makes you think, if they are such high quality why they don’t offer longer warranties like kia, hyundai, mitsubishi, etc…

VW seem to make overall reliable engines but when they introduce a design flaw it’s colossal – like the 2.0 TDI oil pump failure that resulted in instant engine death. That was recalled, but I dunno if the people who got hit before the recall were compensated.

Is there anyway that the engine/ancillaries could’ve been damaged by something (rock say) hitting them?

Also, is the oil light on?

FWIW the VW reliability thing is only of any interest in a historical sense. The last 10-12 years has seen them lose a significant amount of ground.

They are now ok, middle of the road, nothing to shout out about.

When the engine on my 3 year old Subaru Legacy diesel gave up (due to a failed main crankshaft bearing) Subaru UK initially wouldn’t cough up because the service history wasn’t spot on. But when my dealer went to Subaru Japan they provided a new engine and the dealer paid for the fitting. It was a known problem with the early Subaru diesels and I had only bought the car 3 days earlier though!

Chap at work had one of those hideous Renualt SUV’s. Engine failed after timing chain snapped at 8k miles.
Renault were great, & basically just sent a complete engine & box from the factory, with all the ancillaries fitted, to drop it straight in complete.

The dealer however, had other ideas…
They smelt a fast buck so stripped the new lump of all its new ancillaries, then fitted all the old stuff back on to the new lump.
What followed was months & months of workshop time, as they’d basically botched everything in the refitting.

It eventually got handed back for a refund.

£3-400 quid for a used replacement engine and not much more to fit. It would cost more than that in time and effort just pursuing a replacement you might not get.

Then flog the car if you are nervous but it is more than likely perfectly fine.

“£3-400 quid for a used replacement engine and not much more to fit. “

ORLY and how many hundreds of thousands of miles will it have …..

– when i looked for my vw – it was 8 years old and the engines were still 7-800 quid untested unwarrentied on a pallet ….. with no guarantee on the milages either. I cut my losses and walked away – and thats with engine fitting being at no cost to me as i can do it my self……

Theres also the small matter of the numbers not matching and it being declared as an engine change modification REGARDLESS of it being the same engine ….. something that some paperwork from the dealer saying why its been done aleviates.

Not the greatest option….

Is there a dealer service history or not?