# Picking up a Routan for the wife on Friday



## juvefan20 (Mar 24, 2001)

Well, I did it. I am returning the Jetta Sportwagen which I leased for my wife in late 08 and purchasing a 2011 Routan SE. I have been monitoring the situation with my local dealer here in Rochester and this weekend I finally bit on the 10k offer. I passed on the RSE option since I have a few plans of my own to add a personal touch on the audio and video for this van sometime next spring. 

I have read about the brakes going early on these and I am prepared to deal with that once that comes but other that I hope to have a smooth ownership experience. This is the 3rd car I purchase from Dorschel VW and my sales rep David is a good guy and checks up on me all the time. Not to mention when I am in for service he has gone as far to even offer to buy me a lunch. Now if only I could have gotten a lease pull ahead for my last 4 months of lease payments that would have made the deal better, in the end 24,600 out the door for the black on grey SE. Can't go wrong there. 25K gets you nothing these days with this sort of space.

Thanks to all the posts here, I feel I was able to make a better decision trolling here rather then reading edmunds etc. Hopefully I can contribute here going forward. :wave:


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## trbochrg (Dec 1, 2004)

nice! My wife loves hers. We traded in our 02 Passat Wagon for it.


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## haunted reality (Apr 18, 2001)

Good luck, I have both a JSW and Routan currently.


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## juvefan20 (Mar 24, 2001)

Thanks, Friday can't come soon enough


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## juvefan20 (Mar 24, 2001)

Picked it up today and I am doing a full detail on it. I will post some pics in the morning when the sun is out. I love it already though, the color matches my CC on the driveway. 

My neighbors thought I was nuts coming home with a new car and already washing, claying, light polish and sealing it. No one gets me


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## tuanies (Oct 16, 2009)

Is the CC badge the same size / font as the Routan badge? I want to badge mine as a CROUTAN


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## juvefan20 (Mar 24, 2001)

They are much smaller in size. But it can be very understated if you choose to go that way


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## 71sbeetle (Apr 12, 2002)

We're trying to sell our Routan to get into a JSW  Godo luck with your Routan :thumbup:


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## juvefan20 (Mar 24, 2001)

We loved the wagon. 3 years and not 1 issue. In 36 I did not touch a thing in on the car. Just brought it in for the scheduled maintenance. We went with the Routan since we have 2 kids and a dog. Also my parents live over 350 miles away so we are making 3-4 trips a year to see them which in the wagon became a little tight.


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## 71sbeetle (Apr 12, 2002)

I hear you, have 2 kids now, and the van is great for that, back when I had the Passat Wagon we used to take a bunch of trips, but at 17mpg on the van we rarely take trips now which in my mind defeats our whole purpose for the van (more room, more comfortable, navigation for us and RSE for the kids). If only we could get closer to 23-25mpg highway .....


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## JETwagen (Mar 1, 2002)

71sbeetle said:


> I hear you, have 2 kids now, and the van is great for that, back when I had the Passat Wagon we used to take a bunch of trips, but at 17mpg on the van we rarely take trips now which in my mind defeats our whole purpose for the van (more room, more comfortable, navigation for us and RSE for the kids). If only we could get closer to 23-25mpg highway .....


You're ony getting 17mpg on the highway?  I'm averaging around 16-17mpg with alot of city driving. I'll need to check my records when I get home but I know I was in the mid to low 20's when we went to my in-laws for Christmas last year (nearly all highway driving) and we only had the van about a month. :facepalm: I'm expecting better mpg's once the engine breaks in, but maybe I shouldn't hold my breath? :sly:


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## Steveaut (Sep 16, 2010)

I'd sell my Routan if I didn't get 23-25 highway. That's one of the reasons we traded the Journey. It would only get 21 highway. And that was an improvement over our Durango that got 12-13 on the highway, downhill behind a tow truck. 

We just got back from a trip to 950 mile trip to Yellowstone. Our mileage for the entire trip was 25mpg. We actually did better on our last trip driving to SoCal than it did to Yellowstone. Then we got 27mpg. But Yellowstone has some long climbs and is mountainous driving. The new brakes did great.


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## 71sbeetle (Apr 12, 2002)

The best we ever got on a whole tank was 23.6mpg and that was driving at 60mph on cruise control on flat roads for 439 miles ..... yeah .... not so great if you ask me. The average for the life of our Routan (now nearing 37k miles, tire pressure checked weekly, no unnecessary weight, easy acceleration, 65-70mph highway speeds (speed limit is 70mph on the Turnpike here) and about 60% city 40% highway) is 18.6mpg ..... mediocre considering on how we drive it.


