Come to the Jalop side: A friend's journey from VW to Miata

"Nonster" (noahnic) 04/30/2015 at 10:20 • Filed to: None

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Many of my friends/co-workers and myself all started our current jobs at the same time all fresh out of college with a new found lease on life based solely on the appearance of something that is only spoken of in engineering school in hushed whispers in the dark corners of the computer labs. This mystical artifact that we had acquired is more commonly known as the philosophers stone paycheck. We were no longer broke college students! We can drink Yuengling! No more Natty light!

Anyways this job came with a nice starting bonus check and a lot of my new-found friends would use this as a down-payment on a new car. I used mine to buy a semi-obscure, overheating, rust-prone, mid-engine, Japanese sports car from the 80’s.

One friend in particular, let’s call him Jeff, wanted something fun to drive yet practical. No he didn’t buy a Miata, he bought a brand new 2013 VW GTI. He loved it, I shuddered at the idea of such a hefty car payment, but I probably came close to the same cost solely on the amount of coolant I bought while trying to fix the MR2’s FUBAR’d cooling system.

Fast forward a year and a half or so and Jeff wants more power and ends up getting an APR (I think) tune done on the ECU. This begin the chain of woes that began building Jeff’s hatred of VW.

The tune worked great and bumped the boost up a bit and the car pulled hard....until the clutch started slipping. So he had a stronger clutch installed. Then about 6 months later the ECU fried itself. VW was able to tell that it had been tinkered with so the warranty was voided. They wanted to charge him something like $1800 to fix it. So he said f that and we showed up with a tow truck and got the gti the hell outta there.

After some negotiating with the shop that did the tune, they agreed to source a used ecu for him and to replace it and with no labor costs. The first used ecu was a dud, but the second one worked and all said and done he was out about $700.

Then about a week later his thermostat or temp sensor has failed and I also noticed his rear brake rotors where wearing weirdly and were scored.

So we just dropped it off at the dealership this morning and they say if it’s the thermostat than it’ll be covered under the warranty, if its the sensor it’s not covered.

The result is that Jeff now hates the car. He’s had to spend a lot of money out of pocket on a car that he’s already paying enough for in car payments. He’s tried contacting VW directly but in his words, they pretty much told him to fuck off.

So he’s decided to sell the car as soon as it’s fixed and he wants to buy a cheap used car. He then made the mistake of sheepishly mentioning while I was within earshot that he liked Miatas........

Time to go Miata shopping!!! I’ve turned him to the Jalop side!!!

TL;DR Friend is sick of expensive GTI so he’s selling it and looking for a Miata

SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie > Nonster 04/30/2015 at 10:23

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if it’s the thermostat than it’ll be covered under the warranty, if its the sensor it’s not covered.

There’s no way VW would be in business if any of their sensors were covered under warranty.

Leon711 > Nonster 04/30/2015 at 10:24

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Went from two VW’s to Miata, looking to go back.

davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com > Nonster 04/30/2015 at 10:25

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TL;DNR #2 - be very cautious of modifying a car still under factory warranty...

themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles > Nonster 04/30/2015 at 10:26

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Not trying to insult your friend but, Tl;Dr - friend modified car, drove like an animal, broke car, and now doesn’t want to pay for his own doing. Not the car’s fault it went wrong from the sound of things. And it’s possible he accepts that he got himself into this mess and learns from it which I hope is the case. Hopefully he knows a used Miata will take maintenance and he will have to deal with those repairs and mods out of pocket.

SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie > davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com 04/30/2015 at 10:29

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Better yet, don’t buy a VW. A reflash won’t fry the ECU or kill a thermostat/temperature sensor.

505Turbeaux > Nonster 04/30/2015 at 10:30

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Miata does not a Jalop make

It is a state of mind

bob and john > Nonster 04/30/2015 at 10:32

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what someone else said. He bought a car, tuned it, beat on it like it owed him money, and then he is surprised when shit breaks?

davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com > SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie 04/30/2015 at 10:32

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Yeah, but it gives the asshole dealer/VW USA a reason not to pay for warranty work, however valid their claim.

SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie > davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com 04/30/2015 at 10:32

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Yep, truedat.

SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie > bob and john 04/30/2015 at 10:35

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Meh, it doesn’t sound like that to me. It sounds like he payed for the clutch, which is his fault, and there’s no sign of whining about that. A temperature sensor, thermostat, and ECU would not be affected by a reflash or driving, however. That’s all VW.

Alfalfa Romeo > Nonster 04/30/2015 at 10:36

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I really don’t understand the large fanbase behind water cooled VWs.

I’m not so much of a Miata guy either, but I would take one in a heartbeat over any Volkswagen with the engine in front.

Nonster > 505Turbeaux 04/30/2015 at 10:38

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True, but he’s learning.

davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com > SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie 04/30/2015 at 10:40

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I’m worried enough that my mild tune and primary cat delete would be an issue on any engine-related claim I might need to make with my aftermarket warranty...

bob and john > SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie 04/30/2015 at 10:42

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what year was the car? “read 2013” huh. thought they would have gotten the bungs out...oh well. I know our A3 TDI is just about 100K miles, and nary a fault.

Also, is it part of driving? yes? then its affected by the driving. To many high heat cycles in the temp and thermo would lead to failure, ESP if the car is tuned for more power/heat then originally designed for. Dont know what to say about the ECU. That one is weird.

Nonster > themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles 04/30/2015 at 10:44

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While I’m not familiar with the exact inner workings of VW’s ECU’s but a different fuel map and a slight bump in boost should not cause the ECU to fry. He certainly doesn’t drive like an animal and never tracks or autocrosses the car. We aren’t talking about crazy mods here, a modest tune and a clutch.

I’ve made sure he’s aware of the cost of owning a 20 year old car, but I’m pretty sure maintenance on a miata is less than $500 a month.

SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie > Alfalfa Romeo 04/30/2015 at 10:45

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I live some of the original ones like the first Scirocco, the original Golf, and the Type 2 (T3), but for the most part, yeah... I’ll pass.

Nonster > bob and john 04/30/2015 at 10:46

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He was kinda annoyed about the clutch but accepted the fact that more power needed more clutch and paid for it. I certainly didn’t suggest that he beat on the poor car. He treats it well and has never tracked or autocrossed it, certainly drives it no where near as hard as I drive my MR2 at autocross or track days.

Nonster > Alfalfa Romeo 04/30/2015 at 10:49

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I’ve never owned one, but my sister has had both a Beetle and a Jetta and both of them had a ridiculous number of issues with the electronics. The ecu in the Beetle went bad and the windows and door locks in the Jetta had a mind of their own

Nonster > davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com 04/30/2015 at 10:54

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I’d assume it’s void, though it depends on how the tune is done. If they had to open the ECU the dealership can probably tell. If it’s software only then you probably have the tune reset to stock and nobody would be the wiser

SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie > bob and john 04/30/2015 at 10:54

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TDIs don’t seem to be plagued by as many problems as their gas powered counterparts.

Alfalfa Romeo > SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie 04/30/2015 at 10:55

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Exactly. There are a few cool ones, but the amount that I think are cool seems disproportionate to the amount of fans they have. And for just about every VW I like, there’s something similar that I like more. An old cabriolet is cool, but if I want a small old unreliable convertible I would much rather get something British or Italian.

Half the poeple in my local Eurocar group are diehard VW fans. Half the cars at our meets are debadged Passats.

themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles > Nonster 04/30/2015 at 11:06

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“modest” is a vague word in the world of ECU tunes. APR likes to brag about how they go from 200 to 260hp with just their stage 1 ECU reflash on MkV/VI GTIs. Meanwhile my Fiesta ST’s stage 1 tune is....5hp and 20ish lb/ft from the stock 200. And he probably does push it otherwise he wouldn’t feel the need for the power bump. Maybe the flash was done incorrectly? It is also possible something got bumped or moved when they replaced the clutch. Not sure what all gets taken out or moved. But that’s also what you accept when you get into modifying cars.

