What the hell was I thinking? Damn that VW marketing machine.

[Gary Huff <scirocco86@home.com>]

Goodbye 1.8T Golf, hello slightly tuned 16v. I'm putting new VR6 strut bearings & bushings on it and selling it. I'm sick of the car payment, and insurance expense this evil 1.8T plagues me with, so i'm selling it and rebuilding my scirocco for the next week or so. That Golf also lacks the soul & nimbleness my 16v car had even with shitty suspension. So far i've ordered, H&R coilovers, quaife quick ratio manual rack, 020 quaife for my AGB(yes im keeping the 3.67, I like ride height, and suspension travel. Quiet 85mph cruising, well as quiet as 85mph in a scirocco can be ;).) I've ordered new rod bearings, main bearings, piston rings, intermediate shaft bearings, gaskets, etc. for the 2.0l bottom end, new valve guides, valve seals, and keepers for the recently machined 1.8 head. It turns out my 16v car was running so bad because the valve seals were destroyed in cyl 2 & 3, dumping oil down both the intake & exhaust valves, along with this being the cause of my car needing an o2 sensor every few months -- but the oil wasn't noticable enough at the tailpipe, but the manifold downpipe & exhaust ports showed otherwise. Hooray, problem solved by speeding up the impending 2.0l rebuild. 


The A4 VW's are nice, but too heavy and dealer dependant unless you buy a 200$ homebrew diagnostic tool. 
Those of you who know me, also no doubt have heard of the countless QC issues with the A4's, and the warranty/repair/replacement hassles i've gone through in *1* year of ownership. All else aside, it would have been a great thing if dealerships were not retarded, and all incapable of doing anything quality in the least, and if VW would fess up to the QC issues plauging these cars instead of passing the buck and taking it out of the pockets of people with decently sized car payments. I had a dealer in Ellicot City, Russel VW break my radio, then refuse to fix it. I dropped my car off to have the headgasket replaced at 35k, because it mixed oil and coolant bad... Next the FI coolant temp sensor goes... 75% parts & labor, I pay 25%... So I pick my car up between the FI temp sensor and headgasket, and the radio is stuck on 88.3 won't do anything, but power on and off. I notice this a block away, and the check engine light comes on. Wtf. I turn right back around and go to the dealer.  Clearly something got bonked while it was there since it worked when I dropped it off, and this CE light is not cool. The service manager explains to me how these things are like light bulbs, and just go all the time(talking about my radio.. the FI sensor maybe, radio no..). Wtf? I'm not retarded, last time I checked that word also wasn't stamped on my forehead. My shit worked when I brought it here... VWoA was no good at all, they didn't seem to care that their dealers break customer cars then have the balls to charge them to fix it, they offered to cover 75% of the parts & labor. Customer care my ass, they care enough to open your wallet and insert their hands. Well it turns out my 1 year old head unit which isn't even monsoon or a in-dash CD player was on back order, and list price was 1007$.... wtf.... I paid for the fuel temp sensor, and told them they could keep their radio when it came in. What a fucking scam. Regardless of what my cost would have been, i'm not paying for a radio that the dealer obviously broke, since it magically stopped working while my car was in their care for a week getting the motor completely torn down. I don't know many honda owners that have had such excessive out of service time on an otherwise new vehicle, or the similar parts longevity, (10k for oem struts? Gimme a break!) even given the mileage I drive. You really do start to realize how much you otherwise hate a certain vehicle's characteristics after you don't have a radio in it for 5-7 weeks, and don't spend 2 or more hours a day in traffic anymore. 


Back to the scirocco. I've gone as far as to sand & paint all the manifolds, valve cover, throttle body, oil pan, downpipe and block with hi-temp flat black. Once the engine bay and all components are clean and painted black to my liking, this car will be nice. It should be finished in time to meet the December 12th emissions deadline, lacking carpet, power windows that work, a sunroof that works, headlights & turn signals due to a smashed drivers euro, &  me painting the buckets,  and properly heighted recaro seats :) Minor details, but god damn it feels so good to get back to my roots -- the basics. I can't wait to see my insurance rate go back to normal, I can taste it already. Oh yeah, I officially call shenanigans on VWoA, Marten's VW in DC, Russel VW in Ellicot City, and their retchid you bought it, you deal with it and you're stuck with it "all these things are normal"  attitude.
	-ghuff

Repeat after me, I will never own a VW made past 1992, I will never own a VW made past 1992, I will never own a VW made past 1992...........

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