She is here My12 V6 wagon...

[FSI 220]

Yep, good to know you have seen through the initial concerns you had FSI.

Lets see how they are addressed first!

More things I like

I like looking at it.... in the end on I ended up mowing the leaves on Sunday (it's a southern end of the Hornsby and Kuringai Shires thing), but that meant I parked it across the road and was "cheking it out" every now and then... Cant imagine the other wheels on it now... love the Black/White/Chrome look - just wish I can tone down the cherry out of the tail lights (ahem- light smoke glossy film tinters anywhere for a factory R look darkened effect??? you guys must know someone surely!)...

The AWD obviously has a different feel to the REX I had, the AWD in this is all thumpey and clunkey... but it is all kept to a chirp and "stuff is happening" everywhere as the thing grips and goes... the old WRX felt more organic, but it had no trac or vdc, it would eventually spin wheels.

One thing that is anoying is I keep forgetting to turn off the OPS beepers as I reverse out up a narrow curved rock landscaped drive... both sides and all four corners of the Optical parkin sensors go red... and it sounds like two Ataris mating.

As for the dynaudio... anything with a defined frequncy separation traditional cuban salsa (double base, guitar or piano and a "tres" + percussion), some jazz, etc sounds great, anything with a wall of sound (like the Verve) is still sounding awful.

Anyhow, I'll probably leave it for a bit... no one wants to hear me waffle on about my car. I had an argument with a marketing type today at work about something unrelated to cars ... "But I want them to know, I would want to know" I said, the Marketing type replied "No one else wants to know John! Who cares how it works..."

[FSI 220]

Been a few weeks... still havent heard from the delear about my replacement MFD... I'll give it another week before I get cranky abou it.

A few other observations....

The thing sounds really really chuffley on start up , like it either has absoulutely wild exhaust overlap or its a two stroke... stops soon after, so it must be related to the VVT, hopefuly it is not due to slow oil delivery to the cam angle adjuster... (note to self check oil this weekend...)

My dad would probably like the accelerator pedal, he used to drive a leyland bus in 1969, that also had a floor mount pedal (i know, this one is probably just me because six billion VW drivers can be wrong....). I cant seem to get used to the relationship between the brake pedal (so high) and the acellerator hinged the oposite way... is there a height adjustment on the brake? might have to look...

I think i need a Sprint-UN-Booster for the brake pedal, if i want to brake hard - i expect to push hard!

That is enough of picking nits... Been nice with the roof open, and she goes hard!

[Riker]

John, had the same thoughts about the relationship between the brake & go pedal placement. Felt as though I always needed to apply more brake when in actual fact I didn't. Used to the high brake pedal now though.

[FSI 220]

A few more observations as I get used to VW ownership...

The Dynaudio keeps getting less bad at higher volumes, I would not have spent the money if it were not important to me, so yeah i keep bitchin about it... I wonder if I will ever be happy with it... I cant stand this purist crap about having no shaping because "that is not what the dude in the booth inteded" ... you need decent parametric equalisation in a car just so you can tune to say three volume levels. In a car the various speeds afects different frequencies differently... never been the biggest fan of speakers in the door sails either, but that is another argument.

Loving the car tho, apart from on minor thing and one major thing... (oh and the fact my MFD still needs to be swapped out)

Minor thing, last thing I want is the freckle faced petrol station attendant to say... "Nice car, is that one of them new Jettas?"

I felt like saying, "it is a station wagon you twat... and I have my displacement on my number plate..."

Which brings me to the major thing, at least the Jetta has a F&^%$ handbrake lever! What halfwit decided the button was a good idea? who says I may not want to do a handbrake turn? You know the thing is engaged with a lever, but with this button?... and I thought I hated the kluger pedal... but I could double bounce that to get it's hefty hind quarters around (not acurately but its a start)... I even managed to get a converted back to manual torana around with a bit of determination, and that wasn't easy... you had to co-ordinate four pedals, the steering wheel, gearstick and the twist and the release hand leaver knob thing ....

I would enter this car in a Skid pan Gymkhana against my old WRX club mates if I could... but...

And then the handbrake roulette is such a pain, you have to look at the parking brake LED light, sometimes it self engages, sometimes it doesnt... is it release the seatbelt before park, no... try the other way next time, no... forget about it all, it is on four times in a row , get complacent, doesn't go on and the car rolls onto the parking pawl and close to our other cars towbar... I am all for VW and pushing the technological boundaries, but an electronic park brake is dumb, that is one of the things I want inanimate.

Lucky it is such a good drive between handbrake applications is all I can say!

[FSI 220]

Got the car back from the dealer today... MFD sorted, they imported the entire cluster, but as they were pulling the dash apart they discovered a long thin blond hair was sandwitched between the mfd glass and the back of the binnacle... Looks like it was an octoberfest binnacle...

So far so good, I mentioned I would freak out if I saw a fingerprint in there... havent freaked out yet (it has been overcast though)... Kudos to the dealer.

