It's no joke AliExpress – you can buy a real Volkswagen engine

Everyone knows that on AliExpress you can buy almost anything you can think of, from the usual products we see on store shelves to the completely absurd. Most of them are incredibly cheap, but the next step is that on AliExpress you can even buy a complete Volkswagen engine.

Yes, you read that right. A real engine for a car. But, YouTuber DAP DIY warns in a new video that buying these engines should be done with caution, he writes the drive.

Engines that have been used in everything from the Polo to the Golf GTI, and even the Audi, are plentiful on AliExpress, but the Volkswagen engines that are for sale are mainly versions of the EA888 platform, which included engines from 1.8 liters to 2.0 liters and has powered everything from the regular Polo to the Golf GTI and Audi.

Some of these engines were turbocharged from the factory, but it seems that none of the engines found on AliExpress have turbos. They are simply the upper and lower parts of the assembled engines. According to DAP DIY, these engines are actually leftover engines from VW's Chinese factories that were not used in production, but somehow made their way to the market, and their prices vary from around a thousand euros to several thousand euros.

However, if you are thinking of buying one of these to install a GTI engine in your project, be aware that it may be very different from the EA888 engines you are used to.

This doesn't mean they're worthless, but you should be careful. Volkswagen has made several variations of the EA888 engines for different cars and for different markets, so there can be big differences within them.

The smaller versions of the engines, for example, have smooth shafts, which is fine for economy cars with lower power. However, for performance cars like the GTI and Golf R, VW has used reinforced shafts. While it's possible that the one you buy will have stronger internals, no one can guarantee that. Just be aware that you could be taking a risk and end up with an engine that doesn't suit your needs, warns DAP DIY.

This doesn’t mean that these engines on AliExpress are worthless. Some of them have reinforced shafts and stronger internals, and can be used for high-performance projects. However, even if they don’t have these parts, they can be used for their blocks or cylinders. If you’re already planning on replacing the shaft, tracks, gears, and everything else, these engines can be a cheap option to get a new lower engine part.

In this case, it would probably be better to find a damaged GTI with low miles and pull the engine out, concludes DAP DIY. /Telegraph/