hi i currently own a 1.9 octavia tdi 2002 i think pump is gone so ive been thinking about getting a little fabia estate  1.4 tdi 2004 as a family car just me missus and 2 kids  i would be interested if anybody has one and if they have enough power for the job or any issues i should be aware of its done 113000 and has had a cambelt done recently  i only do mostly short hops with occasional long runs run appreciate any info thanks rich

We run 2 as you will see from the profile, the 70HP is acceptable for running over the Pennines every day, but the 80HP is just so much better. Think the 75HP has about the same performance as the 80HP - I have no problem with long distance trips on the motorway where it can sit in the outside lane without struggling. Mine rolled over 170K miles on Monday morning and has averaged 55mpg over 54K miles. I had to have a gearbox fitted as the original expired but this does not appear to be a common problem, and there is talk of a few oil pump failures, but appears to be the early mk2's. Best thing that you can probably do is have a test drive, see if they suit you - for best performance I tend to change up at about 3K revs as mine pulls great at the bottom end.

I have seen a few ebay 1.4 TDIs where the balancer shaft chain has failed (all years) taking with it the oil pump and hence the bearings/engine. Others may say this doesn't happen that often but it is a risk you should be aware of. If you are looking at ~2004 cars then the 1.9 TDI using the ATD engine is the best compromise in my view. Th ASY SDI is even longer-lived but a bit gutless.

Edited 1 December, 201510 yr by poiuytre111

Hi thanks keith and poiuytre really appreciate your help i guess it makes sense to go and try it out  and thanks both for making me aware of possible issues Cheers rich