TSI, TDI CR service + cambelt interval and economy differences?

[jaxx007]

Hello fellow Briskodians, I am planning on giving back my fabia 1.4 tdi 80 2 estate as it will be 3 years old in september and the dealer contacted me with a "special offer... etc" and I will almost certainly be giving mine back in exchange for a new estate (and more finance of course lol). I was just hoping you might help me to decide which engine to choose based on real world economy that fabia you are all getting and differences in service intervals/cost. I've googled endlessly but been unable to find any definate info on service interval differences and the cambelt change mileages/age of belt for the 1.6tdi 90 and 1.2tsi 85.

My mileage isn't excessive, only done 17.5k miles in 2.5 years (about 7k per year). Just wondering if you guys could help with the service info and real world economy of the 1.6 tdi 90 and 1.2 tsi 85 or any relevant info like reliability issues or in-gear acceleration times or any info that may sway my decision in either direction.

Thank you very much in advance and I recognise I have asked for a lot of info, but any knowledge you share will be greatly received. Thank you again.

[Javerhammar]

The 1.2tsi has chain.

[jaxx007]

chain sounds very good. Certainly saves several hundred £££'s in servicing costs. 1 point to the TSI lol.

[paully]

The Tsi goes like stink as well, I have the 105 estate and its well nippy ..Excellent on fuel as well I`ve just done a long run down the A1 admittedly on cruise at about 60mph but the maxidot showed it was doing just over 54 mpg ( only added about 10 mins per hour to the journey but a lot less hassle!!)..well pleased..Oh yes and £90 a year road tax

Edited 25 March, 2011 by paully

[seboni121]

The Tsi goes like stink as well, I have the 105 estate and its well nippy ..Excellent on fuel as well I`ve just done a long run down the A1 admittedly on cruise at about 60mph but the maxidot showed it was doing just over 54 mpg ( only added about 10 mins per hour to the journey but a lot less hassle!!)..well pleased..Oh yes and £90 a year road tax

£20 year for the cr1.6 tdi road tax,much more torque.64mpg as well win win

[moley]

You've got to weigh up the costs of running the 2 types against your mileage. the diesel will cost you more to buy and if your only going to keep 3 years then the cambelt won't be an issue. The Tsi is a nice engine and petrol is slightly cheaper than Diesel so at 7,000 miles a year I would most likely go for the petrol engine.

[R22JGB]

£20 year for the cr1.6 tdi road tax,much more torque.64mpg as well win win

64MPG!!! that's a rarity on a 1.6TDi CR or was it all downhill?

[seboni121]

64MPG!!! that's a rarity on a 1.6TDi CR or was it all downhill?

No thats what I get regular set the cruise on 60mph and constant 60-67 mpg no problems its a skill your born with can not be learn't I'm afraid ,seriously though I have had brilliant fuelly from the first day,I was a bit put of in the beginning everyone was slagging the fuelly on the cr but for me its been brill, rarely get under 58mpg when I put my lead shoes on ,but I have noticed if you put it into a higher gear too soon the fuelly drops dramatically,I leave it in 4th until shes knocking 55-60,absolutely cracking car except for the bloody sat nav amundsen

[jaxx007]

thank you to everyone for the help so far. Does anyone know how often the timing belt needs changing on the tdi? I hope they've got over the 4 year nonsense that all the other manufacturers seem to have been able to put to shame for many years.

[delta925]

Your annual mileage is a little less than mine.

I expect to keep my car for 10 years or 100k miles.

So long as 1.6TDi CR is £70 a year lower RFL and the price gap between petrol and diesel does not increase I worked out 1.6TDi CR would overall be cheaper.

If you expect to keep the car only 5 years or less 1.2TSi overall will cost you less, added to by lower monthly payments.

[jaxx007]

i intended to keep my car for ten years and may still do. The dealer rang and told me about a brilliant sounding offer so i'm visiting to discuss it in more detail. Either my current car or the possible new one (not sure if tdi or tsi yet) will be a ten year car. Just really hope vw group have managed to move on from their 4 year timing belt nonsense.

