I've had my RS since may and I've been trying to decide this whole time whether I actually like it or not. When I first got it, I was really pleased with it other than the engine. It definitely doesn't have the power that my tdi has even with 250K on it. I realize the diesel makes a lot more torque, but I was hoping for a little more out of it seeing as it at least has a turbo. It didn't seem bad when I test drove it, but in the city it's all flat whereas I live in hill country and that's where you notice the lack of power. It took me quite awhile to learn the standard transmission that's in it, far longer than anything else I've owned (and I still find it takes a tremendous amount of effort to execute smooth shifts). Over half the vehicles I've owned have been standards, I love driving them, but not this one. And before you tell me I can't drive standard, know that I grew up and worked for many years on a farm driving heavy equipment, tractors, 10 wheelers, etc... I can drive them. But the point behind this thread is the issue I'm currently having. The car has about 4300 miles on it now and it has what I would call a surge, maybe even as extreme as a miss when you're pulling hills or lugging it a bit coming out of town type of scenario. It has always been there, but it is definitely getting worse. It seems to be worst at say 2-3K rpm under part throttle when you're under a heavy load. We went to a wedding a few weekends ago in Ithaca and while pulling the hill out of town to and from the wedding it was so bad I was staring at the dash waiting to see the CEL come on but it never did. We went on vacation so I dropped the car off at the dealer figuring they would have a good amount of time to diagnose and fix it. I also told them about the horrific chemical type odor that came from the ac at random that makes you feel like you're instantly going to pass out. My father is friends with a tech there so I made sure he was the one slated to work on it. Well I just got back after 10 days and still hadn't heard anything on it. When I went to work monday dad filled me in because the tech had been communicating with him about it. He said the surge/miss wasn't anything to do with the engine, it was the transmission. He based it on the fact he had driven another standard transmission car that did the same thing. Not buying it. How does a gear driven transmission under load cause the same feeling that an engine miss does? It doesn't. And he went on to tell my father that's just the way it is and there's nothing that can be done about it. He must have never gotten the memo about the circumstances surrounding the ac smell, because he told him GM is aware that the system accumulates water and molds so when you turn it on you get a smell. They have some sort of liquid you can put in the system that is supposed to neutralize the odor, but it's a waste this time of year. Totally not the same issue I was referring to.
So my displeasure really begins when I call the service dept. First off, nobody bothered to call me so I had no idea if it was done or if they were still working on it. Turns out it was done. Second, nobody could tell me what they did to it. I had to get transferred 3 times just to leave a voicemail for the guy handling my paperwork. He called me back awhile later and told me the car was all done. I said "Great, can you tell me what you found and what you did?" "We didn't find anything wrong on either issue." "So you didn't do anything?" "We didn't find anything wrong." Now, the tech said he noticed BOTH, but basically told me there's nothing I could do about it. His boss tells me that they didn't find anything wrong. To me those mean two entirely different things. So now it's on to another dealer. Hopefully someone somewhere will actually do their job and fix it. I'm not going to quit...
So my displeasure really begins when I call the service dept. First off, nobody bothered to call me so I had no idea if it was done or if they were still working on it. Turns out it was done. Second, nobody could tell me what they did to it. I had to get transferred 3 times just to leave a voicemail for the guy handling my paperwork. He called me back awhile later and told me the car was all done. I said "Great, can you tell me what you found and what you did?" "We didn't find anything wrong on either issue." "So you didn't do anything?" "We didn't find anything wrong." Now, the tech said he noticed BOTH, but basically told me there's nothing I could do about it. His boss tells me that they didn't find anything wrong. To me those mean two entirely different things. So now it's on to another dealer. Hopefully someone somewhere will actually do their job and fix it. I'm not going to quit...
