Watch out for this Polo GTI (AU12 YLL)

[HR97]

I recently had to return my 6R GTI to the dealer under my consumer rights due to it's ridiculous consumption. It resulted in fouled spark plugs and ignition coil causing it to misfire.

My VW garage told me that it would need a new engine or at least major work done which would cost me thousands.

I'm not going to name and shame the dealer (it might not be the same one as it is now), but as a FYI to anyone looking at a Polo GTI with the reg AU12 YLL, be warned that it needed major work, hence why I returned it. I'm not sure if the dealer will or has sorted it or not but just see this as an FYI.

[SRGTD]

When buying any car, it’s always advisable to do plenty of research; some time spent surfing the ‘net is time well spent IMO, as issues such as this will almost certainly come to light.

The 6R GTI with the 1.4 twin charger engine had 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

Using the Gov.uk MOT history checking facility, it’s interesting to see that AU12 YLL failed its MOT in 2019 - one of the reasons for failure was ‘Emissions not tested No oil showing on dipstick (8.2.1.2 (d))’, which might suggest excessive oil consumption has been an issue with this car for some time.

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.

[HR97]

When buying any car, it’s always advisable to do plenty of research; some time spent surfing the ‘net is time well spent IMO, as issues such as this will almost certainly come to light.

These are all really good points which I wish I'd known before buying it. Unfortunately, it was my first car so I think the excitement clouded my judgement. I also found this site a few months into owning it, when I was looking for a discussion about oil, which at that point I realised the problems associated with the 1.4 engine

It's definitely been a learning curve though. I'll be looking into everything I can before buying another car. I plan on getting a 6c GTI next.

[SRGTD]

Good luck with your search. I had a 6c GTI before my current model GTI+, and it was a great car.

[CarbonChaos]

It’s not only polos with this engine that have this common problem

A work colleague had the same issue with a Skoda fabia vrs so it was rejected and a new replacement was supplied by the dealer fast forward 25k the second car had the same issue .

At that point he had had enough so bought a octavia VRS estate

The 6C has the 18t engine and is a great car