I'm thinking of buying a used 2006 Volkswagen Jetta. It has a 1.5 liter 20 valve engine, and I really don't know what that means. That's good, right?And is this a good used car to buy?
Are you sure its a 1.5 not 2.5 liter? the new jetta has a 2.5 liter 5 cylinder engine, each cylinder has 2 intake valves and 2 exhaust valves. Most new engines use multiple valve set ups, the old 1.8 turbo had 3 intake and 2 exhaust valves per cylinder. Yes the 20 valve engine is good.
Valves are what allow the air into the cylinders and the exhaust gasses out. Cars used to only have two valves per cylinder... one to let air in and the other to let exhaust gas out, but lately cars come with more than two per cylinder. This allows the air to come in faster (with less restriction) and the exhaust gas to exit faster. Generally the number of valves isn't important, and I have no experience with Volkswagens, so I can't tell you if that's a good model to buy. Check with the Kelly Blue Book (or any similar reference book) to determine if the condition of the car and the number of miles on it are reasonable for the asking price.
Most okorder , and check the service records for the car you are interested in buying.
Are you sure its a 1.5 liter 20 valve engine? Jetta's of that year came with a 2.5 liter 5 cylinder engine (which would have 20 valves, 4 valves per cylinder.) Basically what valves do is some open to allow air to enter the cylinder, and then some open to allow the combusted mixture of air/fuel to exit. Most vehicles (to my knowledge) have four valves per cylinder nowadays, I know it was less in the past, but I think just about all have four valves per cylinder now. Five cylinders is just one more than four, one less than six. Oh, and Jetta's are actually quite nice vehicles. I would definitely pick one up if I were in the market for a used car, and found one at a decent price.
