Clutch/gearbox failure with Skoda Yeti - normal to fail at 90,000 miles?

flipperg22

I'm posting for my sister who is having trouble with her Skoda Yeti.  Car was purchased from new from her local Skoda dealer in 2014, and now has around 90,000 on the clock.

She's recently broken down with the car not going into gear and had to be towed home, and her local Skoda garage initially said that it needed a new clutch - cost around £1,000 to fix.  They've now come back to say that the gearbox has a hole in it too, so it won't be worth repairing as the cost could be at least £4,000 and they should start looking for a new car!  Now this gearbox is the second one the car's already had, as apparently it needed a new gearbox at 40,000.  This seems really bad to me - bad enough that it should be going at 90,000 but this is the second gearbox within that time, so surely this can't just be wear and tear.

What are her rights regarding getting Skoda to sort it out - I imagine her warranty period will have long run out.  On checking the Skoda Yeti forums, there appear to be a number of people complaining about gearbox and clutch issues (see link below), with a known fault with the clutch pressure plate causing subsequent damage to the gearbox - I wonder if this is the same issue with my sister's car.

https://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/426570-premature-clutch-and-gearbox-failure/

Any suggestions would be welcome - I'm no car expert, and nor is my sister, but this seems really poor to me - or has she just been really unlucky?

AdrianC

90k from a clutch wouldn't be unreasonable - but, presumably, it had one with the last gearbox, so this one's only got 50k on it.

But if the issue is a hole in the gearbox casing, the question has to be where it appeared from. Gearboxes rarely suddenly spontaneously gain holes, and when they do there's usually a lot of oil on the ground... Did something escape from the inside, or did a rock or some road debris try to get in...?

The link you posted is about the clutch breaking up, and a fragment punching a hole in (presumably) the bellhousing. Hence no oil.

If t'were me, I'd get it away from the Skoda main dealer, and get a local indie garage to chuck a used box in it. Shouldn't be hard to find one, especially if it's a 2wd Yeti - it'll be a bog-standard Golf 'box.

Even if it's 4wd, that's not the end of the world. There's not that huge a shortage of 4wd cars using the same mechanicals, either - especially Audis.

tacpot12

It will be outside of the warranty, so even though the damage is premature, Skoda are not obliged to do any. The best she could hope for is a discount on the cost of the new clutch and gearbox. If she paid full price for the gearbox that has just failed, she should certainly ask SKoda (not the dealer for a contribution). She needs to weigh the cost in the light that any new gearbox to is also only likely to last 40-50K miles. I'm shocked as my 2004 Skoda Octavia had done over 150K miles on its orginal clutch and gearbox when I sold it, and there are examples that have done over 400K on the same gearbox. 

Purchasing a new car might be the most sensible idea, unless she finds her Yeti to be ideal in all other respects in which case a used gearbox installed at an independent garage would be the best option. 

Grey_Critic

Did she pay or make a contribution towards the first gearbox? If it was replaced FOC under warranty then she cannot expect Skoda to pay this time - You cannot have warranty on warranty BUT if you make a contribution then normal warranty rules apply and she could approach Skoda for assistance.

Herzlos

Clutches are wear and tear items - drive badly enough and you can ruin one in 1000 miles.

The gear box could be due to stone damage or something else, but it's a 7 year old car so out of warranty.

I disagree that it's not worth fixing - with prices being what they are it's probably still worth about £6k trade-in. Though I'd take it to an independent garage and see if they can have a look at it and replace it with a reconditioned gear box for less.

Flight3287462

Find a recon gearbox £500+ and don't use the dealer for the job.

cattom

get it fixed and get rid of it. quick.

rsvtoddy

If it is a DSG box they are known for problems, but this one sounds like it's a manual? 

Ibrahim5

We have a local transmission specialist who is very good. They told me that as long as car has a good engine they can sort out the rest to keep the car moving. I paid £1500 for a reconditioned gearbox, clutch and dual mass flywheel. As time goes on I think you are better going to certain places for certain jobs regardless of manufacturer. This transmission specialist would be so much better at fixing a gearbox than the main dealer. Indeed a main dealer would probably send it to the transmission specialist for them to fix it. They have always just done manual transmissions but they do DSG too.

BOWFER

rsvtoddy said:

If it is a DSG box they are known for problems, but this one sounds like it's a manual? 

What problems are they "known for" then?
You might find the odd owner with issues, same as anything else, but decades on Audi and VW forums haven't revealed any endemic DSG reliability problems to me at all.
My BIL's A6 taxi with DSG did 140000 miles in a couple of years without any DSG issues.

Goudy

The DQ200, which is the 7 speed dry clutch version of the DSG does suffer several problems.
As with anything that suffers from multiple problems, some are more common than others, though that doesn't mean every unit will suffer any or all, just some issues occur more often.
The DQ200 is fitted to VAG engines under 2.0 litre.

The DL501 wet clutch 7 spped DSG doesn't tend to suffer the same problems and appears more reliable.
These gearboxes are fitted to 2.0 litre and over VAG engines.

The most common DQ200 fault is high pressure leaks from the accumulator canistor which is part of the Mechatronics. The wall on the valve body the canistor screws into isn't thick enough and it cracks and breaks, then it loses fluid pressure. This can lead to pump overworking until it burns out.
VAG updated the valve bodies with stronger bodies when these realised what was going on.

Another common problem is the reverse/6th gear selector fork problem.
The bearing and it's support the fork runs on fails and the fork is left unsupported, this allows the fork to move laterally rather than just horizontally and usually takes out the gear postion sensor, which is then often misdiagnosed as a Mechatronic problem.

With this last problem, even VAG make it clear to their dealers it's a when, not if problem on gearboxes built before 2018.

Again, an uprated part was released, but with both issues, they often occur outside of warranty and the owner is left to pick up the rebuild and parts costs.


In regards to the OP's problem, there has been a few problems with the clutch pressure plate fitted to some diesel models.
For some reason it can break up and cut into the gearbox casing. If that's the problem or not, I don't know but it sounds like it.

I seem to remember VAG pointing the finger at the clutch supplier (Sachs) but aftermarket clutches have gone the same way since.
Perhaps this engine mated to this particular drive chain is overally hard on the clutch, diesels do tend to create massive torque spikes, which manufacturers try to smooth out with dual mass flywheels and harmonic crank pulleys.