Elegance 2.0Tdi

Good all rounder spoiled by consistent unreliability

I bought this car to take me into retirement, and got it from a main dealer at 3 years old and with 22,000 miles on the clock. We wanted a roomy car, economical to drive, and which would tow a 1300kg caravan occasionally. Overall, we do about 11,000 miles per year, maybe use the caravan twice, and very rarely use it for short journeys, so it always warms up nicely - in short, it has had an easy life.

In the 4 1/2 years we've had it, the cruise control has failed, the rear parking sensors have failed, and the turbo needed replacement at 40,000 miles. Last year an air intake device failed leaving us to drive 80 miles home in "limp home" mode. Took it to the dealer and he booked it in for the following week and said we could drive it home in the meantime. On returning to the dealer the car broke down completely and needed recovery - the only time I have ever had to do this in over 800,000 miles of driving. It had to be in the only Skoda I have ever owned!

Last weekend the ABS and brake system warning lights stayed on as we left for a 450 mile round trip. Having checked the brake fluid level was OK I concluded that at worst the ABS might not work and adjusted my driving and braking style accordingly and drove it anyway, and later in the day the engine wouldn't turn off even when the key was removed from the ignition, and the only way to stop it was to stall it. On arriving home the engine turned off as normal, although the ABS and brake warning lights stayed on. The following day I went to take it to the dealer and everything was normal, and no warning lights stayed on at all - so nothing I could demonstrate to the dealer so I didn't bother to take it in. Neither my wife nor I has any faith in the car anymore - and we would hesitate to take it abroad, so we're looking for a change. This is the most unreliable car we have owned in over 40 years of motoring. These costs are in addition to the normal wear and tear, including replacement of the Cam Belt after 4 years and a leaky shock absorber - which is fair wear and tear on UK roads these days. And the car has only done 76,000 miles.

Shame really - it drives nicely, is comfortable and when it works it delivers 60mpg at 70mph on a run, but the repair costs of over £3,000 in under 5 years in addition to routine annual servicing have made a farce of the fuel economy. We're now looking for a replacement with a chain cam engine and probably Japanese or Korean. We'll certainly have nothing from the VAG group. Meanwhile my wife's 2002 Toyota Yaris 1.3 which has had a hard life as a stop start car for use by a health visitor around town carries on without missing a beat with over 80,000 miles on the clock, on the original clutch, and with never having done any more than put fuel, oil and water in it and replace brake pads and tyres. Remarkable!

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