It's fulfilled the design life of a modern car, and i doubt anyone here expected anything in the way of help from the dealer or maker unless the vehicle had a seriously low mileage and the mother of all main dealer service histories, even Toyota would have most likely said no unless exceptional circs.

As above, get a decent indy to rebuild the current engine, or find a good used unit and get it fitted.

Not much sympathy in the above posts. I too would have expected better with a full VW SH, and I didn't think the 2.0TSi suffered the same faults as the 1.4 twin-charger.

You have no claim against VW. You say that the servicing dealers should have told you about the fault - do you know if there was a technical service bulletin advising some remedial action, or any other advisory notes issued to VW service agents? If the service agents have failed to notify you regarding advice from the manufacturer then you could have a claim. Those TSBs etc are not generally in the public domain.Anecdotal quotes on the internet about failures in other cars don't count.

You can't claim that VW or their agents are responsible for the dangerous position you were put in by the failure. Cars fail for many reasons, and even with much more catastrophic results than you suffered, there is almost no redress agasint the manufacturer or service agents. There are no manufacturers that produce failure-proof cars

I'd get the car repaired outside the VW network, by a specialist. If the fault is that common, there is probably a forum that has advice on who is suitable.

The OP may still have a memory of the notorious TV ad that said "If only everything was as reliable as a Volkswagen".

Many people had this imprinted on their subconscious and the reality that a VW is no better than many other makes is not widely believed. Does it raise buyers expectations, so VW prices are higher than Skoda or Seat?

There were at least two service bulletins, TPI 2025206 and TPI 2024866.

I think you mean belt cam cars - chains are meant to last the lifetime of the engine generally, as long as they are kept well oiled.

Well now you mention it, my MB indy was about as unimpressed as i've ever seen him once, when he discovered that it's best to change the single link chain as fitted to the Mitsubishi supplied 1.8 engines as found in mid noughties Mercs at round 80k miles.

Personally i'm just as happy with a belt drive, so long as the vehicle has been designed with long term maintenance in mind and not just ease of assembly.

And isnt the 'lifetime' construed as 6 years?