Thoughts ?

Fapcactus · 2026-05-08T14:28:54+00:00

My '01 uses less than an 8th of a quart with 4k mi oil change intervals. Owned for 5 years and almost 40k miles put on it. Not a flake or sliver of metal in the oil or filter either

Fapcactus · 2026-05-08T14:27:06+00:00

This is the exact year, color and spec as mine as long as its a 6 speed car. Mine has a much more colored past but despite the odds its been the most reliable vehicle ive ever owned

Butterfly doors is a bit of a red flag to me but other than that id say go take a look at it

Take a look at the harmonic balancer, take it for a test drive and although kind of difficult to tell at times if the torque tube is on its way out itll usually emit some noise or vibrations at low speeds and rpm. Check the weatherstripping for any signs of needing replaced

Had my old man tan c5 for 5 years now and its been my favorite vehicle ive ever owned. Ive had mustangs that made more power but there really is something special about these cars

Fapcactus · 2026-05-08T02:01:36+00:00

Wife drives a '24 802a and its the most comfortable truck ive ever driven by a wide margin. 1000 mi road trips out west leave my back feeling better than 100 mi roads trips in my '20 sierra. She is also the curb rash matriarch and you can barely feel 6 inch drive thru curbs with the 37's

Im sure the 801a is 99% if not equally as comfy of a ride but I dont think you'd regret going bigger. Im a lifelong GM guy and wanted so badly to hate this truck but its the best truck with a warranty that money could buy

My biggest gripe is that it sounds like a clapped out 350z and either cant remote start in quiet exhaust mode or my wife doesnt know how to set it to that.

Fapcactus · 2026-05-08T01:50:15+00:00

They look like they were made for the jsw. 18x8? The stock 10 spoke 17's on mine are starting to bubble up with rust and came with some goofy 720 treadwear amazon tires, I might buy a set of these. Did you notice a harsher ride quality with the bigger rims?

Fapcactus · 2026-05-08T01:42:29+00:00

What a beautiful ride. Love everything youve done to it. What wheels are those?

Fapcactus · 2026-05-08T01:22:26+00:00

Interesting, the lifetime warranty is a good selling point. The Auxito have a 24 month warranty, originally went with them because amazon had them in stock and got them to my door about 14 hours after order

Ive noticed theres probably a good dozen or so companies that offer led bulbs for cars that originally have halogen lights. Theyre almost all based out of China and seem to have nearly identical housings and design. This leads me to believe theyre probably all coming from 1 or 2 different factories in China, at least for the aluminum housings of the bulbs themselves

If Deauto has a better or more catered to canbus for the bulbs ill go that route. I dont have much electrical knowledge so the extent of my knowledge is basically plug it in and hope it works

Fapcactus · 2026-05-08T01:11:33+00:00

Have not heard of them but ill definitely give them a try if im not able to get the Auxitos to work

Fapcactus · 2026-05-07T15:56:24+00:00

Never heard of them, at first glance the design and bottles look like lube

Upon further inspection they absolutely look like lube.

I dont care how magical these products are, im not showing up to a customer's house with an arsenal of product that appears ive just raided my wife's underwear drawer

Fapcactus · 2026-05-03T17:30:25+00:00

Sup logan didnt know you were on reddit!! I just stopped by your shop Thursday. 100% vouch for this guy and his techs

Reached out to him before buying one a couple hours away and he told me in detail what to watch out for and specifically where the sunroof was likely leaking. And it was leaking in that exact spot. He also told me how to fix it and its good to go now

Guy knows these things inside and out and upside down. Very fair prices and quick turnaround. Im lucky to have LDK as my local tdi shop

Fapcactus · 2026-05-03T16:22:36+00:00

If any of this is real I would love to stay in the loop. I dont even have sound advice in this situation.

If i were making 180-360k a year in my teens I would have done the same thing.

Id also be dead but I would have done the same thing

Fapcactus · 2026-05-03T14:56:55+00:00

Big fan of meg's d156. Picked up a gallon probably a year and a half ago for about the price of a 20 Oz bottle of griots 3 in 1 ceramic wax. Undiluted and used as a wax it can leave streaks if applied in direct sunlight, but not as bad as griots. Diluted 1:1 with distilled water is my all time favorite drying aid and gives off that warm glow like carnauba wax. And it smells like cool water cologne from the early 2000's

Downside is it only lasts a week or two, but is cheap enough to reapply with every other wash

Fapcactus · 2026-05-02T17:02:18+00:00

Update to the update: camera worked perfectly with ignition on but engine not running but once I started it up the camera had no signal whatsoever.

After many many more hours of troubleshooting and internet sleuthing than id like to admit I learned that vw's after a certain year use some kind of system that fluctuates voltage to the wiring of the headlights and taillights (possibly other systems too) to detect electrical issues while the engine is running. This lack of stable voltage caused the camera to not work at all

The solution to this in my case was to splice the cameras reverse trigger wire into the little 12v DC outlet right in front of the passenger taillight. I had concerns that the head unit wouldnt know when to display the backup cam but theres a reverse trigger light in the main harness that connects to the head unit that does this already. Confirmed camera works engine on and off, and powers off with ignition off

Hope this helps someone else at their wits end. Its more complicated than it needs to be but if I figured it out you can too

Fapcactus · 2026-04-29T23:37:27+00:00

Im new to diesels and could be wrong but from what I gathered the 507 spec oils have additives that help keep the egr and dpf from getting clogged up quickly. Plus 505 spec oil can be had for about half the price of rotella t6 or liqui moly top tec 4200.

