Mk6 Golf .. 1.4 TSI .. Any good? Alternatives?

[essayer]

Missus needs a new car and likes the look of the Golf. As usual this means all other cars are ignored. Might sneak a look at a Focus.

Anyway, going to look at Golfs tomorrow.

Looking to spend £8-9k to get us into an earlier Mk6 TSI 1.4 (the 122bhp engine)

How are these cars? Anything potentially troublesome I should look out for? The 1.4 on paper seems ideal, are they reliable engines? Drove a Fabia with the same engine recently and was quite impressed. If we get one with DSG is this reliable enough? Guess it's been around a while now..

Also, what is a typical servicing pattern for these cars and is the VW warranty worth extending..?

[4lf4-155]

Alternative

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2013...

[essayer]

I like that. Good spot

[Sir Fergie]

My understanding is that the single charged 1.4 (turbo only) is supposed to be okay.

Its the twin chargers (those have both a turbo and supercharger) that give the issues.

122 bhp model is the single charged model

[essayer]

£200 to insure it


Hang on, that means I'm getting old

[va1o]

I've got this engine and like it a lot. Its pretty much the sweetspot in the range as its powerful enough to make decent progress yet also very economical. The torque is delivered over a wide power band so its very flexible in gear and pleasant to drive. Far superior to the old N/A 1.6 petrols cars of these type previously used. The 6-speed manual suits well, I think the DSG box is better with the diesels.

Warranty is crucial though as they can chuck up some seriously expensive bills! Mines needed a new turbocharger, camshaft adjuster and timing chain within the past 6 months, and this is on a car with a FSH with oil changed to schedule. I bought it thinking only the more powerful variants suffer issues but was proved wrong.

[jonah35]

A3 1.4ts tend to have slightly better residuals

[essayer]

That's worrying, how much is the extended warranty?

[peterbredde]

Do your homework on the issues with the engine. My dad has a polo with this unit and has suffered some of the common issues. It's an impressive performer, but flawed.

[va1o]

essayer said:

That's worrying, how much is the extended warranty?

Circa £250 - 300 a year depending on coverage and excess
https://www.volkswagenextendedwarranty.co.uk

[Mutton]

My other half bought one of these new in 2009 in SE spec and it has performed faultlessly in that time. The engine has great low down torque with no turbo lag and cruises effortlessly in 6th on motorways. I would say that the engine lacks a little refinement compared to others at idle but overall the car is a class act.