I just returned a 19k miles, 3 yo TA Panda 4x4 to the dealership, after it didn't run properly when warmed up and I had found that the wrong oil was on the receipt for the last service. Workshop manager confirmed that the vehicle information system says to use 5W40 instead of 0W30 and they used a standard Ultra S instead of Selenia.
I did not wait to see how it ran after the oil change, as there were other things wrong with the car: undisclosed hit to the OS front suspension, brake disks 0.2mm off the wear limit, clutch judder (dual mass flywheel?) and went for a new one.
I would not be too worried about the TwinAir unit if the car has been well looked after, but would factor in a potential change of the unit, in the long run. The engine itself should be fairly robust.
I agree that modern engines are not as reliable as older ones, as there are more things to go wrong. An old 1.8 litre 4-cylinder NA engine is bulletproof, but anything with a turbo will need replacing expensive parts around 100k miles.
The twinair unit is actually quite "cheap" for what it is, and is easily replaceable (easier than the tappets under an overhead cam).
But it is definitely something to be aware of.
I did not wait to see how it ran after the oil change, as there were other things wrong with the car: undisclosed hit to the OS front suspension, brake disks 0.2mm off the wear limit, clutch judder (dual mass flywheel?) and went for a new one.
I would not be too worried about the TwinAir unit if the car has been well looked after, but would factor in a potential change of the unit, in the long run. The engine itself should be fairly robust.
I agree that modern engines are not as reliable as older ones, as there are more things to go wrong. An old 1.8 litre 4-cylinder NA engine is bulletproof, but anything with a turbo will need replacing expensive parts around 100k miles.
The twinair unit is actually quite "cheap" for what it is, and is easily replaceable (easier than the tappets under an overhead cam).
But it is definitely something to be aware of.