Are these duplex chains or ''cheap as we can get away and still call it quality'' singles, and are balance shafts involved in these engines?

They are "gear chains" not roller chains i.e. inverted tooth chains. There are dual balance shafts but driven by a seperate chain.

An example of one of the many TPI's that dealers ignore before its too late.....

Technical product information
Transaction No.: 2024485/5
Damage of timing chain tensioner
Release date: 27-Jun-2011

Customer statement / workshop findings

Engine cannot be started, the Check warning lamp is on.

In the engine CU, the following fault is stored:

•

00022 P0016 CMP Sensor -G40 Engine Speed (RPM) Sensor -G28 Incorrect allocation;

•

00808 P0328 Knock Sensor 1-G61 Circuit High.

Technical background

Because of the defective function of the timing chain tensioner, the timing chain may get too loose during the start causing a valve timing change. This may result in a contact of valves with pistons.

Production change

Reinforced timing chain tensioner – new part 06H 109 467 T.

It was introduced to series production in CW 20, 2010.

Edited by brum on 12/05/2015 at 18:38

The 1.8tsi is as I'm sure you know, a petrol engine and does not require fancy oil. Old fashioned vw502.00 spec is the minimum requirement and just about any modern oil will cover that.

Edited by brum on 12/05/2015 at 18:49

Wrong nortones, vw502.00 for annual, vw504.00 for variable. Vw507.00 is a diesel spec

I recommend the op read the very lengthy pinned thread in the Briskoda Octavia ii forum on 2.0tsi and 1.8tsi engine failures - over 1000 posts.

www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/266114-18tsi-and-20t.../

This guy eventually got 70% goodwill for the same failure as the op, others have probably got more.

www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/281301-18-tsi-engine.../

Edited by brum on 12/05/2015 at 19:24

My course of action has been to contact the head of Skoda UK directly and inform him of the case. I have told them if they do act I will inform as many people as possible as to the problems i have experienced.

Since then Skoda Uk have upped their offer to 70% and the garage are going to add to that, they have not imnformed me how, as of yet.

I bought the car 6 months old from Allams, previously one of their management fleet vehicles.

The additional money they have offered since i upped the stakes is intself an admission of guilt on the part of the garage and the dealer.

They both try and brush you off a contribution, when in fact they should accept complete liability. It is not acceptable for an engine to be in this state after 40000 miles, look at BRISKODA.NET and i am not alone. As for the garage they should be ashamed. To offer sorry as a response their to cock up is a joke.

Skidpan, warranty or not, is it reasonable to expect your engine to pack up after 40000 miles? Skoda/VW to me meant reliability.

This isnt finished yet, i will keep you posted.

The dealer has stumped up an additional 500 pounds. So my contribution is down to 1000 pounds now.

To be honest it's one of the better storys. VAG did own up to the issues with the timing chains and others have had issues too. They came up with good will and totally let down by a dealer lacks of care.

Sadly it's all to often the case they blame bad servicing or wrong driving as an excuse to to pay up.

Now I know why I decided to never ever buy another VAG group car .

The behaiour listed above is in my view akin to fraud..

As mentioned above, you could have (should have?) been offered an extended warranty on the car as it came up to final weeks, presumably you thought (reasonably) that it wasn't worth it.

You bought a car with a three years from new warranty, that was your choice, you could have bought one of several makes with longer warranties if you wanted to...it would appear that this is a well known problem so maybe some pre purchase research would have been time well spent and you might have looked elsewhere, we'll all been there, but these days the info is out there for everyone to learn from.

You've had to contribute, what 20/ 25% of the retail cost of a new engine, but you've saved £X anyway by not buying the extended warranty which would have covered you if you'd bought it, you haven't done too badly after all by not bending over, well done.

Enjoy your car with its new engine.

I look at car warranties slightly differently.

