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SEAT Altea XL Copa 1.6 TDI CR - Seat / VW ea189 engines emission issue - smootheDave

I am look to buy a Seat Altea 1.6 TDI with the ea189 engine which has the emission problem. Has any one had this engine had emission fix?

Do any one have any thoughs or experiance with the fix?

Also can you be forced to have the recall applied to your car?

SEAT Altea XL Copa 1.6 TDI CR - Seat / VW ea189 engines emission issue - RobJP

Do be aware this engine appears to have LOTS of problems apart from the emissions 'cheat' that needs fixing.

A simple search in the 'Ask HJ' section of this website would show that the 1.6 VAG diesel appears to be a horribly badly built unit. I'd avoid like the plague.

SEAT Altea XL Copa 1.6 TDI CR - Seat / VW ea189 engines emission issue - SLO76
We have a Polo 1.2 TDi which has basically the same engine minus a cylinder and it's recently had the update done by our local VW dealer with promise after promise that it won't have a negative effect.

Sadly though the truth is different and the cars noticeable turbo lag has certainly become worse and I've noticed a small drop in economy too. A co-worker with a Seat Toledo 1.6 TDi says he hasn't noticed any change however but he does drive like a 90 year old nun.

It's never been as economical as it should be either, our much larger Honda CRV averages more but the engine has never given a moments bother in over 50,000 miles. Same can't be said about the rest of it which is prone to niggly faults particularly the rear brakes sticking. The local dealer is pretty good though.
SEAT Altea XL Copa 1.6 TDI CR - Seat / VW ea189 engines emission issue - skidpan

Have you actually driven one of these cars?

Back in 2010 we were looking for a replacement for our 1.6 TDCi Focus C-Max, the Altea 1.6 TDi appeared all the boxes and our old Golf TDI 90 PS had been a brilliant car. So off we went on a test drive and what a pile off poo. The car itself was nice enough but the 105 PS engine would not pull the skin off a rice pudding, the 110PS in our Focus felt like it had double the power and that was no rocket ship.

Even if the engine did not have the alleged issues based on our test drive I could not recommend the car, it was so slow to accelerate it felt dangerous to me. The 2 litre would probably be fine but it was above our budget at the time.

SEAT Altea XL Copa 1.6 TDI CR - Seat / VW ea189 engines emission issue - smootheDave

Thanks for all your replies.

I have driven one and found it OK. Mind you haven't tried a C-max for a comparison.