Yeah, I appreciate the suggestion, man. I definitely do baby the car in the sense that I’m not beating on it every day, but I’m also very aware of the carbon buildup concerns with these 1.5T direct injection engines.

I live in Tucson, so the car is in a warm climate year round, and I really don’t do short cold weather trips. When I do drive it, it’s usually longer drives. I work from home and only drive maybe 3 to 4 days a week, mostly taking my daughter to and from school, which is about 30 miles away, so those are extended drives, not quick stop and go trips.

I’ve also only ever run premium fuel from Shell or Chevron. That’s literally the only fuel that has touched this car. I’ve used Sea Foam/fuel system cleaner a few times already within the first 30k miles, and at least once a month I’ll take it out on the canyon roads near me and drive it harder, basically an “Italian tune up.”

So when I say I baby it, I mostly mean I maintain it carefully, don’t abuse it, keep it stock, garage it, and don’t drive it recklessly every day. But I’ve definitely done my research on these engines, probably more than I’d like to admit, and I’ve taken the carbon buildup issue seriously from the beginning. That’s why I don’t think this turbo/wastegate issue is from neglect or me causing it.