VW and Audi 1.8 Turbo reliability?

I've answered about turbo reliability on mine elsewhere..... but mine was still going strong with 150k+ miles on it's original turbo. Had a very full service history, though.

Not much, to be honest. They do tend to pick up stone chips and a bit of rust above the windscreen, ensure you get more than one key (spares are over 120quid to buy and program at a VAG dealer), and ensure the alarm / central locking / interior lighting ECU can get wet and play up - it's located in floorpan under the passenger seat.

A few things -

At that age/mileage make very sure its had its cambelt changed. Cambelt tensioner of that era was spawn of the devil - since uprated. Belt change should be at 80K miles. Accepted wisdom is to do it every 60K. Belt change at a main dealer is £500 or so.

Turbos can last 150K+ & some have failed below 80K - I think it depends on how its been used. Just be sensible & let it cool down properly before switch off if you've thrashed it on the way home.

The VAG 1.8T engines hold relatively small amounts of oil (only about 4 litres) - so it needs to be changed regularly & you need to use a good quality synthetic. IN the USA they now mandate a bigger oil filter which, aprt from being a bigger filter also increases the oil capacity by half a litre or so - may not sound much but its about 15%. I use the bigger filter on my 1.8T now.

A fair amount of sludging problems on these engines - particularly in the USA where there has even been a class action suit or two raised against VAG.

Apart from Turbos other big ticket items to fail on these cars are ABS control units which have a habit of going south at random. These cost over £1000. MAF sensors & diverter valves are other common issues - MAF is maybe £200 & a DV is under £100.

Clutch is hydraulic & self adjusting so no way of telling how much its worn. When they go, they just go. Should be good for well over 100K but not cheap to replace & not a DIY job either.

Otherwise its a great engine - and for a £300 chip you can get an extra

As someone else has said, very clever front suspension that pretty much eliminates torque steer but which is a bit fragile & where the control arms can wear out (and there are 4 on each side!). There was a recall on the front lower arms.

Expect rear brakes to wear much faster than the fronts.

Make sure you keep the area round/under the battery clear of leaves and check the sunroof drains if it has a sunroof - if either gets blocked you'll see water inside the car and a blown Cklimate Control Module (which is helpfully located in the floor!)

All sounds a bit grim (but probably no more so than many other cars). All I know is I've had my 98 Passat 1.8T from new, its done 80K miles & given what its worth now there's just no way I'd even contemplate trading it in - I'm looking for another 70-80K from it & its that well screwed together that I fully expect it'll do it . Even if I have to run to replacing some of teh front suspension or a turb it'll still end up being very cheap & pretty comfortable motoring.

Passats are particularly good at eating up motorway miles - then again if you do a lot of that you might be better off with a turbo diesel.

Suggest you read the forums at

I.

Thanks for the excellent information.. Will take a dig around the clubb5.com site as well..