Project Vent Your VAG Hatred Here!

[Dick Longbridge]

43 minutes ago, junkyarddog said:

Agreed,I had one as a daily for over 5 years and it always needed attention.

Replaced it with a Japanese made motor that just got on with being a car.

Still have the Golf though🤪

And it's still a diva,but I'm more tolerant of it now seeing as it's over 30🤣

 

I've always gone back to Jap or German as a daily, although I've never ventured newer than 2008 cars.

I've owned numerous mk2s over the years and they are brilliant cars. I'd have another.

[sierraman]

1 hour ago, junkyarddog said:

Agreed,I had one as a daily for over 5 years and it always needed attention.

Replaced it with a Japanese made motor that just got on with being a car.

Still have the Golf though🤪

And it's still a diva,but I'm more tolerant of it now seeing as it's over 30🤣

 

Better than any Escort or Astra though. Our neighbours as a kid had a silver Golf GTI 8v 5 door with the BBS Alloys. Looked fucking brilliant. That’s when they had class. 

[Barry Cade]

2 more VWs ruined someone's day today, a Touran and a T-Roc.. FTPs both.. 

I'm hearing MAN trucks are causing issues too...

[Dick Longbridge]

3 minutes ago, Barry Cade said:

2 more VWs ruined someone's day today, a Touran and a T-Roc.. FTPs both.. 

I'm hearing MAN trucks are causing issues too...

Dervs? 

A good mate of my brother is a seasoned mechanic. He replaced the front struts on my MR2 a while back and we got chatting modern diesels. He relayed endless stories of problems with a large range of manufacturers and summarised with the advice 'avoid modern diesels if you can'. Basically, they all sound like they'll bleed your wallet dry when things start to go wrong. 

Interestingly, he dailies, through personal choice, a 2005 2.2 tdi Mondeo with 150k on the clock.

 

[carburettor]

I had a ‘96 Aldi A4, B5 with a 2.6 V6, I took the family on holiday to France in it, several times. Nothing but love for it. Truly a wonderful family car, lovely engine too.

Then I failed massively and part exchanged it for a W202 Mercedes C180. Why? I must have had a big bump on the head whilst drunk and on crack cocaine. The Aldi was superb, compared to Adolf s revenge for taxi drivers.

[Barry Cade]

2 hours ago, Dick Longbridge said:

Dervs? 

A good mate of my brother is a seasoned mechanic. He replaced the front struts on my MR2 a while back and we got chatting modern diesels. He relayed endless stories of problems with a large range of manufacturers and summarised with the advice 'avoid modern diesels if you can'. Basically, they all sound like they'll bleed your wallet dry when things start to go wrong. 

Interestingly, he dailies, through personal choice, a 2005 2.2 tdi Mondeo with 150k on the clock.

 

Yup. All the FTPS today were diesels, with dieselly problems.. interestingly I'm starting to see quite a lot of Volvo V40 D2s, which,up until now seemed to have missed out on the PSA 1.6 issues. The 2.0d in the V50 seems a right pig too. 

Id agree with your brothers mate. I have a DERV Focus.. basically a mini Mondeo.. 2.0 TDCI 163, just gone 100k. I  rate 'em ...If I see problems with this engine, without exception so far, it's been in a Kuga... ??  But , I am shit scared of modern diesels too.  

I'd agree also,the older 1.9TDi VAG engine was one of the greats, the 2.0 less so. When people talk about VAG reliability now, it's all down to the engine code, not the model or year.. There are some real stinkers. 

[Mrcento]

the 2.2 cdti Honda engine is probably one of the few 'modern' diesels that isn't a total cunt.

Mate has one of the very late 1.9 Audi TDI's and it's just an utter ballache of a thing. Lovely car to drive, but it just will not run right for very long at a time. The slightest thing seems to upset it and fire it into limp mode.

[Lacquer Peel]

13 hours ago, sierraman said:

Better than any Escort or Astra though. Our neighbours as a kid had a silver Golf GTI 8v 5 door with the BBS Alloys. Looked fucking brilliant. That’s when they had class. 

They were well marketed and perceived as classier than the competition. 

[Barry Cade]

Sitting waiting on a relay changeover from oop Norf. Another poor couples holiday been ruined by a VW Diesel..  Passat CC this time..

[dome]

2 hours ago, Barry Cade said:

Sitting waiting on a relay changeover from oop Norf. Another poor couples holiday been ruined by a VW Diesel..  Passat CC this time..

But. But... THEY HAVE LOVELY DAMPED JESUS HANDLES

[Inca-mpetent]

I have very mixed feelings about the VW Up!

It's a car that's very fun to chuck around on one side, but utterly dull on the other side. And quiet, too quiet (was doing 120 and heard next to nothing)

Verstuurd vanaf mijn Redmi Note 9 Pro met Tapatalk

[Sham]

I'd be really interested to know which engine variants have the issues - As looking through the service history of mine, nothing nasty comes up except a DPF sensor being replaced at an early age to cure an EML. I'm not sure how many different types of the VAG CR engine there are and which are known to have issues...

