Sorry of this is off topic, but found this forum due to lucifers guides, and it seems this forum is far more knowledgeable about this subject than other VAG related forums.
But i previous bought a second hand VAG car powered with their "wondeful" 1.4 TSI engine from a private seller, but returned it since it had the dreaded piston ring / cracked pistons issue, at a loss to me of £2100
. But is there anything you do or check during a test drive to be sure it doesn't have the issue?. I mean short of performing a compression test right in the driveway?
Because the car i bought and returned ran smooth and pulled fine. But i pulled into a laybuy to have a walkaround and it started running rough and had both EPC and the engine light on so i limped it back the seller. The trouble codes were ignition related and the plugs were well worn so the seller, me and my mechanic i brought with me had a chat about it and all three came to the consensus that it was most likely sparkplugs or coils so i drove off with a discount.
The trouble code reemerged on the way back as i pulled over to stretch my legs, but again didn't think much about it due to the conversation above. It sat at my mechanic a few days and we replaced plugs and it didn't help with the codes, we swapped the coil packs around and it didn't fix the issue. Then i moved it to another mechanic for a compression test which it failed spectacularly with 50% compression on 3 out of 4 cylinders, and oil got pushed by the pistons when they blew compressed air down the oilstick hole.
So i returned the car at a £2100 loss rather than having to spend £4300 for a rebuilt engine, on top of what i paid for the car. But is there anything i could have done or checked to avoid having bought a car with a shot engine, short of having done a compression test??
But i previous bought a second hand VAG car powered with their "wondeful" 1.4 TSI engine from a private seller, but returned it since it had the dreaded piston ring / cracked pistons issue, at a loss to me of £2100
. But is there anything you do or check during a test drive to be sure it doesn't have the issue?. I mean short of performing a compression test right in the driveway?Because the car i bought and returned ran smooth and pulled fine. But i pulled into a laybuy to have a walkaround and it started running rough and had both EPC and the engine light on so i limped it back the seller. The trouble codes were ignition related and the plugs were well worn so the seller, me and my mechanic i brought with me had a chat about it and all three came to the consensus that it was most likely sparkplugs or coils so i drove off with a discount.
The trouble code reemerged on the way back as i pulled over to stretch my legs, but again didn't think much about it due to the conversation above. It sat at my mechanic a few days and we replaced plugs and it didn't help with the codes, we swapped the coil packs around and it didn't fix the issue. Then i moved it to another mechanic for a compression test which it failed spectacularly with 50% compression on 3 out of 4 cylinders, and oil got pushed by the pistons when they blew compressed air down the oilstick hole.
So i returned the car at a £2100 loss rather than having to spend £4300 for a rebuilt engine, on top of what i paid for the car. But is there anything i could have done or checked to avoid having bought a car with a shot engine, short of having done a compression test??
