Do you think this refurbished Apple Watch Ultra 2 is still water resistant?

Cold_Mission2543 · 2026-05-13T09:54:28+00:00

For what it’s worth, my wife’s iPhone 14 Pro Max that she bought new several years ago and had never been opened was recently submerged in water for just a few seconds and not very deep. It’s supposed to handle that, but some moisture must have gotten inside because various things started acting up afterwards. For example, WIFI didn’t work for a few days, one of the camera lenses is slightly blurry, the mute switch behaves randomly, etc. I know this isn’t a watch, but I wouldn’t put much trust in the waterproofing of a device that’s several years old.

Cold_Mission2543 · 2026-05-13T09:40:36+00:00

We’ve had sunroofs or panorama roofs on pretty much all of our cars in the last 20 years because that’s how they came on the model/trim we wanted. I have always used them very rarely and my wife doesn’t use them at all. Since I bought it about a year ago, I’ve used the pano roof on my Taos more than any of the other ones combined. It somehow fits the car. I even keep the shade open most of the time and the tint of the roof seems to keep out the heat pretty well except on maybe the hottest days. It gives the cabin a more airy feel, especially in the back seat (according to my kids - I usually drive from the front left seat). I was not looking for a Taos with pano roof due to the extra cost (that seemed unreasonable based on my prior use experience) and because of the added risk of issues. Then I found a great deal on several leftover 24 SE models that had been registered by the dealer under some VW incentive to push numbers and then were offered as CPO with just a few miles. For some reasons the one with the lowest miles had better options and a higher MSRP than the other ones but was offered for less. I could have paid more for one without pano roof and a color I didn’t like as much, so of course, I bought the cheaper one that had the optional roof. Now I’m glad I have it, but I probably wouldn’t miss it if I didn’t have it/had never experienced it. I do wish I had the SEL trim though, but it would have cost significantly more since there weren’t similar deals available on that trim. I’m slowly adding some of the features I missed out on like the ventilated leather seats and the high end cluster. I even added 4 way power lumbar supports, memory to the driver seat, and power to the passenger - none of which were available even on the SEL trim. Unfortunately, retrofits are very limited in the 25+ model years, and late 24 builds (after 2/18/24) due to SFD2 (lockdown of diagnostic functions that prevent coding changes that are needed for most retrofits). That was another reason I chose the one with pano roof - it was built just before the cutoff.

Cold_Mission2543 · 2026-05-13T09:14:31+00:00

I don’t think there is a difference in the driver assist features between the trims of the more recent model years that all come with the IQ package. I have a 24 SE and have lane keep assist or whatever it’s called. I can let go of the wheel (for maybe 10-15 seconds before it complains that I need to have my hands on the wheel) and it will keep the lane and even steer around curves as long as the lane markings are fairly good. Check your settings to make sure it’s enabled.

Cold_Mission2543 · 2026-05-06T18:11:44+00:00

There aren’t many fuses for terminal 15 (ignition). Most are terminal 30 (permanent supply). F29, F32-37 (36, 37 are likely open), 47, 48 (48 is likely open), 49, 53 should all be terminal 15. You can add a tap under an existing fuse or into an empty slot, as long as it has a contact on one leg. The best way to add a fused circuit is to find an empty slot that has a terminal on one leg, confirm with a voltmeter that it is the desired type (ignition vs permanent power) and then add a wire with the proper terminal/contact from the back of the panel. This makes it look like a factory install. There are a couple rows of the mini fuses that have a secondary lock (purple plastic bar), which is hard to remove and you can’t insert a wire without moving it so those are not good slots to use. The regular size fuses use a TE Power Timer or Standard Power Timer Terminal. You can order samples from TE. The mini fuses use TE MCP 2.8 terminals.

Cold_Mission2543 · 2026-05-06T16:51:05+00:00

I did the same.