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## 71sbeetle (Apr 12, 2002)

Here is the fuelly for our van, as you can see the last few are going up, that's because we've been turning the engine off when sitting at a light for a while.
http://www.fuelly.com/driver/71sbeetle/routan


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## Steveaut (Sep 16, 2010)

71sbeetle said:


> The best we ever got on a whole tank was 23.6mpg and that was driving at 60mph on cruise control on flat roads for 439 miles ..... yeah .... not so great if you ask me. The average for the life of our Routan (now nearing 37k miles, tire pressure checked weekly, no unnecessary weight, easy acceleration, 65-70mph highway speeds (speed limit is 70mph on the Turnpike here) and about 60% city 40% highway) is 18.6mpg ..... mediocre considering on how we drive it.


It sounds like you should be getting better on your highway mileage. Especially since we load up with six people and all our gear and still get 25 on the highway. But your city driving doesn't sound too bad. Although you are driving pretty conservatively. Our mixed driving 60/40 to 70/30 city/highway, we average 19mpg. I was going to ask if you had the 3.8, but you had that listed at the fuelly website. So that's not the problem. Why the difference do you think? Maybe shift points from 2009 to 2010. Mine is a 2010 SEL 4.0. I think I am going to start to use that website to see what my long term numbers look like.


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## tuanies (Oct 16, 2009)

If the computer is to be trusted, my mixed city/highway driving with the Pentastar has gone up as the motor gets more miles on it.

When I first picked it up, it was averaging around 17-18 with mixed driving, mostly in the city. I managed to get it to say 25mpg after i reset it and went on a long 2.5 hour roadtrip and back.

After about 1700 miles, I'm getting around 20mpg according to the computer.


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## 71sbeetle (Apr 12, 2002)

Steveaut said:


> I'd sell my Routan if I didn't get 23-25 highway.


We want to sell ours just because of the gas mileage, but the resale value is HORRIBLE at best .... best offer we got was $19k ... we paid $44600 out the door for the damn thing 2 years and 2 weeks ago .....


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## 71sbeetle (Apr 12, 2002)

tuanies said:


> If the computer is to be trusted, my mixed city/highway driving with the Pentastar has gone up as the motor gets more miles on it.
> 
> When I first picked it up, it was averaging around 17-18 with mixed driving, mostly in the city. I managed to get it to say 25mpg after i reset it and went on a long 2.5 hour roadtrip and back.
> 
> After about 1700 miles, I'm getting around 20mpg according to the computer.


If you look at this thread I started:
http://forums.vwvortex.com/showthread.php?5401917-Driving-a-loaner-2011-Dodge-Grand-Caravan-....

I was getting great mileage with a rental/loaner 2011 Dodge Grand Caravan according to the computer. I'd like to get a 2011+ Routan but it's just out of my price range.


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## Trail Ryder (Jul 18, 2011)

71sbeetle said:


> ... we paid $44600 out the door for the damn thing 2 years and 2 weeks ago .....


What??????

We paid half of that for a new 2011 Routan SE.

Was yours full of gold coins?


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## 71sbeetle (Apr 12, 2002)

2009, no incentives, fully loaded SEL Premium. That price includes tax, license fees, GAP insurance and a 100k/7 yr $650 extended warranty.


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## Steveaut (Sep 16, 2010)

71sbeetle said:


> We want to sell ours just because of the gas mileage, but the resale value is HORRIBLE at best .... best offer we got was $19k ... we paid $44600 out the door for the damn thing 2 years and 2 weeks ago .....


But your not too far off on the gas mileage from what they are estimated to be, 17 city and 25 highway. Your highway is a little low, but not much. Your city looks good to me. Within the range posted on the sticker. The difference between 10,0000 miles a year at 21mpg and 25mpg (at $3.50/gallon) is only an extra $22 a month. And that assumes you only get 21mpg highway. The difference is even less if you get better than 21mpg highway. I hear you though, saving money is preferred. But if you are upside down that much, and your not looking to get into another TDI, then the fuel savings just are worth it. Going from 20mpg to 40mpg, makes some sense, but going from 20mpg to 25, 26, 28, makes less sense, especially if you lose on the deal. Just my thoughts on it.

Are you looking to get into a different type of vehicle because of gas prices or just a change in lifestyle? My other vehicle is a Jetta TDI and boy I wish I could drive that all the time. But with six people, the Routan is the best balance between mileage and comfort for us. Other alternatives we looked at, SUVs, were mostly worse on the mileage ratings and not even close on the comfort level.