It is possible he got a bit of a lemon, but he was a jalop the second he got the GTI over the lower trim golfs. Actually it sounds like he was a jalop before that, it’s just now he can afford to have a GTI over a non performance car. So to act like he is “jalop” now that he wants a used miata is a bit false. He’s just fixing a mistake he made.

The Real Dacia Sandero > Nonster 04/30/2015 at 11:07

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A friend of mine has been looking at Miatas after hearing me going on about mine all the time. She found a really nice one on Craigslist that she might pick up Saturday.

themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles > bob and john 04/30/2015 at 11:09

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If you don’t follow the procedure when tuning, you can damage the car’s baseline. Also possible that physical damage was done to wiring or electrical system. Sounds like all the actual problems started after the clutch got replaced. So for all we know, that job was butchered and lead to other problems. Sensors AND the ECU frying could hint that there is a fault in the wiring?

davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com > Nonster 04/30/2015 at 11:13

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It’s a software reflash, so that just leaves the test pipes.

Nonster > themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles 04/30/2015 at 11:18

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Yeah it’s weird, maybe something was messed up at some point, but just from riding in car the tune certainly made it feel faster, but definitely not 60hp more going from my butt dyno.

He definitely took on the risk when he decided to modify it but it sucks when you have a bunch of issues on a relatively new car with only about 30k miles.

I guess I should rephrase it a bit, he’s becoming more jalop. He only had a passing interest in cars before he got the GTI, now he wants to learn how to work on and maintain cars himself.

mXxxxXm24 /O/ /O/ > Nonster 04/30/2015 at 11:19

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Depends on the month and what you do to the Miata lol.

UKGTR335 > Nonster 04/30/2015 at 11:22

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Somewhat unpopular opinion - I owned a GTI for 7 years, loved every minute, and I’m considering going back to one after a 6 year hiatus.

Owned an ‘02 GTI from 26 miles on the clock to 75,xxx. That was a great car. Not without its quirks, but I’d rather spend a little extra to maintain and repair a car that’s practical and fun, than drive some super reliable but boring beige box.

I replaced the water pump, thermostat, clutch, and many many coil packs on my GTI, but none of these things were that much of an inconvenience. I had a GIAC tune, intake, full exhaust, and some other bolt-ons all of which made the car more fun than stock, but none of which gave me any serious concerns about reduced reliability.

I now find myself needing a practical commuter, not our primary vehicle, that can handle 2 kids if needed, but must be fun to drive. I have searched and searched and searched for something that fits the bill and I just keep coming back to the GTI. I’m thinking I’ll gladly take on the possibility of a little extra maintenance in exchange for the overall experience you get driving a GTI.

Agrajag > 505Turbeaux 04/30/2015 at 11:22

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Sage advice.

themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles > Nonster 04/30/2015 at 11:24

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Its a little late now, but in hindsight you should’ve had the car’s wiring harness and electrical system looked at after thjnfsbstarted to go wrong and look for evidence of physical damage. The problems seem to stem from right after the clutch install, which is a common upgrade after a big HP jump. I’d avoid the shop that did your clutch too. Or maybe take it back to then and see what they say or do. All it takes is a missed swing with a ratchet and a sensor can get bashed or some wires pinched and eventually worn through. Then this problem (and others) might come back.

Nonster > UKGTR335 04/30/2015 at 11:31

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I really liked my friends GTI, it rode nice, handled great, and was fun to drive so I’m hesitant to knock it, but based on the problems that both my buddy and my sister have had with 2010+ VW’s I personally would be hesitant to buy one.

bob and john > themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles 04/30/2015 at 13:12

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might want to send that to the other guy.., not me :D

themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles > bob and john 04/30/2015 at 13:16

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Already did. Hopefully they can get some help figuring out what happened.