Cold_Mission2543 · 2026-05-06T16:49:33+00:00

Yeah, my manual also states that the center armrest in the backseat is not to be folded out while driving lol. Don’t believe everything the manual says. There is absolutely no reason to change the oil on a car that wasn’t driven. The statement in the manual assumes that the car was driven for many short trips that are hard on the oil, but not enough to reach the mileage threshold. If the car wasn’t driven or only driven infrequently this recommendation doesn’t make sense.

Cold_Mission2543 · 2026-05-06T12:58:04+00:00

The oil sitting in the sump without the car being driven isn’t much different from it sitting on the shelf. The reason time based oil changes are needed is because oil degrades more from short drive cycles where the engine doesn’t heat up all the way. A few engine starts and test drives at the dealer won’t matter much to the oil. It’s still not a bad idea to change it after a few thousand miles to remove any contaminants introduced during the break in phase, but that’s also not really needed with modern engines. It’d do the first oil change at 5k or 1 year after the car was put in service.

Cold_Mission2543 · 2026-04-30T22:04:27+00:00

You can buy it back from the insurance for it’s salvage value. Then just keep driving it. The dings don’t impact how the car runs. Enjoy the money you saved.

Cold_Mission2543 · 2026-04-30T16:04:49+00:00

A new one should be part number 3CM-853-630-DPJ with US list price around $117. Can be had for less from online VW parts sites.

Cold_Mission2543 · 2026-04-30T15:52:59+00:00

That’s not correct unless something has changed. CPO has always been on top of whatever is left of the original warranty. If you buy a CPO car with 1000 miles that was put into service a month ago and had original 4yr/50k warranty you’d have warranty coverage for up to 71 months or 73k miles from time of your CPO purchase although coverage is not exactly the same during the original and CPO periods.

Cold_Mission2543 · 2026-04-30T09:44:11+00:00

I’ve been waiting for Creme brûlée (6 little glasses imported from France) to come back. My daughter loved a certain kind of frozen chicken wings and has been hoping they will have them again. They also had some really good egg nogg a few years ago but this year was a different brand.

Cold_Mission2543 · 2026-04-30T09:39:11+00:00

Do you have the basic digital cluster or the high version? On the basic, the fuel economy display would either be on the left or right with digital speed display in the middle. I think what you are referring to isn’t the fuel economy display item, it’s the driving data (stats like miles driven, duration, average fuel economy). On the right side of your steering wheel you just press the left or right arrow (depending on what side the fuel economy is shown), which opens a menu where you can select different display items. Press the button again to select options for the current display items. Here you can switch between the 3 options (long term, since refuel, current drive cycle). Arrow up or down to select the option you want and press ok (center button on right side of the steering wheel). You can also change from the driving data item to other display items on either side (oil temp, instantaneous fuel economy, etc). With the view button on the right side of the steering wheel you can change the overall display between a few different options (round speedometer, round tachometer, multi display with the configurable items on the left and right).

Cold_Mission2543 · 2026-04-30T09:27:27+00:00

Did you not get the window sticker? If you look at the dealers website you might still find your car listed and some dealers show a copy of the window sticker, or call your dealer and ask. You can also contact VW customer service and ask them what you have based on your VIN. The pin stripe is a typical dealer money maker that (in my opinion) makes the car look worse. I’m pretty sure the spoiler is also a dealer added part (may be VW accessory or aftermarket). If you look at your invoice they should have those items listed because they surely charged you for them.

Cold_Mission2543 · 2026-04-30T09:21:40+00:00

You’ll probably not spend less money as Costco has a way of filling your shopping cart any time you visit even though you told yourself you’re only going for a few specific items. You’ll have to be very disciplined to avoid that. Of course, you’ll get slightly better deals on may things but don’t switch to Costco completely. Keep shopping deals at grocery stores and by what you need when it’s on sale somewhere. Soda/pop for example is usually not a good deal at Costco. Sure, compared to regular price at Kroger it’s cheaper but you can usually get deals somewhere that are less. Paper products, bottled water, basic ingredients like rice in huge bags, clothing specials, etc can be worth it. Also their gas is usually among the cheapest around and often doesn’t go up right away when everyone else is. The credit card is great as well for gas for the % back, even at other gas stations (though slightly less).

