Looking for information. VRS or just petrol 190bhp

[Pugmanone1]

Hi chaps or ladies out there. Due to only doing short trips these days I am looking to sale my 2018 vw passat estate and get a petrol estate. Most cars these days are running on very small engines which I don’t see lasting much longer then their warranty period if that. What took my eye was the octave estate with the 2lt petrol engine pushing out 190bhp and the VRS pushing out 245bhp. I am now too old to be a boy racer, but I do like to push on when possible. 
I have seen a few of these cars on gazoo or supermarket this and that, but they have a bad reputation, my brother purchased a car off gazoo which had been dressed up to sale covering up damage underneath from a accident. 
so a few questions. Are there any honest dealers out there which sale these cars at a fair price. What to look for when driving one of these cars, are there weak points to watch out for. I am looking for a car from 2018 with low miles. If it was you which car would you go for and why. Thanks 

[TDIum]

The 190 motor is a peach. Smooth and economical at low load and plenty of shove when needed 👍

As with all second hand cars there's a risk of latent problems. 

If it was me I'd look for a highly specced 2.0 with the 7-speed DSG (the high-torque wet clutch version of this)

[SC03OTT]

I can only see 2 190s on auto trader right now.  So I’d be inclined to just look for a good vrs and if a good 190 pops up, go for that instead. 

[Swirly182]

I would (and did) go for a 2L TSI variant whether that's vRS or 190. However, it would be interesting to see a real world comparison between the 190 and the 1.4 or 1.5 TSI, in terms of performance and economy. We had a 1.4 TSI Beetle and I was really impressed, it was quick through the gears and plenty of acceleration in 6th on the motorway. Some hesitation issues reported around this forum however our Beetle seemed fine. 

 

[Ootohere]

We need to remember that Euro 5 1.4 TSI with or without ACT are really pretty good, (they are still available in other world regions with an 8 speed auto.)

and with a DQ200 DSG you take the risk, but the odds are on your side.

 

With 1.5 ACT Euro 6 engines it is a matter of time telling how that goes and we are at that time now as they go out of manufacturers warranty, even ones with a GPF.

Same with DQ200's fitted to them.    Pretty much all are doing well 

It always takes 5 years to know how things are going to do after 5 years.   The history of VW tells us that no matter if issues it is always just unlucky. Tough titty.

[Pugmanone1]

Thanks for input. I don’t think that there is much mileage in the small 1.4T or 1.5T engines. After all they are little over turbocharged engines. Great for racing cars, but not long term use for road cars. I see that Honda have pulled their 1.5T engine due to all the faults it had, and I can,t see any other companies not facing the same problems sooner or later.

I did drive a Honda Civic with a 1.5T engine and it did go, but for how many years.

 

[Ootohere]

They are only 150 ps. Not over stressed.   

1.5 TSI's ACT/COD and with GPF's are liable to be the ones to avoid in the years to come.

 

It was the Twincharger 1.4 TSI from 160-180 ps that had fundamental design and manufacturing fault and still do, but when the OE engine management and maybe a few consumables are changed they can be good at 220 + ps. 

[Pugmanone1]

I think it best just not to purchase these little engines.  

[Ootohere]

Millions have world wide. 

Many just need transport and in the UK they can only legally go about half the speed they are capable of.

 

The thing is the bigger capacity TSI's are not that much less fuel efficient for what they are, family cars / warm hatches / taxis etc.

 

Little engines are the 1.0 TSI's and plenty with these in an Octavia get on well with them and achieve good economy and keep up with modern traffic.

Even with a car with 245 ps when just travelling along. 

Edited 23 December, 2022 by toot

[PetrolDave]

6 hours ago, Pugmanone1 said:

I think it best just not to purchase these little engines.  

I beg to differ having owned a 1.4TSI Octavia for over 5 years and had no engine problems whatsoever - so did I drive it gently? No! - I came from a 420PS 4.2L V8 Audi RS4 Avant so I drove the 1.4TSI Octavia 'like I stole it'.

 

If there was an engine reliability problem we would have seen posts about it on here, remember the oldest ones date from 2013 so are now 9 years old - so the lack of complaints posted here suggests there isn't a problem.

[hhcd80]

On 21/12/2022 at 14:31, Pugmanone1 said:

Are there any honest dealers out there which sale these cars at a fair price.

Not sure about the exact spec you are looking for, but from previous experience, you will find used car sales staff rarely have your interest at heart, only their own.
As I mentioned previously on another thread on a similar vein, I took a gamble with a certain competitor to "Gazoo" as you mentioned.
It worked out well for me but I was ready to hand the car back within the "cooling off" period at the first sign of any serious trouble.
In my very humble opinion, your best bet would be to keep shopping around, try and view the car in person if possible and don't be afraid to hand it back if something really plays up or just walk away if it seems too good to be true.

[Pugmanone1]

Thanks for all your input.