On these engines the oil pump is driven by its own small toothed belt, and that belt runs in the hot engine oil. This is not the large timing belt that drives the camshafts, it is a separate belt in the lower part of the engine. In the oil the rubber hardens over time, its surface starts to crumble, and the loose particles block the suction side of the oil pump, so the oil pressure drops. If the belt snaps, the oil pump stops at once and the engine is left without lubrication within seconds. The rubber crumbs can also ruin the turbocharger and the camshaft adjuster, because they are lubricated from the same oil circuit. The maker specifies no replacement interval for this belt, so most cars still carry the one fitted at the factory, and the failures are reported above 150,000 km. Oil outside the specification and a stretched oil change speed the process up, because this belt ages in the oil. Replacing the belt itself costs between 200 and 600 euro, as long as the engine has not run without oil pressure.

The light, magnesium cased MQ200 and the MQ250, sized for higher torque, are the most widespread manual gearboxes in the transverse engine VAG models. Both have the same two weak points, and both depend on use.

The EGR valve and its cooler block up with soot and oily deposits; the particulate filter cannot regenerate on short urban trips. The signs are reduced power, a warning light, and frequent regeneration. The software update after the diesel emissions affair made the EGR operate more often, which accelerated the phenomenon: the maker gave goodwill repairs in several cases.

On this engine the water pump is driven by the timing belt, and the plastic impeller of the pump, along with its electronically controlled shut-off ring, is the weak point: the ring sticks, and the impeller separates from the shaft or disintegrates. The first sign is slowly disappearing coolant and heating that stays cold for a long time. The real risk is not the price of the pump: the leaking water washes the grease off the timing belt rollers, and from then on the belt is what fails. If the timing belt snaps, the engine is badly damaged inside. That is why the two are always replaced together.

The internal springs of the flywheel tire, and the two discs knock against each other. The signs are a rattling or knocking from the bellhousing at idle and when releasing the clutch pedal, and vibration through the floor. If the clutch slips without a burnt smell, that also points to the flywheel. It is worth replacing in time: a disintegrated flywheel can destroy the bellhousing too. At a clutch replacement the two go together anyway.

The trademark of the Mk2 is the Twindoor tailgate, which opens two ways: as a separate boot lid and as a full hatchback tailgate. The mechanism means more hinges and a switching mechanism, and without lubrication these seize: the tailgate runs stiffly, binds, or one of the two modes does not work at all.