2017 VW Alltrack - Nimble9's first Euro Car aka the DadWagon

Nice! Glad you went with ceramic.

What shop did you use? What film did they use? What did it end up costing?

 

VW crossbars usually have the channel across the top. I used to stock Rockymount racks for stuff like that.

 

https://tintshoplanc.com/ is who I used. $400 for ceramic plus another $40 for the brow.

They did a great job and were super quick. Lifetime warranty as well.

 

That's a great price for ceramic too.

 

Being a VW person, I'm fairly certain you'll love the VW more than the Subaru. Also, being a VW person, be 100% certain you keep up with maintenance. It's the biggest mistake owners make with these cars. They're not like Japanese makes where you can get away with fudging the maintenance. And this is coming from someone who owns a 2008 Passat with 200k miles on it and still going.

With some KO2s and different wheels, the All-Trak does pretty good on fire roads!

And I'll send you down the modding rabbit hole: Volkswagen Performance - MAKE | AWE (awe-tuning.com)

(they sound really good with exhaust)

Edit: I see you're not too far from AWE. They're good dudes there. Also, if you need more ways to blow money on VWs PM me. Can also point you to good places to get OEM parts from at good prices, etc.

 

Maintenance! Maintenance! Maintenance!

VW engines manufacture sludge.

 

Their biggest thing now is carbon build-up due to the direct injection. I made a lot of beer money doing the valve cleaning for folks. Dealership was charging $700-$800. I charged half.

I'd also recommend learning how to do the DSG service. It's not that far off from the transmission service in the Tacoma. Dealer wants $800 for it.

 

Yeah I love it a lot so far. Before I bought it I looked up the miniatous schedule and then watched or read how to perform the maintenance as needed. That's a big factor for me when looking at a vehicle purchase, but overall it didn't look too bad. Stoked to see you got your passat to 200k! I was looking at a 6 speed W8 passat wagon on cars and bids, but being so rare I wouldn't want to daily it lol.

Since I have my Tacoma for anything rough, I'm going to lower the Alltrack a smidge, upgrade the sway bars, and get dedicated winter and summer tires. In 2 years when my factory warranty expires I might look into tuning, or a diverter valve and other little mods. For now though, stock drivetrain ftw.

I thought about an exhaust, but only after I actually mod the thing, and if it's not too loud. I enjoy how quiet the car is compared to the old forester and my Tacoma on STT pros

Wow! So Faulkner Mechanicsburg quoted me $400 on the DSG service. I actually had them complete everything on the 40k service since the Carfax didn't say whether is was done or not. DSG service, Spark Plugs, and checking the moon roof / testing the drains were the main items on the invoice.

https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/tsbs/2016/MC-10106381-9340.pdf

https://www.shopdap.com/blog/post/service-schedule-for-mk7-alltrack-2015-2016-2017.html

The ea888 engine has a timing chain so I think that needs to be replaced at 120k miles from what I can gather.

What can I do to protect against carbon buildup? catch can?

Overall the car has been excellent to daily.

 

APR makes a lot of good stuff for the All-track too. Including catch cans and feisty ECU/TCU upgrades.

https://www.goapr.com/platform/volkswagen/golf-alltrack/2017/

 

My dealer didn't give a crap about modifications. I had a 2011 GTI that was heavily modified and they covered everything. I had kind of special status so it could've been because of that. Obviously, yours may be different. Definitely ask.

My friend has the AWE exhaust on his All-Trak and it sounds very good and isn't obnoxious at all. I really like it.

$400 for the DSG service is a very good price! Maybe the book rate came down. I nearly choked when they told me. I learned real quick how to do it.

Don't quote me on this, but the timing chain issue with the EA888s was the tensioner. I'd have to double-check, but I believe there's a TSB for it.

Those engines respond very well to tuning. I can't believe the numbers tuners are getting out of them. To get power like that I had to spend a ton of money. Well worth it to drop a tune on it.

My less-than-scientific study on the catch can versus carbon deposits: I didn't see a difference. My GTI had a can, and the Passat didn't. I did valve cleaning on both at the same time and the build-up was about the same. You'll find a lot of internet arguing about it. I really don't think it's worth the expense and inconvenience of a catch can. Not only that, if you're not careful about hose-routing the water vapor in the hoses can freeze or slush. And that's a fun day of driving. Personal experience with that.

 

I would kind of stay away from APR. They may be better since they got bought out, but there was some shady stuff going on there right before.

 

If you haven't seen the AlltrackRS project from Achtuning it's worth a peek. https://www.instagram.com/p/CRpfdjCDlVp/

 

I saw that! So sick. I really can't wait to see what this car can do. The only thing is I've heard sooooo many horror stories of tuning causing reliability issues.

Also, If you like that car, read this thread: https://www.vwvortex.com/threads/since-we-cant-buy-a-golf-r-sportwagen-im-making-my-own.9276671/

Golf R Sportwagon!

 

Subscribed.

I've been following your Forester build thread for a while. Congrats on the VW.

Also your build threads are top notch! A+

 

Thanks!

Yeah I have pretty bad OCD and having a digital record with pictures and what not really helps me keep details in order lol

Hopefully I can control myself and this build stays relatively quiet

 

I work at Achtuning so if you need anything lmk as I can usually help out. Most the Vag platforms are pretty solid and the issues we see are going to happen regardless if the car is tuned or not. Lets face it, Vw hasn't been able to build a thermostat or water pump that will hold up since they quit using air to cool the engines... The 1.8T found in the newer cars has been really solid for us on the west coast. The biggest issue we see with Alltracks are wastegate issues and usually when they fail guys will use it as an opportunity to upgrade to an IS20 or IS38. Between all our MQB cars here at Achtuning we probably have 100-120k miles on employee owned cars. I have an S3 with all the APR stage 3+ parts our owner has a GTI with an IS38 and both cars have been (knock on wood) very reliable. Owners GTI put down 364 whp 374 wtq on a local dyno my car did 411/401 before we did the water meth install.

 

At the very least, JB the car. You can just pull it out before you go in for service.

burgertuning.com

 

That's good to hear! As this is my first Euro car I expect that if I maintain it the way I maintain everything (from cars to my mountain bikes) it should last a while. Also, you guys have great prices! Any mods to increase the longevity of the wastegate?

https://www.achtuning.com/vw/alltrack/alltrack-mk7-2017-2019/?sort=newest&page=1

That's cool! I only heard of Unitronic tunes for the Alltrack!

 

JBs are huge in the BMW scene. But they make stuff for VWs too.

The GTI I had was running an APR Stage 2 tune. Was fun to rip around, but I got tired of fixing it all of the time. I bought my Taco and sold that car. The kid who bought it LOVES it. I still see it around from time to time.

 

Oh... and one of my friends is running a JB4 on his Golf R. He's happy with it.