG comes home EDIT: Sold!-tread.jpg

The bulge.
Platinum Grey VW Jetta 2.0 TDI Highline DSG comes home EDIT: Sold!-bulge.jpg

Insurance Renewed:

Got the insurance renewed from Bajaj Allianz. Last year I had paid 46.8K for an IDV of 13.8 Lakhs and 0% NCB. This year, for an IDV of 11.8 Lakhs and 20% NCB, they initally quoted 45K for the third year with Drive Assure Economy (zero depreciation, engine protector etc). After the first round of negotiation, they brought down the price to 43k. Though the IDV was down by 2 lakhs, and the there was an NCB of 20%, I felt, the reduction of 3K (46K vs. 43K) was too low for the third year policy. I asked what was the reason for this and the representative sent me a breakup of the premium. Here are some observations from this.

There has been an increase of 1.2K in third party cover.
Inspite of this 1.2K increase, the main premium reduced by 6.5K owing to the 2lakh reduction in IDV and 20% NCB.
The premium for zero depreciation was 1% of IDV last year and 1.4% this year. This resulted in an increase of 2.7K in zero dep premium. The representative said, as the age of the car increases, the zero depreciation rate goes high as well. Next year, it would be 2% of the IDV.

After another request, the representative reduced the final premium from 43K to 42.5K. I decided it was not possible to bring this down any further. So went ahead and renewed it. I know that I could get very competitive rates (atleast a saving of 10K more) with other insurers, but as VW has a cashless tie up with Bajaj and as my last insurance claim went very smoothly, I did not want to take any risk on this.

Third Year Service Due:

The car is due for third year service. Have booked an appointment for tomorrow morning. Apart from the regular mandator service, I am going to ask for the following:
1. Not to update the ECU software for the dieselgate fix. There are many Jetta owners who have complaned about loss of power and even got their cars remapped post update. Some owners have written that they do not find any change. And some other owners have mentioned that they were able to request their dealers not to update the software and the dealers obliged. I am going to try this. If I am unsuccessful, will evaluate how the car behaves post update and take a call on a remap after that.
2. Change the transmission oil. I think the transmission oil change is only scheduled for 60,000 kilometers. However another friend who drives an Octavia TDi DSG mentioned that he got the transmission oil changed before schedule and he found a massive improvement in the smoothness of the gearbox. I have a feeling that the gearbox in the Jetta has become a little rough and a transmission oil change may significantly improve the performance. Will check how much it would cost and then decide.

A couple of weeks back, gave a thorough wash and here are some pictures.

Platinum Grey VW Jetta 2.0 TDI Highline DSG comes home EDIT: Sold!-img_20170319_082916587.jpg

Platinum Grey VW Jetta 2.0 TDI Highline DSG comes home EDIT: Sold!-dsc06768_censored.jpg

Platinum Grey VW Jetta 2.0 TDI Highline DSG comes home EDIT: Sold!-dsc06771_censored.jpg

Platinum Grey VW Jetta 2.0 TDI Highline DSG comes home EDIT: Sold!-dsc06779_censored.jpg

Will post an update once the third service is done.

Last edited by Samurai : 28th March 2017 at 14:34. Reason: plates blurred
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Old 28th March 2017, 00:05   #304
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re: Platinum Grey VW Jetta 2.0 TDI Highline DSG comes home EDIT: Sold!

Quote:
Originally Posted by graaja View Post
A couple of weeks back, gave a thorough wash and here are some pictures.
Hi graaja,

I like the font in number plate, did you get this locally or online.

Since this is not the standard font, have you come across any issue with RTO/traffic police.

Regards.
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Old 28th March 2017, 06:39   #305
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re: Platinum Grey VW Jetta 2.0 TDI Highline DSG comes home EDIT: Sold!

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Originally Posted by antardaksh View Post
Hi graaja,

I like the font in number plate, did you get this locally or online.

Since this is not the standard font, have you come across any issue with RTO/traffic police.

Regards.
Hi,
I got this done locally. The 3M outlet owner here got this made for me. These are German fonts. I think any number plate shop would do this.

