NCD - Fender Content

Liko

Liko

New member
New Car Day!

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My '05 Subaru Legacy got sideswiped late last year, leaving the driver door barely functioning. Coupled with the A/C quitting just before it turned cold, and a couple of electrical gremlins that popped up over the winter, I decided it was time to put her to pasture. She had a really good run, kept me safe, and she was the car I drove off on my honeymoon in, the one I brought my first two kids home in. But, all good things must come to an end.

After some looking (we weren't really expecting a second car payment; my wife's minivan's only a year old), I settled on this 2013 VW Jetta TDI listed for about $14k. This particular one has pretty much every bell and whistle it was possible to get in this model year; two-tone leatherette interior (VW saves the real leather for Audis but this feels close enough), touchscreen center console with navigation, Bluetooth handsfree and premium audio system, pushbutton start, 6-speed automatic/triptronic trans, power everything, heated everything, advanced keyless entry (I just touch the driver's door handle to lock/unlock), power tilt moonroof, etc etc. The diesel powerplant with 42mpg highway is definitely going to help out on my 35-mile one-way commute to work, and the previous owner really kept this thing cherry, you can barely tell it's not new.

... But where's the Fender content, you ask? Well, turns out the premium sound system bears Fender's trademark, which I really got a kick out of when I saw it:

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More pictures when I have time and daylight to take them.
 
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Re: NCD - Fender Content

Isn't there a 1/4" in the glovebox or something on that car so you can play guitar through the radio?
 
Re: NCD - Fender Content

I remember looking at a Volkswagen Golf and seeing the Fender sound system option. Cool but not the manufacturer I'd expect...where are the Engels, Diezels, Hughes & Kettner, Framus models? ;)

Hope the car is great for you!
 
Re: NCD - Fender Content

PFDarkside said:
Isn't there a 1/4" in the glovebox or something on that car so you can play guitar through the radio?
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It's got a stereo 1/8" Aux Input, and there are a few publicity stills of a guitar with a cable snaking into the car, but I haven't found or seen an actual 1/4" TS jack made for guitar. The system seems designed more to honor Fender's amps, with "Twin" and "Bassman" branded woofers and subwoofer. Sounds great but I doubt it really has the robustness to handle a raw guitar signal through the Aux in.
 
Re: NCD - Fender Content

Ah, I just read the press release, it looks like that was just in the concept. Do you have the sunburst dash?
 
Re: NCD - Fender Content

Lots of problems for a Subaru man. Mine has been quite flawless despite one single occasion with engine overheating which I never reproduced. Congrats on your new VW car and its .... Vender amp :)
 
Re: NCD - Fender Content

Cool. I used o be a TDI nerd myself. I had a '96 Passat wagon TDI and a 2001 Jetta TDI. Liked 'em a lot while they were without problems...which wasn't long. Back at that time, you had to hunt them down or special order them in CA, as there were only a very small number allowed in every year (maybe 50 or so). I hope you have better luck with build quality; I'll never buy a modern VW again, myself. Both of mine were 5-speeds, and in terms of MPG, they got low-to-mid 40's in the city, and mid-to-high 50's on the highway. I'd get 58 reliably with the cruise set at 65 on long trips. This is back when diesel #2 was cheaper than gasoline too. Good luck. I'm sure you'll enjoy it while it lasts.
 
