Bye Bye FNPOS!

[lars66]

I've seen where at least one other auto maker has this feature.

WHAT ON EARTH DID WE DO BEFORE THEY STARTED MAKING CARS DO THE DRIVING FOR US?!!!

Drivers are so incapable of driving basics now that the CAR/TRUCK has to park itself or get us out of a parking space, back a boat trailer down the launch ramp or hold itself on a hill without the driver's foot on the brake??!!!

Makes me wonder how in the world I ever managed to start an 80,000# rig up a 10% grade from a stop or parallel park a trailer to get it out of the lane of traffic to make a delivery or blindside back a rig into a narrow alley in downtown SF or backing a frameless dump trailer and its disabled tractor off the road and into a field on the back of tow truck to dump its load of lime before uncoupling so I could tow the tractor to the shop for repairs WITHOUT AN AUTONOMOUS VEHICLE DOING THE DRIVING FOR ME!!

When drivers start needing the car to do their driving, it's time they turned in their driver's license and just call a cab IMO. It's no wonder so many drivers went speeding down the highways burning up their brakes in an attempt to stop their Toyota because the throttle peddle stuck to the floor. They don't have the common sense God gave a gnat TO JUST TURN THE IGNITION SWITCH TO OFF OR PUT THE THING IN NEUTRAL AND LET THE THING BLOW UP!!! But no, instead they blast down the road at full throttle in a panic because the car is stupid.



Rant over. Glad you got the issue resolved to what appears to be the best it could be considering all the factors and options.

Makes me wonder how I could back 3 axel lowboy trailer with a dragline on it with 30+ feet of boom sticking back off a 2 lane gravel road into a one lane farmers driveway on a regular basis.

[pin2hot]

My International has air motor wipers, and I luv them

They generally don't work after they've been sitting for a while in "park" (most guys wouldn't know what the "park" thing is on the knob )...........which is generally when you need them. Simply pull over, get out, and climb up on the bumper, and cycle the things by hand until they start working.

Reminds me of the good ol' days. Driving '69 Freightliner COE thru the Chinook Zone in March during the thaw. It was around midnight. Passed several "Danger - Water on Road" or similar signs. Slowed down only to find dry pavement. Water had receded in the cool of the night. Came over a hill with no warning sign whatsoever only to find about a quarter mile of road with about a foot of water on it. Mashed on brakes right up to edge of water and got off them. Still going 45 or 50. Water immediately covered windshield making visibility basically zero. I could see right up to the windshield. Farted around with the air wiper knobs and finally got them working. Luckily, still going down middle of road.

My fav was the little red flag that popped up on the dashboard, or dropped down from the ceiling (Peterbilt COE's IIRC....been a long time), when your air pressure dropped. That was a humdinger. It got your attention

Either the Freighliner or a '73 KW COE I drove had that. Dropped in my face once along with red lights and buzzers. Guess they wanted you to know. It was a panic situation at the time and really didn't need that to add to the adrenaline.

[mike837go]

ITS OFFICIAL!!!!!!

VW has accepted my paperwork and is now considering the last of the eligibility issues.

The 90 day clock has started ticking....

Hopefully, I'll be rid of the thing before the snow gets too deep.

Although, each month they wait subtracts another 1,000 miles from the odometer reading and the car is seeing near zero usage.

[Oldendum]

... Hill-Holder always enabled. ...

Years back, I sold a VW Dasher (same as Audi Fox) to an elderly woman. He two sons wanted to learn to drive a stick shift. We were in a very hilly area in northern NJ. I let her test drive it and did a little coaching/reminding for starting on steep hills. Parking brake, whatever. Within a few minutes she was doing good. Old skill not forgotten.

My Mom drove a stick shift car for about 25 years after we kids convinced her to buy a new 1969 Camaro with a stick shift. I can drive a manual tranny in traffic without thinking about it, while drinking coffee and smoking a cigarette. I drive an automatic like an old lady. No control.

[Oldendum]

... If today's drivers had to be responsible for when to richen or lean out the mixture, how clogged would the highways be?...

How many college kids these days know how to drive if you've been running on a rich mixture all evening? Like shut one eye to keep from seeing double and compensate for the lack of depth perception? It's hell to have to take over from the designated driver.

[mike837go]

Bumping this thread again for 2 reasons:

1) I don't know if I mentioned it here, but I've gotten a closing date on the settlement. February 25, 2017.

and

2) With the 2002 Explorer down for the next few days (Surprise! wheel bearing failure), I dusted the little Diesel off. Two days of commuting and picking my sister up at the airport will only rack up about 300 miles.

[drujinin]

Our settlement date is in March, Jetta has been parked as she is driving a Subaru Forester that she picked out. Hoping to keep the miles down because her work commute is 500 miles a week. Which I thought we would have closed before then.

[roythayer]

Our settlement date is in March, Jetta has been parked as she is driving a Subaru Forester that she picked out. Hoping to keep the miles down because her work commute is 500 miles a week. Which I thought we would have closed before then.

