Skoda Superb DSG 7 Speed DQ200 failures- China gets official reaction, why not India?

[Hayek]

Originally Posted by CARDEEP

Either we are yet to get over White Supremacy attitude or people at VAG are bigots, for not attending to problems with vehicles in India.

Sorry but this is a bit over the top in my view. The problems with the DSG are found on only one VAG model sold in India - the Superb 1.8 TSi AT. There have undoubtedly been several Team BHPIans (including myself) who have had the mechatronics fail on them. In every case, the part has been replaced free of cost by Skoda, even when the failure took place outside warranty. To my knowledge, all these cars that have experienced failures are 2010 or earlier models, and I have not seen a reported failure in a 2011 or later model (correct me if I am wrong here). There are also several other 2010 Superb owners who have not had a failed mechatronics. Yes, VW has not recalled the car, and yes from a marketing standpoint, they would have been well advised to have announced a formal warranty extension. But to call them racist or bigoted for being stupid from a marketing perspective is not done. And to say that they do not attend to problems is, based on the evidence, plain wrong.

[amit]

This months ACI has the review of the Polo GT TSi and it mentions about the reliability issues of this DSG gearbox. However, the article also mentions that VW had made changes to the sensor's or connector's of the mechatronics in 2011 which was the reason for the frequent failure's. I cannot remember exactly and I don't have the magazine with me now to refer to it but the article clearly mentions about the changes made to improve reliability. I guess not just the Polo TSi but also the new Superb's must have this improved gearbox.

[ksaurabh21]

VW recalls 25 thousand cars in Australia to inspect DSG gearbox: link

[rlvl]

The link mentions that cars made between June 2008 and September 2011 were recalled. So safe to assume VW made changes in 2011..

[pranjal1984]

Nice to know that Volkswagen has made some changes to their DSG gearbox in Polo GT TSI. Also its a great thing that car manufacturers in India are recalling vehicles to solve reliability issues.

[mysticmonkey]

Hi, I have been following the DSG debate across different ownership threads and I have one question - Has anyone experienced a DSG failure a second time i.e. post-replacement.
The reason I ask is that I am contemplating a late 2011 model Superb which has done about 27,000 km. the gearbox has already been replaced. Also, in terms of price, would 11-12L be a fair estimate for a well maintained 2011 superb in Delhi ?

[ACM]

If it can fail once it can fail twice. There are no guarantees. Though if you buy a original part then they will give you another 2 years warranty on it.

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/offici...review-16.html

On the above pasted thread someone speaks about his friends Superb's DSG unit failing twice do a search on TBHP with Twice and DSG Failure.

The price should be a max of 10L for a Petrol Superb from 2011. The new superb is also round the corner.

On a different note, I had a Laura Diesel DSG AT, that required the Turbo to be replaced Twice in 70,000 Kms.

[mysticmonkey]

Originally Posted by ACM

If it can fail once it can fail twice. There are no guarantees. Though if you buy a original part then they will give you another 2 years warranty on it.

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/offici...review-16.html

On the above pasted thread someone speaks about his friends Superb's DSG unit failing twice do a search on TBHP with Twice and DSG Failure.

The price should be a max of 10L for a Petrol Superb from 2011. The new superb is also round the corner.

On a different note, I had a Laura Diesel DSG AT, that required the Turbo to be replaced Twice in 70,000 Kms.

Thank you for the input. I guess it is a question of whether a 10/11L punt should be taken given. The only points in favour are the low mileage coupled with the fact that I personally know the owner.

[ACM]

Originally Posted by mysticmonkey

Thank you for the input. I guess it is a question of whether a 10/11L punt should be taken given. The only points in favour are the low mileage coupled with the fact that I personally know the owner.

Another way of looking at it is to drive worry free. The DSG unit will cost about 1.5L. Get the vehicle for a max of 10L and keep 15% reserved for DSG repairs if and when required. When replaced at cost you then again have 2 years of peace as it would then be within warranty in that duration.

It is not a major worry if one is mostly within city limits but if one makes a lot of big outstation trips the prospect of being stranded in the middle of nowhere is not enticing.

[mysticmonkey]

Thank you for the vote of confidence. Will certainly update if I go ahead with the deal.

