2011 Tiguan Roof Rack Decision

Getting a new vehicle comes at a cost. Not only do I have a car payment again but I’m faced with the added costs of a new roof rack should I want to use my kayak or take my mountain bike anywhere without jamming it inside the car.

The complication I had was finding a roof rack that wouldn’t impair my ability to open my panoramic sunroof when installed. Having had a Thule roof rack stolen from my previous car even with the security locks I wanted to check out all the other options.

I could pick up the OEM roof rack but it’s ugly and you are limited to the space between the feet and the heavy plastic shields which isn’t enough to allow me to take 2 kayaks and my bike with me at the same time. It is important that I am able to take multiple things with me when I go on small road trips. The OEM rack just doesn’t afford me the space and look I want.

Yakima offers several options for the Tiguans. The lowest cost option is the Railgrab. While it appears that this option will give me the clearance with the bar it’s hardly an attractive option. The round cross bar is boring and pedestrian in appearance. The second option is the Whisperbar rails system. These are really low profile and are a very attractive option. They seem to barely change the overall all appearance of the car when in use however the fit tips indicate that you should remove the bars before using the roof. I really want to be able to leave the base cross bars on the car and only remove the attachments when not using them. Since it doesn’t offer the clearance needed its out. The third and fourth options are the Whisperbar Through Bar and HD Bar systems but those aren’t for vehicles which already have the roof rails.

That led me back to Thule. Thule also had several options for my car. The base mounts for my vehicle were the same but the difference was the bars. The basic SquareBar’s are not attractive and also any attachments have clamps that hang below the bar.  I would need to be very careful not to open the roof when the bar is in use or risk dragging the roof down a jagged edge of a clamp screw. It does appear that the bar can stay on the vehicle while the roof is in use. The second option was the Aeroblade’s. The aeroblade also have the same t-track that allows many standard attachments to use the adaptor packs that keep the bar clamp free. That means no hanging clamps or screws that could damage the roof.  With the Aeroblades there are two options like the Yakima’s WhisperBars. They offer an integrated bar and foot pack or the separate bar and foot pack. The integrated AeroBlade Edge fit guy mentions that the roof may not be used with the bars in place.  The separate bar and footpack didn’t say it would impact the use of the sunroof.

Just to be on the safe side I went to the local Eastern Mountain Sports and took a bar outside and held it about the height it would be with the Rapid Crossroad foot pack’s and tested the roof. It cleared but not with a huge amount of space so we will have to see when the rack is fully loaded if it clears. I plan to install it this week and will add another post when I do.
 

Paintless Dent Removal (PDR) - Dealerdents.com

Less than a week after purchasing my VW Tiguan I stopped for lunch in a local strip mall. It’s a place I go often in an affluent town. After picking up my sandwich I was walking to my car. I heard a loud bank like a door opening into a car but was not able to see where it happen since I was on the other side of a big truck.

As I approached my car I noticed a real beater of a vehicle parked next to me. It was an old Oldsmobile with its trunk lid held down by a bungee cord and multiple color panels.   Standing between my car and this beater was a very large woman who was looking at the side of my car. Immediately I saw what she was looking at. A large scuff and dent right on the body contour on my passenger door.

I asked if she did it and with cigarette hanging out of her mouth and a raspy voice she grunted “no” at me.  I knew it wasn’t there before I went into the store since I have a habit of looking at my car especially since it’s so new.  I replied “it sure looks like you did it especially since you were bent over checking it out when I walked up”. She just grunted and walked away.

Having not physically seen her do it and no real way to prove it I called her a variety of inappropriate terms before getting in my car and driving away.  It had me all worked up at how inconsiderate people can be.

On my way home I stopped at a place I know does paintless dent removal and they said they could get it about 80% of the way out but wouldn’t be able to get it perfect. Not satisfied I went to a few more placed and everyone seemed to say the same thing. That being if I wanted to not know it happened I would need to have the door fixed and repainted.

