Advise me on the VW 2.0t

I'm seriously considering ~2010 and newer VW GTI/GLI/CC with the 2.0t manual for my next daily driver.  I know they drive really well, and I know the 2.0t underwent some fairly major evolution over the last 15 years or so. 

I already passed on a clean '12 CC because the tensioner upgrade had not been done.  I really liked the way it drove, although I think I'd probably like the GTI practicality better in the long run.   I'm trying to cut through the chatter and answer the following:

1)  Any common motor-related issues to watch out for other than cam tensioner failure, carbon buildup, and the high-pressure fuel pump?

1a)  Are these things easily rebuildable if the tensioner does go?  Seems like the solution for most people is to buy a used one and drop it in.

1b)  I've seen in a few places that the cam tensioner is upgraded on 2013-up cars and that it's no longer a worry.  Can anyone confirm?  If I find an earlier car that's been updated with the new tensioner, is everything gravy?

2)  My experience with VW is limited, but I know in the early '00s they had a reputation for terrible electronic and electrical issues.  Is this still a big issue on the later cars?  Is there a point in time where I don't want to look at any earlier cars because I'll get a tan from the check-engine light?

3)  I'm interested in anecdotal evidence (good or bad) from anyone who owns or has owned one.

I have a '11 GTI with ~110k on it, bought it at 17k.  Love the car as a whole.  Comfortable enough.  Fun enough.  Good enough mileage - it's kind of a Goldilocks car in that respect.

Maintenance:

Intake manifolds are, give or take, garbage.  I need to replace mine, and it's been replaced twice already.  Something about the flapper/sensor  - honestly haven't looked into what about it goes bad.  Need to have a special tool to pull out/reinstall injectors - this will be the first time I've had to replace it myself.

Carbon - I think this is a problem with most new DI motors that don't have an injector to clean off the intake valves.  Will service at the same time as the manifold.

Coil packs - Internet says to replace the stock ones with the red guys from an R8.  Get OE quality stuff - the off brand parts have a poor record.

Misfires - can be caused by any/all of the above 3.

So after 6 years of ownership - I still love the car.  It's my first "modern" car, and the only one I ever bought with a warranty.  I think finding a used (and unmolested) one, with the tensioner replaced is probably the sweet spot as far as these cars go.

Ha, and tensioners.  Yup, those are bad.

Mine hasn't kicked the bucket, knock on wood.  I need to replace it now for peace of mind.  I think the final iteration of the tensioner came out ~2014/2015.  They still fail, but much less often.

MUCH less "typical vw stuff" than Mk4 and Mk5 fsi. Always keep coils with you, but other than that most problems are minor. As said tensioner and intake manifold are the most common things as well as carbon cleaning. Seems like later motors are better for carbon too as they've changed the vvt and fueling tuning.

The 2010-2014s are a lot more reliable than the 200X models. Yes, the tensioner problem is real. I deceded to have the tensioner and chains replaced on my GTI a couple months ago even though it only had 45k on it. $1600 later hopefully I won't have to worry about it anymore. The stock coil packs went out on my car (right after I tuned it of course) and I replaced them with the R8 red tops. I haven't had an issue since. As far as carbon build up goes I've read that if you can drive the car at 3k+ rpm for 20 minutes or more at a time that it isn't an issue. I commute and *usually* I can keep the car in that rpm range for a decent chunk of my drive so I'm not too worried about it. 

Around 2010 I looked at buying a used Passat or Jetta wagon. At the time there were tons of them available relatively cheap with 50-60k miles. It turns out that the factory warranty was 6 years and 60k miles. People were dumping them because they were having electrical and engine failures. I went to look at a ~2006 Passat Turbo wagon and asked the guy if he had servie records for it. He pulled out a folder that was 2-3" thick. The radio had been replaced 3 times IIRC. Needless to say I decided to go a different direction. 

My solution was to avoid the problem plagued 2.0T and get the 2.5. It's a workhorse engine but suffers none of the debilitating maladies of the horrendous turbo engines.

Either that or get a diesel is the only way I'd own a VW. My local VW guru also instructs everyone to avoid the 2.0T.

ddavidv said:

My solution was to avoid the problem plagued 2.0T and get the 2.5. It's a workhorse engine but suffers none of the debilitating maladies of the horrendous turbo engines.

Either that or get a diesel is the only way I'd own a VW. My local VW guru also instructs everyone to avoid the 2.0T.

Came here to basically say this - I avoid any gasser VW with a turbo. I've had 7 VW's in my life over the last 25 years. I buy carefully and with lots of research. 

Agree on the 2.5.  We got my wife a 2009 2.5 Jetta wagon and it's been great. We've only put 50k on it, but the only non routine maintenance was coil packs.  It developed a hesitation under high load. Packs and plugs later, runs crazy smooth.  I've considered replacing my GTI with a 2.5 motor Jetta/Golf/Passat and run cheap gas and not worry about intakes or chain tensioners, but I hassle of selling and they buying a replacement isn't worth it.  Boost is nice, but I could get over it.

Damn, I'm getting old.