My in-laws settlement comes in a week or so, its been parked in my shed for the past 3 months so they dont rack up miles and to keep it out of sun and rain...They gave them the same run around youve had.

[thordehr]

FNPOS?
Didn't seem like there was anything wrong with it.
You didn't like that it made as much mess changing the oil as a regular filter car does.... Welcome to changing oil in a car. There's far worse out there.
You didn't like bolts instead lugnuts. Welcome to German cars. How often are you changing tires? The one time I got new tires the shop that I bought the tires from changed, balanced and mounted my tires. It's lack of lugnuts didn't affect me at all.
The plastic undertray wasn't all that strong? I've had the same problems on everything from my M5 to my Prius. The bigger thing to be concerned about was the aluminum sump that gets taken out by anything on the road. Dieselgeek PanzerPlate took care of it and the plastic undertray got thrown away.
Yea dealership techs were universally known to be idiots, but I never used them and missed that horror story.
Bought the factory service manual online, not sure why you had difficulty finding one. Sold them unopened after selling the car, it was simple enough to work on that they didn't need to be used anyway.

As an aside, people are making loads buy buying them at auction and selling them back to the dealerships. There's people out there with dozens of them and making up to $5,000 each! (If VW was smart THEY would be the ones buying them from auction and wherever else they can find them instead of buying them back at full buyback prices when they eventually show up at the dealership.)

[mike837go]

FNPOS?
Didn't seem like there was anything wrong with it.
You didn't like that it made as much mess changing the oil as a regular filter car does.... Welcome to changing oil in a car. There's far worse out there.
You didn't like bolts instead lugnuts. Welcome to German cars. How often are you changing tires? The one time I got new tires the shop that I bought the tires from changed, balanced and mounted my tires. It's lack of lugnuts didn't affect me at all.
The plastic undertray wasn't all that strong? I've had the same problems on everything from my M5 to my Prius. The bigger thing to be concerned about was the aluminum sump that gets taken out by anything on the road. Dieselgeek PanzerPlate took care of it and the plastic undertray got thrown away.
Yea dealership techs were universally known to be idiots, but I never used them and missed that horror story.
Bought the factory service manual online, not sure why you had difficulty finding one. Sold them unopened after selling the car, it was simple enough to work on that they didn't need to be used anyway.

As an aside, people are making loads buy buying them at auction and selling them back to the dealerships. There's people out there with dozens of them and making up to $5,000 each! (If VW was smart THEY would be the ones buying them from auction and wherever else they can find them instead of buying them back at full buyback prices when they eventually show up at the dealership.)

I gave my VW Jetta the name "FNPOS" as a term of endearment, a few months after I bought it. I still have no qualms about the way it performs.

I've been maintaining my own cars since I got my license back in 1977. I have owned harder to maintain vehicles (1995 Lincoln Continental- "V8 shoehorned into a Taurus"). But never have I had to deal with such engineered-in difficulties!

The tires have to be rotated front-to-back every 5,000 miles to wear evenly. That's about every other month. The American, Japanese and English cars and trucks I've owned make it easy to hang the tire and wheel on the lugs. Then get the nuts.

VW designed and built an engine that was illegal to operate in North America and Europe. They programmed the engine management computer to show good when tested. They taught a computer to lie!

Then instead of trying to solve the problem, they continued to sell the illegal engine and got caught! Not only did it pollute much more than what was allowable, they touted it as 'Clean Diesel.

Lies on top of cover-ups on top of marketing hype!

VW is required under the terms of the settlement to buy back the cars at their value as of 9/18/15 (the date they announced the problem was real) plus $5,600-$6,300 in punitive damages. These monies are PUNISHMENT to VW for producing and marketing an illegal engine!

The fact that consumers are getting a good part of that money is fairly unprecedented. Usually in class action lawsuits, the customer gets a coupon worth $50 towards the purchase of additional merchandise from the same manufacturer. With the lawyers getting a load of cash.

I sincerely hope Hitler's legacy of VW goes out of business!

[Showdog75]

VW learned from our politicians how to lie only problem was they got caught. I'd love to snatch up one of these turbo diesels for a song. Very good cars despite the bs emissions scandal. Every diesel light truck around has a damn straight pipe exhaust and belchs black smoke due to the tuners/programmers being put on them. Most people pay for this stuff and VW gave it to you in the cost of the vehicle. Bunch of overrated bs. You want your diesel engine to live long let it breath and defeat the egr system. I own a duramax and one thing is for fact your fuel.milage will increase when you open that baby up and let her breath freely. In my simple mind I'm polluting less if I'm getting 17-18 mpg verse 11-12 mpg.

[mike837go]

VW learned from our politicians how to lie only problem was they got caught. I'd love to snatch up one of these turbo diesels for a song. Very good cars despite the bs emissions scandal. ...snip....

VW didn't just lie! VW engineers taught the engine management computer to operate the engine differently when being tested for emissions. That was the so-called "defeat device".

You might be able to cheat somebody out of their 2.0TDI, but any owner with a clue will be turning the car in.

