Shed Leon TDI, which engine variant?
Shed Leon TDI, which engine variant?
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HustleRussell

Original Poster:

26,562 posts

190 months

Thursday 20th December 2012
quotequote all
Sorry for the boring thread.
My mate's polo has been written off and a new job means that he now needs a diesel for a 140 mile-a-day commute. Budget is £2k tops. We've decided to look for a Seat Leon/Toledo.
My question is which variant/year of the 1.9tdi engine is the most reliable? are any of them pre-common rail? also can the EGR valve be blanked without throwing up a warning light?
My gut feeling is to go for the less stressed lower output models like the '90bhp' and the '110bhp'.

ETA: I did suggest Skoda, Peugeot 306 etc but my mate was unimpressed and wants a Seat or VW.

vrsmxtb

2,003 posts

186 months

Thursday 20th December 2012
quotequote all
PD130 if available, great mix of performance and economy, bulletproof and easily mapped. Blanking out the EGR will probably throw up a warning light but this can usually be mapped out as well.

HustleRussell

Original Poster:

26,562 posts

190 months

Thursday 20th December 2012
quotequote all
PD is still the way to go then (as it was about 4 years ago when I was looking for a diesel car for myself).
Do all of these models have DMFs?
Any common problems I should be aware of? (I've heard about water pumps and cam belts)

JB!

5,255 posts

210 months

Thursday 20th December 2012
quotequote all
Most reliable will be the 90bhp non-pd

okie592

2,711 posts

197 months

Thursday 20th December 2012
quotequote all
HustleRussell said:
PD is still the way to go then (as it was about 4 years ago when I was looking for a diesel car for myself).
Do all of these models have DMFs?
Any common problems I should be aware of? (I've heard about water pumps and cam belts)
none have DPFS

i ran a 110 bora tdi for 2 years and 45k it was faultless apart from a brakepad coming off, cambelt and waterpump need changing like on any car but its a simple job cost me £180 including fitting. so long as its been looked after they can run forever. although some people get problems with abused ones, a 130 is about the same, maps make a real difference but not a fun car to drive