Golf 118 TSI Engine Failures and Service Campaign 24S4

[09golftrash]

Hey everyone. Just wondering if I can get some advice on my 09 Golf 118 TSI.

Of course I’ve been through the ringer already with a cracked piston, misfiring cylinder, engine rebuild and gearbox repairs (this was Jan 201 8 ). Thankfully VW covered the repairs under goodwill and supplied me with a courtesy car for the 3 months my car was being repaired.

Now 18 months later.... the car has had a loss of power. I’ve taken it back to the same VW service centre, and the diagnosis is that it needs the turbo replaced and possibly has another cracked piston as a cylinder is misfiring. ($6000 quoted)....The turbo wasn’t replaced during the engine rebuild... only removed and refitted.

The car has 130,000km on it, and all up has already had $12000 in repairs done since I’ve owned it (3 years).

What have been your experiences with VW covering the cost of the turbo and cylinder repairs under goodwill? Or, Is it reasonable to say that the turbo should’ve been replaced during the rebuild?

I have made a goodwill request today, so obviously won’t hear back for atleast a week. Just wondering what your experiences have been or where I should go from here if my request for goodwill is denied.

Cheers,
Another salty 09 golf owner

[Guest001]

Might have been sensible to sell it straight after last episode. Will be struggling to get them to do it again

Friend just traded an 09 Mk5 TD and got a bit over $3 with under 100k on it

[09golftrash]

Might have been sensible to sell it straight after last episode. Will be struggling to get them to do it again

Friend just traded an 09 Mk5 TD and got a bit over $3 with under 100k on it

Thanks, it’s a bit of a dilemma really. With a full engine rebuild that has a 2 year warranty on repairs... you think it wouldn’t require another $6k of repairs 18 mths later. Yet here we are...

[Guest001]

. With a full engine rebuild that has a 2 year warranty on repairs...e...

Ah but you didnt say that in OP Might make a difference I guess

[Buffy]

Follow up post.

Dealership got no luck from VWA. I then emailed Jason Bradshaw a nice email and got a phone call very promptly from a customer service person for more info. A couple of days later a phone call back from VWA stating due to the age of the car they were not going to contribute.

I then sent a more forthright email, stating statutory laws, ACCC, known fault, etc but again VWA emailed back stating they were not going to contribute.

My plans now were going to be have the car fixed by an independent mechanic and continue to harass VWA for recompense and launch a complaint with Fair trading and the ACCC. The only trouble being I have tried 2 local mechanics who both said they would not rebuild the engine. Does anybody know of a good mechanic near Tweed Heads or Brisbane who would rebuild the engine?

Any help or advice appreciated. I know it makes no sense to spend $5k on a car worth $6 - 9k, but my wife loves her car.

For those who missed my previous post, 2010 Golf, owned from original 105Km, always 98Ron, all but one service by VW.

Thanks

Follow up post.

No luck with VWA, spoke to local dealership, they have had a few with the exact same problem whom they have gotten approval from VWA to rebuild. They were very confident that if we pay them the $1500 to pull apart the engine and photograph the broken piston, that VWA may respond positively. So it is now a further 2 weeks without the car and have received the first phone call from the local dealership saying VWA have declined, but they are having a further attempt and are still positive.
I will give the local dealer a couple of more weeks before I start my ACCC claim.
If VWA continues to push back I can see a legal case coming, where I will argue that VWA attempted to cover up a known fault with a temporary software patch. Whereas they should have done a major recall and changed everyones pistons from Mahle to Kolbenschmidt as they did from 2013 onwards.
Looking foward to the adventure.

[Normalitie]

What to do ... ?

Hi there,


First post, and I found this thread after a discussion with the local VW mechanic who lovingly called it a "time bomb": I have a 2011 Mk6 118TSI, manual.


(It's not my first rodeo: I started in a Mk1, had a Mk5 and now the Mk6. Now that I think of it, all of them have had a variety of entertaining issues).


The Mk6 has 83,000 on the clock, has been regularly serviced (although not always by VW dealerships) and always 98RON from "brand" petrol stations. While nothing is wrong per se I recognise many of the symptoms which occur sometimes - roughness on idle, loss of power on occasion/stalling, high use of oil, rattle on start-up especially if low on oil.


While I would generally be OK if a catastrophic breakdown was to happen, it's now also being driven by my young daughter - reliability is now more important.


My end-game is to buy an electric vehicle, but I don't think the choices and technology will be ready for another two years. So the question is, what to do until then.


While it is encouraging to see that many who have had issues have been supported by VWA, mine hasn't failed - yet (although it seems to be staggering around the stage clutching it's heart). So I'm trying to sort out my options.


Option 1 is to continue to drive the car and hope that the engine doesn't fail. But the longer I wait the more likely that VWA would claim the car is too old to receive support. I'd then be faced with a repair cost greater than the value of the vehicle.