[nik_kapur]

Originally Posted by Hayek

Sorry but this is a bit over the top in my view. The problems with the DSG are found on only one VAG model sold in India - the Superb 1.8 TSi AT. There have undoubtedly been several Team BHPIans (including myself) who have had the mechatronics fail on them. In every case, the part has been replaced free of cost by Skoda, even when the failure took place outside warranty. To my knowledge, all these cars that have experienced failures are 2010 or earlier models, and I have not seen a reported failure in a 2011 or later model (correct me if I am wrong here). There are also several other 2010 Superb owners who have not had a failed mechatronics. Yes, VW has not recalled the car, and yes from a marketing standpoint, they would have been well advised to have announced a formal warranty extension. But to call them racist or bigoted for being stupid from a marketing perspective is not done. And to say that they do not attend to problems is, based on the evidence, plain wrong.

I read through many articles online and it seems like the DSG failure is a worldwide phenomenon. VW has invested a ton of money into something that has to pay back its investment. VW is continuing with the DSG so that it can recover investments. The DSG is a product that does not live upto modern day standards in terms of reliability and we poor consumers are in a way paying for a brilliant idea that has been poorly executed. VW could have pulled the plug on the DQ 200 and DQ 250 long back but it did not, they probably felt they could deal with the issue by fixing it. It grew beyond the control of the company and now they are in a real mess (reputation wise). I do agree that they arent racist but i do agree that they should offer a 10 year warranty on the gearbox to win some consumer confidence. They arent concerned in India possibly because they havent sold that many DSGs here. China is a whole different ball game in terms of numbers.

[lurker]

aren't these DSG gearboxes and even some Octavia manuals basically 'drive by wire' which mean that the gear isn't actually connected mechanically but is connected to a PCB (mechatronic?) which in turn instructs the transmission case to upshift or downshift. Also unlike the ECU this PCB does not have the luxury of sitting inside an airconditioned cabin underneath the dash or besides the battery but is situated in a 'hot zone' besides the transmission itself.

Seems like a design flaw issue, like many of the other parts in the Skoda setup. In a quest to 'overengineer', what they have actually done is to pass on a flawed design to the customer and in CYA mode called it overengineering, which in first case if they had rightfully engineered it wouldn't have required to go through many unwanted steps. Case in point is the oft failing Skoda fuel pumps which is a design flaw due to poor designing of fuel tank which necessitates 2 pumps.

[Blackbolt]

Hi All,

I had previously posted on the Skoda Octavia thread detailing the failure of our Skoda Suberb DSG gear box for the second time, however this seems to the appropriate thread to post on. The details of the issue can be found on the path mentioned below

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/offici...review-29.html

Its been 12 days and we are still hearing from the service advisor at Autobahn Kurla that the DSG order has been placed and will take few days more before it arrives.

Add to the fact that the service advisor was telling me that the DSG failed due to shorting of the fuse box issue which was caused by rats eatting some wires. Hence, we might have to bear the consumables and labour cost while the 2 lac DSG box wil be replaced in warranty.

I Lost my cool and fired him saying that its due to humidity and type of oil and not cause of shorting of the fuse box. Can the DSG box fail fue to a fuse box error?

Have shot an mail to Mr. Sudhir Rao as advised by fellow Team BHPians to expedite the process, hope it helps. Will keep you guys posted.

Cheers,

Balckbolt

[Blackbolt]

Update!

After writing to Mr. Sudhir Rao and Skoda customer care on 3rd December at 6 pm, we were shocked to recieve a call from Feroze the SA from Kurla service center that the car was ready and will be delieved at 4 pm, the very next day. This inspite of recieveing a mail from him on 3rd December, saying that the DSG part had yet not arrived and will take a few more days. He really fumbled when asked to explain this irony.

Skeptical of the job done we took the delivery of the car. Now after a day the engine warning light is back on! What a disaster! I have absolutely no words to explain the way Skoda treats their customers. Again the car has gone back to the service centre. The pain of being a Skoda customer continues!

[JayPrashanth]

Originally Posted by Blackbolt

Update!

After writing to Mr. Sudhir Rao and Skoda customer care on 3rd December at 6 pm, we were shocked to recieve a call from Feroze the SA from Kurla service center that the car was ready and will be delieved at 4 pm, the very next day. This inspite of recieveing a mail from him on 3rd December, saying that the DSG part had yet not arrived and will take a few more days. He really fumbled when asked to explain this irony.

Skeptical of the job done we took the delivery of the car. Now after a day the engine warning light is back on! What a disaster! I have absolutely no words to explain the way Skoda treats their customers. Again the car has gone back to the service centre. The pain of being a Skoda customer continues!

Sorry to hear your plight. :-( This shoddy treatment serves as yet another warning as to why folks should stop patronizing Skoda cars until the automaker pulls up its socks in India.

Cheers,

Jay