Auto body repair question. (Cash offer vs Geico $500 deductible.)

[waxthis]

As far as nice car, somewhat up to debate. This thing has had/continues to have so many issues.

Replaced fuel tank under warranty. Now a few months later if I fill up to full, 100% of the time it has trouble starting. Usually one turn gets nothing after 4-5 seconds. 2nd turn usually will get it started but sounds like only a few cyclinders firing and out of synch and starts getting louder/rattly. Shut it off and 3rd time starts just fine and is fine until I gas up again. (This is going to get looked at when I bring it in next week, hopefully related to their repairs they did.)


Unsolved mystery is that especially in summer, if I drive an hour or more, it developes a kinda vapor locking type symptoms. Will plummet to like 5mpg and I can smell gas something awefull. I'll start at a light and move about 5 feet before the power drops out and it burps and stutters from 2-10 seconds and then it will surge on the rpm even if I wasn't flooding it and be fine for anywhere from a few minutes to another 15 seconds. I managed to on a trip home on I25 put it on cruise and watch it steadily every 15-20 seconds start to rumble/lose power with the rpm's fluctuating then it would surge a little and be fine for another 20 seconds. Goes away if I stop the car for 10-15 minutes. (And doesn't start up again right away like you'd expect from a pure heat issue.) VW Techs have zero idea and doubted me longest time until I started getting witnesses and some crappy video.


TPS like the tires to be pretty heftily over inflated. Think today at discount tire replacing a blow out from yesterday coming home, they had to put it at 40/41 ish.


I did opt to wait to have Geico fix it at the local Abra. Blew the $ for right now on an incredible deal on some other hobby equipment.

Sorry to hear about the issues you are having, no doubt dubs can be temperamental, especially the electronics. Did you have the power / drivability issues prior to the new gas tank being installed?

[fitz19d]

Last pic is just car shot, dmg is to left 1/4 panel.

[Dave_L]

The good ol' "The insurance companies are scams" vs "the body shops are scams" debate. Never gets old. Now we just need a roofer to chime in.

[Snowman78]

^LOL

[spleify]

Oh, and Abra sucks they are one step above Maaco. Shoot me a PM with the area you are in and I will give you a couple of shops you can decide over. Law states you can take your vehicle anywhere you desire. The insurance companies will "encourage" you to take it to one of their "preferred" shops(again to benefit the insurance companies be jade they get a price break from certain shops(DRP) do they want you to go there)

[waxthis]

Hell with it. I'll buy the car outright for $3000....

[Irving]

OP, with the exception of that one comment that Spleify made, literally everything else everyone on this thread (including Spleify) has said is true. You've gotten a lot of good advice, don't let some bum fix your car.

[fitz19d]

OP, with the exception of that one comment that Spleify made, literally everything else everyone on this thread (including Spleify) has said is true. You've gotten a lot of good advice, don't let some bum fix your car.

Yeap, in the argument it may have gotten lost, I did already opt to just go for the insurance full replace.

To other reply, yes the weird engine issue has been since the first summer when I got it in dec 2010. Usually not an issue unless I have to go anywhere deep denver and drive around. Problem is its very dangerous if its hapening when I'm making a left at a light not to mention slowing traffic off a straight light.

[waxthis]

Yeap, in the argument it may have gotten lost, I did already opt to just go for the insurance full replace.

To other reply, yes the weird engine issue has been since the first summer when I got it in dec 2010. Usually not an issue unless I have to go anywhere deep denver and drive around. Problem is its very dangerous if its hapening when I'm making a left at a light not to mention slowing traffic off a straight light.

Very strange! No offence to any dealer techs on here, but for the most part its a crap shoot if you can find any that have in depth troubleshooting skills, being this been happening since 2010, and no cause can be found just proves my point. Have you reached out to the VW community? Vortex has a lot of great info such as here R32 . It's hard for me to believe a Vag-Com cant find anything wrong. If I were you I would also contact these guys BlueWaterPerformance , If they cant find the problem, no one can...teamleadr03 on this forum may be able to help you also
"European Auto Repair
www.bavarianmotorsllc.com
bruun.auto@gmail.com
303-656-9268

I would be more then happy to give you a hand on this issue, but I'm more old school tinkerer, mk2's and 3's. Dont give up, there is ALOT of great info out there, the big dealerships only know a 10th of it. Good luck!

[fitz19d]

Yeap, I've looked online and those forums, That's the problem with having such a unique, 5k produced car. No errors in the computer etc. The tech is actually my best friends friend. Was a bit miffed when he didn't believe me at first. He did call the VW tech line he has. He is a certified master tech if that means anything more than just typical tech.
I've not taken it anywhere extra specialized because I havn't been able to swing a $600 bill and maybe not fix anything. Some thoughts were heat, so figured now off warranty if I can this summer Cold Air intake, mild turbo, tune, etc by luck might fix.
Worst part is I basically have to blow $20 in gas driving around a lot to even hope to start getting it to reproduce. And as I said if I go and park it, may have to same thing all over again to get it to continue.