VW Polo GTI 1.4 2012

[jalmey]

Hi All,

Im looking at buying a polo gti 1.4, ive saw a few on autotrader etc, and some are japan imports. Theres a couple that well kept. But is there anything i should look out for? about the engine or gearbox?
Or anything in particular when buying a japan import model?
Anything would be much appreciated

Thanks

[jalmey]

Hi All,

Im looking at buying a polo gti 1.4, ive saw a few on autotrader etc, and some are japan imports. Theres a couple that well kept. But is there anything i should look out for? about the engine or gearbox?
Or anything in particular when buying a japan import model?
Anything would be much appreciated

Thanks

[SRGTD]

The 1.4 Twin charger engine has a reputation for excessive oil consumption - not just on older cars, but this was an issue on some cars when they were brand new. There’s a 70 page discussion thread on this forum at the link below;

https://www.uk-polos.net/viewtopic.php?f=56&t=51128

This engine was also used in other VAG cars (mk2 Skoda vRS, mk1 Audi A1 185bhp, Seat Ibiza Cupra). There’s also a 21 page discussion thread over on briskoda.net forum on excessive oil consumption with this 1.4 twincharger engine in the mk2 Skoda Fabia vRS model;

https://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/3 ... on-issues/

And this post over on seatcupra.net forum regarding fundamental problems with the 1.4 twin charger engine;

https://www.seatcupra.net/forums/resour ... oblems.67/

Quite a few members on this forum who bought the 6R GTI model new had oil consumption issues, and VW’s solution in some instances was to replace the engine under warranty. The earlier (CAVE) variant of this engine was worse than the later (CTHE) version, but I seem to remember there were still issues with the later revised version too. Probably explains why VAG dropped this engine and the 6c GTI had a 1.8 turbocharged engine rather than the 1.4 twin charger.

If affordability and budget is the main reason you’re considering a 6r 1.4 GTI rather than a 6c 1.8 GTI, in your position I would personally wait until you’re in a position to consider the 6c 1.8 GTI.

As for Japanese imports in general;

• many of the Japanese brands of car (Mazda, Honda, Nissan etc.) that were originally built for the local Japanese market and then subsequently imported into the UK have less corrosion protection than cars built specifically for the UK / European markets. This is because the Japanese climate is much ‘kinder’ to cars than the UK / European climate. Whether that would mean VW would apply less corrosion protection to VW’s originally built for the Japanese market I don’t know, but it’s something worth checking out.

• There may also be issues with radio stations and sat nav maps / spoken navigation directions (if sat nav is fitted to the car(s) you’re considering) being for the Japanese market - maybe dashboard warning messages are also in Japanese? I think Japan measures distance and speed in in kilometres and kph, so the speedo may need modifying. I don’t know if the odometer can be legally converted to miles from kilometres as that might be classed as tampering with the overall distance that a car has travelled; maybe something to check.

• It would be worth doing a little research on importing cars from Japan, so you know what checks, tests and modifications need to have been carried out (e.g. such things as ensuring a car has a rear fog light and if not, fitting one) and what import-specific documentation etc. should be issued so a Japanese import car can be legally used on the UK’s roads.

[Gee40]

Hi mate

Cards on the table - my Polo is the 1.8 so I'm not an expert on the car you're looking at so I'm sure others on here will be able to give you more advice.

For me the main concerns would be excessive oil consumption ( almost impossible to check ) and the DSG gearbox. Both these concerns have probably been blown out of proportion as they are issues on a minority of cars (usually early cars re oil consumption and modified and or poorly maintained cars re the DSG )

The DSG is more of a weak point than a problem. On the 1.8 GTI, VW reduced the engines torque for the DSG version compared to the manual car as the DSG fitted couldn't cope with such high torque. As the 1.4 engine produces less torque you should be fine - I'd look for a car that has had the gearbox oil changed every 40000 miles and avoid any that have been remapped

A few cars had problems with coil packs but these should be sorted by now and some have suffered from excessive carbon build up, but again no more than any other car.

Cant help re the specific question re imported cars

Hope this helps

[SRGTD]

The OP has posted exactly the same question twice in identical discussion threads, both of which have now had replies.

Forum admin - please merge these two threads - here’s the link to the other one;

https://www.uk-polos.net/viewtopic.php? ... ba#p592553

[iichel]

The OP has posted exactly the same question twice in identical discussion threads, both of which have now had replies.

Forum admin - please merge these two threads - here’s the link to the other one;

https://www.uk-polos.net/viewtopic.php? ... ba#p592553

Excellent plan; done

[jalmey]

Hi mate

Cards on the table - my Polo is the 1.8 so I'm not an expert on the car you're looking at so I'm sure others on here will be able to give you more advice.

For me the main concerns would be excessive oil consumption ( almost impossible to check ) and the DSG gearbox. Both these concerns have probably been blown out of proportion as they are issues on a minority of cars (usually early cars re oil consumption and modified and or poorly maintained cars re the DSG )

The DSG is more of a weak point than a problem. On the 1.8 GTI, VW reduced the engines torque for the DSG version compared to the manual car as the DSG fitted couldn't cope with such high torque. As the 1.4 engine produces less torque you should be fine - I'd look for a car that has had the gearbox oil changed every 40000 miles and avoid any that have been remapped

A few cars had problems with coil packs but these should be sorted by now and some have suffered from excessive carbon build up, but again no more than any other car.

Cant help re the specific question re imported cars

Hope this helps

Thanks man, yeh it’s something i keep hearing about the oil consumption and the dgs gearbox. Its definitely something to look at and look for.
Thanks for the advice and help .