Re: NCD - Fender Content

ItsaBass said:
Cool. I used o be a TDI nerd myself. I had a '96 Passat wagon TDI and a 2001 Jetta TDI. Liked 'em a lot while they were without problems...which wasn't long. Back at that time, you had to hunt them down or special order them in CA, as there were only a very small number allowed in every year (maybe 50 or so). I hope you have better luck with build quality; I'll never buy a modern VW again, myself. Both of mine were 5-speeds, and in terms of MPG, they got low-to-mid 40's in the city, and mid-to-high 50's on the highway. I'd get 58 reliably with the cruise set at 65 on long trips. This is back when diesel #2 was cheaper than gasoline too. Good luck. I'm sure you'll enjoy it while it lasts.
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I drive an '06 Jetta TDI with the 6-speed triptronic and I typically get around 40mpg city and around 45 mpg highway w/ cruise set @ 65-70. Mileage improves @ 55-60, but the best I've been able to manage is 51 mpg. In terms of reliability it's been great with very little work besides scheduled maintenance. I was thinking about this thread on the way to work this morning and noticed that the odometer's currently reading just over 188,500.
 
Re: NCD - Fender Content

dystrust said:
I drive an '06 Jetta TDI with the 6-speed triptronic and I typically get around 40mpg city and around 45 mpg highway w/ cruise set @ 65-70. Mileage improves @ 55-60, but the best I've been able to manage is 51 mpg. In terms of reliability it's been great with very little work besides scheduled maintenance. I was thinking about this thread on the way to work this morning and noticed that the odometer's currently reading just over 188,500.
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The five speed must have made a huge difference in mileage. In my Jetta, driving solely in the city, I couldn't get it to get below about 43 MPG if I tried, and 45 was the usual number each tank. The Passat wagon was more like your numbers in the city, but in the 50's on the highway. The final gear ratio must be a bit steeper on the automatics or sumthin'.
 
Re: NCD - Fender Content

I thought VW did a model with guitar capabilities a couple year ago.. I remember the ads for it..??

LOL, I thought your fender content was going to be having an new fender on the car.. Yeah, Im sure it was kinda hard to see the car go seeing as how it was with you on the honey moon, bringing kids home etc. The car I took on my honeymoon was diff then what my kids went home in , but there were a few conception attempts in it.. haha

Hope your new car brings you years of safety and good driving experiences!!
 
Re: NCD - Fender Content

ehdwuld said:
Aren't the TDI's the ones that just got recalled?
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Yes they are, but it's not a safety issue, it's an emissions control thing, and to be perfectly frank Texas doesn't require any emissions testing for non-commercial diesels. So, I get to sit back and see what the eventual fix to remove the cheat will do to the cars' performance and fuel economy, and if it has a significant detrimental effect I don't have any legal requirement to apply the fix.
 
Re: NCD - Fender Content

greekdude said:
Lots of problems for a Subaru man. Mine has been quite flawless despite one single occasion with engine overheating which I never reproduced. Congrats on your new VW car and its .... Vender amp :)
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Yeah, plenty of love for Subaru still, just didn't happen this time around. I needed serious fuel efficiency, and even with the downsized 2.0L Impreza, highway mileage tops out around 36. The other major contender was the Mazda 3, I really liked the styling and they're getting 42mpg from a gas engine, but it sacrifices get-up-and-go.

Sent from my VS985 4G using Tapatalk
 
Re: NCD - Fender Content

ItsaBass said:
The five speed must have made a huge difference in mileage. In my Jetta, driving solely in the city, I couldn't get it to get below about 43 MPG if I tried, and 45 was the usual number each tank. The Passat wagon was more like your numbers in the city, but in the 50's on the highway. The final gear ratio must be a bit steeper on the automatics or sumthin'.
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First off, were those the trip computer's numbers, or what you got at the pump dividing the trip odometer by the pump's gallons number? On my Subaru I found the trip computer was being generous by about 3-4mpg compared to a straight miles clocked over gallons pumped calculation. I'm not even down to 3/4 tank yet on the fillup they gave me when they handed over the keys, so stay tuned.

Numbers-wise, there had to have been some tweaking (or hyper-miling) going on with your '06, as you're claiming numbers significantly better than the EPA's best estimates for the model year. The '06 TDI sedan was rated 36/41 and 100bhp; fast forward 7 years and the '13 TDI's city mileage suffers a little to get a tick more on the highway (30/42) and 40 more bhp. My car's trip computer has a true "trip" average as well as the average for the tank, and if my route lets me get on the highway and cruise, I'm seeing single-trip averages in the mid 40s, but if I'm just puddle-jumping around surface streets to lunch or the grocery store it's shown numbers as low as 26. The average for the tank so far is in the high 30s.

