U.S. R32 Registry

I detailed the interior today, started by pulling the monster mats and vacuuming the heck out of it. Then clean all surfaces with Meguiars vinyl and leather cleaner. Then condition the seats and steering wheel with Meguiars leather conditioner.

Once this was done, gave it a wash. The pollen from the oak trees right now is going off. Park anywhere remotely close to an oak and you will surely get a fluorescent green powder (pollen) covering your car. How lovely.

Today I drove down to San Antonio (from Austin) to have my hole-free grill installed at Rod East Volkswagen. I cannot express how stoked I am that I finally have a hole-free grill. In the last 6 months I've probably talked to 6 different VWoA employees, 1 supervisor, two service managers at the dealerships in Austin (at least on 4 different occasions) and finally, the service manager at Rod East who said "sure, come on down and we'll install it".

Hey Charles Maund VW and Hewlett VW, you've got a lot to learn about customer satisfaction and retention.

Today I applied a nice layer of 3M wax to the entire R32. It didn't take as long as I thought it would take and the result was astounding.

Ever since I bought a water filter setup for my hose, washing the car is so much easier. I don't bother drying anymore since the filtered water dries spot free.

Received and installed my EVOMS intake today. Well crafted, but a very tight fit. Haven't got to play with it yet because I'm getting ready for a vacation tomorrow.

Changed the oil today, at 10,002 miles, used Mobil 1 Turbo Diesel Truck oil, 5W-40. Rotated the tires, cleaned/waxed the wheels while they were off. Removed the front fender liners, cleaned out a bunch of excess leaves and washed the fender liners. It's weird that the rear fender liners are a fabric-type material, while the fronts are plastic.

Put the front license plate holder back on today and put my new R32 license plate from VW on there just to see how it looks. Probably going to put my real plate back on in a couple days.

Finally cleaned the interior of the R, it was dying for a vacuum and interior cleaning. Washed the leather surfaces with Meguairs Vinyl & Leather Cleaner and followed with a treatment of Meguairs Leather Conditioner.

When I washed the exterior I tried out this trick I learned from the guys at VW Vortex to use Quick Detailing spray during the drying phase. I wasn't exactly impressed with the results (there was supposed to be less water spots, but I noticed more the next day), but then again by the time I was drying the R, it was dark outside.

Finally got around to washing my dirty as hell car today, it was super dirty after the 4k mile road trip.

Whenever I wash the car, I put the wipers in service mode so they can be hinged away from the window, well my R outsmarted me this time because I popped the hood before attempting to put the wipers in service mode. After checking the wiper fuse (under the hood) and getting all freaked out because my wipers weren't working, I finally realized that the wipers will not operate if the hood is open. D'oh! I hate it when my car is smarter than me.

I returned home from my 8-day road trip to Sacramento and back this morning (3am). I had a blast with the R32 the entire time, it proved to be an excellent road trip car. Seats were very comfortable even during long drives (800+ miles). Never had a single problem. MPG improved greatly after the first oil change. On the last day I drove nearly 1000 miles and my average for that duration was 27.3 MPG!

Performed my oil change today, I'm using Mobil 1 Turbo Diesel Truck 5w-40 (also known as Mobil Delvac 1). Yes this oil is 100% fine for the R32 engine. I use this oil in my diesels and like it very much.