I read when doing my research that the EGR are a nightmare on these and don't buy anything with a DPF because its a wallet rape just waiting to happen- just general pub rumour-mill kind of warnings, and when I looked into it mine apparently isn't subject to this EGR fault, and the DPF isn't known to be a problem either. The engines seem to have a massively bad reputation - with a list as long as your arm if you believe everything you read just waiting for financial doom, but I don't actually know anyone who has had a serious problem with one. Whatever marque its in.

Is it possible its a usage issue, and townies are likely to have issues, whereas the people I know in the countryside aren't? Is there another reason why the people I know, including mechanics, rave about them and others have so much trouble?

Not doubting anyones experience - just curious, as it seems experiences vary a great deal.

 

[Barry Cade]

1 hour ago, Sham said:

I'd be really interested to know which engine variants have the issues - As looking through the service history of mine, nothing nasty comes up except a DPF sensor being replaced at an early age to cure an EML. I'm not sure how many different types of the VAG CR engine there are and which are known to have issues...

I read when doing my research that the EGR are a nightmare on these and don't buy anything with a DPF because its a wallet rape just waiting to happen- just general pub rumour-mill kind of warnings, and when I looked into it mine apparently isn't subject to this EGR fault, and the DPF isn't known to be a problem either. The engines seem to have a massively bad reputation - with a list as long as your arm if you believe everything you read just waiting for financial doom, but I don't actually know anyone who has had a serious problem with one. Whatever marque its in.

Is it possible its a usage issue, and townies are likely to have issues, whereas the people I know in the countryside aren't? Is there another reason why the people I know, including mechanics, rave about them and others have so much trouble?

Not doubting anyones experience - just curious, as it seems experiences vary a great deal.

 

Good post..  there really shouldn't be any "Friday afternoon " cars any more,  and any car can have issues.. these can   caused by maintenance, usage, environment,  whatever.. 

But, bad engineering is unforgivable , and the hardest thing for me personally to take is that the Germans used to be the best at it. It was obvious things had been considered and thought through, and made from quality materials. They built their reputations on this, and have done so even long before the war. Now it is obvious good engineering is way behind cost saving and rushing out new models to fill a niche no one ever knew existed. 

[MrParody]

5 hours ago, Sham said:

I'd be really interested to know which engine variants have the issues - As looking through the service history of mine, nothing nasty comes up except a DPF sensor being replaced at an early age to cure an EML. I'm not sure how many different types of the VAG CR engine there are and which are known to have issues...

I read when doing my research that the EGR are a nightmare on these and don't buy anything with a DPF because its a wallet rape just waiting to happen- just general pub rumour-mill kind of warnings, and when I looked into it mine apparently isn't subject to this EGR fault, and the DPF isn't known to be a problem either. The engines seem to have a massively bad reputation - with a list as long as your arm if you believe everything you read just waiting for financial doom, but I don't actually know anyone who has had a serious problem with one. Whatever marque its in.

Is it possible its a usage issue, and townies are likely to have issues, whereas the people I know in the countryside aren't? Is there another reason why the people I know, including mechanics, rave about them and others have so much trouble?

Not doubting anyones experience - just curious, as it seems experiences vary a great deal.

 

The last editions of the VAG 1.9tdi were either bxe or bls engine code, as late as 2010 in a Skoda.

The bxe had an unfortunate habit of conrod eruption through the side of the engine block, without warning.   Google 'bxe conrod' for images of same.     A preventative measure (employed by a friend...and its still going) is replacement of the crankshaft bearings.

The bls from my experience is so far so good.

Earlier (circa 1997) ahu code engines were very reliable and long lived.

I offer this experience on the understanding that many in this community enjoy tinkering with older cars and is therefore of interest.

[Dick Longbridge]

10 minutes ago, MrParody said:

The last editions of the VAG 1.9tdi were either bxe or bls engine code, as late as 2010 in a Skoda.

The bxe had an unfortunate habit of conrod eruption through the side of the engine block, without warning.   Google 'bxe conrod' for images of same.     A preventative measure (employed by a friend...and its still going) is replacement of the crankshaft bearings.

The bls from my experience is so far so good.

Earlier (circa 1997) ahu code engines were very reliable and long lived.

I offer this experience on the understanding that many in this community enjoy tinkering with older cars and is therefore of interest.

I ran a BXE Leon briefly a few years back. 120k on the clock if I remember correctly. So different sounding to the PD130s I ran in Golfs and A4s and almost agricultural-sounding in contrast. I didn't keep it long as I needed a larger car and missed my old 130 A4 Avant so bought another of those instead. I did read the forums about the conrods popping through the block- pretty stylish to be fair!

 As you say, BLS was a decent lump from the outset. 

[Shirley Knott]

26 minutes ago, MrParody said:

 

Earlier (circa 1997) ahu code engines were very reliable and long lived.

