[padmrajravi]

Originally Posted by androdev

Could you please share more details?

My understanding is that DSG doesn't result in complete breakdown 1. without early warnings way before such a failure 2. even when it fails, it will allow you to drive in limp mode (few of the gears still work)

DSG does leave you stranded. A friend got stranded in Ahmedabad when his Rapid refused to move out of P after a food stop. Imagine this happening at night with family. He was a keralite driving solo just to explore the state. There was no prior warning or atleast nothing that he could identify. The financial hit was minimal since Skoda covered most of it under goodwill. He still drives the Rapid but hesitates to take it on long jouneys.

You will find the same symptom in many DSG issue threads in the forum.

[stringbh]

Originally Posted by JoshMachine

As for me, I am into my 7th year of the DSG Vento ownership, have purchased the above line items till date, and follow the '10 Commandments' quite diligently. Not a single complaint on the DSG so far.

Can you please share your city (crawling traffic)/highway break up (roughly)?

[bravo82in]

You can’t have best of both the worlds, European car with Japanese reliability. Go ahead, nothing beats the driving pleasure of a European car. Take the maximum possible extended warranty, and considering selling/ trading off with another one before the warranty expires. If you plan to keep the car for long get a FD of 2-3 lacs done for 5 or 7 years and consider this as a part of price you pay for owning an European. Your total cost of owning this beauty will be OTR+ 2 lacs
I have a Superb in my family and thankfully no DSG issues in over 11 years of ownership. You too can be lucky enough and have a lottery of 2lac + interest at the end of your ownership

[aniket13]

My issue is not just with DSG, but a lot of critical components failing within a matter of months/KMs in Skoda/VW cars. This obviously is on top of DSG concerns. Heat sensor issue with one of my friends. ABS sensor with another. Also, I do not agree with the 361 days fun - 4 days pain analogy. A common issue takes weeks to resolve if one reads through the after-sales service experience of fellow BHPians with VW/Skoda. I'm terrified to think what would be the timeline for DSG-related issues.

However, there's not a whole lot of complaints coming from higher segment Skodas (Octavia, Superb) or Audis. Although, they are not sold in decent numbers for the issues to surface more publicity compared to Ventos/Polos/Rapid etc.

[igemini]

Apart from the reliability of DSG, you'll also need to be well aware of the DSG repair costs even due to minor accidents like an underbody hit.

This thread will tell you exactly why you should not consider DSG.https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/techn...ml#post5276483 (Volkswagen Polo GT TSI | Hit a stone, gearbox damaged, 5-lakh repair quote)

No doubt the DSG is great. But it's certainly not an engineering marvel and nor easy on the pocket. I did love my DSG-equipped cars in the past, but in India at least, it's not wise to opt for a DSG, unless you are open for a gamble and have backup cars/plans/money kept for the very purpose of getting that fixed. Sounds very silly to me. You invest your money in the car and on top, you need to invest further for repairs in a fixed deposit? Outright stupid move I would say.

The VW dealerships in general are horrible in India, with only a few exemptions if you got lucky. The 361:4 days equation is too good to be true! In fact, not even a chance. Especially in the case of a DSG failure or replacement parts. It can take months to get that fixed. Don't expect the car will get exactly in a mint condition either.

This is my own saga of ABS sensors failure in a brand new 5K & 11 months old POLO GT. (The miserable after-sales of the Volkswagen Auto Group in India) Replaced all 4 under warranty but it was too early to get such failure.

That itself took more than 4 days and a lot of irritation, so one can imagine the time it will take to rectify the DSG issues. Their Customer Service is the most useless one in India among all other carmakers. They just forward your complaint/query to the very same dealer who failed to satisfy your requirement earlier.

No doubt I am a VW fanboy if you like to call that way. But in India at least, it can be a real pain in the butt owning a VW mainly because of the incompetent and unprofessional aftersales services. With a few good exemptions of course. VW India definitely makes somewhat good cars compared to the competition. But their cars are nowhere near perfect and are out with a lot of shortcomings and quality concerns due to cost-cutting. But most owners including me learned to live with it and accept it.

