2005 VW Polo - Exhaust valve failure. Full VWSH

[DavidC1980]

Hi, I'm hoping the collective wisdom and experience here may be able to help me with a problem that has become quite major rather quickly.

 

We have a 2005 VW Polo 1.4 Petrol which has been running poorly for the last couple of weeks. Upon inspection by a VW dealer yesterday the diagnosis is low compression on cylinder 2, leaking (burnt, worn, cracked? I dunno) exhaust valve. The quote for repair is £3000, the value of the car is about £3000.

 

Some history on the car:

 

2005 55 Reg, 84,000 miles, kept under extended VW warranty until mid 2009, full VW main deal service history.

 

In 2009 it had a coil fail, which by the time it was diagnosed and repaired by the dealer (rather than just 'clearing the fault code') it had destroyed the catalytic converter which therefore needed replacing under the warranty claim too.

 

My nagging suspicion is that the damage to the exhaust valve could have all stemmed from that coil failure in 2009. If the unburnt fuel igniting in the exhaust can destroy the cat, could it also have damaged the exhaust valves too, starting the problem that we're now faced with?

 

The main problem is that this is my girlfirend's car and through her work car allowance she needs to change the car when it's 8 years old. Therefore we're faced with the dilemma of spending £3k now to sell it for less next year. Unless we can get this fixed under a retrospective claim on the old warranty or get significant (90%) goodwill from VW our only option is to scrap the car and get a new one.

 

Any thoughts and advice will be massively appreciated.