16 SpecialIssue http://www.autoexpress.co.ukVW T-ROC
SCOTT F
Glasgow, Lanarkshire
SCOTTbought his T-RocinJuly.“The
car had been warmed up prior to my
arrival at the dealer.The next day,I
drove it from cold and it would judder
ferociously.Itdid this with enough
force to move me in my seat.”SEAT LEON
STUART
Doncaster, South Yorkshire
STUART’SLeon is “veryhesitant below
20mph, and stalls in second gear
even with agood amount of revs”.
The fault is intermittent and, unlike
many other affectedcars, Stuart’sis
“worse in hotterweather than cold”.AUDI Q
SIMON STROUD
Basingstoke, Hampshire
“I BOUGHT anew Audi Q2 with this
engine, which had the fault,and which
Isubsequently rejectedwithin the
first30days. It appearsthe faulty
vehicle went on to be listedfor sale
as an Audi Approved used car.”VW GOLF
DAVID BALL
Ravenshead,Nottingham
LIKE Simon, David wasable to reject
his Golf forafull refund, but his
experiencehas dented his faith in
VW.“We have previously owned
seven Golfsand twoAudi A3s;we
won’t be buying any more,”hesaid.SKODA KAROQ
BOB CRACKNELL
Stowmarket, Suffolk
DESPITE asoftwarepatch, Bobsays:
“When you startthe car,the rev
counter is up and down likeayoyo.”
He tried to rejecthis car but this was
declined. “The issue wasdescribed
as a‘characteristic’, not afault.”1.5 TSI EVO ENGINE
VOLKSWAGEN replaced its1.4-litreengine with the
1.5-litreTSI EvoinMarch 2017 with the Golf,and now
offersthe motor with anumber of models, including
the SEAT Ateca, Skoda Karoq and Audi AOFFICIAL
CASE STUDIES The problems that our readershaveencounteredNEWS EngineproblemunresolvedHugo Griffiths
[email protected]
@hugo_griffiths
ASIGNIFICANTnumberofownersof
VolkswagenGroupcarsfittedwiththe
firm’s1.5-litreTSIEvoenginehavebeen
experiencingserious‘kangarooing’issues.
WhileVWhasbeenawareoftheproblemfor
months,afixhasyettobedeveloped.
ThefaultaffectsmainstreamVWGroup
cars,andAutoExpresshasbeencontacted
bySEAT, Skoda,VWandAudiownersabout
theirexperiences.Onlineforumsarealso
filledwithcomplaintsaboutthesameissue.
Theproblemonlyappearsinmanualcars
withthe1.5-litreTSIpetrolengine;DSGautos
aresaidtobeunaffected.Ownersreporta
judderingaction,whichismostnoticeable
inlowergearswhenmotorsarecold.
Onereadersaidthe‘kangarooing’isso
pronouncedthatitmoveshiminhisseat,
whileanotherreportedtheircarcanstallat
junctionsandroundaboutsunlesstheydrop
theclutch andgettheenginerevvingagain.
Whilealltheissuesrelatetothesame
engine/gearboxcombination,dealershave●‘Kangarooing’issue hasexistedfor seven months
●VW admitstoproblem, but doesn’thave afix“Ownersreportajuddering action. One readersaid it is so pronounced it moves him in his seat“No end in sightfor owners
of judderingVWGroupcars
respondedinconsistently.Somehave
allowedownerstorejecttheircars,others
havenot.Softwarepatcheshavebeen
appliedtosomevehicles,whileanumberof
ownershavebeentoldnosuch patchexists.
Insomecasesretailershaveinformed
customerstheissueisa“characteristic”of
thecar,whileothershavebeenmoreopen
aboutthesignificanceoftheproblem.
We contactedVWinDecemberabout
thefault,andthefirmsaiditwas“awareof
reportsfromcustomerscomplainingthat
somevehiclesfeaturingthe1.5-litreTSIEvo
enginewithmanualgearboxcanbeslightly
hesitantinthecold-runningphase”.VW
insisted,however,thatthisissuewasrare,
andpromiseditwasdevelopingasolution.
Sevenmonthslaterafixstillhasn’tbeen
developed.VWconsidersthenumberof
carsaffectedis“small”,andsaysitis
“workingwiththeUKauthoritiestoprovide
solutions”.Thefirmaddedaffectedowners
shoulddiscusstheirissueswithdealers.
Butwithmixedmessagescomingfrom
franchises,andnosolutioninsight,readers
sayVWshoulddomoretoresolvetheissue.I’ve been told all Ican
do is wait and contact
VW customer services.
I’mstill waiting.Iwas blamed forusing
low-grade fuel. In the
last week the dealer has
admittedafix is due.From reading online
forums, ownershave
been putting up with the
problem formonths.My wifeand Ifeel this
problem needs to be
highlighted, and
addressed urgently.Iamappalled acar
maker can continue
to sell this engine
across itsrange.