No Mercedes, VW Question

[such01]

Hi, I'm buying a replacement car for my daughter with insurance money (Plus some of mine!) for her Corsa which was written off recently.
She wants a VW golf and I've seen this one

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I've spoken with the seller and will be satisfied with the repair one he's sent me pictures later, so the CAT N should not be an issue. My question here is about the 1.4TSI engine - I recall that there were issues with these some time ago across the group, are there still issues in the later models post 2013 and has anyone experience with these? Thanks

 

[SpikyMikey]

Hi, I'm buying a replacement car for my daughter with insurance money (Plus some of mine!) for her Corsa which was written off recently.
She wants a VW golf and I've seen this one -

Auto Trader UK - New and Used Cars For Sale

Find your next car with Auto Trader UK, the official #1 site to buy and sell new and used cars. Over 400,000 cars online. Simple, easy, quick!

www.autotrader.co.uk

I've spoken with the seller and will be satisfied with the repair one he's sent me pictures later, so the CAT N should not be an issue. My question here is about the 1.4TSI engine - I recall that there were issues with these some time ago across the group, are there still issues in the later models post 2013 and has anyone experience with these? Thanks

Those engines that gave problems were the older design Twin Charger lumps. The engine in the 2018 car you link to will be almost identical to the one in Mrs S's Leon and it's reckoned to be one of VW group's better efforts. We've found it quiet, reasonably pokey and surprisingly economical ( it has ECO mode where in certain circumstances it drops to 2 cylinders )

 

[such01]

Those engines that gave problems were the older design Twin Charger lumps. The engine in the 2018 car you link to will be almost identical to the one in Mrs S's Leon and it's reckoned to be one of VW group's better efforts. We've found it quiet, reasonably pokey and surprisingly economical ( it has ECO mode where in certain circumstances it drops to 2 cylinders )

Thanks - I posted the wrong car - been looking at too many! The car is actually a 2016. Does the same apply?
Do they suffer from carbon build up on the valves?
Thanks SpikeyMikey

 

[poormansporsche]

As a broad brush. If it's the 1.4 chain driven, avoid..The later belt driven 1.4 all good

 

[SpikyMikey]

Thanks - I posted the wrong car - been looking at too many! The car is actually a 2016. Does the same apply?
Do they suffer from carbon build up on the valves?
Thanks SpikeyMikey

I thought I had imagined it !!
For your info:
1.4 TSI EA211 Engine - In-Depth Look at Design and Reliability
Re carbon build up: it's direct injection so it is possible. All I can say is that we've had our Leon from new in 2018 ( it's the 150hp output version), do a typical mix of 60% short & 40% long journeys and have had no issue. I do give it the occasional Italian Tune Up and we only run it on E5 fuel.
BTW I should have said not all versions of the engine have the ACT active Cylinder Technology

 

[such01]

As a broad brush. If it's the 1.4 chain driven, avoid..The later belt driven 1.4 all good

Thanks - I'll check.

 

[such01]

Actually she now wants a white one so I've seen a 2016 1.6TDI 105BHP. Any insights on this engine?

 

[Dodipops]

The 1.6tdi are bad for EGR valves, injectors and flywheels all costly items but actually overall still decent.

 

[fabes]

Will she do the journeys for a diesel, even pre ad blu?

 

[MikeInWimbledon]

Actually she now wants a white one so I've seen a 2016 1.6TDI 105BHP. Any insights on this engine?

Avoid diesel, like the rest of the world. It’ll be a bit cheaper because everyone’s avoiding them for good reason

I’ve just sold my son’s 5dr 2016 1.4 TSI, with perfect service history on just over 60k for £8k. Cracking car, solidly built and totally reliable. The only reason to sell it was to get into a much larger BmW X3.

It’s the right size for a young driver “in case of mishaps.” Maybe also consider the petrol Ford Focus: another great car that’s cheaper than it should be because of high company car sales.

 

[fabes]

As is the Astra.
My daughter's 2019 1.4T SRI is, badge aside, an impressive cat

 

[Smart320]

As is the Astra.
My daughter's 2019 1.4T SRI is, badge aside, an impressive cat

Does it purr along

 

[fabes]

Doh!

