Hi Guys.
I searched google and also here but could not find a thread with my concern.

I am rather skint and been looking at Ford Focus 2011 1.6 vs VW Golf 2011 1.4 TSI
The Ford is cheaper and more familiar (had two of those already)
The Dub is better driving, better resale value and, dare I say, more economic on fuel.

MY question is, since I am looking at 8 year-old cars, is the TSI still a good bet?

Sorry, but I am not a cars guy, I do recall reading somewhere in the 90's that turbines 
wear out engines and small engines wear out more (more rpm).

Ideally, looking for advice from someone in my position, not "yeah, I had my TSI 5 years since new, no problems! "

Is it the 122ps 1.4 TSI you're looking at?  They're not too bad for reliability tbh, more likely to have a knackered coil pack than a knackered turbo.  The older ones were both turbo and supercharged and were full of issues, hence VW dropping the supercharger and keeping it just as a turbo on the 122ps.   The Mk6 Golf is nice, but feels really dated compared to a mk3 Focus and doesn't offer the same level of spec in equivalent trims.  I've currently got a Mk6 myself but the 2.0 TDI.  Are you after an auto btw?  The DSG is a better box than the Powershift!

Which 1.6 Focus are you looking at?  The Ti-VCT or the EcoBoost?  The Ti-VCT is cheap to buy and realiable, but slow and boring, and not overly cheap to run either.  The EcoBoost costs more to run and does have a few common faults but is a more interesting and fun engine.

I'm afraid with the 2011 year I am not getting into the mark 3 (anyway, my budget is damn small). So no tivct or ecoboost, I am talking about the Zetec 1.6.

I do lots of short runs so Diesel probably doesn't make sense?

I don't like autos. Lucky for me, manuals are cheaper anyway.

2011 is well into Mk3 production, any Mk2s will be late registered and fairly rare, they stopped production in 2010.  Most likely be the Ti-VCT engine in those as well, don't think they kept the older 1.6 that late in Mk2 production?

You could look at the 1.8 diesel Mk2, the didn't have a DPF so short journeys aren't so much of an issue.  But generally any diesel with a DPF won't cope with short journeys.

How low is your budget?  The 1.4 TSI Golfs are still holding a lot of value around here at least.

Isn't this a Mk2?
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201809130461048
I mean, cars like this from 2011 aren't rare at all 🙂

I realise that due to my search criteria, I must be blocking all the tarted-up mk2's and early mk3's.
My budget is around 3000. Which normally means 3500 but, the more my current HERO of a car (Astra I bought for 300 from a scrap yard) carries on, the more I can set aside for a car.
So, maayyybe I can muster up for a good deal on a basic Golf TSI 1.2

12 hours ago, draxdomax said:

Isn't this a Mk2?
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201809130461048
I mean, cars like this from 2011 aren't rare at all 🙂

I realise that due to my search criteria, I must be blocking all the tarted-up mk2's and early mk3's.
My budget is around 3000. Which normally means 3500 but, the more my current HERO of a car (Astra I bought for 300 from a scrap yard) carries on, the more I can set aside for a car.
So, maayyybe I can muster up for a good deal on a basic Golf TSI 1.2

Yeah that's a Mk2, registered in early 2011 but was actually built in mid 2010, as said they didn't build any in 2011. 

The most basic Mk6 Golf came with an 80bhp non-turbo 1.4 engine in the S model but that is very sparse!  Can be had quite cheap though.

£3k looks a bit optimistic for a 2011 car of Focus/Golf size, would you consider a repaired write off?  Cat N can push the prices down considerably without any structural or safety issues.

 

Can seem to find reasonable 2011 1.6 Focus at 3500
I realise you get what you pay for - hard to beat the whole market 🙂

I understand now that the 1.4-122 TSI doesn't have any special reliability issues (like the TFSI might have).
How about the 1.2 TSI (which seems more possible in my price range) - isn't it a lot of stress on a tiny engine?
(I realise this opens another branch: 1.2-85 vs 1.2-105) 

P.S (yeah, this IS a vw question but the vw forums are dead 🙂 )

The 1.2 TSi isn't bad in the Fabia or Polo, but it doesn't really have enough power for the heavier Golf.  I don't know of any major common faults with them though.    

Thanks for the directions. I'll shop around see what works for me.
Cheers