VW DSG gearbox

daveyjp

Putting into N when stopped for a length of time is always recommended on a DSG. It's not a good idea to use revs to keep the hill stationary on hills either - it will wreck the clutches.

nearlyrich

I have the VW Golf Plus with this gearbox and a 2 litre diesel engine and it's fine, I previously had a Seat Altea with the same set up but it seemed to have more power. I did over 50k miles in the Altea and never had any problems with the gearbox.

ventureuk

DSG, not until they sort out the gremlins.

When it goes wrong and if it's out of warranty it can cost thousands. My last car had DSG and was the least reliable car I've owned in years, great when it worked but spent weeks in the dealers being repaired again and again. Service costs for the gearbox alone are a joke, 36,000 mile oil change £200+vat !

Sold it as soon as the warranty was up and went up the spout 24hrs later on the poor guy who bought it.

The Japs will build a reliable version in time.

Quinny_2

If I remember correctly, the DSG box was first built by Porsche many moons ago so it has been around for quite some time.

One of my favourite German cars ever to have it, was the Audi Sport Quattro E2 rally car. If only they'd had a turbo lag system invented at the time, it would have been even better.

harveybobbles

mike200 wrote: »

I have not heard of any problems with the DSG gearbox " on mass" ie more problems with this than any other type of gearbox.

that's cos they have been out about 4 years, so most of them will have been repared under warranty...

flyingscotno1

DSG is a fantastic gearbox, but as others say I'd only buy a car if VW would give a 10 year 150K warranty on it, I'd be too nervous it broke currently down. The new 7 speed is lighter and supposedly better.

I think the paddles need you to buy the sports steering wheel as an option- although really VW should provide paddles as standard.

Zanzibar

As others have mentioned there were issues with the VW DSG mechatronic control unit - see Honest John for some more details. VW were early implementers and it doesnt appear to be the most reliable on the early cars to have it installed (around '03 on).

Porsche have only just started to offer DSG in the last year or so - I wondered why they were taking so long but now I think because they just wern't happy with the reliability.

Current units are probably second or third generation by now and ok. Best is to speak directly to a mechanic in a large dealer (not the service reps) or the parts department bods - they will often give you a real idea of reliability first hand as they see hundreds of the same car and if you casually enquire about which model they think is best they will often say which to avoid.

http://www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?t=58098

ukjoel

Definately second generation and the new 7 speed setups are really third gen. I have seen several 200k plus examples of the early ones which are still going strong but these are high mileage motorway cars which have spent 90% of their life in the top gear cruising along so gearbox is barely used.

nearlyrich

ukjoel wrote: »

these are high mileage motorway cars which have spent 90% of their life in the top gear cruising along so gearbox is barely used.

That describes my driving profle LOL;)

mike200

harveybobbles wrote: »

that's cos they have been out about 4 years, so most of them will have been repared under warranty...

The DSG was launched in 2003 which is almost double your "estimation" of how long the gearbox has been in use.

Granted there are forum posts where DSG related issues have been raised, but that can be said for a number of gearboxes - including manauls, see Auto Express Forum on the Toyota Yaris (yes it is a Japanese car!!)

On the up side VW have diagnosed my ESP warning light as a failed ABS pump and are fixing FOC, also having a free MOT at the same time. I armed myself with Honest John information on Tourans and handed the service receptionist a copy. Did not even mention the Sale of Goods Act.