The combined housing of the water pump and the thermostat is plastic, and it is bolted directly to the hot engine block. The many heat and cool cycles warp it, it becomes brittle, and then it develops a hairline crack: the fault is almost always the housing, not the pump itself. The signs are slowly disappearing coolant with no visible puddle, the coolant level light, a sweet smell from the engine bay, and later a pink stain under the car. The repair means replacing the pump and the housing together, and the intake manifold has to come off for it: 4 to 6 hours of work. It shows up on model years 2015 to 2025.

The crankcase ventilation (PCV) of the third generation 1.8/2.0 TSI fails less often than its predecessors, but it is not faultless. After sustained full load acceleration, under hard braking, the return branch of the ventilation can be overloaded, and the oil ends up in the intake instead of draining. The symptoms are oil consumption, blue smoke after load, and deposits in the intake.

With direct injection the fuel does not wash the intake valves: the petrol goes into the cylinder, not behind the valve. The oil mist and soot arriving through the EGR and the crankcase ventilation therefore build up on the valve stem and head, and from 80,000 to 100,000 km they restrict the flow. Symptoms are hesitation, loss of power, a rough cold start and misfire. It is not a part failure: it is a consequence of the design, and therefore it comes back. Cleaning (walnut or dry ice blasting) helps for a few tens of thousands of kilometres.

The per cylinder ignition coil of these direct injection, turbocharged petrol engines fails. According to the Haynes service material this and similar simple electrical faults account for roughly eighty per cent of workshop visits.