With the 2008 EA888 VW switched from a belt to a chain, and the tensioner of the first two generations turned out weak: as the ratchet mechanism ages it does not hold its position when the engine stops and the oil pressure disappears. The oil drains overnight and the chain goes slack. The symptom looks harmless for a long time (a short, few second rattle on a cold start as the chain slaps the guide rail), and then one day it jumps, and the engine is badly damaged inside. From then on the repair is a cylinder head or an engine rebuild. Around 2012 the maker was already fitting an improved tensioner; on the old one only replacement helps, not monitoring the noise.

The wiring harness running under the driver's seat kinks and breaks from the seat being adjusted. The sign is the airbag light staying on on the dash. With the airbag light on the system will not work in a crash, and it fails the roadworthiness test too. The part is cheap, the fault finding is the expensive bit, and many sellers mention it as "just a light".

The solenoids of the mechatronics unit wear out: slow or harsh shifting, then limp mode. A characteristic sign is the partial or complete loss of reverse. Wear of the clutch pack or the wrong spring force causes jerking and slipping. Because of the wet design it fails less often and at higher mileage than the dry DQ200, but when it does fail, it is expensive.

The Aisin automatic of the transverse engine VAG models locks the torque converter across a wide slip range, which gains on fuel consumption but loses on the life of the friction lining. The sign of wear is a vibration or "buzzing" felt at lock-up, and the lock-up cycling on and off.

The door seal ages, and the water runs into the front footwell. It stays in the foam under the carpet, so for a long time only the misting windows and the musty smell show it. The comfort control unit and several connectors run in the footwell: if they corrode, the fault is electrical from then on.

A thin wall of the mechatronics valve body can crack, which causes a loss of pressure. The typical signs: jerking and harsh shifting from 1st to 2nd at low speed, a flashing PRNDS display, then a gear engagement fault, intermittently at first.

The rear calipers seize: the pad does not release, the disc overheats and turns blue, the car pulls to one side under braking, and the fuel consumption rises unnoticed. On salted winter roads it develops faster. The symptom is easy to mistake for simple pad wear, but a seized caliper takes the disc with it, and often the wheel bearing too.

The crankcase breather carries the vapour that forms inside the engine back to the intake, and a rubber membrane regulates the pressure. Oil and heat harden this membrane until it tears, and from then on the intake draws air through the hole in it. The engine control unit does not measure that air, so the mixture goes wrong: the engine shakes at idle, stumbles when accelerating, and the fault memory gets P2279 for an intake system leak. In the other direction oil starts towards the intake, which leaves an oily film in the intercooler and on the intake pipe and speeds up the carbon build-up on the intake valves. The audible sign is a whistling or hissing noise from the engine bay, loudest at idle. The tear is reported between 60,000 and 90,000 km. On the first and second generation the breather is a separately replaceable valve (factory number 06H 103 495 AK) and costs between 80 and 400 euro; from the third generation it is built into the cam cover, so there the cover is replaced. The maker issued three versions up to 2016, and fitting the pressure variant that does not belong to the engine brings the same symptom back.

The dash shows "Error: Workshop! Only leave vehicle in position P" with an audible warning. The message appears in whatever language the car is set to, for example "Fehler: Werkstatt! Fahrzeug nur in Stellung P verlassen" in German.