Option 2 is to simply sell it, and take what I can get. Perhaps trade into a second-hand Mk7 or 7.5 GTI or even a new car (I have my own business and can wrangle business-use benefits).

[PoolSpritzerPrize]

Hi there,


First post, and I found this thread after a discussion with the local VW mechanic who lovingly called it a "time bomb": I have a 2011 Mk6 118TSI, manual.


(It's not my first rodeo: I started in a Mk1, had a Mk5 and now the Mk6. Now that I think of it, all of them have had a variety of entertaining issues).


The Mk6 has 83,000 on the clock, has been regularly serviced (although not always by VW dealerships) and always 98RON from "brand" petrol stations. While nothing is wrong per se I recognise many of the symptoms which occur sometimes - roughness on idle, loss of power on occasion/stalling, high use of oil, rattle on start-up especially if low on oil.


While I would generally be OK if a catastrophic breakdown was to happen, it's now also being driven by my young daughter - reliability is now more important.


My end-game is to buy an electric vehicle, but I don't think the choices and technology will be ready for another two years. So the question is, what to do until then.


While it is encouraging to see that many who have had issues have been supported by VWA, mine hasn't failed - yet (although it seems to be staggering around the stage clutching it's heart). So I'm trying to sort out my options.


Option 1 is to continue to drive the car and hope that the engine doesn't fail. But the longer I wait the more likely that VWA would claim the car is too old to receive support. I'd then be faced with a repair cost greater than the value of the vehicle.


Option 2 is to simply sell it, and take what I can get. Perhaps trade into a second-hand Mk7 or 7.5 GTI or even a new car (I have my own business and can wrangle business-use benefits).

Option 2 is always going to be a wise move, albeit you won't get much for it. I think the most prudent thing to do first is getting your mechanic to perform a compression test on the cylinders. If that comes back ok then make sure the plugs and coilpacks are still fine (you should be on your 2nd set of plugs, minimum by now).
It's also vital that you have enough oil to correctly tension the timing chain so never let it get too low. If your oil consumption has risen dramatically in a short period of time that's a big worry.

If your car has always been an oil drinker I've found these direct injected vw engines react well to a good flogging on the freeway once oil temp is above 85° (don't mention this to your daughter!) My 118 tsi used to go through a bit of oil and run a tad grumbly after being subjected to short trips until I started to give it the beans at least once a fortnight on the open road + up the odd hill. Nowadays it barely burns any between services.

Finally, the twinchargers are a highly stressed engine so make sure the oil is clean, the coolant is fresh (flush it every 4 years) the plugs are in good nick (again, I change them every 4 years) and let the car warm up and more importantly cool down for a minute before/after a decent drive. There's a good chance you're doing these things already but it's always worth mentioning. I never fill up with anything other than bp ultimate 98 either.

Good luck!

PS There is a recall for the takata airbag inflator so get that attended to by vw if they haven't contacted you by now.

[Normalitie]

Option 2 is always going to be a wise move, albeit you won't get much for it.

Agreed. Current value is $7k according to Redbook, but Carsales.com seems to have a few around $10k. I wouldn't be comfortable selling privately as I'd hate for someone to buy it blind and have it break down shortly thereafter.

If your car has always been an oil drinker I've found these direct injected vw engines react well to a good flogging on the freeway once oil temp is above 85° (don't mention this to your daughter!) My 118 tsi used to go through a bit of oil and run a tad grumbly after being subjected to short trips until I started to give it the beans at least once a fortnight on the open road + up the odd hill. Nowadays it barely burns any between services.

Yes, that's been my experience too. The comment from the mechanic is that manual cars seem to suffer less from failure since the engine is revved through its range a bit more.

I never fill up with anything other than bp ultimate 98 either.

Ditto.

PS There is a recall for the takata airbag inflator so get that attended to by vw if they haven't contacted you by now.

Already done.

I've been crunching a few numbers and ended up determining that purchase of a new car (eg Golf Mk7.5) would work out best for me. Alternatives were to buy a recent 2016 Mk7 or GTI or an EV. But until EV's come down to about $35k and I drive more than 10,000km/yr, there's no financial case for it.

[Buffy]

Hi all,

Great news, VWA has finally agreed to fix the car. The main factor to get your car fixed seams to be the dealer. VW Mt Gravatt were hopeless, it wasn`t until we got or car down to VW Tweed where the service guy wanted to help and went to bat for us three times until we got the green light. Having also booked my Passat in for a service also seemed to help.
I checked the details and VWA are paying for all the parts, 4 new pistons ( dont know Mahle or Kolbenschidt but updated, with rings and conrods.) The dealership is paying for most of the labour. It seems if the dealership knows they are going to continue to get your custom then they will bear some loss for the future work and push VWA. If you turn up at a dealership you have never been to before bad luck. Although Mt Gravatt is where we have had a lot of our services done.