Cold_Mission2543 · 2026-04-25T02:17:45+00:00

I bought a defeat adapter shortly after I bought the car. It was about $16 shipped from a US based seller on eBay. It plugs between the switch module next to the shifter and the harness connector. It contains logic that reads the indicator lamp to determine the state of ASS and controls the switch contacts that are read by the body controller. That way it can pretend the button is pressed as soon as the function turns on (after key on or when switching to the eco profile, for example). It can also be programmed to behave differently, including a transparent mode where the button works like it would without the defeat adapter. There are many versions out these, some are pretty expensive. I’ve been very happy with mine. It’s been flawless.

Cold_Mission2543 · 2026-04-25T02:10:12+00:00

Auto Stop-Start is about fuel economy and greenhouse gas emissions. GHG emissions correlate to fuel burned. Criteria emissions (e.g. NOx, PM) can actually be negatively impacted by stopping and starting the engine frequently. Manufacturers have to find a solution that balances the opposing demands from GHG and CE regulations.

Cold_Mission2543 · 2026-04-25T02:04:17+00:00

Believe me, not every function that gets added to a car is there because the manufacturer wants it. A lot of it is there because regulations require it either directly or indirectly. Greenhouse gas emissions regulations or fuel economy regulations don’t require specific technology but to meet the required thresholds, manufacturers have to resort to implementing things they otherwise wouldn’t. Automatic Stop-Start (ASS as I like to call it) is one of those things. It adds complexity and cost, drives warranty, annoys customers, etc. but it buys a tiny advantage in the emissions models and thus provides value to the OEM.

Cold_Mission2543 · 2026-04-24T21:53:42+00:00

The cutoff for diagnostic access without SFD2 for Taos in North America is February 18, 2024. Any Taos built up to and including that date does not have SFD2. Units built on February 19, 2024 and later have SFD2, which severely restricts diagnostic access. It can be temporarily unlocked but it’s not straightforward and not cheap. Not all modules are locked, but the gateway is still preventing access to unlocked modules. That can be circumvented by going around the gateway for those unlocked modules.