I have not come across any issues from RTO. I think as the numbers are clear and legible, there should be no issues.
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Old 28th March 2017, 15:21   #306
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re: Platinum Grey VW Jetta 2.0 TDI Highline DSG comes home EDIT: Sold!

The close-up shot of the P3STs is quite surprising. Unless I am mistaken, the tyre carcass seems show a lot of cracking and hardening / brittleness of the carcass.

I have seen such brittleness in old MRF ZVTs but always thought Michelin was much softer. When were these tyres manufactured?
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Old 28th March 2017, 15:34   #307
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re: Platinum Grey VW Jetta 2.0 TDI Highline DSG comes home EDIT: Sold!

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Originally Posted by itwasntme View Post
I have seen such brittleness in old MRF ZVTs but always thought Michelin was much softer. When were these tyres manufactured?
I've observed the same on Michelin Primacy LC tyres as well, infact my set of LCs developed the same issues in 2016 (tyre was 26th week of 2012 make).Most tyre store owners told me this is to be expected with softer compound tyres after 3 years of usage.
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Old 28th March 2017, 16:59   #308
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re: Platinum Grey VW Jetta 2.0 TDI Highline DSG comes home EDIT: Sold!

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Originally Posted by itwasntme View Post
...
I have seen such brittleness in old MRF ZVTs but always thought Michelin was much softer. When were these tyres manufactured?
I don't remember the exact week and year of manufacture. But I know for sure that they were less than 6 months old when I had them installed in April 2014. So, that would make it either late 2013 or early 2014 make.

Quote:
Originally Posted by shashank.nk View Post
...Most tyre store owners told me this is to be expected with softer compound tyres after 3 years of usage.
That matches my experience then. These tires were 3 years old. So, I should expect similar behavior from the Pilot Sport 3 ST's as well!
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Old 28th March 2017, 17:08   #309
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re: Platinum Grey VW Jetta 2.0 TDI Highline DSG comes home EDIT: Sold!

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Originally Posted by graaja View Post
That matches my experience then. These tires were 3 years old. So, I should expect similar behavior from the Pilot Sport 3 ST's as well!
I asked him the same question regarding P3STs and he told me these will not harden or deteriorate like LCs. However, your case shows they're no different!
I sincerely hope the Pilot Sport's are better.
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Old 28th March 2017, 18:09   #310
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re: Platinum Grey VW Jetta 2.0 TDI Highline DSG comes home EDIT: Sold!

Why don't you forward these pictures to Michelin India out of curiosity?
Attached Thumbnails
Platinum Grey VW Jetta 2.0 TDI Highline DSG comes home EDIT: Sold!-screenshot_20170328180534.png  

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Old 28th March 2017, 18:26   #311
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Originally Posted by itwasntme View Post
Why don't you forward these pictures to Michelin India out of curiosity?


Quote:
Originally Posted by shashank.nk View Post
I sincerely hope the Pilot Sport's are better.

Actually PS3 is somewhat similar that's why I just bought a new set. It has micro cracks. Mine has run about 40-42k kms though in about two years. In this period I did the rotation on these I think three to four times. Worth every penny though. Not a single puncture to date, leech like grip in dry and even better in rain, yes trust me it's a magical tyre on wet roads. It will surpass many of our expectations from a tyre costing about 12K.
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Old 29th March 2017, 18:19   #312
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re: Platinum Grey VW Jetta 2.0 TDI Highline DSG comes home EDIT: Sold!

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Originally Posted by graaja View Post
I feel that the suspensions have become a little loose and make some noise. I had thought that this was due to the worn out tires. But even after changing the tires, I still feel that the car is not as tight as it used to be. Could this be because of the suspensions getting worn out? But the car has done only 36,000 kilometers. Would the suspensions wear out that soon? Or could this be something else like lose suspension mount etc.? I need advice from other Jetta owners on this.
Hi graaja, Thanks to your very thorough ownership thread combined with those of Karan, Tanveer, Chetan, and others, I recently took the plunge and got a pre-owned 2014 DSG run 35k - same color as yours So thanks a lot as I am enjoying the jump from my GT TDI to Jetta every single day.