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## 71sbeetle (Apr 12, 2002)

well my wife does 50 miles round trip a day 5 days a week, and of that 22 miles is highway, she usually get from 18-20mpg average for that, the problem is when we do long freeway trip we usually don't get more than 21mpg at 65-70mph. We were looking into trading it in for a Jetta Sportwagen TDI, would cut our fuel bills in half. I love my Golf TDI


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## Steveaut (Sep 16, 2010)

71sbeetle said:


> well my wife does 50 miles round trip a day 5 days a week, and of that 22 miles is highway, she usually get from 18-20mpg average for that, the problem is when we do long freeway trip we usually don't get more than 21mpg at 65-70mph. We were looking into trading it in for a Jetta Sportwagen TDI, would cut our fuel bills in half. I love my Golf TDI


I know what you mean. I will never get rid of my Jetta TDI. That vehicle is great on mileage, drives great, stops great, comfortable, etcetera. I am planning on letting it become our family car for my 16 year old to drive, then my other kids as they come of driving age, and I will get a Jetta Sportwagen TDI or even better, a Passat TDI. For now, my wife will be driving the van for no less than 3 more years. I expect by then it will have some equity or at least be a wash and we can decide if we want to keep driving it at that time. I really do like the Routan though. It is so much more comfortable than any other vehicle we have owned for the family (Taurus, Durango, Journey, Ram, F-150, Rodeo, Rodeo again, Celica, Celica again). I feel like I am spoiled now.


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## 71sbeetle (Apr 12, 2002)

Looks like we're trading in the Routan for a 2012 Jetta TDI Premium on Friday ....


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## juvefan20 (Mar 24, 2001)

71sbeetle said:


> Looks like we're trading in the Routan for a 2012 Jetta TDI Premium on Friday ....


Good luck with it. Hopefully it all works out. I hope it is a manual and not DSG though. My DSG was taken apart 3 times until they have me a new one on my CC and I will never own a DSG car after my current CC again.


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## Steveaut (Sep 16, 2010)

juvefan20 said:


> Good luck with it. Hopefully it all works out. I hope it is a manual and not DSG though. My DSG was taken apart 3 times until they have me a new one on my CC and I will never own a DSG car after my current CC again.


How many miles did your DSG have when you had problems. My Jetta TDI has a DSG and so far, at 80k miles, no problems yet. It's been a great car. I personally hate sticks. My next TDI will have a DSG unless I end up with problems on my current one.

I actually got into my VW because a guy I work owns two Beetle TDIs. One has over 280k miles and the other is over 150k miles. He has complained about the second one because of small things, but nothing with the TDI or the DSG. He did lose a timing belt on his older one, around 200k miles. The dealer told him the motor was trashed, but they would give him $500 to take it off his hands. I told him pay someone to put a new timing belt on, set the timing and fire it up to see what happens. He did that and now has another 80k on the motor. But I will make sure I change out my timing belt by 100k, it's not worth the risk. The part that amazes me and why I moved to VW is that this guy doesn't do maintenance. He occassionally changes his oil, but that's it.


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## juvefan20 (Mar 24, 2001)

I may have had a bad one but my new DSG was installed at 16K. I had problems with the car since new though. 

If you check out the CC forum you will see that I was not the only one. May have been a bad batch but I would not want to take a chance.

Like everything though it is a toss up. I know a guy at my job that has 60K on an 09 Routan and loves it. I have detailed it for him since day 1 and the only thing he has done to the car is oil changes. He even got his new brakes at Pep Boys which I give him crap about which was at 35K.

There seems to be a lot of inconstancy with VW's but I am OK with that because out of all the VAG cars I have had 1 (CC) only had a major issue. I can live with that since I was compensated with 5 lease payments made for me on the CC, a voucher (used on the Routan on top of 10k off), and 4 new Conti tires still on the CC since the ones on the car were loud and worn horribly. I also have a great dealer though


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## haunted reality (Apr 18, 2001)

71sbeetle said:


> Looks like we're trading in the Routan for a 2012 Jetta TDI Premium on Friday ....


How did the trade in go? I've looked too, but the trade-in value for the Routan is terrible and I bought mine CPO used S, so I wouldn't take quite the same bath, but still not worth it.


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## 71sbeetle (Apr 12, 2002)

Driving tomorrow to Atlanta (Buford actually) to pick up the new car, 2012 Jetta TDI Premium and yes, manual of course my wife hates automatics lol. They gave us just over $20k for the van, big hit but oh well. I will miss the van, but I won't miss the payments, the mileage or the little problems that can never get fixed.


