# VWoA Came Through for Us



## Ondaora20 (Apr 19, 2010)

Wednesday was a very fine day for me. I turned back to VW my mechanically challenged 2009 Antigua Blue SEL Premium, and picked up my 2011 Deep Claret Red SEL Premium. All I can say is...WOW. What a difference!

I only got to drive it the 30 or so miles back home from the dealership (my wife has commandeered the car since then), but I was immediately impressed with how strong, smooth and refined the drivetrain was vs. the coarseness of the '09. And the difference in the suspension is night and day. The '09 wallowed like a pig....my 2003 Chrysler T&C AWD handles like a race car compared to it. But the '11's suspension is taut and crisp. Amazing handling for a van. There's no question in my mind that the car has had some major improvements done to it over the last few model years. 

If there are shortcomings, they are minor. The Premium comes with a fake wood trim on the dash instead of the aluminum trim. The brown color of the wood looks nice in the beige interior, but not the gray one. Dodge's R/T 'manvan' has a black/grey wood trim installed on it, and that is the color VW should have used in the gray interior's trim. I would have preferred the aluminum look overall though. And the updated gauges Chrysler installed on their '11 vans should have carried over to the Routan. The only other issue is with the foglights. Chrysler has installed some kind of newfangled bulb that uses a lot less energy and will last up to 8,000 hours supposedly. But it's light output is anemic; and because of the new wiring that went with this bulb, you can't simply replace the bulb with a brighter one. So the foglights aren't as useful as they were on the '09.

But anyhow, getting back to Wednesday.... the best part of the day was seeing the ear to ear smile on my wife's face when she arrived home from work and saw the van. She just can't get over how VW took the '09 back and replaced it with this one. She came home from work last night and for 20 minutes buzzed me about the van like a kid that just opened the biggest Christmas present under the tree..."Did you know that the van has.....and it does this....etc, etc., etc. In addition, she was giving me grief about the wheels I had refinished for the van. This van has the chrome rear view mirrors and door handles (I would have preferred body colored ones, but no big deal) and she's telling me we have to have chrome wheels installed on it. (Yes dear...I don't THINK so...) I am not that prepared to go the ghetto look. :laugh:

But the bottom line is both my wife and I are extremely grateful to VWoA for the way they worked this situation out for us. We are both still feeling like we were shot with a stun gun. We just can't believe how fortunate we have been. And the VW rep. that handle our case was (is!) a true _gentleman!!! Thank you!,_ Tony.

So, at this point I am still waiting for my adaptors from fifteen52, and will post pictures of the van once the wheels I had refinished for it are mounted. This is _my_ manvan -although my wife will allow me to use it occassionally- and I look foward to many years of service from it.

Thank you again, VWoA!!


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## 58kafer (Jun 27, 2007)

Glad to hear the outcome. You have the government to thank for your lame fogs. They decided what bulbs the mfgs get to use. It was a 2010 mandate. Good luck with the new one.


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## trbochrg (Dec 1, 2004)

That is great news! I have been lurking this forum as we are going to be buying a 2011 Routan. We test drove an SE and loved it.

My wife loves the way the suspension and steeting feel.

We also test drove an Odyssey and my wife hated it. She didn't like the "floaty" feeling of the suspension and how light the steering was.


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## luckeydoug1 (Feb 11, 2001)

Congrats!

Now, in regards to the handling differences between the 2 vehicles. Did your 2009 have the load leveling package? It was an option in 2009 but standard on the 2011 SEL premium.


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## Ondaora20 (Apr 19, 2010)

Yes. The 2009 van we had did have the towing package with the leveling rear suspension.


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## 71sbeetle (Apr 12, 2002)

Wow great news for you !
I am starting to worry about our van (metallic noises on cold start sometimes, and if you look at the oil analysis I posted in another thread there is a high/abnormal level of aluminum in the oil .... that can't be good).
I wouldn't mind getting a free 2011 though


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## luckeydoug1 (Feb 11, 2001)

Ondaora20 said:


> Yes. The 2009 van we had did have the towing package with the leveling rear suspension.


Many thanks for this info. My dealer tracked down the 'perfect' 2009 Routan SEL premium in black for me, just like I thought I wanted. However, the wallow, as you called it, was just way too much. We liked it to picking up a dog by its back legs and then trying to navigate it around the house. We then drove an SE without the tow package, and we much preferred this setup. We did not purchase the 2009 SEL premium, but rather purchased a 2010 SE a year later. There were many SEL premium features we wanted, but not at the expense of the (mandatory for 2010) towing package.

I really wanted the load leveling with the increased towing capacity. Once my dealer gets a 2011 SEL premium in stock I will be taking it out for a test drive, guaranteed!


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## vwroutan23 (Aug 17, 2010)

What were the issues you were having on the 2009 Routan that made VWoA replace it with a 2011?


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## 71sbeetle (Apr 12, 2002)

vwroutan23 said:


> What were the issues you were having on the 2009 Routan that made VWoA replace it with a 2011?


IIRC, their engine was torn down 3 times for oil pressure problems. Ours has oil pressure problems too but not as bad apparently.


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## vwroutan23 (Aug 17, 2010)

71sbeetle said:


> IIRC, their engine was torn down 3 times for oil pressure problems. Ours has oil pressure problems too but not as bad apparently.


Do you get better mileage now with the 2011?


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## Ondaora20 (Apr 19, 2010)

Hello VWRoutan23....all the issues with our previous Routan are posted on the Routan forum. Just scroll back: you will see them. The final issues with the car were:

1) The upright portion of the passenger side rear seat would not raise up anymore. It was jammed in the folded flat position.

2) The car abruptly shut down twice on the interstate for no apparent reason. Once I had drifted off to the side of the road, I completely shut the car down and re-started it. The dealer told me there were so many codes on the computer when he checked it he wasn't sure where to start.

3) The traction control idiot light came on and stayed on even though I was driving on a clear day on dry pavement.

I have not checked my gas mileage yet in the new van; and we aren't really concerned about it. I did read that the difference in the gas mileage between the previous 4.0 and the new engine is negligible, but I will eventually do the math and see what we are getting. Both my wife and I still can't get over the fact that the '11 is such a quantum leap over the '09. It's like it was made by another manufacturer.

71sbeetle....it wasn't a free trade. We did pay VWoA in this transaction, but it was an amount that my wife and I felt was extremely fair. We were asked to keep the details of the transaction confidential, though.

Still waiting on the wheel adaptors from Fifteen52. Wheel Collision in Bath, PA will be getting the new tires on Monday, so I will be making a trip out there sometime next week to pick up the finished wheel/tire package.


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## VWroutanvanman (Feb 12, 2011)

Definetely post some pictures of your van with the wheels. There are only a few Routans on VWVortex with aftermarket wheels. My neighbor has a Jeep Grand Cherokee, and supposedly the wheels will fit our Routans (at least the bolt pattern, anyway). I will be asking to borrow a wheel to try on my "10 SE. Another neighbor had family visiting from up north with an '11 SE in the new color Glacial Blue Metallic (Chryslers name is Sapphire Crystal Metallic). Looks a lot like the old color (Antigua Blue), but I didn't get close enough to see if it sparkled differently. How do you like the Deep Claret red?


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## vr62a4 (Apr 19, 2003)

Congrats on getting your issue resolved!!


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## Ondaora20 (Apr 19, 2010)

Still waiting for wheel adaptors from fifteen52. I was told they should be made this week, so maybe I will see them by the weekend or early next week. Wheels were also delayed by the need for TPMSensors, but they finally showed up. Will be picking up the finished wheels/tires on Thursday.

Will post pictures when they are installed.


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