Hi VWW,

I'm a long time lurker, having found some very helpful material in here when my beloved MY11 TSI 118 manual Golf 5door (c/line with sportpack) began to make horrible clattering noises on startup.

She was my mum's before me - so low kms, sedately driven, properly serviced and always got/gets 98. Did not prevent a timing chain replacement at 70,000 and the water pump replaced at 85,000 (when the clattering returned).

Happy to go into more detail if you think it'd be helpful but my main concern is this: are these engines cursed? Should I be looking to offload this car while it is still "young"? Some people have mentioned that these problems weren't nearly as severe in post-2010 models? Does the VWW community still think this is the case?

I've never enjoyed driving a road car as much as this one and would love to keep her for another 2-4 years. My worry is that the fabled 118 issues will simply get more frequent and costly with time.

Is it possible that the aforementioned work (done promptly with a VW dealership) would be enough to avoid further problems? I really would like to better understand my odds over the next few years of encountering 1. normal older car issues (things you would consider consumable) 2. TSI 118 repeat offenders (timing chain, cam tensioner, water pump failures etc.) and 3. catastrophic engine failure.

Any advice much appreciated!

Thanks,

Tim