[Javerhammar]

Never heard of 4 years, 8 years or 120000km to 180000km depending on model and what comes first.

Maybe different guidelines for different countries?

[seboni121]

Never heard of 4 years, 8 years or 120000km to 180000km depending on model and what comes first.

Maybe different guidelines for different countries?

60k i think for the crtdi

[moley]

Never heard of 4 years, 8 years or 120000km to 180000km depending on model and what comes first.Maybe different guidelines for different countries?

VAG had always quoted mileage / km for cambelt changes until last year, when they bought in the mileage /km or 4 year whichever comes first. I believe it's a reaction to a problem in the US on cambelt failures.

[seboni121]

VAG had always quoted mileage / km for cambelt changes until last year, when they bought in the mileage /km or 4 year whichever comes first. I believe it's a reaction to a problem in the US on cambelt failures.

so 4 years or 50k-60k average mileage is what 12k x 4 = 48k so about right,cambelt change for my 1.4tdi is 70k I think so my crtdi needs to be done sooner :wonder:

[GeneralPurpose]

Chains break too. It's rarely a problem with the chain that causes it, but rather a tensioner problem or oil pressure issue. Cambelts are both cheaper and lighter, quieter, and actually can be just as reliable if the owner doesn't ignore them...but even then they still keep going until they just simply wear out and snap. But you often get some warning of this in the form of a strange noise coming from the engine...a rubbing sound usually and sometimes a tinkerling sound form the tappets in the mornings for the first mile when cold caused by the cambelt being a bit slack. Most cambelts fail due to being totally ignored, or tensioner failure. Sometimes a water pump leak can degrade the belt if it goes unnoticed for a long time (antifreeze is death to the belts). This also results in a breakage if not rectified.

Don't forget too that the oil pumps on many cars now are being driven by the cam belt or a separate rubber band on the engine (a la cr1.6TDI). This has been done to reduce noise and weight and improve reliability. Many oil pump failures are down to drive gear failure, particularly when plastic gears are used. They degrade over time caused by the solvent action of unburned fuel (petrol only) in the oil. So far the rubber bands are working very well and shouldn't give any problems. So I wouldn't worry about what drives the cams or other stuff, it's swings and roundabouts! :yes:

[FABTPM]

Ran a Fabia Estate 1.6 TDI CR 105bhp for 8 months covering 7000 miles, average consumption for this period worked out to be 55.4mpg based on tank fillups, much less than I expected. Never got anywhere near the combined figure and on many occasions struggled to get the urban figure. Engine very refined, just need to keep the revs above 1500rpm otherwise mpg suffers and there is a lack of power until the turbo comes in. I found the most economical speed was about 50 to 55mph when I could easily achieve 60mpg. Above 60 mph the economy just dropped considerably.

If you are doing short journeys just be careful with the DPF, may need to give it a good run now and again. Unfortunately unable to comment on the TSI, dealer never had one to try. Plenty of used 1.6 TDI's around so go try a few and see how they drive.

[delta925]

I have just looked at the service schedule booklet for my new car, which is for both the Fabia and the Roomster.

The numbers on the back of the booklet are

03.10

S00.5530.22.20

5J6 012 009 FA

The standard service intervals depend if fixed or variable servicing.

For fixed servicing

Every 15,000km (~9400 miles) Oil change service

Every 30,000km (~18,800 miles ) Inspection service

For variable servicing

According to the display, but no later than every 2 years, Inspection service

Other items are specified at various distances and time including

Every 90,000km (~56,000 miles) then every 30,000km (~19,000 miles)

Inspect toothed belt (4-cylinder petrol engines, except 1.6ltr / 77kW engine)

Every 210,000km (~130,000 mile)

Replace toothed belt (diesel engines)

No time limits are mentioned for the toothed belt.

[jaxx007]

thank you very much for the replies. My dealer got the deal wrong. They thought my original deal was a hp but it was a pcp. Long story short, they made an error so the new car looked 5k cheaper than it should have been. Needless to say, not a brilliant bargain anymore so we're sticking with our current car. Really gutted about the mess up but as we suspected it was too good a deal to be true. :-(