Golf 118 TSI Engine Failures and Service Campaign 24S4

[MotleyLemon]

Have you read through this thread? Why would you want to buy a car with a hand grenade engine and put yourself through the angst of dealing with a claim through VW? Plenty of good VWs (or other makes) around rather than one of these.

Cheers

George

I guess because the price is right.. Difficult to get into a "nice" car less than 10 years old for sub $10k. If repairs are going to be covered by VW, why not?

[Transporter]

+1,
...and not every golf6 1.4TSI twin charge fails. I see quite a few that passed well over 100,000km now.

[MotleyLemon]

+1,
...and not every golf6 1.4TSI twin charge fails. I see quite a few that passed well over 100,000km now.

It'd be nice if VW released some info on failure rate, not that they ever would...

Car in question is a 2009 model... Majority of blow ups from this thread seem to be 2010 vehicles?

[VW Convert]

I guess because the price is right.. Difficult to get into a "nice" car less than 10 years old for sub $10k. If repairs are going to be covered by VW, why not?

Of course, as pointed out by Transporter, not every 1.4 twincharger fails but there is a clear pattern of failure. I guess it's all about how much of a punter you are. I would ask myself these questions before purchasing

1) Do I accept that this engine model is prone to failure?
2) Do I accept that that in the event of failure, VWA may or may not be prepared to cover the cost and if not, it will cost something like 50-60% of the car's value to repair?
3) Do I accept that in the event of as failure I will need to negotiate the (often lengthy) VWA process for VWA to accept liability?
4) In the event of a failure, am I prepared for the significant amount of time it will take for repairs to be effected? (In some cases in this thread it has taken months)

If the answer is yes to all of the above, go for it.

Happy punting!

Cheers

George

[Mk R]

The risk of engine failure has been priced into the market. You can get a lot of car for $7,000 today. Even if you had to pay $3,000 for a new engine you're still getting good value. The Mk VI design is ageing well too IMO.

[The_Hawk]

Car in question is a 2009 model... Majority of blow ups from this thread seem to be 2010 vehicles?

The early models show a higher failure rate before a software update was supposed to "fix" the problem (general consensus seems to be that they updated the fuel map to combat lean running). The '09 - '10 ones were all the same. The fix was in '11 and the failure rate dropped, but then there are ones like mine (which were an '11) which still failed. They changed the pistons in a revision of the engine (CAVD vs the later CTTH) which made it better again. But if you're looking at an '09 you're in the sweet spot for failure.

The risk of engine failure has been priced into the market. You can get a lot of car for $7,000 today. Even if you had to pay $3,000 for a new engine you're still getting good value. The Mk VI design is ageing well too IMO.

I guess because the price is right.. Difficult to get into a "nice" car less than 10 years old for sub $10k. If repairs are going to be covered by VW, why not?

Reapir is a pain, is time consuming and doesn't happen when you want. Even if you factor in the cost (and I think $3k is a little low) it's still a gamble. Honestly, there islots of MkVI GTI's listed at around $15k, shave off a little after negotitation and you're going to buy a better vehicle with less liklihood of failure. To be fair, It's probably double what you're going to pay for the 118TSI which could just be unaffordable.

Plan B: 103TDI. At about $10k or so it sits nicely in the middle and besides the whole dieselgate thing they are great cars.

It's very hard to recommend the 118TSI, while it really is a great car to drive, well featured (it was the top spec non GTI model), there is a just a huge risk involved in that engine. If you're aware of all that and are still willing to buy one, like I said, they really are a great car with a great engine (you know... other than the explody bits ).

[feenix74]

Gerald Slaven VW in Belconnen will do authorized warranty work as well. My work colleague has recently traded in an Amarok, he did not have good experiences with Lennock doing warranty repairs (took weeks and no communication unless you chased them for an update).

[brad]

It'd be nice if VW released some info on failure rate, not that they ever would...

Car in question is a 2009 model... Majority of blow ups from this thread seem to be 2010 vehicles?

2009 model. I wouldn't pay more than $5k. And in 2 weeks time it will be 9 years old.

