Hi fellow Skoda enthusiasts!

I’m considering upgrading to a 2018 Skoda Rapid 1.0 TSI, which has covered around 74,000 km (46,000 miles). It’s been serviced exclusively by an authorised Skoda dealer, so that’s reassuring.

However, one thing that gives me pause is a fairly significant oil leak it had in the past (at least according to the previous owner). The issue was apparently caused by loose bolts on the camshaft pulley cover—something I’ve seen mentioned quite a bit, so it seems to be a known problem for the EA211 engine.

As far as I know the car was towed to an authorised dealer (after the oil leak was discovered), where they replaced the camshaft pulley, timing belt (including all timing pulleys, I assume?), and cleaned up the oil from the engine bay. This repair was done at 65,000 km. And before this it was just serviced at around 61,000 km.

My concern is whether the engine could have suffered any long-term damage from this leak. Am I being overly cautious, or should I trust that the dealer did a thorough job and properly inspected the engine?

Would love to hear your thoughts — cheers in advance for any advice!

Hmmm - major work done and the car is being sold 5,000 miles later. That’s a huge red flag for me. Avoid. Find a different one.

41 minutes ago, chrisgreen said:

Hmmm - major work done and the car is being sold 5,000 miles later. That’s a huge red flag for me. Avoid. Find a different one.

Exactly what I thought at first! As far as I know the previous owner had it towed as soon as they noticed some oil on ground and later upgraded to a bigger car. Hard to know the full story, but the belt service was due around that time anyway. Sounds like the bolts were just a bit too loose beforehand. Maybe the repair went through TPI, and they were already considering a new car. Who knows!