Head off: valves bent.  Garage suggest finding a second hand head with valves, but I've no idea where to find one.  It's a tough call as I've had the car from nearly new (6k) and it has been flawless.

Repair or bin?

 

I was going to ask which engine until I found the answer in an old post by you.

1.9 TDI Octavia Estate L&K 130bhp

Sorry - yes, that's the one!

Scrap time

Or strip it for spares whatever is more financially viable.

At 200k its not really worth throwing good money after bad

How long did you go on current timing belt?

What condition is the car in? if its in good nick & has no other faults & your happy with it then id fix it & keep it,you could spend £1000 on another car & it could end up been a money pit,these cars can do big mileages if looked after. 

Head off: valves bent.  Garage suggest finding a second hand head with valves, but I've no idea where to find one.  It's a tough call as I've had the car from nearly new (6k) and it has been flawless.

Repair or bin?

 

If you like the car and plan on keeping it I would get the head rebuilt.

Take it to a good engine specialist and get new guides and valves fitted and then get the head resurfaced and it will be good for another 200k.

All down to the condition, if it's in good nick and you're keeping it for years to come fix it

Don't bin it! I rebuilt mine completely at 201k and installed a brand new engine - you know the car inside out and it's history - repair it and enjoy it :-)

Thank you all for your very helpful input and advice.  4:1 in favour of keeping the car and I am inclined to agree.  As I suggested, the car has NO other faults and has been easily the best car I have owned in 30+ years of motoring.  The only niggle is the tailgate which is starting to rust at the bottom junction with the rear window, but that's cosmetic only for the time being.

So, more questions!

Ruffday:  A "good engine specialist"?  Any recommendations?  I live on the Oxon/Glos/Wilts border.

Tonka972:  "New engine"?  Do you mean new or reconditioned or out of a scrapped similar car?  If new, where can I source one?

Big Jase:  Good question!  I forget, but I suspect it was overdue a change.  That's the problem:  I know it was changed early the first time, on time the second, but I then lost track.  The "good money after bad" argument would hold water if I had already spent money on the car and it had failed again - I haven't, but take your point; it's a risk. 

 

There are plenty of heads on offer on ebay that are claimed to be compatible - my gut instinct is to avoid, but am happy to be corrected.

 

Clive at Cntuning near to reading would be able to advise and quote for replacement engine/rebuild

Do you actually need a replacement cylinder head or just new valves? 

group1rs:  Thanks for the CNTuning link (have to be careful how you type that...!)

mikey vrs:  No idea!  My local garage just said the valves were bent.  No mention of damage to the head itself or impact damage to pistons.  They don't sound very keen to do much more so that's why I'm in the position of trying to find someone competent to take on the job, preferably locally.

Enough car stuff:  it's my 50th birthday today, so I'm off to the pub!  :-)

Appy burpday !

I have no idea of any in your area but if the garage you use don't sound interested I would find someone else to do the work.

Find your local VAG specialist they should know or check Yell.com.

On another forum in 2010, as an answer to a question of where to find a good VAG specialist in Swindon, a couple of people posted "I would also recommend Ultimate Cars in Cirencester 01285 655 755 ask for Martin."

Probably going to be the closest to Fairford so worth a phone call.

I had a wish list Chris - so I opted to put a brand new Audi tdi in it. There are some great reconditioned units out there - try TES ( The Engine Shop) They supply some really good units. They advertise in Performance VW 01322 350022... [email protected] or www.theengineshop.info

Hope you get the old girl up and running again.

David