Altea - General Maintenance - 2.0TDI Sport

[cadman2k]

So the Altea's 5.5 year old and hitting 90K, given that VAG diesels seem to be good for 200K + just wondering when and if expenditure for maintenance starts becoming an issue.
I have an Impeccable Service History ( every 10K,)
In the last 3 months it just seems like I have forked out a shed load of cash in maintenance.

* Rear Coil Spring damaged (had to replace 2)
* Re-tyred - (Normal Wear & Tear)
* Replace Disks & Pads allround (First set of Disks, were not MOT failures just getting the RIm around the outside and thin so decided safety came first... Thought 90K was OK on 1 set of disks)
* Replace Cruise Control Stalk (second time)
* Replaced Boot Lock
* Replaced Wiper Blades (First time in 5.5 year)
* Replaced Both Rear wheel bearings (Rumble on One , but changed both, comes as Hub/bearing kit)
* Replaced Head Light / Side Light / Tail Bulbs - (due to couple of failures during winter

No other Issues to report and car still feels tight and solid on the road, Was considering replacing with another Seat TDI (Altea/Leon) but now this batch of mainenance is complete feel I should keep running it, ( i get 30-40K out of brake pads, based on servicing patterns so brakes should not be any issues for at least another 30K)

Had all work above carried out a main dealer as on nice deal with 20-25% discount on parts and 15-20% off labour rates so its not crazy money but its keeping the car with FSSH so if I do move on , makes it mor emarketable , Perhaps!!!

Have I been unlucky with everything coming at once or is above what you would expect with mileage ???

 

[FR+TDI]

Sounds good to me, discs/pads are wear & tear items and so are tyres, wipers & bulbs, so basically a boot lock & cruise stalk (both common) & a pair of wheel bearings, coil springs seem to be an issue on loads of cars nowadays. With the book price on Alteas not being very good and with your car sounding like a well looked after example, I'd certainly think twice about changing it.

 

[PhilOfCas]

I think you've had good value on the parts that have failed, which, like FR+ TDI says are mainly wear and tear items, so it looks like it’s the timing of expenditure rather than the actual problems being the main issue.
I'm almost in exactly the same position as yourself, same age/model, had recent rear tyre (gone misshapen, other still ok at 74k!), changed front tyres with nearly 40k on them (!), fronts again need changing soon (35k+ on them), boot lock not quite right but operates fine (well, the Mrs struggles to open it, but hey, she's a women ), cruise stalk replaced a few year ago under warranty, seems fine since (fingers crossed), just changed rear pads, discs seem fine front and rear, bulbs are bulbs, front/rear wipers changed, costly but seem to last well.
Not aware of any problem on mine with rear spring/shocks/bearings, not sure on that one for yourself, maybe that’s unlucky ?

It’d be a shame to get rid of the car and not get some use out of the money you’ve just put into it, I think overall you’ve done well so far, and sounds like there’s no reason to get a few more years of good value motoring, and basically that’s the conclusion I’ve made on my car, I’m keeping it, hope that helps.

 

[FR+TDI]

Wow! You guys are doing well on tyres! In 91k miles/4 years I've lost count of how many sets I've had! I'd guess at least 8 pairs of fronts & 3 pairs of rears!! I suppose its different when you aint paying! (company car!)

 

[pdh 14a]

Yep sounds fair to me! theres a spate of springs going on all cars at the moment! mainly due to the potholes,my mothers Clio needed a pair of springs at 42k

the cruise control stalk is an easy d i y fix,but if under warrenty then why not!

 

[techie]

Rear coil springs is a known issue, should replace the lower buffer with one of a different material to stop it happening again.

 

[techie]

the cruise control stalk is an easy d i y fix,but if under warrenty then why not!

It is pretty easy as long as the column control unit comes down nicely and the steering angle sensor resets properly.

 

[PhilOfCas]

Wow! You guys are doing well on tyres! In 91k miles/4 years I've lost count of how many sets I've had! I'd guess at least 8 pairs of fronts & 3 pairs of rears!! I suppose its different when you aint paying! (company car!)

I think it's fair to say that I'd have gone through more tyres if mine was a company car

 

[cherryone]

Interesting note this as my trusty 05 2.0tdi is only 200 miles of its 90k service too, like yours cadman mines been serviced promptly every 10k since I bought it with 18k on it.
At the moment all is running well and 'tight' on it, the only things out of routine to fail on the car since the 3yr warranty was up has been ;

Offside rear wheel bearing - common fault
Anti shudder valve - common fault
Lower offside intercooler pipe - the only reason this failed is because of the morons at a local stealer (near to hampton court!!) managed to break/bend the locking lugs on the pipe after doing the seal.
Rear wheel camber allignment - common fault
Oh and one bulb !!

So all in all I consider myself relatively lucky, as for tyres I manage to get at least 20-24k out of a set of fronts.

Am at the moment curoius to hear other thoughts as the mech. who replaced the intercooler pipe said that the turbo bearings on 'these engines' tend to start to go at approx 100k ?? (from his experience I hasten to add.)

Apart from one previous noter a while back, anyone out there gone over 100k yet in their
Altea ??

 

[cadman2k]

Altea TDI

I guess the 100K thing should depend on how hard that they have been driven... I think that they have plenty life left in them yet....
Here's an example 147K miles

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classif...r_100000_miles/sort/priceasc/page/1&logcode=p

 

[cherryone]

It's a tidy example for the mileage I give you that, fingers crossed then for at least another half a century of reliable motoring yet to come ......

 

[cadman2k]

Altea - General Maintenance

As an update to below - Car now 1 month short of 8 year old - Mileage 113K - 2 further services carried out
Items needed were
- CV Boot Replacement due to hole in boot at 100K. (for MOT)
Rear Leaking shop absorber @ 110K (Replaced both) - Replaced Wiper Blades at 110K (that's 2 sets in 8 year)
110K service also through up Console Bushes - Split - (I examined and they have tiny hairline cracks) - Apparent Common Problem on VAG Motors- Even Cars with 45K so cannot complain - Will probably just replace wishbones as replacement bushes take more labour so wishbone replacement is easier. Engine 100% - Still strong - - Never had an oil light low on this diesel.
Would consider above to be pretty minimal maintenance in the last 2 year.

Was thinking of a New Car at some stage - (May just go down the SEAT UK Stock Route) but value probably now 3K Private or 2.5K Trade in , Anyone traded similar car in lately? What Price did you get?

 

[Viking]

Traded mine last December. 2.0ltr TDI Sport, 140k miles 10 months MOT, no tax, went in at £2500. Trader gave it a valet and sold it next week for £2995.

 

[robint]

My 2.0fsi sport auto is 7 years old and 70K and has had the common problems:
Bushes as above (just done after two MOT warnings)
Radio auto switching on (under warranty a long time ago)
CV boot split
Boot lock (still just working...)
Drivers window (currently shut and wires removed to prevent opening till fixed!!)
Cruise control stalk (DIY repair 30K ago and still OK)
Rear bulb holders
6 Ignition coil packs (all under warranty) - 2 early on, 4 recently on recall
3rd set of front tyres, 2nd set of rears.
No front pads yet but almost through second set of rears, no disc changes

Uses no oil, handles fine and everything else still works - its comfy and will carry almost anything and SWMBO is very happy to drive it as well. And so far no water inside, touch wood! Will be keeping a while yet.

 

[abels]

How replace the wiper rear arm?

* Replaced Wiper Blades (First time in 5.5 year)

Can tell me how can I replace the wiper rear arm from Altea XL, please? After I remove cap I don't know what do next. Have to pull? Or unscrew anything? Thank you.