However, I have been noticing thud sounds from the rear of the car whenever i go over rough roads at not very high speeds. These sounds are more pronounced at the left rear or maybe its just an acoustic illusion. I thought that this was due to loose rear suspension or maybe tyres - stock NCTs at 30 psi. So I got the car checked at a VW workshop. During the test drive, the technician noticed the sounds as well and said that gaadi patak rahi hai peeche se (The car is throwing its weight around the back). They took the rear suspension out and told me that the rear struts have become hard and that's the reason for the thud sounds. So based on their recommendation, I got the rear struts and accompanying rubber parts replaced.

But the thud sounds are still there and I still feel that the suspension is loose (which is indeed not the case). The technician says that all Jettas produce such thud sounds from the rear going over potholes. He suggested that I test drive another Jetta (2016, DSG, 8k) that had just come for service to see for myself. To my surprise, even this Jetta produced similar thud sounds. So now I am confused as to what the real problem (if at all) is. Two things are certain. The rear struts were fine and I got taken royally for a ride - having shelled out around 20k for rear suspension replacement

Of course your issue could be completely different from mine. Just thought I'd share my experience here.
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Old 29th March 2017, 19:16   #313
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re: Platinum Grey VW Jetta 2.0 TDI Highline DSG comes home EDIT: Sold!

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Originally Posted by Immix View Post
Hi graaja, Thanks to your very thorough ownership thread combined with those of Karan, Tanveer, Chetan, and others, I recently took the plunge and got a pre-owned 2014 DSG run 35k - same color as yours So thanks a lot as I am enjoying the jump from my GT TDI to Jetta every single day.

However, I have been noticing thud sounds from the rear of the car whenever i go over rough roads at not very high speeds. These sounds are more pronounced at the left rear or maybe its just an acoustic illusion. I thought that this was due to loose rear suspension or maybe tyres - stock NCTs at 30 psi. So I got the car checked at a VW workshop. During the test drive, the technician noticed the sounds as well and said that gaadi patak rahi hai peeche se (The car is throwing its weight around the back). They took the rear suspension out and told me that the rear struts have become hard and that's the reason for the thud sounds. So based on their recommendation, I got the rear struts and accompanying rubber parts replaced.

But the thud sounds are still there and I still feel that the suspension is loose (which is indeed not the case). The technician says that all Jettas produce such thud sounds from the rear going over potholes. He suggested that I test drive another Jetta (2016, DSG, 8k) that had just come for service to see for myself. To my surprise, even this Jetta produced similar thud sounds. So now I am confused as to what the real problem (if at all) is. Two things are certain. The rear struts were fine and I got taken royally for a ride - having shelled out around 20k for rear suspension replacement

Of course your issue could be completely different from mine. Just thought I'd share my experience here.
Thank you for your kind words. Glad that this thread was helpful in your deciding to go for a Jetta.

Actually, I was not particularly concerned about the thud sound. That sound was there a little always on rough roads even when the car was new. But what I was concerned was the overall feeling that the rear was going all over on rough roads, corners etc., same thing as put by the technician "gaadi patak rahi hai peeche se (The car is throwing its weight around the back)". I am not able to explain it correctly though.

It is also quite possible that this is more of perception than reality. Ever since I changed the suspensions in my GT TSi to coilovers, that car has been handling beautifully. Maybe I got used the coilovers in the GT, that the Jetta's suspensions feel a little loose. Maybe this is an excuse for me to change the suspensions in the Jetta
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Old 30th March 2017, 09:58   #314
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re: Platinum Grey VW Jetta 2.0 TDI Highline DSG comes home EDIT: Sold!

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I thought that this was due to loose rear suspension or maybe tyres - stock NCTs at 30 psi.
Are you on the original tyres or new NCTs? I suspect if original tyres, they may have become hard/brittle due to age + mileage.
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Old 30th March 2017, 10:28   #315
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re: Platinum Grey VW Jetta 2.0 TDI Highline DSG comes home EDIT: Sold!

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Are you on the original tyres or new NCTs? I suspect if original tyres, they may have become hard/brittle due to age + mileage.
Original and yes they have become rock hard. Changing them is on top of the list of things to do. Luckily for me @Tanveer_2558 has offered to test drive my car. He will definitely be able to figure out if this is an issue or not
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