You'll get an Octavia 1.8tsi or even a 2.0tsi VRS for <$10k

[madds96]

I guess because the price is right.. Difficult to get into a "nice" car less than 10 years old for sub $10k. If repairs are going to be covered by VW, why not?

@MotleyLemon.... I am in the process of having my 2009 118TSI Comfortline fixed by VWA on goodwill. All in all, my local dealership have been very pleasant to deal with, but as others have said it is extremely timely and a lot of not needed stress.

The car has been with them now for going on 9weeks. In this time they have found a cracked piston in cylinder 1. In this part of the repair (which took 6 weeks), they replaced, oil breather pipe, R&R piping, belt, wiring, turbo, timing case and chain, oil and coolant filters. The cylinder was removed, decarbonised and resealed and replaced with new bolts, gaskets. They then took it for a test drive and discovered the clutch in the automatic DSG was worn. Clutch was replaced, as well as battery, starter, drive shafts (took 2 weeks). I picked the car up after all of this (8 weeks), and it was still rough idling. I took it back to the local dealership and they found that one of the injectors needed replacing. Today (9 weeks after I dropped it off), they called and said even after replacing the misfiring injector, it is still running rough....

Although this has all been covered under VWA goodwill, and I have been provided with a loan car free of charge, this whole process has been far less than average. If you can avoid it by buying a different car (or even a 118TSI that’s already had the engine overhaul), you would be saving yourself a lot of stress and time. I currently have my golf advertised on Carsales (QLD) for $12k and even with all these massive engine maintenance and gear box repairs, I still have had no enquirers. Maybe something to think about. Goodluck 👍

[brad]

You won't get $12k for a 2009 as long as your pink dot points to the ground.

[antong1]

Hi all

I have been eyeing a 2013 118TSI golf for the past few weeks which has done 50 000 km for a pretty good price (13k).
After reading this thread, a few alarm bells are starting to go off in my head.

What is the consensus for 2013 models? It seems like a lot of problems are from the 2010 models. Can anyone offer an opinion?

Cheers
Anton

[blower]

Hi all

I have been eyeing a 2013 118TSI golf for the past few weeks which has done 50 000 km for a pretty good price (13k).
After reading this thread, a few alarm bells are starting to go off in my head.

What is the consensus for 2013 models? It seems like a lot of problems are from the 2010 models. Can anyone offer an opinion?

Cheers
Anton

2013 you should be fine - it will have the newer KS pistons of which there have been no reported failures. All the other problems have also been fixed....just avoid DSG models.

[Flipfeet]

Thanks to everyone for sharing their stories, you are giving me faint hope.

I have a 2012 Golf TSI. Brand new when purchased, always serviced at dealer. Had gearbox replaced last year at no cost. Last week EPC and engine light came on tl;dr cracked piston and lost compression. Dealer has it, have stripped it down yesterday (8/1) and are telling me the following:

The technician report relating to the EPC light, found number 2 cylinder low on compression 50 psi and
Number 4 cylinder 128 psi, carried out a cylinder leakage test and there was no leakage in all cylinders.
The cylinder head needs removing, the pistons and the cylinder bore inspected for damage.
To remove the cylinder head 7.5 hrs at $195.00 per hour and quote will be done to repair the
loose of compression in the cylinders.
Diagnosis at present is $390.00
Please note due to the workshop load and other vehicle engine repairs there is 2 to 3 week
wait before repairs can commence .
Based on comments here I read last week I have already opened a case with VW Australia and have now requested the dealer contact them to discuss the cover of costs of a known fault as my expectations are that a car of this value, cared for gently and with 95 000 kms should not be requiring what amounts to a full engine rebuild. Will see how I go. Any further advice appreciated at this stage - currently driving an 88 prelude with no aircon....I have also asked for a car in the meantime but no luck....

[Flipfeet]

If you would share your correspondence that would be immensely helpful.

[briby]

Looks like we add another one. My sisters car, bought second hand early December 2017. Taken in today to the Mitsubishi dealer she bought it from, for slight oil usage and rough idle. They have rang her already with sorry #1 cylinder low compression, will replace all 4 pistons and labor under used car warranty, no haggling so good on them.
Should she mention VWA goodwill or just go with used car warranty?