Also, if I want to change the car, my first preference should definitely be a Skoda - VW with all these. But I will certainly avoid the DSG, regardless of all the praise that it gets. Unless it is a CBU, which might be a better one. Still a gamble. Warranty is not equal to peace of mind. Warranty doesn't cover underbody hits either, at least to my knowledge.

All these literally don't mean that the DSG will certainly fail. There are thousands of them who never faced any issue even after very rough usage. How it happens, probably no one can answer correctly. Not even VW.

So my strong suggestion shall be to get the 1.0 AT if you like it or go with the 1.5 DSG knowing all the shortcomings. In the end, it's you who going to enjoy the car. Whatever you chose, never live with the fear that when it's going to fail. Enjoy the car while you have it.

[low_rider]

Even if you factor in an additional budget for DSG repair and a few days downtime per year, it is not a smooth sail. Most of the folks here who have been unfortunate to experience DSG failures will testify that it is not a 0-1 type of repair scenario. Usually, it will take multiple trips to the service centre to diagnose what is worng. There will be intermittent grinding noises which may not be reproducible when you visit the service centre. Then there is a peculiar scenario, where everyone agrees that there is the mechanical failure, but no error codes are detected by ECU. So, the hit and trial and iterative repairs done makes one lose his head. Only, if DSG fault detection and repair was such a simple task.

[JoshMachine]

Originally Posted by stringbh

Can you please share your city (crawling traffic)/highway break up (roughly)?

The overall patterns have changed over the past couple of years but if I were to approximate over the entire period of ownership for the past 86.4K km, then the distribution would seem like crawling traffic (25-30%) : city traffic (25-30%) : highway trafffic (remainder).

[vinaydatla]

For everyone who says 4 days in the garage is okay, My Skoda Rapid TDI DSG failed at 78000 kms on Jan 9th. After two months and spending 2L (replaced mechatronics, clutch and flywheel) I am still unable to get the vehicle back in perfect driving condition.

One week ago I have received my vehicle but I had to give it back the next day because the vehicle was not downshifting smoothly. It's been a week so far and I don't have a clue on when I would get the vehicle back.

You can read my ordeal here - https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/techn...a-options.html (Skoda Rapid 1.5 TDI DSG failure | Quoted Rs 95000, no goodwill warranty from Skoda | Options?)

[igemini]

Originally Posted by vinaydatla

For everyone who says 4 days in the garage is okay, My Skoda Rapid TDI DSG failed at 78000 kms on Jan 9th. After two months and spending 2L (replaced mechatronics, clutch and flywheel) I am still unable to get the vehicle back in perfect driving condition.

One week ago I have received my vehicle but I had to give it back the next day because the vehicle was not downshifting smoothly. It's been a week so far and I don't have a clue on when I would get the vehicle back.

This is exactly what I was saying in my previous post. Getting a warranty or extended warranty is one. But getting the car repaired on time with at most satisfaction to the customer is another.

Again, you shall be aware of one thing as long as the DSG did not fail, it will be a great experience to drive and you'll tend to forget all those negatives, till you encounter a DSG issue. A competent after-sales could help you to an extent though.

And for those who say things like, life is too short to drive boring cars, etc, though it sounds very good it is far from reality. Imagine your car kept in the workshop for a prolonged duration and you'll end up using auto/uber and will have to rely on boring and ofter unsafe driving practices of some total strangers? You can have the most fun to drive and the safest car but not being able to use it when you need it the most is nothing short of a disaster.

Originally Posted by igemini

Apart from the reliability of DSG, you'll also need to be well aware of the DSG repair costs even due to minor accidents like an underbody hit.

The VW dealerships in general are horrible in India, with only a few exemptions if you got lucky. The 361:4 days equation is too good to be true! In fact, not even a chance. Especially in the case of a DSG failure or replacement parts. It can take months to get that fixed. Don't expect the car will get exactly in a mint condition either.