Yahoo.

[The_Hawk]

That's a great outcome for you! It really is a beautiful engine when it's working as it should.

[Normalitie]

Agreed. Current value is $7k according to Redbook, but Carsales.com seems to have a few around $10k.

Sorry to quote myself, but I went around a few dealers looking for a trade-in on a new Golf 7.5, and the most they'll offer is $4000 for the Golf 6 (2011, 85000km). At that price, I think I'm better to just drive it until it stops.

[alexw58]

Hi all

My 2010 118 TSI just came up with the Engine warning light. Called the RAA and they did a diagnostic which showed a fault with cylinder 3. Got it towed to a VW dealer and they confirmed low compression in cylinder 3.

They advised that VW unlikely to do a "goodwill" repair due to age of vehicle. Car has only done 85k and been regularly serviced.

So I rang VW. Basically they said get it fully diagnosed and we will consider but no commitment to repair at their cost. Trouble is that means shelling out another $1,000 - $1,200 to get it diagnosed and VW might still say no.

I pointed out that this was a well known problem with this motor and that there was plenty of discussion on this site re this problem. It is not as if the results of the diagnosis will be a surprise to VW.

Does anyone have a suggestion on a way to tackle this to get a positive response from VW i.e. to get VW to say if it ends up being the know problem we will fix at our cost or even contribute parts + say ½ labour? What they are saying currently leaves me stuck between a rock and a hard place.

Does anyone on this site know how many of these repairs have been done on the 118 TSI?

How much will it cost if I have to go it alone without VW assistance?

The Mechatronics unit was replaced about this time last year as a "goodwill" repair so this is the second "goodwill" repair I am requesting.

Thanks for your help. Great to have a site that shares so many people's experiences so we can all benefit.

[Transporter]

Hi all

My 2010 118 TSI just came up with the Engine warning light. Called the RAA and they did a diagnostic which showed a fault with cylinder 3. Got it towed to a VW dealer and they confirmed low compression in cylinder 3.

They advised that VW unlikely to do a "goodwill" repair due to age of vehicle. Car has only done 85k and been regularly serviced.

So I rang VW. Basically they said get it fully diagnosed and we will consider but no commitment to repair at their cost. Trouble is that means shelling out another $1,000 - $1,200 to get it diagnosed and VW might still say no.

I pointed out that this was a well known problem with this motor and that there was plenty of discussion on this site re this problem. It is not as if the results of the diagnosis will be a surprise to VW.

Does anyone have a suggestion on a way to tackle this to get a positive response from VW i.e. to get VW to say if it ends up being the know problem we will fix at our cost or even contribute parts + say ½ labour? What they are saying currently leaves me stuck between a rock and a hard place.

Does anyone on this site know how many of these repairs have been done on the 118 TSI?

How much will it cost if I have to go it alone without VW assistance?

The Mechatronics unit was replaced about this time last year as a "goodwill" repair so this is the second "goodwill" repair I am requesting.

Thanks for your help. Great to have a site that shares so many people's experiences so we can all benefit.

Look in this post. Not the same engine but, it shouldn’t cost over $1000.00 to do a compression test to asses mechanical condition of the engine. 2.0TSI Catastrophic engine failure, owners be aware.
I’d certainly chase them.
Good luck, and let us know about the progress.

[Ozsko]

Get an itemised quote and if it seems unreasonable get some consumer advice on how to tackle it. It seems a bit strange, they can tell you what the problem is but they need a $1000 to create a report for VW. Don't argue with them because they hold the whip hand and the dealer will have a big say in fixing it. A leak down and compression test won't cost more than an hours work and if they say they are going to pull the head off ask them does the quote include putting it back on.

[tigger73]

Unfortunately it's VW "standard" inspection procedure as they need to be able to determine the extent of the damage to properly determine correct course of action (whether a full new engine or just piston/rings/component replacement).

Be ready to go down ACCC path and for the car to sit there quite a while. Remember first offer is only an offer and you don't have to accept it. ACCC would say that a normal consumer would "reasonably expect" the engine to last the life of the car ~250-300,000km and not blow up need full replacement at 85,000.

But then you're into a legal battle and it can take time and effort to get a result. VW will be saying 9 year old (almost 10) car and that it's no longer covered. ACCC will probably say something different but get some good (legal/ACCC) advice before starting out - not just advice off the internet . Advice is free. You're the one paying whichever route you go down.

Also remember that VW dealer will only ever replace with genuine new parts as they need to warrant the work. If you go independent you can replace with a second-had or reconditioned parts to keep costs down. But then that's at your risk.