Car is loosening up... she goes orright... with the wheels pointing the right way... and a hairless cluster... (don't quote that out of context!) I am quite pleased with the car... the sound it makes kicking down whilst having the sunroof often is magic... not quite the benchmark R32 rasp but not bad for a family wagon...

Things that could be better,

Darker tails, all the colours are either muted, dark, white or silver where the black and chrome stand out... I dont think Cherry red tails suit... golf R coloured would be Ferpect!
Smaller & thicker steering wheel, on all of them, but particularly the sportpacket flappy wheel...
The steering rack is way too slow (i wonder if it was quicker in an R36) I should be able to apex a 90 degree corner without a crossover
At least seven band equaliser with a few memories (for different volumes) to fix the Dynaudio (although no longer toxic at least)
A proper handbrake... The one major stupid thing
Factory DAB+...

Anyhow this was my first impression thread... time to let this one go!

Cheers

John

[Shepp]

You guys have nothing to complain about. Took delivery of my FSI pearl white MY 12.5 three weeks ago. (tailgate, sports pack, sat nav, visibility pack, tow pack) I had it for a week and it failed to start... lots of warning lights, no action. It was towed away on a flat bed to local dealer. Sat there a day with no one looking at it. The next day I had lots of phone calls from Dealer Principal.... blaming the tow bar wiring. Then that afternoon from the service manager enquiring if NRMA tried to jump start it as they think it may have had an electrical spike, but really uncertain what the issue was. The next few days more calls pointing fingers - but no resolution.

This went on for a week. Issue blamed on Patricks Autocare (the guys who ship the cars from Germany and to the dealers) who delivered the car on behalf of another dealer as local dealer would not serve me when I went in to buy.

It was then obvious they couldnt fix it, so the dealer I purchased it from and Patricks started arranging to have it go to a dealer with more knowledge and experience. Basically as the problem was being blamed on Patricks and dealer was billing them direct as they claimed it was not a warranty issue (yet it went OK for two weeks???). Two weeks later, it is still waiting to go to the other dealer (I live in regional NSW and next dealer is 3 hours away). Then I find out that local dealer will not release my car until Patricks pay the bill. Not certain under what law it is legal to hold one person's car for another's debt?

I emailed the dealer and copied Anke Koekler and VW Assist in. Dealer responded stating that all he was trying to do was the right thing by me, not wanting to incovenience me. What planet is this guy on? This means it has now missed the truck for a week.

20 hours later I have no response from VW - VERY DISSAPOINTING. Patricks have in good faith now paid the bill and this afternoon hired me a car. It could be another two to three weeks before I get it back... Why is it that Patricks are the only ones that have financially assisted me in this? Do VW not care that a customer has a $70k car, one week old, 200km on the clock and it cannot seem to be fixed and will be off the road for over a month - at best.

I took a really long time to buy this car, it is the most expensive I have owned. Now I have nothing but a bad experience and no car.

Worst decision of my life. VW should come clean with a new car or at least financial compensation. fantastic car for the one week I had it in my possession!

[FSI 220]

Your Right... next to that, my hairy dash is nothing... I would ring the Assist line on the card that was in that fancy box, and tell them you will wait until someone with some authority gives you a plan...

Then I would copy your post into the start of a new thread, because no one reads this one anymore... If still nothing happens , post a call to arms and I would be happy to email their complaint line on your behalf...

Good luck with it

[Ryan_R]

I've been reading it

[MJW]

Maybe even an electronic petition from other VW owners to the VW Complaints line?

Your Right... next to that, my hairy dash is nothing... I would ring the Assist line on the card that was in that fancy box, and tell them you will wait until someone with some authority gives you a plan...

Then I would copy your post into the start of a new thread, because no one reads this one anymore... If still nothing happens , post a call to arms and I would be happy to email their complaint line on your behalf...

Good luck with it

[cru22z]

FSI220 - where did you get your tint done. Im thinking of getting proper tint before summer.
I have the sports pack same as yours so would like some info.

Thanks

[FSI 220]

In order to be included in the lease, I did mine throught the dealer (after discussing my expectations), turned out good darkness match and great quality... just not quite the same euro green (it is only noticeable if the inside is lit up because the sunroof is open...)

I think Riker got his done after-market... got a UV clear on the privacy glass, and the front two as a tint...

I am guessing he will be along in a minute

[cru22z]

Thanks FSI.

[Riker]

cru, I actually had my tint done by the dealer, but that was only after & checked out a few after market guys tints & found that the dealer had pretty much the same available colours. As FSI mentioned there is a slight difference between the front & back but in mine it is barly noticeable. Maybe has something to do with the clear UV I had put on the back, possibly dulling the mild green tinge a touch....

Remember whatever you do, make sure you have a clear UV tint put on the back windows as the sportpacks dark rearwindows are only tints & have next to no UV protection.

[cru22z]

Thanks Guys.