January 2020
I'm buying a 2011 Golf Mk VI DSG Automatic Petrol CAXA engine with about 55K miles on the clock.
Serviced regularly at an independent garage every year since 2013 at approx 7K intervals. Last service at 52K in 2019. Drives smoothly though I've only done a mile or two in a test drive. Dealer doing a DSG oil change now before handover to me as there's no record of one around 40K.
I'm getting a bit worried as I've been reading reviews* that talk about reports of timing chain & cam belt failures leading to massive engine damage.
How likely are these problems on the engine & transmission I'm buying?
I will be doing only 4-6K miles a year. Mostly short trips everyday.
* See for instance reports from the review on Honest John: https://www.honestjohn.co.uk/carbycar/volkswagen/golf-vi-2009/good/
26-5-2013: On 2009 Golf 1.4TSi 122, original chain failed at 43k, 2nd change failed at 50k. Now on its 3rd chain, tensioner, and pulleys. Along with all the hydraulic tappets now replaced, all done under warranty.
16-12-2012: 44k mile 2009 Golf 1.4TSI 122 required a new cam chain, indicating that longlife oil service regime is inadequate.
9-6-2012: Another report of dry clutch 7-speed DSG failure, this on a March 2009 1.4TSI with 34,000 miles. Quoted £4,000 for new transmission, but VW picked up more than half leaving reader with a £1,950 bill. (Admittedly this one isn't specifically about the timing/cam)
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Another issue is the timing chain tensioner. It appears that at around 60,000 miles the timing chain tensioner fails, leaving slack in the timing chain allowing the chain to become loose and jump teeth. That can result in smashed valves and cylinder head damage.
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Any in information would be grateful on the following.
I was parked on the road a couple of houses away from friends house, when her elderly next door neighbour was parking in between parked cars( one being mine) missed the brake and hit the accelerator, hit my car and knocked down a front wall, gate post and Party fence.... Read more
A lttle hard nosed - but if it were me I would either ask for immediate settlement of your claim for car damage or go through the insurance company.
Otherwise the risk is all yours - what if the old man does not pay, or argues about the costs. You would then find it difficult (at least) to recover the costs due to the delay in claiming, lack of evidence, your word against his etc etc.
I'm hoping that someone with some local knowledge might be able to help out with this one.
Regulars here may remember that we live in Austria. We're visiting the UK at the end of May/early June for my nephew's wedding. As it's a fairly short trip we're travelling by train, and all our train tickets are booked. We arrive at London St. Pancras by Eurostar on Sunday 31st May at 16:05. We need to get to Tewkesbury for an overnight stay prior to the wedding.... Read more
It takes best part of an hour to drive to Heathrow from St Pancras even when the roads are clear, and about the same on the tube. However, picking up a hire car from most of the hire car operators Heathrow is not particularly quick. Most operate from a "Car Rental Village" which is out near the long stay car park, and annoyingly each hire car operator has their own minibus which doesn't run that frequently. I reckon it takes about 45 minutes on average from getting to Arrivals to driving off in the hire car (and that's for a corporate hire where they pretty much just give me the keys.
There is one car hire operator who is at Hatton Cross Tube Station (the last station on the Piccadilly Line before the airport) instead, I think it's Sixt. That would be much quicker from the pick-up time perspective, particularly if you are coming from London rather than arriving on a plane.
I regularly use a small country road. It's 2 cars wide but has no white line. There are quite a few long straights were you can see it's safe to overtake. This week I was following a car that came to a virtual stop every the time a car passed on the opposite direction, even though there is enough space for 2 cars. I didn't mind slowing down a bit but this seemed excessive, so I thought if it was safe I may overtake. However, as soon as any cars had passed this driver moveda straightway to the centre of the road. This was in essence baulking/defensive driving. I couldn't really do anything so just sat behind. Just seemed a bit mean spirited really. I don't know if they knew where the edges of their car was and just wanted to be in the middle of the road or were doing this on purpose.
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That could easily be Dorset, Madf, but I think it's Staffs/Cheshire border isn't it?
But it's a similar problem - the downside of driving on mostly traffic-free country roads, as I do here in Dorset, is that when there is something coming the other way you will often have to slow down, just to be on the safe side. And 60 mph, though allowed on most of these roads, is often much too fast....
Hi, just bought a Golf GTi Mk 5 and wondering where's the best place to get a combined service and MOT Test in the Port Talbot and Neath area? Anyone have any experience with the garages in the local area? I've heard some good and bad views. Read more
Spam spam spam/
But who actually cares if the site is closing..?
Can anyone help me identify the type of connector on the back of the mitsubishi stock tape deck. I am looking to fit a new radio and i cant for the life of me work out what the connector is called, so i can purchase a female version to wire a new stereo up without cutting the loom.
i.ibb.co/c6yRgbj/Screenshot-2020-01-17-at-13-46-52...g... Read more
Something like rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww....8
Colour choice is an odd thing, if i could have my way my cars would be the darkest bottle green one can find, however such colours need to be kept pristine, clean and scratch free or they look awful, and many people still have a superstition about green, wonder why?
Many of us look for colours that are either practicle for our use, silver is ideal for my use, or a shade that is considered fashionable, not only to 'fit in' which is understandable because standing out from the right on consensus of the moment isn't advisable and anyway there's always resale to think of, so something fashionable but bland is a good bet.... Read more
Agree that some cars look good in grey and that tends to be the case with most saloons. I was however very surprised to find Fords new Puma looking so good in the showroom in Solar Silver, so good in fact that the Aygo, whose lease is just about up, is going to be replaced by one. Just a quick word about the Aygo - it has been fantastic and faultless. Just need a bit more space.
With all the anti older drivers attitude most of us who are senior drivers take our driving seriously and practise good habits. I saw a guy with superb car control the other day, he was weaving in and out and avoiding other cars by inches at high speed, tailgating 'til the offending car got out of his way. Read more
We have a game in the car.
We play 'yellow car'. See John Finnemore....
Its time to change my wife's car, need some expert advice in choosing a car from the community members. She has been using Citroen C3 1.6 Diesel Manual for the past 9 years and her new requirements are:
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That was my first choice but after reading some horror stories with the batteries I think we are not yet ready for mainstream electric cars.
Too late - mainstream electric cars are already here
Grey is doubtless the most frequently selected but it is a perversion of language to then suppose it is favourite when manufacturer' colour charts are close to monochrome, going from white to black through all shades of grey with not much else (perhaps a red and a blue). Read more
All cars today are painted in a clear over base system, therefore avoiding fading. So basically a pigmented base coat is applied followed by a clear lacquered coat.
Browse
Yes there was clutch judder in reverse and second gears under certain driving conditions.
As a matter of interest this dry clutch transmission is also used with the 1.6 Diesel and with the extra torque is must be even more marginal than the 1.4TSI application....