Unfortunately he doesn’t sell cars. If he did I definitely would.
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A bit of advice needed. Bought a used car off a trader that has a major fault.
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Unfortunately he doesn’t sell cars. If he did I definitely would.
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Sebastian O
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For what it’s worth, definitely check MOT history in future. I’ve had a look and I definitely raised an eyebrow at some of the bits it’s failed on!
Only fails on the photo’d Volvo :
ABS and Traction control warnings in august 2023. And one of the doors couldn’t be opened in 2018.
Presenting a car with the AbS and traction lights on are a red flag for a car being poorly cared for.
Flying Snail
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I had a car with one of these 1.6HDI engines and those warnings would flash up every time it blew an injector and went into limp mode, and it did that repeatedly. Biggest ball of crap I've ever had the displeasure of owning.
I think that was just a wheel sensor I’ve had the same thing on the Audi, I did check through the history before going and I tested the ABS when I test drove it.
DustyBin
Established Member
I’ve just seen this thread. Im sorry to hear of your troubles @Cowley, but at least you’ve managed to find a resolution.
I last “spannered” professionally over 10 years ago, but by that point diesels were a nightmare. Personally I blame the pursuit of petrol-like performance and refinement, together with ever-lower emissions; they’re just incredibly complicated engines. Long gone are days of the Peugeot 1.9 XUD for example that @richw mentioned previously. Personally I’m of the view that if you take a high mileage modern diesel on, you’re taking a chance. I appreciate the same could be said for any engine, but with diesels there’s an increased risk of chasing difficult-to-diagnose faults in my experience. I get the attraction of high MPG figures though!
I last “spannered” professionally over 10 years ago, but by that point diesels were a nightmare. Personally I blame the pursuit of petrol-like performance and refinement, together with ever-lower emissions; they’re just incredibly complicated engines. Long gone are days of the Peugeot 1.9 XUD for example that @richw mentioned previously. Personally I’m of the view that if you take a high mileage modern diesel on, you’re taking a chance. I appreciate the same could be said for any engine, but with diesels there’s an increased risk of chasing difficult-to-diagnose faults in my experience. I get the attraction of high MPG figures though!
This is a fair summary - and it wasn't just the Ford PSA diesel that was afflicted.
The problem was government policy of the time was all about CO2 emissions - so people dashed out and bought low capacity diesels on the basis of a £30 tax disc and the promises of 60+ mpg and then used them on short journeys, totally unsuited to such use, which lead to no end of problems mainly around turbos, EGR valves and DMF clutches. The irony is if those people had bought petrol engined cars they'd probably have been better off - a petrol car would have been a couple of grand cheaper to buy, on lower mileage the fuel cost difference would have been negligible, especially as petrol is cheaper, and the maintenance costs would have been much less.
The only 'new' diesel engine of that time I've not heard reliability concerns about was Honda's 2.2 - but even then they need to be properly maintained.
GS250
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Agreed. I'd have happily bought an early - mid 2000s Passat with that durable 1.9L diesel engine in. They were good for high miles and relatively low issues. However anything during the last ten years I'm just not so sure about. A youngish lad at work was salivating over a 125k BMW 535D that he'd found on the trader for a really low price. I've been trying to talk him out of it but it seems to be falling on deaf ears as it did with many of us at that age!
These are really important things to consider actually. I’d been looking at 2010ish Golf Plus’s over the last few days because they’ve got pretty good specifications as standard, they’re generally a bit cheaper than a standard Golf and we’ve got a T5 of the same age which we really like. Unfortunately I just missed out on low mileage (69000) one in Birmingham for £4100 the other day.
I’d been looking at 2.0 tdi ones (the same engine as the van) because they’re good on mpg and have a 6 speed box, plus with 140 bhp they go pretty well. We do a mixture of local and long distance driving so our stuff generally gets a good motorway run each week.
I don’t want the 1.6 tdi because the spec is lower and they’ve only got 5 gears. I also always avoid petrol stuff because (maybe falsely) I’ve always assumed that I’ll be getting less mpg and a petrol engine just isn’t as rugged.