 

[MrGreedy]

The VW diesels go in for recall on the emissions scandal software update, reducing mpg, and causing more DPF regen. There is concern on especially the smaller VAG diesels that anticipated DPF life could be as low as 50k miles. We swapped our 1.6 Golf diesel for a 1.6 (I think) petrol for this reason.
Not the end of the world, but depending on mileage and whether DPF has been replaced, consider this could be a cost.

Or it might not.
There seems to be a lot of variability on longevity, which I guess depends on driving style and interrupted regens if a frequent short journey car.

 

[such01]

Thanks for all the feedback - just got back from hols - re diesel recall issues - would this still be a problem from 2016 onwards? I've seen a 1.6TDI 66 plate with 100K miles for a good price. full VW history and one owner. My daughter has a 12 mile fast A road run to work and the same back, and occasionally does a 200 mile round trip to Kent.
Alternatively there are the 1.4 TSI's with similar mileage around from 2016 onwards. Would high mileage be an issue for these newer petrol engines?
Thanks

 

[such01]

Will she do the journeys for a diesel, even pre ad blu?

Not sure - she does at least 30 miles daily on dual carriageways to work and back.

 

[MrGreedy]

Thanks for all the feedback - just got back from hols - re diesel recall issues - would this still be a problem from 2016 onwards? I've seen a 1.6TDI 66 plate with 100K miles for a good price. full VW history and one owner. My daughter has a 12 mile fast A road run to work and the same back, and occasionally does a 200 mile round trip to Kent.
Alternatively there are the 1.4 TSI's with similar mileage around from 2016 onwards. Would high mileage be an issue for these newer petrol engines?
Thanks

You can use a VW specific code scanner to see the ash content of the DFP. This will give you a view on how close the DPF is to being at end of life. It's the ash that accumulates and isn't burned off during regens unlike soot.

I don't know what the limit of ash content would be, you would need to look that up elsewhere unless someone on here knows.

There is a free app called VAG DPF that you can connect up to your phone with a Bluetooth OBD port connector. This has an Oil Ash Residue (grams) that might be an easy way for you to check both soot and ash contents of the DPF. I did this when we bought the 1.6 diesel 2016 Golf, and the seller (Motorpoint) didn't know why the fan kept running. I asked if I could connect VAG DPF, they agreed and it showed soot content was too high and regen was overdue. I took it for a blast down a dual carriageway with a sales rep and you could see on the app it regened and the fan issue was sorted.

 

[SpikyMikey]

Alternatively there are the 1.4 TSI's with similar mileage around from 2016 onwards. Would high mileage be an issue for these newer petrol engines?
Thanks

It depends; like most modern engines, if it's been looked after with regular oil/filter changes then 100K miles isn't necessarily an issue. My old BMW with the N43 2.0 petrol 4 cylinder engine (reputed to be one of the worst engines BMW designed) is still going strong at 208,000 according to the DVLA.

 

[such01]

You can use a VW specific code scanner to see the ash content of the DFP. This will give you a view on how close the DPF is to being at end of life. It's the ash that accumulates and isn't burned off during regens unlike soot.

I don't know what the limit of ash content would be, you would need to look that up elsewhere unless someone on here knows.

There is a free app called VAG DPF that you can connect up to your phone with a Bluetooth OBD port connector. This has an Oil Ash Residue (grams) that might be an easy way for you to check both soot and ash contents of the DPF. I did this when we bought the 1.6 diesel 2016 Golf, and the seller (Motorpoint) didn't know why the fan kept running. I asked if I could connect VAG DPF, they agreed and it showed soot content was too high and regen was overdue. I took it for a blast down a dual carriageway with a sales rep and you could see on the app it regened and the fan issue was sorted.

Thanks - I do have the MB Icarsoft and also Carly scanners. I'll have a go at her boyfriends car and see if they work as he currently has a 2012 golf tdi, at least then I'll know what to look for. Thanks

 

[such01]

Just for completion I picked this up yesterday, my daughter finally settled for a non white golf!
18 plate 1.6tdi with 96K - in very good condition with regular oil changes. Drove very well on the 80 mile trip home. I was pleasantly surprised how well the 1.6 engine pulled.
Will need new brakes all round at some point, number plate bulb out and no faults on scanning.
Will do an oil change - check filters and detail tmrw. Slightly above budget but all for less than £8k from the second owner.
I must say driving it I may have been tempted to swap my W212 for a hotter version!