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[henryd]

So what have you done to the black pussy that killed it ?

[TheBoy]

you didn't give is 3 rings to let us know you got back safe 
Hope all is well 

All good, went straight to bed when I got home.  Didn't even shower off london before going to bed.

[TheBoy]

So what have you done to the black pussy that killed it ?

You know the pink sticky liquid in the engine?  Apparently it doesn't work too well if its all dumped in a big huge lump on the A3.

As to why, well, the engine is French. Ask Albs how good the french are at keeping fluids in engines


Looks like I'll be ordering a replacement stat housing, as a tunnie style gaffer tape job isn't going to hold all the pieces together .  Just need to pull it apart first, to confirm

[Migv6 le Frog Fan]

Should have kept the Omega. 

[Nick W]

Should have kept the Omega. 

Yeah, they never leak essential fluids. Although you do have to remove the engine, cooling system and diff to state that.

[johnnydog]

For those unfamiliar with Kevin Bloody Wilson, and are not easily offended by an Aussie folk singer…

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Ao5Kq0hJwzY

Another of his masterpieces - brilliant! Now the kids are grown they agree too...
https://youtu.be/qz_qE925uJY

[Migv6 le Frog Fan]

Should have kept the Omega. 

Yeah, they never leak essential fluids. Although you do have to remove the engine, cooling system and diff to state that.

In 15 years I have been let down twice by Omegas. Aux. belt tensioner collapsed first time. Crank sensor gave out after 170,000 miles the second.
If I was going to spend serious money on a newish car, I wouldnt touch JLR products with a barge pole.

[Nick W]

Should have kept the Omega. 

Yeah, they never leak essential fluids. Although you do have to remove the engine, cooling system and diff to state that.

In 15 years I have been let down twice by Omegas. Aux. belt tensioner collapsed first time. Crank sensor gave out after 170,000 miles the second.

I didn't say they're particularly unreliable, just incontinent. I've yet to see a V6 that wasn't filthy from a combination of oil and coolant leaks.


And I'd buy a Jaguar long before a Mercedes, BMW or Audi.

[Doctor Gollum]

BMWs are ok as long as they don't have VANOS and you treat all the plastic parts as service items.

But I agree, Jag goes ahead of VAG in the preference list.

[Nick W]

BMWs are ok as long as they don't have VANOS and you treat all the plastic parts as service items.

But I agree, Jag goes ahead of VAG in the preference list.

They've been using VANOS on I6s since about 1994, so that means going back to totally used-up cars. And the M50 badly needed VANOS. Nor should we forget that head gasket failure killed a lot of the earlier sixes.


The plastic cooling parts are due to prioritising production costs over even short term durability, which has killed off bigger manufacturers that didn't have The Ultimate Marketing Machine behind them. BMW is still a small niche company compared to most car manufacturers, so their continued survival is actually quite impressive.

[Doctor Gollum]

I was being slightly facetious 

The M54 is a pretty decent lump and they actually drive well. But I would rather push a BMW whilst eating mashed potato, semolina and custard* than suffer a VAG product.

*The mere thought of any of those makes me feel queasy.

[johnnydog]

I was being slightly facetious 

But I would rather push a BMW whilst eating mashed potato, semolina and custard* than suffer a VAG product.

*The mere thought of any of those makes me feel queasy.

If you feel so queasy about VAG products, do you have any real time experience of their vehicles to make these judgements or comments?
I have owned 3 different Audi performance models since 2007 and 3 others in the family, and they are, in my experience, an excellent product with good engines and build quality. I'm not saying they are fault free, but is any vehicle?
If your thoughts are so low about a brand, surely some evidence or reasons, or even actual knowledge or experience to back up your thoughts would no doubt be welcomed.......

[Doctor Gollum]

In no particular order:

The most unreliable new car I have ever owned was a VAG product. Not helped by utterly incompetent main dealers. Recovered more times in two years than the ex plod Omega that replaced it, and I owned that seven years and it covered twice the mileage of the new car in that time.

On which planet is fitting the timing gear at the back of the engine a good idea? And then selling the lump as a sound marine engine. With stern drives.

Had the misfortune to get roped into a couple of potentially straightforward jobs on next doors Octavia VRS. Thanks to the ridiculous way the various excess of plumbing is routed and attached, everything is either visible but inaccessible or accessible but not until you have pulled the air intake and half removed the fuel plumbing. And as for the rear discs, the vented ones require the calipers to be removed to get the discs out. Only you can't get to the calipers without removing the lower shock bolt and dropping the arm, only there isn't enough room to remove the lower shock bolt because it was fitted before the hub.

The 3.6 petrol sounds like a three cylinder diesel, and the injector clatter is so bad that you feel it as much as you hear it. Even inside the car.

Hit any larger VAG product a couple of inches behind the NCAP side impact point and it will probably tear the floor where the rear squab crossmember is welded to it. 2/3 door cars are less prone to this.

A set of injectors on the 4 pot diesel cost more than a new Omega engine.

Oh, and I don't like them. Which is my opinion, because that's how I feel about them. That's why it's called an opinion. Not asking you to agree with it, or even understand it.

[johnnydog]

So you don't like them .
You are certainly entitled to your opinion.
There are millions of satisfied customers / owners, including repeat customers worldwide of VAG products.
Having personally owned numerous different makes in the VAG Group since 2001,  and driven literally 1000's of them, from Seat to Porsche, I have never experienced any issues worthy of debate with regard to poor design / manufacture, remotely like those you outlined.
Some have issues with certain aspects of particular vehicles based on experiences, no matter what make, whereas others have good experiences of the same with trouble free motoring. Maybe you are one of the unlucky ones.

[Doctor Gollum]

Brainwashed sheeple springs to mind and I would wager most are on PCPs

Arguably the Altea XL wasn't designed to manage 135k miles in 24 months. And for a five seater quasi estate the suspension is identical to everything from an A3/Leon to the Passat estate. You only have to glance at an Octavia Paramedic car to see just how inadequate it is.

On the plus side, the underside plastics are cheap to replace. 

It served a purpose, but I wouldn't repeat the exercise. And should I find myself in the market for a nearly new executive express, it won't be VAG. That said, for a posh Superb, Bentley make a nice saloon.