My Touareg has been THE BEST, most reliable vehicle I have ever owned. I have been the sole owner of this TDI and I have personally put 170K on. I have meticulously cared for this car and it is in pristine shape.
This past summer I was made aware that the oil pan gasket was leaking small amounts of oil. The advice from the certified mechanic was not to fix it because it was such a minor leak and that it would not impede on the performance or integrity of my TDI. The quote to fix it was around 15K. The other advice was just to change the oil every 5K miles vs. 10K. The leak is minor and between oil changes I have only had to put .5 of a quart of oil in it to replace what was lost over 5K miles.
Now a new leak has surfaced. A few weeks ago my coolant sensor would go off randomly but the gage did not indicate over heating. I took it in to my VW mechanic and the issue was that the oil cooler is leaking slowly and has "filled the valley of the engine up with oil coolant" (his exact explaination). The advice this time was not to fix that either (quoted $2880.00 to repair) due to the high mileage of my TDI (170K) The advice this time was to "run her into the ground and keep changing the oil every 5K". BUT, where is the ground 5K miles, 20K miles??? How long can I drive it with these 2 leaks left unrepaired?
My TDI runs perfect otherwise. I am torn on what to do given the advice from my mechanic. SO, my question is are these leaks minor enough that I can still drive it safely and reliably if I go on longer rides or am I driving a ticking time bomb and should offload my beloved TDI while it still has some value left? This TDI has been so incredible and I was hopeful that I would get at least 250K-300K miles out if it with the way I have cared for it. I've never missed a scheduled mantenance, and swiftly taking care of the minor repairs it has needed. I live in in Wisconsin where the weather shifts and road conditions do take a heavy toll on cars.
Thank you for helping. I am not mechanically inclined and have soley relied on the advice of my trusted certified VW master mechanic.
