How 'safe' is the VAG 2.0tdi engine?
Discussion
I have to agree with the other posters about regular maintenance. My 61 plate Passat with the 2.0 TDI 140 lump has racked up 195k miles and it's been in the family since about 36K. Over the years it's generally been trouble free and anything that's gone wrong has been an electrical component (bar the EGR valve). As a sum of what's gone wrong over 8 years and 160k miles (off the top of my head):
EGR Valve completely gummed up - caused the engine to go into limp home mode and cost a fortune to fix
Some sort of thermostat - causing the engine to not heat up to about 75 degrees when moving instead of 90 (This problem took ages and a ton of money to fix because it seemed to be impossible to find the cause of the issue)
Driver's door cable....twice(!)
Blower motor - completely packed in during the 2020 heatwave so a replacement was rapidly sought and it was luckily user replaceable
ABS sensors - causing faults with the Auto Hold, ABS and Parking Brake
However, aside from the EGR valve going wrong, the engine has been absolutely bulletproof and it was an electrical component at fault causing the temperature issue rather than anything to do with the engine itself.
Servicing consists of me buying VW OEM parts and oil from TPS and simply going to a garage to get the service done. I'm hoping that my car will make it past 250K without too much trouble (touch wood).
EGR Valve completely gummed up - caused the engine to go into limp home mode and cost a fortune to fix
Some sort of thermostat - causing the engine to not heat up to about 75 degrees when moving instead of 90 (This problem took ages and a ton of money to fix because it seemed to be impossible to find the cause of the issue)
Driver's door cable....twice(!)
Blower motor - completely packed in during the 2020 heatwave so a replacement was rapidly sought and it was luckily user replaceable
ABS sensors - causing faults with the Auto Hold, ABS and Parking Brake
However, aside from the EGR valve going wrong, the engine has been absolutely bulletproof and it was an electrical component at fault causing the temperature issue rather than anything to do with the engine itself.
Servicing consists of me buying VW OEM parts and oil from TPS and simply going to a garage to get the service done. I'm hoping that my car will make it past 250K without too much trouble (touch wood).
Some recent things that have happened with my brother in laws at 114k.
Egr and cooler assembly replaced, cost over £600, personally I would have bypassed it and got it mapped out.
Has now shredded it’s auxiliary belt which found its way into the timing belt cover, cost unknown yet!
Make sure you change your Auxilliary belt regularly as by design there is a hole in the timing belt cover that will allow stuff to get it.
Egr and cooler assembly replaced, cost over £600, personally I would have bypassed it and got it mapped out.
Has now shredded it’s auxiliary belt which found its way into the timing belt cover, cost unknown yet!
Make sure you change your Auxilliary belt regularly as by design there is a hole in the timing belt cover that will allow stuff to get it.
Muppet007 said:
Had one for about 5+ years and 100k or so miles miles, sold it with 180k on the clock and it's still going with over 200k now.
Faults I can remember with the engine
3x water pumps
new intercooler
new turbo
so not to bad for the amount of miles
I’d say that’s pretty awful. Faults I can remember with the engine
3x water pumps
new intercooler
new turbo
so not to bad for the amount of miles
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