UK-POLOS.NET - THE VW Polo Forum

Just brought my car back from the garage, with a fairly hefty repair bill of just over £1000.

Long story short, my car had a new key coded at the VW dealership, and as I drove it away, the Engine MGMT light and also ABS warning light came on. I was told by volkswagen this is likely a coding error they made, and was booked in to have it repaired again about 10 days after, but was assured that the car is safe to drive.


The Friday before it was due in (was booked in for Monday), the car would not start in the gym car park, so had it towed to my local garage. Turns out the timing chain had slipped, and as a result, 6 valves were bent, air box was cracked and the head gasket was blown.

Has anyone ever experienced an issue like this? Just find it funny that something like this happens with no warning, on a 12 plate car with just over 60,000 miles on the dash, full VW service history and was also was well taken care of. I guess the warning lights were warning me of this, but was disappointed that VW assured my my car would be 100% safe to drive and that this was just a coding error.

I am 17 years old and this is my first car, so I am hoping that I'm not going to be facing issues like these long term!

Which engine is this, I'm guessing that it was a 1.2 3 cylinder, if so, yes it sounds like that can happen to these engines from way back in the 2001s - I would have thought that VW Group would have sorted all that out by now! Most techs would say that this does not happen very often and as such is not seen as a big issue and normally the engine can be retimed and no damage done! Now, when that happens to you or me etc,I think that we would take a different view of it?

From the general history/stories about these engines, I would always give them a miss, though some people never have issues with them, lucky them.

Hey sorry just saw this, yes it is the 1.2 3 cylinder.

Havent had any trouble since

The 1.2 3 cylinder engine aren’t the best,I’ve seen them slip timing chains after just an oil and filter change,they can make a horrendous noise on startup until oil pressure is up.

Morning all
Just thought I would post up re the 1.2 3 cylinder petrol engine.
I’m totally new to this setup and can’t help but think it’s misfiring during the first few minutes of idle.
Once up to temperature it runs like a sewing machine, plenty of pull through the gears and no strange noises. Any thoughts?
More info
2013 car
40,500 miles
Full long life service history inc oil changes every 10 thousand or below, using quantum long life.
Thoughts or info greatly appreciated, apologies for jumping on the existing topic.

Check the compression when cold , they are known to eat valve seats.