VW Golf Mk5 GT Sport 1.4 TSI 170 nightmare

[stevebutters]

Hi Guys,

Just joined the forum and thought I would share with you the story of issues I've had since buying the car.

I bought the car privately 2 weeks ago a 56 plate with 15k miles on the clock and seemed like a bargain. The ESP light was on but the seller had supplied the sensor that was supposedly going to cure that problem. It was due a service so as soon as I got it home I booked it in at a main VW dealership for a service and asked them to replace the sensor given to me by the previous owner.

This is when the problems started, I was advised that the car had been serviced but the sensor had not cured the problem with the ESP light. I picked the car up and noticed that the ESP light was still on but the EML had also come on. I asked the service advisor about it and they said that the EML had been caused by changing that sensor and I would have to book it in for diagnostics. As I drove away it became apparent that the car was in limp mode and practically unable to be used. I took it back into VW and they said they would investigate.

2 days later I received a phone call that the car had been sorted and was ready to be picked up, the issue being with the ABS and it needing an ABS kit, free on goodwill from VW. When I picked the car up there was no longer the ESP light on but the EML was still on and it was still in limp mode!

The car went straight back into the garage to have diagnostics run on it and find out what the issue was. I was then told it was a wiring problem to a sensor (not told which one) and they would need 3 hours labour to investigate and check the wiring.

Received a phone call this morning saying that they had found the problem and its an issue with the ECU, new ECU is needed at the cost of £1200 and a wait of anywhere between 2 days and 2 months.

I'm heartbroken to say the least, wasn't expecting to have to spend this much money on a low mileage car.

Any advice would really be greatly appreciated.

Steve.

[DMitch16]

A 56 plate with 15,000 miles??? An average of 1400 odd miles a year??? They obviously hated the car as I would want to drive a 1.4 with 170hp all of the time! Wonder if the seller had experienced a few problems with it over the years hence the low mileage??

Shame you didn't get and post an Autoscan first so we could see what the ECU had faulted.

[stevebutters]

As far as I know it was owned by a development company so that could have potentially been a very hard 1400 miles a year! Just spoken to VW this evening as it didn't make sense to me at all, convinced them to check the sensor that they replaced and turns out they put it in the wrong place ( there are 3 sensors that are very similar I believe) so they have admitted fault and are only charging me for the new part.

I'm relieved to say the least! And hopefully now I'll actually be able to give it a proper drive since buying it, time to put some miles on it!

[richard@thebrae]

Look after 1.4 TSI 170 ps as it is asking a lot from a little keep your eye on oil levels and the Timing chain.

[DMitch16]

Sounds promising - fingers crossed for you. I have a 170 in Passat 2.0 tdi form and she pulls like a train and is a few hundred kilos heavier so I can imagine how pokey yours will be when fully running!

[Andy_D]

Indeed. I have a 56 plate gt tsi 170. At 66k now. Still love it but the biggest of a few niggles was a stretched timing chain causing eml (luckily) at 37k. Apparently pretty common about 40k miles and costly. Even worse if it cause valve / piston damage.