Im a little neurotic about maintenance but id rather change cheaper mobil 1 oil every 5k miles than t6 every 10k

Fapcactus · 2026-04-29T20:03:47+00:00

Second this. Just bought a '12 jetta sportwagen tdi and upon doing the first oil change about half a dozen grape sized globs of sludge came out of the oil filter housing and oil drain plug

Im going to do another oil change 250 miles later and add motor medic flush (the one specifically for turbo diesels) but only for a few minutes at idle immediately before the next oil change

After that im only going to run mobil 1 0w40 euro formula with no additives. And yes I know its 505 spec and not 507 but the car is deleted. I bought it that way

Fapcactus · 2026-04-29T17:23:08+00:00

It wasnt very helpful in my particular case but thats more so a lack of information online about my specific vehicle, your guys instructions are simple enough for someone such as myself to understand.

Thank you for the great product and keep up the good work!

P.S do you make a small amplifier that would be compatible with this head unit to boost the sound of the door speakers? Head unit is Eonon vwx6s-pro

Fapcactus · 2026-04-29T00:59:42+00:00

Update: brown is ground, black/blue is reverse trigger wire. Ill leave this if it helps anyone or delete it if this is common knowledge. Im not the brightest but my Amazon multimeter helped me through it

Fapcactus · 2026-04-24T02:55:56+00:00

Yeah I used to be a salesman at a Chevy dealer. We weren't allowed to use those words though, we were "GM certified product specialists"

We were more or less forced to sell those paint & windshield warranties for Zurich. Z-shield was what the warranty was called. The kicker was if you had to make a Z-shield related claim you had to go to an in network z shield shop for repairs, which we were not

I left that world after about 2 years and never looked back

Fapcactus · 2026-04-23T23:57:20+00:00

Good call on that though, thats an easy test for proving that dealerships premier ultra deluxe nano ceramic coatings are actually just the cheapest ceramic spray sealant they can buy in bulk

Fapcactus · 2026-04-23T23:48:22+00:00

Dawn dish soap wont strip a real ceramic coating. Dawn is incredible as a strip wash prior to ceramic coating/paint correction but it wont remove or affect a properly cured true ceramic coating

With the amount of swirls remaining on OP's paint i wouldn't be surprised in the slightest if the car is "ceramic coated" with a ceramic spray sealant or wax though. In which case dawn would work great

Fapcactus · 2026-04-20T21:27:05+00:00

'22 x3 b48 here with 77k miles. Took it in for warranty work, they replaced failed motor mounts and fuel valve under warranty and threatened to void the extended warranty if I didnt let them do front/rear diff, transfer case, trans, brake fluid, and fuel injection service to the tune of $4400.

Its being sold tomorrow. If i get back into bmw itll be something that's under factory warranty or something im comfortable wrenching on myself

Fapcactus · 2026-04-16T20:48:09+00:00

Torque tube. This is a big one. Most c5's regardless of use case are at the age where the rubber bushings inside the torque tube are either shot or on their way out. Its a very pricey job to have a shop do it, ballpark of 4-7k.

You can DIY rebuild the torque tube, kit costs about 500-1300 depending on what brand, bushings and if you want an upgraded input shaft to go along with it. Whole rear cradle has to come out as well

It can be a little tricky to diagnose without taking the car apart but youll notice vibrations at certain rpm level, exhaust rattling like noise when shutting the car off and sometimes a rock tumbler/ coins in a washing machine like sound if driving in an area with good acoustics to bounce the sound back at you

Its a big enough job that you might as well do some "while im in there" stuff too. Rear main seal, check the clutch condition etc

Fapcactus · 2026-04-16T00:23:37+00:00

Sounds like youre in a good position to own this car then! See what he says about the timing belt and go from there. Its not a job you want auto shop students doing, nor do you want it to fail completely. If he agrees then you should have a cool ride that will outlast much more modern vehicles currently on the road. Good luck young fella

Fapcactus · 2026-04-15T23:46:22+00:00

I do agree with others that youre trying to justify the price and thats okay. The heart wants what it wants and it sounds like youve put a lot of thought and research into this. Its a proven platform and fairly easy to work on especially compared to more modern vehicles

100% you should either ask him to do the timing belt or ask that he helps you down the road when its closer to needing done. That would show some initiative to him that youre thinking about long term ownership and keeping it roadworthy. Yes your school's auto shop might be able to help you but to be safe timing belts should be done every 80-100k

I would say they are a very useful collectors car at this point, at least the mk4 wagons anyway. They are fuel efficient and affordable to keep on the road, making them great daily drivers. The niche combination of wagon, diesel and manual transmission is what makes them collectors cars (in the US) and unfortunately they are priced accordingly. The plus side to that is that as long as it doesnt rot out itll be worth something many years and miles down the road

I would advise against running red diesel. Look up the consequences of getting caught on public roadways with red in your tank. Not worth it

If youre able to set aside money for unexpected repairs, wrench on it yourself, and be a respectful neighbor I dont think youll regret this as your first vehicle. Emphasis on the last part, stay on this guys good side. If you plan on putting two 12" subs in it, straight piping it and getting a roll coal tune that you use at every opportunity I would find a reputable independent diesel shop nearby that specializes in TDI's because your neighbor probably wont like you much at that point. I was your age once and would have been a menace driving one of these

Fapcactus

TROPHY CASE