Bought a new car today

pmckeealaska

Bought a 2009 VW Jetta today. Manual transmission and black, with an ipod adaptor. It drives smooth as butter and is a pure joy. Plus it was relatively cheap at 20K. With my trade in I only had to finance 14K. Got to love German engineering.

petrym

I ain't real w/o pics...

Congrats on the new car!

ben62670

Do not run anything but synthetic oil in it!
Don't ask:mad:

Fireman32

Congrats. We want pics.

m00npie

Congrats! After all these years and despite the electronics gremlins, I still enjoy my TDI.

shack

There seems to be some posters here that like to bash VW. I am not one of them. I've owned a Jetta GLI and a New Beetle. I never had any real problems with them and I liked the way they drive and handle. I'm dissapointed that the new Scirocco is not coming to the US. That is a car I would consider for my next ride.

Enjoy your new car!

billbillw

ben62670 wrote: »

Do not run anything but synthetic oil in it!
Don't ask:mad:

Dude, you just had a bad experience. V-dubs run fine on regular oil. They come from the factory with petroleum oil. Unless its a turbo, I'd say synthetic is an option that will help extend the life of the motor, but its not absolutely necessary.

Almost 125,000 miles on my 2000 Passat V6 using mostly Castrol GTX and it still runs like the day I bought it. Been very reliable too.

bobman1235

Personally, I only bash their shoddy reliability. The one I owned and few others I've driven have all driven like a dream. I'm sure you'll be very happy with that car.

Squidmon

The key to motor oil is changing it before the oxidation by-products gum it up and shear degrades the molecular weight of the dispersants, rendering it unable to suspend those products for removal by the oil filter.
Where synthetics have the advantage is that they oxidize at a MUCH slower pace. Shear stabilty is also a bit higher, but most oils whether petro-based or synthetic use basically the same dispersants and additive packages.
Either petro-based or synthetic will work equally as well as it's intended to.

I used to work as a research chemist for a major oil company in motor oils R & D.

billbillw

Squidmon wrote: »

Where synthetics have the advantage is that they oxidize at a MUCH slower pace. Shear stabilty is also a bit higher, but most oils whether petro-based or synthetic use basically the same dispersants and additive packages.
Either petro-based or synthetic will work equally as well as it's intended to.

I used to work as a research chemist for a major oil company in motor oils R & D.

You should mention that they tend to foam less, they are more stable at high temps, and their viscosity is more uniform across the range of operating temperatures.

To me the benefits are really only worthwhile if you have a truly high performance engine. ie: a turbo motor, or one that commonly revs above 6k RPM.

Squidmon

I agree, but I just didn't want to get too wordy and stuck to the basics.:)

pmckeealaska

Pictures were requested of the new car. Here it is in all its beauty!

pmckeealaska

And another....

Joe08867

billbillw wrote: »

Dude, you just had a bad experience. V-dubs run fine on regular oil. They come from the factory with petroleum oil. Unless its a turbo, I'd say synthetic is an option that will help extend the life of the motor, but its not absolutely necessary.

Almost 125,000 miles on my 2000 Passat V6 using mostly Castrol GTX and it still runs like the day I bought it. Been very reliable too.

I have to agree Bill. I had 190,000 on my 95 Golf before I slammed it into a guardrail at 50 mph.

It doesn't matter what oil you put in the engine when the block gets cracked on impact.:D

I miss that car.

Very nice Jetta, I wish you many years of joy with it.

ben62670

Congrats on your car. You are in a much different climate than I was. Mine handled like a dream, and was a pretty nice car all around. You are in an oposite extreme with the climate. I still recommend synthetic in your car after breakin. The cold can realy starve a motor's lubrication system. Seriously run syn. The little added cost goes a long long way in either climate extremes. I am sure you will enjoy your car for a long time:)
Ben

pmckeealaska

How long would you consider the break-in period?

steveinaz

Wicked, that's exactly what I'm looking at...

Joe08867

Follow what the manual says. What motor and transmission did you get? I am guessing the 5 cylinder on the engine looking at the car.