To me they are a guide, rightly or wrongly, as to how much faith the maker puts in their product, shorter the term the less durable i expect the vehicle to prove..though i expect the replacement company and fleet car buyers means its a double edged sword, longer warranties from the usual suspects might mean fleets keep cars longer whilst costing the maker more in both cost and reputation as they disintegrate whilst still in first owner hands...could also see the end of idiotic 20k service intervals for obvious reasons.

This wasn't always the case of course and one must always bear in mind the historical durability of a marque from the day before longer warranties applied, and to not be too complacent about that either because things change, as do maker's attitudes to standing by their products and their customers.

Research is the key now to buying more than ever IMO, the relevent motoring media and magazines are no longer independent minded reliable relevant or indeed aimed at the private buyer in many cases...and i'm not saying this because we are discussing this on this site, but HJ takes some beating for first port of call when a car is considered, then make specific forums to get the nitty gritty if you are really serious.

Edited by gordonbennet on 14/05/2015 at 21:35

They then pulled out a new tpi which now requires a tech to measure how far the tensioner is extended, iirc mine measured 41mm, ONE MM below the limit the tpi said would be accepted as a warranty replacement. Warranty claim rejected.

Apologies if I am missing something but it was in the allowed tollerences but you are complainig they won't do anything about it?

How do you research a car that has an engine thats barely been one year in production?

Simple. Don't buy one.

My aim is to NEVER be the first to buy anything new. Let others find the problems and let the maker -of whatever it is - sort it out.

I am sorry but have little synpathy if you buy an unporoven product from a maker whose attitude to quality and customer care sucks.

(I bought a Panasonic hoover in 2001 ? 2002 which was junk and fell apart after 15 months. They gave me a complete refund of all my money with no hassle despite it being out of the 12 month warranty. That's the way it should be)

Edited by madf on 15/05/2015 at 14:05

I wouldnt assume that any manufacture who offeres a long warranty with a new car has greater confidence in their product than one that doesnt.

I would however assume though that the manufacturer concerned is prepared to divert more of the bottom line price into the warranty budget to cover warranty costs and rely on the appeal of an extended warranty to increase sales and offset those warranty costs.

Say every 20th car sold is used to cover warranty costs on the previous 19. You sell 1000, you make money on 950 of them. You sell 2000 you make money on 1900 of them.

Its all about increasing sales, nothing to do with quality, faith, reliabilty, engineering excellence etc and if the volume `european` manufacturers were as desperate to increase sales figures as the far east they would do exactly the same.

I think it would take some careful comparison and maths, based on figures such as number of warranty claims, average cost of claim, production and sales figures and profit per unit before before making such claims.

VAG are the largest manufacturer in Europe and in terms of volume the third largest in the world...........they must be doing something right???

Now I know why I decided to never ever buy another VAG group car .

Here, here.

Was tempted to buy an Audi, but someone I know had all sorts of issues with their automatic gearbox. So I won't be buying anything from VAG.

You do realise the main discussion of this thread ended 2.5 years ago? You also seem to have a 'bee in your bonnet' about dual clutch gearboxes, from any make. Whilst the relative poor reliability (compared to 'traditional' TC auto boxes and some make's CVTs) of the dry clutch DSG and Powershift gear boxes is known, its not as though all are failing.

You need to keep a sense of proportion - just knowing of a friend or relative that had problems doesn't mean you would: a new one may be a 'wet clutch' version which is more reliable, and often people use dual clutch auto boxes (as members here have described on other threads recently that you've participated in) in the wrong way, such as creeping forward at low speed, or holding the car using the box on a hill, etc.

Twin clutch gearboxes were primarily designed for performance and increased mpg (as seen in F1 on TV), and have been known for a while now not to be as robust in general as TC auto boxes and manual ones, which is a very mature technology, with variances in reliability from make to make. It may be that manufacturers go a different route in the future (electric cars may be the norm, or may be not) for auto transmissions, but they will get better in terms of reliability and usage, perhaps not enough for everyone.