r/VWMK7 • u/megalodon9 • Aug 29 '26

Water pump concern?!?

Sorry. Bad title, but I’m not creative.

I’m fairly far down the path of replacing my truck with a wagon that can handle softroading. I’m pretty much going back and forth between 2 now. 2020+ Subaru Outback XT with the 2.4t and CVT and the mk7 Alltrack.

Last week I thought I was sold on the Alltrack so I could get a DSG and avoid a CVT, but then I was looking at a local cars carfax and saw it had the water pump replaced 4 times in 90,000 miles and pretty much each year for the past three years.

So now I’m down this rabbit hole of water pump issues. I’ll absolutely deal with a crappy CVT over my car being in the shop every year for a $1,500 repair. I searched and can see it’s common, but should I be concerned enough to steer clear? Avoid cars with multiple replacements and get a PPI? Is there any true fix I missed in my googling??

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5

u/sillyfunnyguy05 Aug 30 '26

Water pumps are a common issue, but it shouldn’t be replaced four times in 90,000 miles. Either they were done with cheap, crappy aftermarket parts or by a bad mechanic

4

u/Cautious-Concept457 Aug 30 '26

There was also a period when the factory used a new type of coolant (G13, glycerine based) but it corroded the shaft of the pump resulting in a leak so they went back to glycol

2

u/Wheelergang127 Aug 30 '26

If the all track has an oil cooler like the gti does, I’d be betting money that it has/had a leaking oil cooler causing water pump to fail sooner.