No ready to spend the $700+ to have that done I opted to live with it. On a routine visit to my mechanic I showed him the dent and asked if he had any ideas on who might be able to do the paintless dent removal on it.

He recommended Dana Berger who does work for the same dealership he had previously worked at. I checked out his website dealerdents.com and gave him a call. I shot him a few picture messages of the damage and he said “It won’t be easy but I can fix that” He gave me a quote and told me to call him at the end of the week to make an appointment.

Call I did and we made an appointment for Tuesday. I showed up at the set time in this residential neighborhood. While his bread and butter is the dealership gigs he also does side work in his driveway for people referred to him. Immediately upon seeing my dent he reassured me that he could take care of it. I also showed him the few other small puck marks on my car and said we can take care of all those.

As he worked we talked about how he got into the business and his experiences. I learned that he was trained by Dent Wizard and worked for them for 5 years before deciding to venture out on his own. He has now been removing dents for 12 years and works for many of the big local dealerships as well as working from several local detailing shops on the side. 

Business he said was booming and he had another guy working for him and was training his wife his craft. She was in the garage working on a Honda Civic for a local dealership who bought the car sight unseen only to discover it had been a victim of a hailstorm.

It was very cool to watch as he used a variety of long tools some flat and some pretty menacing looking to slowly work the dent out. With each step you could see the progress being made. Several times he said “don’t worry I know it looks bad now but when I’m done it will be perfect” I wasn’t ever worried because even half fixed it was less terrible then it started.

When he was all done I couldn’t have been more pleased with his work. The dent which doesn’t look like much in the picture was pretty bad and very noticeable. He also removed for a nominal fee the few other small dents that I had. I would strongly recommend his services to anyone in the metro west area who may need a dent fixed. I managed to capture a few pictures while he was working of the progress.

04' GTI 1.8T vs. 11' Tiguan SE 4Motion

While I am meticulous about maintenance it’s no mystery that I haven’t had the best of luck the last few years with my car. After having a series of issues thanks to a bad mechanic that lead to a very costly repair I have been on the fence about keeping my car. On a recent routine trip to a new awesome mechanic it was brought to my attention that there were a few areas of concern. 5 things were looming and would need to be addressed in the up-coming months. Those were a bubble in one of my tires, worn & loose strut mounts, a worn catalytic converter, brakes on all four wheels, and some rust starting to show on the front left fender.

After a quick calculation and calling around for prices I had a decision to make, invest $2500 to make my car whole again or evaluate replacement options. According to KBB, Edmunds, and NADA my car was worth somewhere between $2000 and $4000 so investing another $2500 didn’t make a lot of sense.

Having decided that I would replace my car I wrote a list of the pro’s and con’s with my current vehicle. Pro’s: Fast, fun, sporty, easy to drive, fuel efficient. Con’s: low to the ground, small cabin space, 2-doors, no sunroof, 2-wheel drive. These are just a few examples of what I listed. This allowed me to decide that on my new car there were a few must haves. I wanted a larger 4-wheel drive vehicle that would maintain a decent MPG but would allow me more cabin space. I wanted it to have 4 doors and come with a sunroof.

Having loved the feel of my car I evaluated getting a new version of the GTI but I just felt the cost was too high for a car that lacked a few things that were important to me. VW wasn’t letting me walk quite yet thou. They had an alternative that seemed to meet all my needs. That perfect fit is the VW Tiguan.

Not ready to spend a ton of money on a new vehicle I put my retired father to work locating the perfect used Tiguan. He found a possible option in Quincy, MA just a few miles from where I had bought my current car. Along with my parents we made the hour long trip only to be disappointed that this dealer had misrepresented the vehicle. He claimed it had a clear car fax and that it had never been in an accident but the obvious indicators that it has not only been in an accident but a bad one dashed any hope that it would be the next car for me.

Since we had driven all that way I suggested stopping by the local dealer and seeing what they might have. Not much I would learn and the sales guy was definitely you’re typical snake oil salesman. He showed me one 2011 Tiguan S and went through a pretty impressive walk around of the car showcasing its construction and safety before we headed inside to talk numbers. We went back and forth about 4 times before it was obvious that a deal wasn’t going to happen.

