Topic: What did you do to your car today?

[Great_Big_Abyss]

It was nice to come home after 'vacation' and drive my truck for the first time in two weeks.  I spent the past two weeks driving a 2010 Honda Odyssey (nice van, really well put together, but, well, it's a van and has seen a hard life ferrying 4 children and a dog), and a 2010 F150 (It's a real piece of crap, and drives like it too...it's costing my brother a fortune in maintenance and repairs, too....after a new torque converter, now it needs a new tranny plus a bunch of other stuff). 

[Great_Big_Abyss]

Speaking of towing over the weekend I saw a Toyota Echo sedan towing a tow dolly with a first generation Miata on it.

Hmm, I wonder which car would have had more power.  That's funny.  Any car (including Miata) would exceed an Echo's tow rating. 

[aquadorhj]

filled up my bimmer over the weekend.  thanks to Costco premium being cheap, came to 40~ $.

checked my fill history, and i think i fill my bimmer twice a year now with low mileage driven.  i should get another car with all this gas money i'm not spending... 

[BWII]

Bonus now there's an attachment point if he ever goes into a ditch face first.

Which we all know he will, because Mustang. 




But only if there's a crowd of people standing in the ditch.   

Nah...not if he's driving it.  All pedestrians are safe.  He gets better avg than I do with my Fusion, and I don't think I drive aggressively anymore. (I'd end up hating myself or the car if I drove it for mpgs instead of "aww shyt, I gotta buy another set of tires this summer")  This'll be his 4th (IIRC) winter coming up and he's never been near a ditch.

[tortoise]

I dropped the Golf off at the dealership for its 60k service.

Oil and Filter Change
Fuel Filter Change
DSG Fluid Change

$700+Tax.

Ugh.

I managed to knock $100 off of the bill by denying the "routine inspections" and quoting what another dealership is charging for the DSG Service.  But still.

[mlin32]

^That's actually not unreasonable. Fuel filters on a lot of cars thesedays are not simple to replace, being buried in the fuel tank.

[tortoise]

^That's actually not unreasonable. Fuel filters on a lot of cars thesedays are not simple to replace, being buried in the fuel tank.

Heh. It's right up front and easy to get to on a TDI since it's a regular maintenance item (every 30k km). 

The quote for the fuel filter change was "$200 at the most, it should be lower".  That is pretty absurd since it's like fifteen minutes of maintenance and I can get the filter for ~$40 online.  When the powertrain warranty is up I'll likely start doing it myself.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LadPq0dfBB4

The oil change price of $110 is actually pretty reasonable since buying the oil, filter and o-rings would run over $80.

[HeliDriver]

I assume the DSG service was the major part of that expense. It’s pretty involved, from what I recall. Don’t have a DSG, so don’t really know.

I’ve replaced the fuel filter on the GTI twice now. It’s a $10 part, but you have to crawl under the car to get at it. It would be an easy swap, but there are two plastic clips on the fuel line that are extremely awkward to get at. And if you break them, you’re looking at replacing the fuel line.

I fought with it for ages the first time, then finally figured out a trick to get at it and it popped off. Four years later, fought with it again until I finally figured out the trick again. And I’m sure I’ll have forgotten again in four years and will fight with it next time too.   

[tortoise]

Yeah, the DSG service is over half the cost at $375+taxes (which isn't a bad price from what I've read).

And it is pretty involved.  And uses quite a bit of the expensive fluid. 

[tortoise]

I’ve replaced the fuel filter on the GTI twice now. It’s a $10 part, but you have to crawl under the car to get at it. It would be an easy swap, but there are two plastic clips on the fuel line that are extremely awkward to get at. And if you break them, you’re looking at replacing the fuel line.

Is that a regular maintenance item for the GTI?  I have never changed out a fuel filter on a gas car.

[HeliDriver]

^^ I can’t remember if it’s in the recommended maintenance schedule or not. Might just be something I did because it’s cheap and can’t hurt (unless you mess up those plastic tabs  .)

[Ex-airbalancer]

I’ve replaced the fuel filter on the GTI twice now. It’s a $10 part, but you have to crawl under the car to get at it. It would be an easy swap, but there are two plastic clips on the fuel line that are extremely awkward to get at. And if you break them, you’re looking at replacing the fuel line.

Is that a regular maintenance item for the GTI?  I have never changed out a fuel filter on a gas car.

I think that was something we did in the '70's 

[Davep]

I’ve replaced the fuel filter on the GTI twice now. It’s a $10 part, but you have to crawl under the car to get at it. It would be an easy swap, but there are two plastic clips on the fuel line that are extremely awkward to get at. And if you break them, you’re looking at replacing the fuel line.

Is that a regular maintenance item for the GTI?  I have never changed out a fuel filter on a gas car.

I think that was something we did in the '70's 

Heck, I remember changing the little fuel inlet carbureter filter every couple of years. 

[mlin32]

^^ I can’t remember if it’s in the recommended maintenance schedule or not. Might just be something I did because it’s cheap and can’t hurt (unless you mess up those plastic tabs  .)

For petrol cars thesedays, it isn't. But like every other "lifetime" component, if it's easy to get at, like it sounds like the Golf, it's basic insurance especially in North America where the fuel quality can vary widely.

With my 2004 BMW X3 the fuel filter was in the petrol tank and the shop messed it up putting it back together. And for my Peugeot they also replaced it when trying to fix my engine (per TSB) and that involved digging into the petrol tank too.

Speaking of maintenance, what do you guys suggest for transmission fluid (manual gearbox) in terms of change interval ? Of course, owner's manual says it's lifetime.........

[HeliDriver]

^^ I did mine at 90k km and will do it again somewhere around 180-200k km.

[blur911]

Just finished setting the valves, all now set to 0.004", most were still right on, a few were a little loose, so nothing to worry about.
Might as well do it when the engine is out.

[rrocket]

Just finished setting the valves, all now set to 0.004", most were still right on, a few were a little loose, so nothing to worry about.
Might as well do it when the engine is out.

Yep!

[blur911]

Cleaned out a mouse nest sitting on top of the oil cooler. 911s have a built in oil cooler at the front right of the engine, lots of space on top for mice to move in.
I got a new wireless endoscope to look about places like this, checked the also important spots on top of the cylinders and heads with it.

[PJungnitsch]

Speaking of maintenance, what do you guys suggest for transmission fluid (manual gearbox) in terms of change interval ? Of course, owner's manual says it's lifetime.........

I change it once or twice in a vehicles lifetime, doesn't seem to bee a super critical thing but it is usually cheap and easy to do. Usually half of it for me is changing to a synthetic fluid that shifts easier in the cold.

That said, some vehicles have issues where frequent changing can help, ie Edge/CX-9 PTO

[blur911]

Speaking of maintenance, what do you guys suggest for transmission fluid (manual gearbox) in terms of change interval ? Of course, owner's manual says it's lifetime.........

I change it once or twice in a vehicles lifetime, doesn't seem to bee a super critical thing but it is usually cheap and easy to do. Usually half of it for me is changing to a synthetic fluid that shifts easier in the cold.

That said, some vehicles have issues where frequent changing can help, ie Edge/CX-9 PTO

Normal use, yeah, once or twice a lifetime (@about 160k)
But, if you are putting heat and pressure into it, IE, racing or towing, I'd go significantly more often.