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## Steveaut (Sep 16, 2010)

juvefan20 said:


> I may have had a bad one but my new DSG was installed at 16K. I had problems with the car since new though.


So I did some brief research on the DSG. It does look like there have been some problems. Some models of the Jetta apparently got a bad fly wheel and some had a bushing problem. Apparently, VW acknowledged the problem and sent a bulletin extending the warranty on DSG vehicles from 2006 to 2009. The extended warranty is up to 100k miles or 10 years. I found one bulletin, but it said the warranty was 2007 to 2009. There may be a second extension to include the 2006, which is what my Jetta is. If it doesn't include 2006, then that's good because it presumably does not have the defects.

The other thing I learned is that it is important to do the 40k mile service. That concerns me, because I am at 80k. The service is very expensive because the oil used is specific to the DSG.


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## 58kafer (Jun 27, 2007)

Steveaut said:


> So I did some brief research on the DSG. It does look like there have been some problems. Some models of the Jetta apparently got a bad fly wheel and some had a bushing problem. Apparently, VW acknowledged the problem and sent a bulletin extending the warranty on DSG vehicles from 2006 to 2009. The extended warranty is up to 100k miles or 10 years. I found one bulletin, but it said the warranty was 2007 to 2009. There may be a second extension to include the 2006, which is what my Jetta is. If it doesn't include 2006, then that's good because it presumably does not have the defects.
> 
> The other thing I learned is that it is important to do the 40k mile service. That concerns me, because I am at 80k. The service is very expensive because the oil used is specific to the DSG.


The oil is like $25 per quart! Hold on for that service bill, ouch. If you think about it with 80K on it the service is actually like 1/2 price  (since you missed the 40K)


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## juvefan20 (Mar 24, 2001)

They extended my 2010 since I had all those issues but my lease is over at in 17 months so I really don't care too much about that. I am happy how they handled the situation though with me. 

As for you, please get that fluid changed asap. The service at my dealer is between $80-$100. It is an oil and filter change basically for the transmission.


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## Steveaut (Sep 16, 2010)

juvefan20 said:


> They extended my 2010 since I had all those issues but my lease is over at in 17 months so I really don't care too much about that. I am happy how they handled the situation though with me.
> 
> As for you, please get that fluid changed asap. The service at my dealer is between $80-$100. It is an oil and filter change basically for the transmission.


I am not talking about a Routan transmission service, I am talking about the DSG service for a Jetta. They are completely different and the DSG service is upwards of $400.00. The parts alone are around $150.00. Not an easy pill to swallow. I wish it were only $80-$100.00.


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## juvefan20 (Mar 24, 2001)

I was talking about the DSG service but misquoted the price totally. You are correct though, it is around $450. I hate to be negative but that was one of the reasons I leased my CC.


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## Steveaut (Sep 16, 2010)

juvefan20 said:


> I was talking about the DSG service but misquoted the price totally. You are correct though, it is around $450. I hate to be negative but that was one of the reasons I leased my CC.


Your not being negative, no worries about that. While it is expensive to service the DSG on the Jetta TDI, the vehicle is still well worth it. The thousands I save in fuel over the life of the vehicle and the reliability of it, assuming I have a reliable DSG, pays for itself over and over. I just hope my vehicle will go as long as my boss' two TDIs w/DSGs, over 250k. My son will be driving mine in a few months and I will be looking around for another TDI, Jetta Sportwagen or Passat, with a DSG. I am sold on VW.


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## juvefan20 (Mar 24, 2001)

Thanks! I love the way the car drives now that the DSG has been repaired but I was left with an uneasy feeling with the DSG. That being said VW did a great job taking care of me which is why I stayed with the brand. Now as for next car I do have my eyes set on the Golf R 4 door. For the price point VW does give you a lot for your money. 

Speaking of, the same week I got the Routan for my wife her sister got the Siena. She is leasing it for $400 a month with 2k out of pocket for an LE which did not come with any mats and a classic rubber steering wheel. When we showed them our Routan and told them what we paid for ours they stopped talking about how great their car was and how good their deal was yada yada. Prior to them hearing about our deal (24k for an SE out the door) my brother in law kept on telling me that I am obsessed with VW and that I would purchase a bag a crap if they tried to sell it to me. I just bit my lip with him because I know he is a tool at that point and it was great watching him drool over our Routan since he thought the Vtex was real leather. (My wife may have called it leather just to get under his skin and he took the bait)


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