The above two posts by @DustyBin and @A0wen have got me wondering about that now though…
Remember petrol is about 15% cheaper than diesel at the moment, so any fuel saving from a diesel is going to be fairly small, if at all.
Plus with a petrol car you don't end up with a hand stinking of diesel every time you fill up, always seems like some idiot has managed to get diesel all over the pump handle.
Personally, I regard diesel as a filthy fuel - stinky to handle, create loads of particulates and horrible smelly exhaust fumes. Government should have banned small (smaller than lorry engine) diesel engines years ago, not encouraged their proliferation.
The thing to check with that 2.0, especially low mileage (for age) is the Exhaust Gas Recirculation thing. I’ve had two go on me.
Not sure about that - my 2.0 diesel is nearly double the MPG of my 2.0 petrol for similar size vehicles. And any diesel post 2015 produces the same particulates as petrol.
Yes I was just looking at 1.4 TSI Golf’s and the mpg is quite a bit lower. They are 6 speed though so that’s something.
After an Audi A4 with the 1.9PD TDi I was sucked into the VAG group 1.6CR TDi ordered end of 2010 and registered as an 11 plate.
My daily commute is 11 miles each way - 50% 60/70 mph and the remainder town roads. EGR failed at 5 years 35k miles and £700 bill. Around £350 in parts then 6 hours labour to dismantle so much to access the EGR then reassemble. Would have been £1000+ at the
Cost wise in 2010 the theory was over 10 years the additional purchase price was covered by I recall £20 rather than £30 tax disc, the saving on fuel was therefore a gain and an expected higher px / resale value a bonus. Hindsight is a wonderful thing!! Only with VAG eventually giving in over Dieselgate and getting a payout did I overall not end up out of pocket.
I now have a 1.0 petrol. The MPG only marginally lower than the 1.6CR TDi. Given the current 20+p/litre difference between E10 unleaded and diesel it is actually costing less in fuel.
A friend had a diesel Renault from the same era that was a load of trouble. He did some 100+ mile journeys regularly but in terms of journey count 90+% under 5 miles.
Back in time the Peugeot diesel engine in Rover 218 & 418 series was almost bomb proof hence why very popular with taxi & private hire businesses.
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Interesting stuff. That’s a similar age to the ones I’ve been looking at and I’m seriously considering going petrol now I must say.
AIUI for the 2.0 VAG diesel, in the last few years there had been a new design of the EGR for any that are replaced, which are much less likely to fail.
In theory. See plenty of them belching soot.
JohnMcL7
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I had a couple of cars with the VW 1.9 diesel and both were reliable and economic but the VW 2.0 diesel I replaced it with was not as good, it was the older PD rather than commonrail but they share some of the same issues. It had problems with the EGR system which put it into limp home mode and then at another time a sensor on the DPF system failed again putting the car into limp home mode which cripples it. I switched to a standard petrol after that and while I get hammered on VED I don't regret it as after nearly a decade with the car, it's never had a single issue with the engine and as it's much simpler than modern diesels it's behaving as expected.
DustyBin
Established Member
I certainly wouldn’t rule it out. The Ford 1.0 EcoBoost for example is, in my opinion, a marvel of engineering. The overheating issue which affected its reputation was caused by poorly specified hose; it’s not an inherent problem. I suggest reading up on this (and other similar engines) before making a decision.
Out of curiosity which petrol engine did you go for?
Also has anyone reading this thread got a car with the VAG 1.4 TSI engine?
DustyBin
Established Member
No but I once hired a Golf with one. It was pleasant enough, my only criticism would be that versus my Mum’s 1.0 EcoBoost Focus (125bhp) it felt sluggish, but it was a low powered version to be fair. This little anecdote obviously isn’t particularly helpful when it comes to long term reliability!
Well it’s a start. I’ll tell you what, just lend me your ST for a bit and I’ll evaluate that instead.
JohnMcL7
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It's not very helpful as I went for a Mazda with the 2.5 petrol engine.
I'm sure there's other good VW forums but I used to like using the Briskoda forums for information on VW parts as I found there's a lot of helpful people there.
pdq
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I had a 2015 Octavia with the 1.4 tsi 140hp engine. An absolute cracker of an engine, far better than the 1.5 that replaced it. Depending on your mood, it would pull strongly from 40 in 6th, get a real shift on in the lower gears or return 55mpg on a run. I only had that car for 30k miles from new but it was faultless.
