I've said it here, and I'll say it again; I bought our Bluestar back in
'04, with the express intention of swapping in a TDI in the near term.  I'm
not a fan of the WBX, flat engines or even gas engines at all, but having
said that, this thing just motors on and has really never given me
reliability problems that would necessitate a swap or even a replacement.
I've never had it or the transaxle out of the vehicle in the decade I've
owned it, and even though I do have its ALH replacement sitting in my shop,
I have no reason to do so given its resolute persistence.  It's earned my
grudging respect one gritty mile after the next. I just can't seem to climb
aboard the WBX bashing bandwagon, since I've never once had a bad
experience with one.  I should mention that my previous van, an '88 GL,
gave the exact same service while we owned it, as it did for our inlaws who
bought and drove it for another decade afterward.