VOLKSWAGEN WOES.

We have a customer of ours that has a large fleet of Volkwagens,Audi's and Skoda's.Whilst I would normally praise the virtues of the Volkswagen brand we have had 2 in recently that have lowered my opinion of them. The first one came in with a very heavy knocking noise,we removed the sump to find the crank snapped behind number 1 big end journal this was a 1.9 tdi pd engine - (I have found an internet thread on a similar engine in a beetle with the same problem). The second was a 2.0 tdi pd engine fitted to a Passat,like the first one it had a knocking noise,not as bad as the other one,but non the less it was knocking. We took the sump off (twice) before we spotted the problem. As I undid No4 main bearing jounal the cap fell into my hand in 2 bits!!! I have never seen this before in my 40 years in the motor trade. If every thing was as reliable as a Volkswagen................yeah right!!

Yup...when VW used to mean "Made in Germany" it meant something..but I'll bet a pound that there is more "outsourcing" of parts from "non-EU countries" than you can imagine in the interests of cutting costs/maximising profits.

Have just seen a load of (shipping containers full) of rejected parts in a local scrap yard. These parts (suspension, steering, engine etc) were pressings destined for cars built in the UK......the crates all had "made in China" labels....

.....so you pay "European" prices for a car that you think is "European made"? ...think again...

I work at an LTI service agent and 90% of the parts are made in China now. You can tell the difference in quality

If all cars were reliable you would be out of a job Mr. Wezgit

Made in China (or India) is a sign of the times I'm affraid. The chassis on my new 90 is shocking. there is spatter all over it and I'm sure it's not British (if it is the guy in QC want 'ucking with a rag mans trumpet butt end first!)

My dad gave me his MK4 90 BHP TDi Golf a few years ago. It was the last diesel engine VW made without the electronic bits on it. At the time i did put it down a lttle (it had no character at all) but i did 50000 miles in it in two years. for the last six months it did at least 80 miles of hard B & C road use every day and nothing let go (I think it wasn't far off though).

Nothing I've owned before or since could put up with this abuse (the Jag couldn't!) and in hindsight I think the MK4 Golf is the best car VW ever made.

If all cars were reliable you would be out of a job Mr. Wezgit

Why do you think I drive a Honda? (And incidentally some of the Diesel Accords are made in South Africa)

Gods gift to the motor trade;speed humps,cam belts and now the Volkswagen!!

I must admit though,this same company that we do work for, has got a 2.0 tdi pd Passat that has done 365,000 miles with the odd turbo problem,regular maintenance and that's it. It's the luck of the draw I suppose,but for one garage to see 2 major failures like that in a very short space of time is a bit rare. I think the last engine we fitted prior to these 2 was well over a year ago.

VW engine woes are not a new thing. Back in '94 we (CV Lanes) bought two VW Transporters. the 2.4 never ever went wrong. we all loved it. the other one was a 1.9 NA deisel. the oil pump went after 1000miles and it was never the same after that. We were glad to get rid of it.