Don't forget petrol cars have a lower list price than diesels and are cheaper on the second hand market as a result - so the initial outlay on the petrol car is less.
Example - a quick look on Autotrader at a VW Golf for £9k-£9.5k, the ones which come up are:
1.6 Diesel, 2016, 95k
2.0 Diesel 2013, 70k
1.6 Diesel, 2015, 69k
1.4 Petrol, 2017, 95k
1.2 Petrol, 2017, 66k
That's looking at manual cars, on 'basic' specs i.e. not GTis etc.
So you'll be £1-2k less on purchase price. Even with petrol at 150p a litre and running 35mpg you'll need to be doing a decent amount if mileage to benefit from the better fuel economy of the diesel.
Servicing costs on diesels tend to be higher and apparently so is insurance - see this https://www.moneyexpert.com/car-insurance/petrol-vs-diesel-cars/
The only thing I have against VW petrol engines is their use of cambelts - which means every 60k or so, you get a £400 bill to replace - or you can play roulette and risk your engine.
They're not the sole offender on this - but the Japanese - so Toyota, Honda and Nissan and the Koreans, so Kia and Hyundai are almost entirely chain cam engines with the chain lasting the life of the engine.
What it *does* mean on a second hand car is you absolutely *must* see evidence it's been done. Somebody I know bought a newish Renault Megane at auction for a nice prive, looked well maintained and in good condition, until a couple of months later when it broke down and it was a snapped cambelt - cue a repair bill into 4 figures.
I was told that the EGR fitted onto the 1.6CR TDi would not fail again. When first replaced the occasional jerks & stutters disappeared but about 4 years later they started again. Also the DPF regens were becoming more frequent. Hence at just under 9 years rather than the planned 10 I got shot of it. This was Christmas 2019 and given what happened from spring 2020 including contributing to the change in car prices I'm glad I did.
My neighbour has one in a 2016 plate Focus and very happy with it although very low mileage. However be more cautious with an older one to keep for a while.
Maybe need to sort the wheat from the chaff but read through this thread about the timing belt.
Generally go back 40 years and it was the the noisy polluting diesels that lasted against petrol as slower revving, no carburettor to wear and no distributor. A petrol engine was generally considered needed reconditioning by 100,000 miles. It was 30 years ago in 1993 that petrol vehicles legally had to have a catalytic converter. Diesels did not need a DPF until later, my 2000 1.9PD TDi did not although I recall the last build ones before the 1.6 and 2.0 CR did.
Gradually diesels have become higher revving and to meet pollution limits fitted with more complex emissions control systems which restrict the exhaust and hence reduce engine efficiency. Now the exhaust of diesel buses can be cleaner than the air they suck in but to achieve this use significantly more diesel than ones built 20+ years ago.
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cactustwirly
Established Member
Don't get one, the timing belts are £1000 + to replace
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Seems to be a common problem across the Euro 6 diesels...
I know the new Volvo VEA engines go th EGRs every 30k miles, despite multiple fixes.
BMW have just issued a recall for faulty EGR valves in their Euro 6 diesels too
DustyBin
Established Member
Well it’s a start. I’ll tell you what, just lend me your ST for a bit and I’ll evaluate that instead.
I’ll think about it, no borrowing the RS though!
Changing the timing belt is somewhat “involved”. On a positive note it’s a 10 year or 150,000 mile interval, so it’s quite possible that it won’t need replacing during “your” ownership. I know people who’ve had them changed for £800, so whilst relatively expensive for a belt change, it isn’t a reason to avoid the engine IMO.
See above; it’s something to be aware of but wouldn’t stop me owning one.
I’ve this VW engine in my 2018 Seat Leon, but coupled to a 7 speed DSG box. Absolutely love the DSG and wouldn’t go back to manual now. It’s considerably better on fuel than my previous manual gearbox Leon with same engine . The DSG box is smooth and instant gear changes that aren’t even noticeable.
You're brave. A VW diesel with a DSG box - DSG boxes are troublesome unless properly maintained with regular gearbox services.
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