All states in the union have been notified that the VW and Audi Diesels can not be re-registered after 12/31/2018.

[" In my simple mind I'm polluting less if I'm getting 17-18 mpg verse 11-12 mpg."] From a unburnt hydrocarbon standpoint you may be correct. But when you start looking at CO (carbon monoxide) and NOX (oxides of nitrogen) being poured out the tailpipe, you'd better get an exhaust gas analyzer BEFORE making any such claims. Especially when your truck FAILS its annual inspection!

Personally, I can't stand what the anti-pollution laws have done to cars and trucks. However that has to be balanced with the fact that when I go outside in the spring and summer, I can smell flowers and trees. Not car exhaust. The brown haze every evening I grew up with is gone! Medium sized predators, like fox, coyotes and hawks are no longer a rarity.

So, the law is what it is. In order to sell their products, manufacturers have to comply with the laws on the books. When somebody makes a profit on illegally built products, they should be punished! Regardless of whether one agrees with the law or not!

You don't like a particular set of laws? Contact your legislator and get them to change the laws.

[Showdog75]

My truck breezes through the annual emissions test no problem. As long as the check engine light isn't on no problem. I'm not one of the idiots "rolling coal" either that's just plain retarded. I think your clueless about the animal population. It has more to do with proper game management then vehicle emissions. It's been proven that the whitetail deer population is what it is today because of hunting and management so therefore the coyote population grows. More wild turkeys more fox, it goes on and on.

[mike837go]

My truck breezes through the annual emissions test no problem. As long as the check engine light isn't on no problem. I'm not one of the idiots "rolling coal" either that's just plain retarded. I think your clueless about the animal population. It has more to do with proper game management then vehicle emissions. It's been proven that the whitetail deer population is what it is today because of hunting and management so therefore the coyote population grows. More wild turkeys more fox, it goes on and on.

Yes, it has a whole lot to do with proper management of all our environmental resources. By making and enforcing reasonable laws on hunting, mining and emissions. We've brought back a world from near disaster to pretty-nice-place to live.

I am no tree-hugging greenie! Just a responsible individual that believes we should all behave responsibly.

Reasonable profits from hard work. Put the land back together once you've extracted the minerals below. Hunt as much as your family will eat. Destroy infestations of pests.

In NY, the emissions testing is also "ask the vehicle's computer if it thinks anything is wrong". As long as the car believes that it is functioning within the manufacturers specifications, the vehicle passes. As long as the owner doesn't mess with anything too much, we're all OK. That whole process broke down when VW violated the law and sold cars that generated more unacceptable emissions than permitted as a part of 'within manufacturers specifications'.

[mike837go]

Down to 235:38:23.5657 until the closing...

[mike837go]

218:30:12 and counting......

[mike837go]

Under 50 hours until the closing.

Got an email reminder with outdated numbers.

Let's see how much pressure I'll get from the dealer to stay in the VW fold.

[mike837go]

20 hours 15 minutes remaining....

[Bonzoo]

That scared me. I thought I'd been banned !

[thordehr]

I remember visiting my grandparents in L.A. when I was a kid and not being able to see past the block I was on. If you went into the hills of Topanga, you were above a pretty thick layer of smog and it was entirely obvious. It HAS been a massive difference.

[drujinin]

"VW is required under the terms of the settlement to buy back the cars at their value as of 9/18/15 (the date they announced the problem was real) plus $5,600-$6,300 in punitive damages."
I thought in the FINE Print, it stated based on miles when turned in??

So hard did the "Turn In" go????

[mike837go]

"VW is required under the terms of the settlement to buy back the cars at their value as of 9/18/15 (the date they announced the problem was real) plus $5,600-$6,300 in punitive damages."
I thought in the FINE Print, it stated based on miles when turned in??
So hard did the "Turn In" go????

The car's value was determined by: 1) Model Year 2) Model 3) Trim Line and/or Accessory packages 4) mileage on the odometer at time of buyback minus 1,042 miles per month since 9/18/15.

There was no 'fine print' in the whole settlement. The prosecutors got a bunch of goodies for us consumers. Including the value is NOT based on condition! As long as the car arrived at the closing under it's own power, the valuation outlined above applies. I'm pretty sure the governmental lawyers got nickle-and-dime-to-death when turning in leased cars.

The closing went better than I expected. About 20 minutes of signing documents and getting the last of my stuff (license plates) out of the car. As specified in the settlement, a separate company was hired to execute the buybacks.

They had check for 95% of the expected amount prepared. Since my car still had 4 payments left on the loan, the expected amount fell short by about $900.00. I'll be getting that check in the mail in about a week.

The judge had admonished ALL automakers to NOT pressure the buyback customers. So there was ZERO sales reps around as soon as I said I had an appointment for a buyback.

So, the 6 months of claim/paperwork ended with a pleasant meeting and a run to the bank!

[drujinin]

Thanks!
I'll print this for my wife to read!

[mike837go]

Thanks!
I'll print this for my wife to read!

You're Welcome.

And Good Luck!