VAG engines

aidanki

looking at a skoda octavia 2011-2017 or thereabouts. Really after a reasonably roomy car for a 50km X twice a day commute, on country roads.

I see there is a 1.6diesel or a 2.0diesel, which was the better model.

wont be buying a VRS model

Is there any value to be had going to the uk, I see VRT for this model octavia is 2225 or thereabouts.

colm_mcm

Get the Mk3 model that came out in 2013 as the previous generation Mk2 is a 2005 model and suffers from dieselgate symptoms.

There isn’t a lot between the 1.6 and 2.0 reliability wise, the 2.0 probably has a bit of an edge but not much.

The 2.0 will obviously be more powerful, but as it’s 6 speed you wouldn’t be using more fuel on your commute. Either will happily do motorway or back roads the 2.0 will do it better. I have gotten 65-70 mpg on country driving but would never get that on the motorway (more like 50-55mpg)

Theres a few things to look out for, infotainment systems on the pre 2017 ones can be glitchy so make sure it works. Cooling system can have issues with blockages which will present itself as a heater not working or only working on one side, water pumps can fail intermittently causing temperature surges (you can see the water temp on the gauges) models with panoramic roof (like all VW stuff) can leak.

Don’t let that scare you though, I’ve 275k km on mine on original turbo, injectors, clutch/DMF, DPF, EGR etc. aside from regular servicing and a water pump giving trouble requiring a timing belt change ahead of schedule a few months ago, there haven’t really been any nasty shocks.

aidanki

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121140855#Comment_121140855

thought there was one model of VW engine that was problematic at one stage ? heard more than one say they should never have stopped making that 1.9

mk7r

The 1.6 is definitely no reliability benchmark. Injector issues and egr value issues are extremely common, as is the problem of the silica bag bursting in the expansion bottle and clogging up the whole cooling system (although this affects both engines to be fair)

aidanki

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121141196#Comment_121141196

are there any preventative measures to avoid those common issues. can the egr valve be taken out and cleaned ever 50k miles and remove that silica bag altogether

colm_mcm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121141525#Comment_121141525

You can remove the bag/replace the reservoir/update the coolant. It’s no guarantee that you won’t have an issue though. It’s thought that the blockages could also be caused by debris from casting.

colm_mcm

I know you’ve experience in this, but aren’t injectors and EGR issues massively more common on the mk2 than the mk3 1.6 especially after dieselgate fix on older ones?

fatbhoy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121141525#Comment_121141525

The silica bag can be removed, and there are a few YT videos of it being done. It's very rare that it bursts, so it's not commonly done. The idea behind it was that the silica is the corrosion inhibitor and therefore the coolant doesn't need to be changed over the lifetime of the vehicle, in theory (AFAIK).

Wailin

Oil pump failure in that era VAG diesel engines is a known issue, and obviously a major one if it happens. Probably involving engine rebuild or even a new engine. Not sure when it was resolved so worth looking in to.

mk7r

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121143026#Comment_121143026

It's is exceptionally common that it bursts, almost guaranteed in fact and the coolant has to be drained to do the timing belt anyway so why have lifetime coolant 🤷

aidanki

Is any other diesel engine of that era any better

colm_mcm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121143931#Comment_121143931

Aren’t you talking about engines before they went common rail on the 2.0 TDI, as in years before the car the OP is asking about?

Wailin

Not sure Colm when VAG engines got updated but OP said from 2011 onwards. My mate bought a 2012 2.0 TDi Superb with the oil pump failure (unknowingly). Surely that year skoda would have the CR rather than PD engine?

divillybit

Something to check is where the ecu is located on these VAG cars. Had a 2011 vw passat b7 1.6tdi that stopped on the road as I was driving home one evening and the car stopped on the road. tow truck had to retrieve the car. Turns out moisture got into the ECU, where its located on the car makes it prone to this happening. ECU is located behind or beloe the scuttle tray below the wipers. Sourcing a replacement ecu was a tough job, as the ecu must match up to the particular engine. Eventually had to buy something else. My neighbour also had the ecu fail on his b7 passat the same time mine failed and even though he got a replacement ecu the car is still running very poor.

1percent

On a 2.0 TDI '09 Common Rail dieselgate engine with 383k km on it. Flawless is the only ay to describe it. Aux heat pump went about 4 years ago so the cab is a bit slow to heat on a cold morning but other than that only replacements have been consumables. ERGs get clogged from only short trips, i have never had an issue. Even during covid I would take her for a long spin up and down tge M50 once a month.

The whole thing with dieselgate as well is that they cheated the teats to get a better engine to market, the engine produces more power, more efficiently with less CO2 emissions but with crazy NOx emissions which while not greenhouse gases are harmful to humans.