After leaving there we started the long ride home and alone the way stopped at 2 more locations. What I learned was that the Tiguan S wasn’t going to be the car for me. I wanted a Tiguan SE 4-Motion. The price difference was minimal to upgrade to the full awd option and most of the SE models come with a full panoramic sun roof.

2011 VW Tiguan SE 4Motion

At the last dealership I found the perfect car. A Certified 2011 Midnight Blue Tiguan SE 4Motion with Navigation and the Panoramic Sunroof. Of course with all perfect options the price was less than perfect. I was hopeful however that a deal could be made. Sadly it wasn’t meant to be and we left. After a few days I got a call to see if I had any question or if I had given their offer and thought. I was honest with the sales guy that we were 2k away from where I wanted to be and if he would meet in the middle we could make the deal happen.

Unable to make any promises he took my offer to the bosses and when he called back he was able to come $500 bucks closer but would repair a few things that I had pointed out with the car that needed to be done and throw in a few extra’s. Given that those repairs/extras were well over the remaining $500 difference I agreed and left him a deposit.

Today I picked up the car. I will need to return in a few day’s for my registration and an inspection but I couldn’t be happier to have closed the deal and gotten the car I wanted. My parents were equally as please to see me in a larger and safer vehicle.

Task 20 - Pay off Car Loan

When I bought my current car I had a choice between 36 and 60 month terms. I opted for the 60 month term since my bank was running a promotion for used cars reducing the APR to the same as the 36 month loan. There was no early payment penalty so I figured why not take the longer term and I would just plan to pay as if it was a 48 month term. 

I take very good care of my vehicles and keep up with preventative maintenance. I knew I had a timing belt coming soon so I took the car in early to get it done. I even paid cash to get a better price.  It was a mechanic I had used before and that my parents had used for years. Unfortunately shortly after that maintenance the timing belt skipped and ruined the engine. It was very disappointing that a bad mechanic could throw such an expensive wrench in my plans.

I managed to find a new mechanic who was honest and fairly priced who put my car back together at a more affordable price then the dealership wanted to charge. This however significantly slowed my increased payment stream since I first had to cover the 2800 engine I just had installed. I decided to slow my payments to the required amount only and replenish my savings account I had just drained.

While that slowed me down about 7 months I am happy to report that the car is paid off and the title in hand. It’s a great feeling not having a payment anymore. I have 120k miles on the car averaging 30k+ a year and hope to get a couple more years before needing to replace it. I plan to continue to pay myself the car payment to savings as a future down payment on a new car to keep the next loan as small as possible and also to help fund my Murphy Fund.
 

VW GTI Car Trouble Update

Finally today I got my car back. Its been almost nearly 3 weeks since the process started but I am pleased with the end result and even more happy that I found a mechanic that knows his stuff and isn't out to fleece his customers.

So finally list of items repaired. New engine, thermostat, and starter. I got a used motor rather then a new out of the box since replacing the motor doesn't effect the odometer reading of the car. The thermostat and starter while not related to the problem were replaced since they were almost due and it was easier to take car of it all while the engine was reassembled and put back in.

I won't go into too much detail since I want to run the car for a few weeks to make sure everything is perfect but so far so good "Knocking on wood".

VW GTI Car Trouble

About 2 weeks ago on Friday I had a some car trouble on my way to work. The car stuttered while in cruise control and it felt like I had lost most power. Thankfully I was less then a mile from the office and managed to limp into the company parking lot.
 
Knowing something was wrong I asked a co-worker of mine who had previously been a mechanic for his thoughts. One of the perks of working in the manufacturing industry is the variety of both blue and white collar employee's.  He suggested we check the engine codes using a ODBII tool he just so happen to have in his car. It showed a series of engine misfires.
 
