I’ve posted about my 2 VW station wagons quite a bit here on BITOG but we have 5 vehicle in our house and this is my former daily. Got it new in ’13 and gave it to my then 16 yo son in 2018 with ~100K on the clock. An oddball, this was a loaded mid-trim SE with a stick….tough to find. So leather/appearance package (17” wheels and thank goodness rear disc brakes), winter package, sunroof. The DCT trans was a nightmare on these so decided to shift my own gears again on this one and glad I did it – has been 100% reliable for 8 years/113K miles.
I’ve done some upgrades to it namely a custom ECU tune to get a bit more drivability out of it – improved throttle response, decreased rev hang during shifts, and a bit more power via optimizing for 93 octane. Has a Focus RS air box lid with a K&N filter, Ford Racing axle back exhaust, a rear lower motor mount insert to remove some of the engine movement during shifting, and an upgraded head unit to get Apple Car Play. The suspension has been upgraded with Koni Sport dampers, Eibach Pro-Kit springs, and a larger 25mm rear sway bar. Handles like a go-kart now with acceptable daily comfort.
Maintenance has been oil changes every ~5K on average since new. First 100K was at the dealer as I bought a pre-paid maintenance package so that was MC filters and MC syn blend 5W20. Now I’m using Supertech oil with the MC filter for a sub-$20 oil change once a year. We did the manual trans gear oil (which is actually the same as the dual-clutch trans fluid) this year as well. Should get him out into the world post-college. He wants to turbo it....
I’ve done some upgrades to it namely a custom ECU tune to get a bit more drivability out of it – improved throttle response, decreased rev hang during shifts, and a bit more power via optimizing for 93 octane. Has a Focus RS air box lid with a K&N filter, Ford Racing axle back exhaust, a rear lower motor mount insert to remove some of the engine movement during shifting, and an upgraded head unit to get Apple Car Play. The suspension has been upgraded with Koni Sport dampers, Eibach Pro-Kit springs, and a larger 25mm rear sway bar. Handles like a go-kart now with acceptable daily comfort.
Maintenance has been oil changes every ~5K on average since new. First 100K was at the dealer as I bought a pre-paid maintenance package so that was MC filters and MC syn blend 5W20. Now I’m using Supertech oil with the MC filter for a sub-$20 oil change once a year. We did the manual trans gear oil (which is actually the same as the dual-clutch trans fluid) this year as well. Should get him out into the world post-college. He wants to turbo it....