On my golf back in 1995 it was 500 before first oil change and then another at 1500 and then 3000 or 3 Months from then on.

pmckeealaska

I would highly recommend it. It's the SE model and brand new it was only a tad over 20K. The iPod adapter is awesome.

pmckeealaska

Manual transmission 2.5 liter 5 cylinder engine.

ben62670

pmckeealaska wrote: »

How long would you consider the break-in period?

Some say first oil change. The first oil change is to get rid of the impurities from being new, and manufacturing. I would go with that seeing it is getting cold already. I am not a huge syn fan. All my vehicles except my Passat were older, and syn leaks to fast with old leaky American cars:o For anyone doubting use of syn in a cold environment try pouring 10-30, or even 5-30 in zero degree weather;) Startup is what wears engines the most. If the oil is cold, and thick it takes a while to get to all those bearings, and valves in the head/heads. With the price of gas, the extra engine protection, and the (although small) performance/mileage gains from using syn it would be unwise to use anything but syn in extreme climates.
Ben

steveinaz

Modern engines don't need nearly the break-in time of old. On older cars you didn't have CNC machining, etc, so the actual final "polishing" was done during break-in.

pmckeealaska

The manual says the break-in period is the first 1000 miles but says nothing about when to get the first oil change. i was assuming it would be at 3000. Anyone think it should be earlier?

steveinaz

Wouldn't hurt. Most of your metal shavings, gunk, crap will occur in the first oil change. I'd do the first one at 1000 miles--but that's me.

I then immediately go to Mobil 1 synthetic for 2 reasons: 1) I know I'm always late with my oil changes 2) Because synthetics can easily be run for 15000 miles (if need be, I don't wait this long), you get 2 benefits--cheaper than dino oils (in the long run) AND far better for your engine.

bobman1235

You should have a maintenance schedule somewhere with your user's manual.

Joe08867

I would change it at the 1000 mark then. If the engine is breaking in there are many impuritees that are being picked up by the oil. Most of which is probably blowby and metal. Besides the fact alot of cars burn oil albeit small amounts during the break in process.

Ben, I agree with you but most engine builders and mechanics of which I was in a former worklife, will tell you it is better to use petroleum based oils for the break in period, and then switch to syn oil. Synthetic oil is by far better for extreme conditions than mineral based oils, not only with cold viscosity but on all fronts. It costs more but the added protection it affords is worth the cost.

pmckeealaska

The first scheduled maintenance in the book says at 10K but I'm sure I should get the oil changed well before that.

leroyjr1

My new car manual states:

Don't drive faster than 55 mph.
While driving keep your cars RPM between 2000-4000 rpm.
Use moderate acceleration. Don't depress pedal fully.
For the first 200 miles try to avoid hard stops.
Vary your speed from time to time.
Don't let the engine idle for more than 3 minutes at a time.
Don't tow a trailer for the first 1200 miles

Kex

pmckeealaska wrote: »

The manual says the break-in period is the first 1000 miles but says nothing about when to get the first oil change. i was assuming it would be at 3000. Anyone think it should be earlier?

I bet if you check the service schedule booklet carefully you'll find there is a first "intermediate" change. I think it was 5,000 miles on our 2003 Golf. After that, we just changed the oil at 10,000 and every other 10,000 as specified in the service schedule. These intervals are only good if you're using OEM filters, probably Bosch 2 year 20,000km filters, not the junk they use at Jiffy and elsewhere. I believe the dealer uses synthetic oil on our modest (115hp) vehicle. We like the handling and quality of the interior finish, including height adjustment on both front seats. We always get exactly the MPG as advertised, city (heavy L.A. traffic) or highway (up to 70mph).

I also owned a 1995 Passat GLX VR6. Excellent car. I sold it in 2004 at 115,000 miles and it was still running like the day I bought it. The dealer certainly used synthetic in this car.

In any case, congratulations on your purchase, and remember to go easy for the first 1,000 miles (I know it's hard sometimes)!

leroyjr1

pmckeealaska wrote: »

The first scheduled maintenance in the book says at 10K but I'm sure I should get the oil changed well before that.

I was told by a friend of mine which happens to be a machanic that i should change my oil at 500 miles while the motor is first breaking in and 1000 miles after that. He stated that you don't want to run you motor over 1000 miles with all those very small metal shaving in the motor caused by break in.

zingo

Congrats on the new car!