 

And the ALH that followed it has almost legendary status in terms of reliability and longevity too.

These were around just before the PD stuff came in, and are arguably even tougher.

[stuboy]

i love my vw/ford shalaxy with its 1.9 tdi engine

[Inca-mpetent]

They're not much, but at least they look better than the MK2 Caddy

Sent from my Redmi Note 9 Pro

[Inca-mpetent]

7 hours ago, Inca-mpetent said:

They're not much, but at least they look better than the MK2 Caddy

Sent from my Redmi Note 9 Pro
 

Also, these engines just won't quit,(1.9 SDI), which is a good thing

 

it will get you places, as long as you're not in a hurry.

[Leyland Worldmaster]

On 10/24/2021 at 8:35 PM, Dick Longbridge said:

I ran a BXE Leon briefly a few years back. 120k on the clock if I remember correctly. So different sounding to the PD130s I ran in Golfs and A4s and almost agricultural-sounding in contrast. I didn't keep it long as I needed a larger car and missed my old 130 A4 Avant so bought another of those instead. I did read the forums about the conrods popping through the block- pretty stylish to be fair!

 As you say, BLS was a decent lump from the outset. 

Fuck! Just searched as suggested! Grenading at just 50k miles! 😱 😱 😱 

[Dick Longbridge]

47 minutes ago, Leyland Worldmaster said:

Fuck! Just searched as suggested! Grenading at just 50k miles! 😱 😱 😱 

I think they're fine until they go bang 😅

You don't own one, I hope? Having said that, there are probably a large number of BXEs still rattling around with no issues. I just can't personally handle running something which I know has the potential to eat itself even if I treat it with kid gloves. 

[Leyland Worldmaster]

29 minutes ago, Dick Longbridge said:

I think they're fine until they go bang 😅

You don't own one, I hope? Having said that, there are probably a large number of BXEs still rattling around with no issues. I just can't personally handle running something which I know has the potential to eat itself even if I treat it with kid gloves. 

No, I have an Alison with an AMF 1.4TDI. 

She is doing well so far and still returns 55-60 emm pee gees... 😁

Alison is 18 years old. 

The last car I had that was 18 was fucking fucked, m9 and was a BMW 7 Series with less than half the mileage. 

😱

[carburettor]

Aldi made me laugh a few years ago when they called them the TDV, if that’s not a get out for: we haven’t got a fucking clue what we are doing, but fuck it we will advertise the arse off it and see what appens, I dunno what is.

140 bhp engined Vag cars with oil pump failure wasn’t a laughing matter either.

[Sham]

So, mine is the 77Kw CAYC engine.

My understanding is that this engine doesn't suffer from the major issues that other types do - as people rightly say the last of the 1.9s of the same vintage have some proper problems.

Common issues appear to be DMF (mine has been done) and the Injectors (so far so good). Apart from this, it seems pretty reliable by reputation - but people being people hear "VAG Diesel bad", and thats all they repeat over and over. We'll see, but in a year the only issue has been the alternator pulley 1 way clutch, relatively cheap and easy to resolve.

[Inca-mpetent]

So, mine is the 77Kw CAYC engine.
My understanding is that this engine doesn't suffer from the major issues that other types do - as people rightly say the last of the 1.9s of the same vintage have some proper problems.
Common issues appear to be DMF (mine has been done) and the Injectors (so far so good). Apart from this, it seems pretty reliable by reputation - but people being people hear "VAG Diesel bad", and thats all they repeat over and over. We'll see, but in a year the only issue has been the alternator pulley 1 way clutch, relatively cheap and easy to resolve.

The older ones are quite reliable

Sent from my Redmi Note 9 Pro

[carburettor]

This is my current daily.

it has *some* character I guess and it’s super cheap  to run but has as much performance as steptoes horse, Hercules.

Still so far it’s great as a modern, no fuss at all daily. I’m waiting for the clutch to give up though, it’s on 49,000 miles now

 Sent from my fuckin iPhone because summat or other.

[sierraman]

49,000 is a fantastic mileage to get from a clutch. You wouldn’t get a lot of cars to go that distance on just one clutch. 

[carburettor]

26 minutes ago, sierraman said:

49,000 is a fantastic mileage to get from a clutch. You wouldn’t get a lot of cars to go that distance on just one clutch. 

Indeed, I cun’t agree (Roger) moore*
 

[SiC]

7 hours ago, carburettor said:

I’m waiting for the clutch to give up though, it’s on 49,000 miles now

Why or how on earth are you killing a clutch with that few miles? Bad technique?

[Sham]

I've never had to change a clutch on a car I've owned. I don't think I'm particularly gentle, and I've taken a couple from ~30k to well over 100. Current steed had its changed for the first time when it had the DMF done @110k, even though the clutch itself was fine and the works van has been in my possession from
50k from a clutch seems like half its life under normal usage to me.