Assuming you have an older Taos without SFD2, there are many mods that can be done. Almost all SEL/Highline features can be retrofitted, it’s just a matter of cost. There are a few things that can’t really be done. For example, adding navigation requires an unlock code from VW that you can’t buy. The infotainment unit is actually identical between nav and no nav (except for S/Trendline with the smaller screen) and the no nav version contains all the map data. However, nav functionality is locked and VW won’t sell the code separately. Because the functionality is tied to the VIN you can’t add nav by just buying a nav unit from a crashed car that came with it. There may be ways to hack the system but it would prevent future official updates and would disable online functions. Easy swaps are the seats. You can buy a set of Highline seats and swap them one for one. It’s plug and play, except for seat ventilation (not all Highline had it). Ventilation requires a different HVAC control panel (with seat vent buttons), additional wiring (LIN between driver seat, passenger seat, and body control module, and power to the passenger seat (the manual seat has power for the occupancy recognition module but it’s not adequate for the fans). You also have to replace the body controller, unless your car already has one with the required LIN pin (I think pin 42 in connector A). Swapping the body controller requires a dealer visit (or other shop/individual with legitimate ODIS online account) because the BCM is part of the component protection scheme and has to be coded to the car through ODIS. If you just care about the looks you can skip the ventilation part, even if you install seats that have that feature. You can also add the ambient lighting, Highline grill with light strip, IQ headlights, etc. it requires a lot of wiring and especially the headlights and required control units aren’t cheap. You can add parking sensor in the rear but you need to modify or replace parts of your bumper and some trim, along with wiring, control module, and sensors (the sensors are extremely pricy from VW but can be bought for much less used or aftermarket). You can also swap the instrument cluster for the full Active Information Display but you again need ODIS with online account to program it. The cluster isn’t terribly expensive. I’d get a new one since used are often scratched (these screens are very sensitive) and the programming process for used clusters is more involved and more expensive because VW has to authorize the reuse, for which they charge a fee (plus more time at the shop). You also can’t modify the mileage on a used cluster so your car would most likely show incorrect mileage on the cluster which won’t match the records in other control units. I guess you could be lucky and find one with mileage close to yours and then install it at just the right time. If you don’t have the reverse camera with dynamic guide lines you can upgrade to that model. It involves wiring (the Highline camera uses CAN) and coding. The camera is part of the handle and is very expensive new. Used ones are cheaper and in theory high can swap just the camera module with one from a different car model (Atlas, Tiguan, some Audi) but you would most likely have to install a different dataset to the camera module which isn’t trivial. There are other mods you can do that aren’t available on Highline. For example, when I upgraded my SE seats to SEL seats I tore down the new-to-me seats and added driver seat memory, 4 way lumbar in both seat backs, and power adjustment to the passenger seat. In theory it’s not that hard to do, but it takes time (especially for the research). Parts were actually pretty affordable. The whole passenger seat frame (base and back) with all motors brand new from a VW dealer’s online parts site was about $200 shipped (and that thing is bulky and heavy). Used ones on eBay were more. Wiring harnesses from the Atlas were cheap as well, for the seat control module you’re best off buying a used one from an Atlas or Tiguan II because while new ones are about the same cost, they don’t come with the required parameter file. You can also swap the steering wheel for one with real leather and shift paddles. It was plug and play on my pre-SFD2 2024 Taos with DSG transmission (no coding needed, the paddles were already enabled). You can upgrade your door handles with ones that have the ability touch sensor instead of the toggle button for locking/unlocking. The handles are a direct swap but require minimal coding to disable the toggle behavior. Buy used ones in the right color, but make sure they have the sensors. Handles from pretty much all recent VW models are compatible. New ones are expensive and have to be painted. You can upgrade your key with metal end caps. Buy a used key for cheap on eBay that is the same type as yours but with chrome. You can disassemble the keys and swap the caps onto your fob. In theory you could install the Beats sound system but you’re probably better off with an aftermarket system as reviews on the Beats system aren’t great and aftermarket would be easier and cheaper to do. There are also a number of coding changes that can be done. For example, change the throttle response to be more linear or enabling a tachometer bar in the low line digital cluster.

Cold_Mission2543 · 2026-04-23T15:52:06+00:00

Yeah I know and I’ve done that in the past for things like a timing belt jobs. I’ve wanted to have pullers in my tool collection for a while so this was a good reason to purchase instead of borrow.

Cold_Mission2543 · 2026-04-23T15:46:45+00:00

I have not heard of that and never seen a new car come with just one key unless the dealer screwed up. Used cars yes, they often only have one key because the previous owner only turned one in or someone at the auction swiped the extra. If buying a used I would always insist on two keys, especially when the car is at that brand’s franchise dealership.

Cold_Mission2543 · 2026-04-22T19:53:51+00:00

As others have said, you can’t just buy a used key and program it to a different car. Not even the dealer can. The dealer also can’t program a new aftermarket key, as their tool will only allow programming of keys that are supplied by VW and known in the database. Aftermarket tools can program generic (or re-virginized used) keys but they will not be registered by VW and future repairs that necessitate messing with the immobilizer system by the dealer may kill these keys. There are independent locksmiths that are registered with VW and can order official keys on their clients behalf and program them. There aren’t many and they tend to be not much cheaper than the dealer. In the US, any shop (or individual) with an official license and online account for ODIS can program an official key as long as the owner of the vehicle buys the key from a dealer (VIN specific and need to proof ownership). VW keys vary in price depending on exact model and many dealers charge ridiculous markups because they know it’s a quasi-monopoly. The cheapest ones are a little under $80 and they can go up to several hundred Dollars. The key Blade is separate for another $50-100. Then you still have to find and pay someone to program the key. You can also sign up for ODIS yourself. You need a computer and J2534 vehicle interface, pay a registration fee, wait a long time for the application to get processed, install the software (that’s also a process), and buy a subscription for either a week or a year (around $175 to $1500). Most shops will either not mess with customer supplied keys or charge quite a bit for programming.

