Tuesday, August 7, 2007

Not turbo charged!

For the last 9 months my turbo has been having some problems. Back before Christmas I had it checked and they replaced the waste control value. That seemed to fix the problem initially but then it came back. So for the last 6 months or so my check engine light comes on when the turbo is not working and goes off when it is working. Sometimes it will work for a solid week and then stop, other times it doesn't work for a couple of days.

Annoying but not really effecting my gas mileage I've been ignoring the problem because I knew it was going to cost money to have it fixed since it is no longer under VW warranty. Well I recent decided that perhaps I should have it checked out before I drive half way across the country!

So I took it to the VW dealership in Bedford which I have been taking it to for all of my services and what not. The mechanic says I have to replace the entire Turbo for a grand total of $1900. So I proceed to ask him tons of questions about what the problem is and he tells me nothing other than there is a problem and isn't enough pressure. He doesn't know what exactly the problem is! So I called my Dad and talk with him about it. My Dad is extremely handy and has worked on turbos before. Basically my Dad thinks I should get a second opinion and estimate because the guy wouldn't tell me or doesn't know exactly what was wrong with it.

So this morning I take my car to the Midas auto service in Nashua at Scott and Megan's recommendation. So we'll see what they have to say! Keep you fingers crossed that if it does need to be replaced they at least give me a lower estimate! I'm sure I gave the mechanics a laugh this morning because I wrote my information on the drop box form in purple ink and wrote about a page on the problem! I had to write cont on back!

I'll keep you all posted on the problem! Oh and for more information on how turbo work see here.

4 comments:

Dan said...

Hope it works out. I hate having to take in a car for repairs. Even something that seems like it would be easy to fix ends up costing a small fortune.

Shari said...

You should read this article: http://www.realsimple.com/realsimple/content/skills/0%2C21770%2C1019894%2C00.html?cid=rsstip

PS - I just had to have one of my tires replaced unexpectedly. I totally agree with Dan - getting car problems fixed is always a total pain....

Shari said...

Oops...the link didn't work...trying again:

http://www.realsimple.com/realsimple/
content/skills/0%2C21770%2C1019894%2
C00.html?cid=rsstip

Chris said...

Ouch, I think one is going to be expensive where ever you take it. The VW dealerships are notoriously overpriced though, so maybe a smaller mechanic would be less expensive....but then does he have the expertise to work on a turbo?