As for the gearbox, my measure's off; I've spent 10 years driving a gas-powered Boxer engine mated to a 4-speed slush pump. So much opportunity wasted there. Anyway, the DSG system and the TDI's low-end torque band make this car feel much sportier even with 25 fewer horsepower than the Legacy and similar curb weights. I've noticed much quicker acceleration with seemingly less throttle. I've driven my FIL's '05 TDI with a 5-speed manual, and it has good get up and go, but nothing like this beast.
 
Re: NCD - Fender Content

Liko said:
First off, were those the trip computer's numbers, or what you got at the pump dividing the trip odometer by the pump's gallons number? On my Subaru I found the trip computer was being generous by about 3-4mpg compared to a straight miles clocked over gallons pumped calculation. I'm not even down to 3/4 tank yet on the fillup they gave me when they handed over the keys, so stay tuned.

Numbers-wise, there had to have been some tweaking (or hyper-miling) going on with your '06, as you're claiming numbers significantly better than the EPA's best estimates for the model year. The '06 TDI sedan was rated 36/41 and 100bhp; fast forward 7 years and the '13 TDI's city mileage suffers a little to get a tick more on the highway (30/42) and 40 more bhp. My car's trip computer has a true "trip" average as well as the average for the tank, and if my route lets me get on the highway and cruise, I'm seeing single-trip averages in the mid 40s, but if I'm just puddle-jumping around surface streets to lunch or the grocery store it's shown numbers as low as 26. The average for the tank so far is in the high 30s.

As for the gearbox, my measure's off; I've spent 10 years driving a gas-powered Boxer engine mated to a 4-speed slush pump. So much opportunity wasted there. Anyway, the DSG system and the TDI's low-end torque band make this car feel much sportier even with 25 fewer horsepower than the Legacy and similar curb weights. I've noticed much quicker acceleration with seemingly less throttle. I've driven my FIL's '05 TDI with a 5-speed manual, and it has good get up and go, but nothing like this beast.
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I never owned an '06. As I said above, I owned a '96 Passat TDI wagon and an '01 Jetta, both five speeds.

I don't think the cars I owned even had MPG readouts on the dash. I usually calculated based on filling up at the same exact pump around the corner from my place. I don't remember the EPA estimates for the '96 Passat wagon, as I didn't buy it new, but for my '01 Jetta, it was EPA rated at 42/52 with the 90 hp (140-something ft-lb IIRC) engine. I remember the window sticker quite distinctly (might even still have it somewhere, actually). I think the Passat, being a heavier car, and a bit older, got a little less MPG.

I am religious about calculating fuel mileage, and I always have been. With a stick shift, I ALWAYS get over EPA estimates, usually by at least 3 MPG, in any car – and that's exactly what I got in this Jetta normally: 45/55. It's due to the manner in which I drive stick: for maximum fuel economy. I bought it to be economical, and I took it to the max (within reason). If I was not concentrating as much on getting the best MPG, I might dip down to 43, but no lower. If I was really concentrating on maximizing it, I could get 58 on the highway; that is cruise control with NO interruptions, set right at 65 for the entire trip. That is not always feasible on the open highway, but when it was, it was always 58 MPG. When not feasible to not pass, slow and reset the cruise, etc., it was usually 55 MPG on the highway.

