Originally Posted by
CaptainCaveMan
Hi all - just wondered what you guys think, I have a 2017 Golf R Wolfie that doesn't get driven much, short trips mainly & so only around 18k on the clock.
Recently it developed a coolant leak, it's just out of warranty but VW were kind enough to deal with under warranty as a goodwill gesture.
However, I was shocked that it's a $1700 odd fix to do so very relieved not to be doing it under warranty.
My question is, if I'm driving the car this infrequently, am I likely to keep running into this sort of problem? The service guys told me that it's a by product of not driving the car often enough that the seals can dry out a bit & fail. Wondered if anyone can comment on this.
This is total BS IMO. The thermostat housing on the EA888 engine is simply just a crap design.
Despite VW making many changes to fix the problem (there have been multiple "revisions" to the part) they continue to fail, regardless of how much or how little a car is driven.
There is a constant stream (pun intended) of reports of these leaking coolant and needing fixing, so much so that a cynic (like me) can only speculate that it is a deliberate ploy by VW to increase both their profits (by selling parts outside of warranty) and that dealers are complicit in the scam because they are getting paid for the labour (whether in or out of warranty).
If VW were serious about fixing the issue they would have redesigned the part/s so they no longer failed.
It is true that seals can dry out and fail on cars that are not driven for long periods, but I do not believe that this is the cause of the problem with thermostat housings leaking coolant. I note that there are no external seals on rotating shafts that are causing these leaks.
Last edited by gregozedobe; 26-03-2021 at 11:41 AM.
2017 MY18 Golf R 7.5 Wolfsburg wagon (boring white) delivered 21 Sep 2017, 2008 Octavia vRS wagon 2.0 TFSI 6M (bright yellow), 2006 T5 Transporter van 2.5 TDI 6M (gone but not forgotten).
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