Not being a VW expert he suggested I have the dealership take a look at it. After a quick call to the dealership and asking if it was safe to drive I headed up the highway a few exits to the local VW Dealership.  I met my parents there who were kind enough to lend me a car for the rest of the day so I could return to work.
 
They diagnosed the issue as a failed fuel injector and unfortunately they didn't have the part in stock and would not be able to get it until the following Monday. With no real option except to wait until the car was fixed I was stuck with no car for the weekend.
 
Monday came and the fuel injector was replaced by 12:00. Unfortunately after replacing the fuel injector the car was still running rough and still misfiring. With the car not running as it should they continued to diagnose the problem and by about 4:00 and not hearing from them I called again. This time I got even worse news. The engine had a blown piston as it was described to me and would need to be replaced and that it would cost an estimated 6,000 to repair or 5,500 to replace on top of the 550 it already cost to replace the fuel injector. 
 
The service department recommended that I trade the car in rather then replace the motor. Not ever having any reason to not trust them they called up to sales and asked them to give me a call to help move the process along.
 
This was a huge mistake. After several wasted visits to the sales floor and them unable to give me any concrete answer to what they would be willing to offer me for my car I got frustrated and decided I would investigate the alternative to repair or replace the motor.
 
Not satisfied that they had properly diagnosed the car and wastefully installed a fuel injector that I wouldn't need if I traded it in or replace the motor I had a less then friendly conversation with the service department. Only after speaking directly to the technician who did the work did they admit that with a little more testing they would have been able to diagnose it was more then a fuel injector. During that conversation I manged to get them to drop the cost of repalceing the motor from 5,500 to 4600. I didn't give them the go ahead since I still thought it was too much.
 
This process took over a week and was annoying so I began calling around to other repair shops. All suggested that the cost from the dealer wasn't just high but outrageous. I confronted the dealership about the excessive bill and they offered to remove the fuel injector and the charges and let me take the car anywhere I wanted.
 
I offered them one last chance to match a price of 3,200 I had received from a local repair shop. They managed to drop the cost to 3,800 + the 550 I already owed them for the fuel injector.  Not satisfied with their counter offer I asked them to remove the fuel injector as they offered and let me know when I could have the car towed from their garage.
 
Now over a week since I first brought them the car I called AAA and scheduled the pick up of my car. It was like a circus at the dealership with everyone watching from the repair department as my car was loaded on the flatbed.
 
For the first time since the start did I feel like progress was being made. I followed the flatbed to the new repair shop and met the mechanic who would replace my motor. He was younger then I had expected but he clearly knew what he was talking about and told me he wanted to take the rest of the day to do his own diagnosis and would call me in the morning to let me know what he thought my car really needed.
 
When I woke the following morning I was waiting anxiously for his phone call and he didn't keep me waiting. Unfortunately the news was not good and the dealership's insistence that the car needed a motor was accurate. I never particularly disputed their diagnosis just the cost to fix it and the hassle to get them to give me a true estimate to repair. He spent the rest of the day sourcing the best motor for my car at the most affordable price. He managed to find an engine that was a tad cheaper then the first quote and reduced my repair cost from 3,200 to 2,900. a bonus 300 savings I didn't expect.
 
Once the motor was picked up he began the process of swapping the motor out. He suggested I stop by anytime to check on the progress and see how it was coming along. Today I stopped by for the first time and won't lie I was a bit overwhelmed. I found my car with the entire front end apart and the motor in pieces. 
 
Chris the mechanic could tell that I was a bit overwhelmed and assured me that what I was seeing was progress and that by Monday it would be all back together and running better then ever. He also took the opportunity to show me the failure on my old motor.
 
I have attached the pictures below. On Monday hopefully I'll be able to update that I have my car back and that everything is working perfectly.
 

The first pictures show the piston with several contact marks where it had somehow made contact with the exhaust valve showin in picture two. I asked him what was the likely culprit and he indicated it was tough to say but thought it was most likely the result of the timing being off.  I just had that done about 2 months ago but unfortunatley he said it is nearly impossible to prove that was the cause.