I could never break the 60 MPG mark, like some TDI enthusiasts could. I wasn't willing to go to those extremes (**** like using the wrong air pressure in the tires, or shutting off the engine when sitting at a stop light). But I did do the basics: Never let tires run low. Don't warm up the car before driving (just drive extremely gently until it warms – people shouldn't be warming up their cars anyhow). Never sit and idle the car unless actually on the road (e.g. in a parking lot listening to the radio or running the heater). Don't rev fast and don't rev high (I would normally shift well below 2,000 RPM; the car had the torque to handle it easily). Don't give it pedal unnecessarily when gravity will do the work for you. And so on and so forth.

I have not kept up with TDIs since my 2001, but based on what you posted, it seems like VW has used the past 10 years or so to seriously change the character of the TDIs. More useless power at the expense of fuel economy is pretty much opposed to the entire TDI concept. Now, they must not be that different than gasoline-powered cars! I got better than that in the city in my 5-speed 2011 Focus. That car was rated at 25/34, but I got 32/36. It's really weird; when the TDIs got killer MPG, they were an oddball, niche, very rare car. Only 50 a year were allowed to be sold in the state of CA at that time. I think I saw only a handful of other ones on the road in all the years I drove them. But now they are all over the damned place...but if what you are saying is true, then they really are not much, if any, more economical than a gas-powered economy car. It's kind of unnecessary and counterproductive in my mind. My 90 hp and 140-something ft-lb was more power than I ever needed. I never found it sluggish. More power hardly seems like a worthy tradeoff on a car designed for extreme fuel economy.
 
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Re: NCD - Fender Content

ItsaBass said:
The five speed must have made a huge difference in mileage. In my Jetta, driving solely in the city, I couldn't get it to get below about 43 MPG if I tried, and 45 was the usual number each tank. The Passat wagon was more like your numbers in the city, but in the 50's on the highway. The final gear ratio must be a bit steeper on the automatics or sumthin'.
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It could be different engine revisions, but I suspect the heavier mk. V body has more of an impact on that. I looked at a couple mk. IV Jettas when I was car shopping and they were CRAMPED. I find the mk. V fits my 6'2 frame (and long legs) a lot better. I don't remember which version of the TDI engine was used in '96 and '01, but mine has the PD engine which was introduced in '03/'04. The EPA rating for an '04 mk. IV PD is 46mpg, while the EPA rating for my '06 PD is 41mpg (both 5-speed manual).

Liko said:
First off, were those the trip computer's numbers, or what you got at the pump dividing the trip odometer by the pump's gallons number? On my Subaru I found the trip computer was being generous by about 3-4mpg compared to a straight miles clocked over gallons pumped calculation. I'm not even down to 3/4 tank yet on the fillup they gave me when they handed over the keys, so stay tuned.

Numbers-wise, there had to have been some tweaking (or hyper-miling) going on with your '06, as you're claiming numbers significantly better than the EPA's best estimates for the model year. The '06 TDI sedan was rated 36/41 and 100bhp; fast forward 7 years and the '13 TDI's city mileage suffers a little to get a tick more on the highway (30/42) and 40 more bhp. My car's trip computer has a true "trip" average as well as the average for the tank, and if my route lets me get on the highway and cruise, I'm seeing single-trip averages in the mid 40s, but if I'm just puddle-jumping around surface streets to lunch or the grocery store it's shown numbers as low as 26. The average for the tank so far is in the high 30s.
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I was calculating mileage manually since my car doesn't have a trip computer. As far as beating EPA numbers, that isn't terribly hard to do with the 'new' calculation methods used since the mid-2000s. Prior to that the EPA rated cars @ 55mph, and lots of people complained because the EPA numbers were extremely difficult to match unless you drove in a very specific way. The new method is supposed to match "real world" driving conditions and includes all sorts of crazy acceleration (hitting 80mph several times for example) and hard braking. As long as you're not driving like you're trying to qualify for a F1 Grand Prix it isn't hard to beat the EPA numbers these days.
 
Re: NCD - Fender Content

'Cause I have the transponder-equipped key fob in my pocket and the car thief doesn't?

Sent from my VS985 4G using Tapatalk
 
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