(Alright, troublesome Transporters really but that title brought back childhood memories ...)
I've owned VW Transporters continuously over the last 10 years, so it's fair to say I quite like them. But no more. My recently departed '63 plate Shuttle 180 BiTDI had just 60,000 miles on the clock and the end of its finance term was looming. I had looked after it, changed the oil earlier than VW recommended, was happy with it and so was about to buy it out. When the oil light came on. Strange? It's not leaking any oil?
A quick search (there's a Facebook group with over 1,000 members - many with the same problem) and a Millers Oil test confirmed that it was suffering from catastrophic engine failure! The EGR cooler has unprotected aluminium fins. These corrode as the warm air cools and condenses. As the aluminium corrodes, bits of it get back into the engine and wear the bores, causing the engine to burn oil. The Millers Oil test showed that oil that had done just 10,000 miles had 300 ppm of Al and Fe, when Miller's limit is 30ppm and 100ppm respectively.
It's a year out of warranty and while some folk have got contributions, a new engine and anciliaries is circa £8,000, so even with some goodwill, a big bill was still looming. So the van has gone back. A revised EGR is available, but it is too early to say if the coating on the Al fins will last. Apparently VW cannot make replacement engines fast enough to keep up with the demand!
So the van has gone back. I could not endorse such poor design/engineering by replacing it with a fourth Transporter, so tomorrow I am picking up a Peugeot Traveller. A spacious 8-seat MPV based on the new Expert van and on the platform that underpins many PSA cars. Sort of like a bigger Berlingo/pregnant Partner. Further impressions to follow in due course.
Don't you just love that German engineering?!
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