Advice please 1.4 or 1.2 TSI Polo

[jonesof63]

Nothing too exciting i'm afraid, our daughter has set her heart on a polo as her next car, my question is, is the 1.4 petrol or the 1.2 TSI the better proposition where reliability is concerned ? Looking at an 8k budget the no more than 30k miles. Many Thanks in advance .

[va1o]

1.2 TSI is by far and away the better engine. It performs significantly better than the 1.4 and is more economical. Cracking little engine which punches well above it's weight. The 1.4 on the other hand is now an 18 year old design and is prone to snapping it's cambelt if not changed on time (1.2 TSI is cam chain).

[Dr G]

I'll agree with that, the new, small turbo motors are excellent.

[mashmeister]

I convinced my mum away from the 1.4 towards the 1.2 tsi unit when she bought her new polo back in 2010 and hasn't looked back. I drove it for 2 years and it's a great engine for that car and has run faultlessly apart from a turbo wastegate actuator problem which is a known issue on those engines and was replaced under warranty.