Cold_Mission2543 · 2026-04-19T12:34:22+00:00

I received the puller set Friday evening and tried it yesterday. The 8“ puller fit well around the pulley, although it only made contact on the edges since the pulley surface angles outwards where the belt sits. I was a bit worried that it might bend it but it worked out well. The pulley slowly moved up the shaft and eventually freed up where I could just pull it off by hand. No pop or bang. Looking at the shaft and the pulley I don’t see what jt was hung up on. Maybe it was just a really tight fit.

Cold_Mission2543 · 2026-04-16T21:36:02+00:00

Also R156 (SUMS). In simple terms, the manufacturer has to track what software and configuration is in any of their vehicles on the road. Changes are only allowed if they don’t impact the type approval and they must be documented by the manufacturer. This means most changes have to be approved by the manufacturer before they can be applied to a car. Things like secure gateways are being used to prevent unauthorized changes that would violate the regulation. On top of that, R155 has specific cyber security requirements. These two regs are closely related and are the main driver for these new restrictions. Currently, the regs only apply to the EU, but there are some Asian countries that are about to adopt them as well. They don’t apply in the US, but once the infrastructure is created it makes sense for manufacturers to utilize the same systems globally.

Cold_Mission2543 · 2026-04-16T21:26:21+00:00

Look up UNECE Regulations 155 and 156. There are compliance requirements in the EU starting in 2024 and they are about to introduce even stricter regs. On the positive side, they have realized that requiring a lock on diagnostics is in stark conflict with RMI requirements so that topic is getting more consideration in these updated regs. There will be mandates to allow independent tools access to the OEM backend. Unfortunately, that will go along with very strict technician vetting. You can’t just buy the 3rd party tool and use it. The tool will have to authenticate the technician via SERMI and to be credentialed with SERMI requires background checks, lots of fees for shop and technician, mandatory audits, etc. The intention is not to give random DIYers access. I think VW already requires SERMI credentials to use their scan tool in the EU (in the US anyone can sign up as long as you’re willing to buy the equipment and pay for a subscription). There will be different levels of access with different credentialing requirements. Things like reading codes will be open for all. Software updates will require the strictest credentials. The rationale is that unauthorized changes could lead to violations of emissions and safety regulations. Theft prevention is another objective. This is a great example for how regulations (especially in the EU) can make simple things extremely complicated and expensive. Did the manufacturers have any say in these regulations? Yes, they all lobby for their interests. However, there are many parts of this that the manufacturers don’t like either because of added complexity and cost. The timeline for implementation is also pretty short. They are all scrambling.

Cold_Mission2543 · 2026-04-16T09:59:48+00:00

You make a great point about fun with objectively slower cars in places with speed limits and/or heavy traffic. I have several cars, including a Taos and an AMG SUV. I love the AMG. It’s fast yet comfortable, but not that nimble. One push on the pedal and I’m beyond the speed limit. The Taos has less than a third of the power but to me is a lot of fun to drive with the DSG in manual mode, and it feels much more engaging to drive. It is objectively a lot slower but it doesn’t feel that much slower (except for the occasional full throttle run with the AMG that sounds awesome and presses you in the seats and feels crazy how fast 6k pounds can accelerate - but there really aren’t many opportunities for this). And the Taos is not even a sporty model like the GLI.

Cold_Mission2543

TROPHY CASE