help with choosing new car

[brownie 25]

hi all,been a while since ive been on here ime looking at buying a b7 s line and ive been reading through so many threads i cant decide witch engine is most reliable.i want a tdi but ive read so much about balance shaft failure and all that, is it only the 2.0ltr blb engine that this is common on.if i can buy a 1.9 would that be a safer option OR the 1.8t.

tks in advance for any help

 

[Joe_Murphy21187]

From the research I did when looking... if reliability is your primary concern and you can live with 35mpg, get a 3.0tdi. 230bhp and enough torque to keep most people happy as standard. I'll leave it to someone else to clarify which engines are supposedly affected by injector issues etc (certain versions of the 2.0tdi), rather than risk leading you up the garden path in that respect. Either way good luck finding a B7!

 

[Craig Cull]

from what ive seen on here, stay away from the 2.0 tdi 170 version (i was gonna buy this version) i dunno what the issues are, but thats the overall advice. i had the 1.8t 225 in my leon, wasnt amazing on fuel but i averaged 29mpg round town. if thats an affordable mpg for you, i would go for the 2.0T FSI as mine is better on fuel than the 1.8t, although ive also heard mixed reviews from other owners of the 2.0T FSI.
the 3.0 tdi would be tempting, but do you drive far enough on a daily basis to see the return? i found they were quite expensive. this also hepled my choice of the 2.0T FSI.

 

[brownie 25]

Cheers for the reply,s i would pick the 3ltr all day long BUT i live in Ireland and the tax would cripple me i had a 2.5 quattro sport last year and it was 1000 euro a year and the 3ltr is 1390 euro so hence why ime driving a 1.9 passat now lol.

 

[Paul B7]

Cheers for the reply,s i would pick the 3ltr all day long BUT i live in Ireland and the tax would cripple me i had a 2.5 quattro sport last year and it was 1000 euro a year and the 3ltr is 1390 euro so hence why ime driving a 1.9 passat now lol.

Buy a 1.9 tdi , relatively old technology but well prove and as bullet proof an engine as you will ever find.
Avoid any 2.0 tdi as they ALL have design /manufacturing faults in varying degrees. Don't think the problems with the oil pump/balance shaft issues are only with BLB coded engines because they aren't.
3.0tdi engines are OK but then again there are reported problems with inlet ( may be exhaust ?) actuated flaps which are very very expensive to replace.
At the end of the day you pays your money and takes your pick, the smart money however will be on the 1.9 tdi !

 

[brownie 25]

ya from what i know of the 1.9 its a fairly good engine but there doesn't seem to be very many for sale in this country not in the speck i want any way.Is there any of the 2.0tdi that a more reliable than others, witch would be the one to be looking out for

 

[Paul B7]

ya from what i know of the 1.9 its a fairly good engine but there doesn't seem to be very many for sale in this country not in the speck i want any way.Is there any of the 2.0tdi that a more reliable than others, witch would be the one to be looking out for

The REAL DOG is the 2.0 tdi BLB coded engine, it cost me circa £2000 to have sorted at 68k and I didn't have to replace the turbo or one could have added another £1000 to the bill.
All the other engine coded variants have issues as well, but steer clear of the BLB unless you have receipted proof the engine has had the oil pump/balance shaft issue addressed.
Better still forget the 2.0tdi......................