[kpkeerthi]

Originally Posted by BleueNinja

Hi folks ,

I booked the Virtus 1.0 Topline AT today. However, I am in a bit of a dilemma and I would appreciate feedback from learned folks on this forum.

Aside from high-cost and troubled ownership experience I would avoid VW/DSG if...
1. it is going to be my primary car where I cannot tolerate frequent visits to service center
2. my usage is mostly city/traffic where DSG offers sub-par experience

Also, the "modern" (aka cheap) MQB A0 IN is anything but European

[OffRoadFun]

Originally Posted by padmrajravi

DSG does leave you stranded. A friend got stranded in Ahmedabad when his Rapid refused to move out of P after a food stop. Imagine this happening at night with family. He was a keralite driving solo just to explore the state. There was no prior warning or atleast nothing that he could identify. The financial hit was minimal since Skoda covered most of it under goodwill. He still drives the Rapid but hesitates to take it on long jouneys.

You will find the same symptom in many DSG issue threads in the forum.

Most of DSG failures, not so common, are due to solenoid failure in mechatronic unit and usually half the set of gears are still operable. One is lucky if Reverse is still one of them.
I have had a DSG mechatronic failure, I believe partly due to my driving style. I would still buy DSG, it's so good. Repaired mine at an independent garage for some 70k and it is running smooth since then.

[noopster]

Originally Posted by OffRoadFun

I have had a DSG mechatronic failure, I believe partly due to my driving style.

Sorry to go off-topic but this one always gets my goat. It's a freaking automatic transmission, you are not obligated to adhere to any "driving style", it's the job of the transmission to keep working!'

This is why I'm so mistrustful of DSGs!

[OffRoadFun]

Originally Posted by noopster

Sorry to go off-topic but this one always gets my goat. It's a freaking automatic transmission, you are not obligated to adhere to any "driving style", it's the job of the transmission to keep working!'

This is why I'm so mistrustful of DSGs!

We are dealing with machines here. Reliability is a function of usage, any machine be it engine or whatever.

DSG can shift gears, via solenoids, in up to tens of milli seconds, faster than other technologies giving superior experience. Turns out, solenoids fundamentally don't last as long as others, say CVT, at least at an economical price. It's a conscious engineering choice presented to consumer. There is a trade-off between superior experience and may be reliability. No engine/suspension or for that matter any other machine part just keeps on running regardless of driving style.

[noopster]

Originally Posted by OffRoadFun

We are dealing with machines here. Reliability is a function of usage, any machine be it engine or whatever.

DSG can shift gears, via solenoids, in up to tens of milli seconds, faster than other technologies giving superior experience. Turns out, solenoids fundamentally don't last as long as others, say CVT, at least at an economical price. It's a conscious engineering choice presented to consumer. There is a trade-off between superior experience and may be reliability. No engine/suspension or for that matter any other machine part just keeps on running regardless of driving style.

Thanks but I think you misunderstood what I was trying to say. I have no sympathy for people who abuse their cars and expect the machinery to keep going. This is something else altogether.

"Driving style" in this case probably refers to the widely held belief that DSGs should not be run in D with a foot on the brake in stop-start traffic. My point is that is exactly how most people prefer to drive automatics, not slot the lever into N every time they stop momentarily. If DSGs can't handle that, they shouldn't be in the AT business!

[Turbohead]

Originally Posted by noopster

My point is that is exactly how most people prefer to drive automatics, not slot the lever into N every time they stop momentarily. If DSGs can't handle that, they shouldn't be in the AT business!

Although I admire the DSG gearbox, this is a point that is too hard to ignore. The whole point of an automatic is to reduce the stress during peak traffic. Trying to baby the DSG in an environment not suitable for it doesn't exactly reduce stress.

The DSG is for the open road but so is the manual gearbox. Only if the 1.5 TSI is offered with a manual gearbox and an easy to use clutch.

After talking about DSG saving funds, launching a manual transmission car and frying a few clutch plates for 10-15k a pop seems like peanuts and a lot of fun.