[BigBrad]

Why this thread?
Ever since the dieselgate fix started rolling across the VW service centers in India, there have been quite a lot of debates among VW owners and others on the impacts of the update. I see many bhpians posting across several threads across the forum asking whether they should update their car or not, what would be the impact on car's performance post getting the update, whether this update is mandatory etc. Such posts are scattered all over the forum in different sections. I found it really surprising that for such a widely discussed issue, there wasn't a single thread yet which would be specific to the experiences of Volkswagen TDI owners who got their cars updated. Hence this thread.

Did I update?
I own a Polo 1.5 TDI and completed the second service of my car recently at a nearby VW dealership. But I did not update my car with the dieselgate fix. Reason being, from the posts of many bhpians who got their cars updated, a large majority was not happy with the performance of the car post the update. The complaints ranged from increased engine noise/clatter, milder power delivery, gear shift points in MID optimised for more FE etc. Some international forums also mention owners claiming failure of critical parts like EGR, excessive smoke etc. On the contrary, some bhpians did not find much difference in performance and some even reported higher FE. All these made me skeptical about getting my car updated and hence I avoided it.

First of all, this is a voluntary update and NOT a mandatory one as per Volkswagen. This is mentioned several times in the FAQ link. And thanks to the lack of proper consumer laws in our country, the affected Volkswagen owners in India are not getting any sort of compensation (oh yeah, there's a free Car Care kit, my foot!) unlike their counterparts in US & EU. There is however something VW calls as "Trust Building Measure" which is offered for updated cars. In this scheme, VW says it would consider any complaints to certain parts which might have occurred due to the software update. This is valid for a period of 24 months from the date of getting the car updated. Please see the link in the end for more details.

I would like to state that I don't intend to make the environment more polluting by not getting my car updated. If I paid Rs.x for a car which I test drove and bought primarily for the performance on offer, I would like to retain it in the same state as long as I own it. I don't wish to de-cat and do a remap either. All I wish for is to retain the same OE spec for which I have paid for. If I can contribute to a lesser polluting environment in any other way without affecting my car's performance, I'm all open to do it. This is just my personal opinion.

Should you update?
Any VW owner reading this may get their car updated with the dieselgate fix if they wish to. The discussion in this thread is NOT intended to discourage anyone from doing so, rather to summarise the experiences of people who got their cars updated (in a single thread) so that others who are yet to update can take an informed decision. As I mentioned earlier, some people don't see much difference in performance post the update and are getting better FE as well.

I would request bhpians who got their TDIs updated to post in the following manner:

Make: [Model name of the car]
Engine: [Cubic capacity]
Experience in words:

Relevant links:

Dieselgate FAQs
Trust Building Measure

[GTO]

Thread moved from the Assembly Line to the Technical Section. Thanks for sharing!

Also added a poll .

[Tanveer_2558]

Voted : I got the update & I'm unhappy with it.

Make: VW Jetta 2 TDI Highline MT
Engine: 2 TDI (1968 cc)
Experience in words: I totally disliked the car once it was updated, Sure it was sounding more refined and silent but hey where did the punch from the engine go? I have mentioned it several times on the forums by now, I literally hated the car after updating it, I still remember i took it out in the night after the update for a spin and when i stomped on the accelerator in 2nd - 3rd gear, I was shocked to see the car was no way how it was before, It felt restricted & just won't freely rev & gain speed, Most of the people by now know that i disliked it soo much that i got a remap done quickly, That's when i enjoyed driving the car again and kept her for a couple of months more before selling her off. I hated VW for that though, Firstly they shouldn't have cheated & post that to cover that up they detuned the cars sold to the customers.

Even though the update is not Mandatory the service centre will quietly update your car if you don't mention anything about it, So make sure you are firm about NOT updating your car.

[VW2010]

2010 Jetta, Manual

Mine is a manual Jetta. I could hardly feel any difference between pre and post update. It hardly made a dent on how the car was driving. In fact i had to drive the car for over 3 weekends and 6 rides between chennai and bangalore. I did miss the petes tune which is way more aggressive and abrasive on the clutch and flywheel and lets you hit high speeds at will.

Fact is i would have got the jetta even if the car that was sold was exactly like post fix. Its a fantastic car and i hope to cross 200K in it before i think about a replacement.

[ku69rd]

2010 Jetta, Manual

Have left it for service today and requested them not to make any change. Shall report if they have have had a mind of their own in updating.

Car has done 76500 kms

[newtonMeter]

well i got my Superb 2014 TDI DSG update with the new ECU map. The original FW was 9882. Post the noX update the ECU was 9977. While i didnt experience any difference, i think i was a placebo effect which made me think the engine was not very eager or happy!

I revereted back to 9882.

[NickKohl123]

Make: 2014 VW Polo
Engine: 1.5L TDI
Experience in words:

I have given my car for 45k servicing, and service center did check my VIN and asked me to update software as a mandatory operation.

I said yes, they did inform me that noise will increase and you will feel little sluggishness. Now I have driven almost 1.5 k kms after servicing and software update.

Following are the observations:

1. Noise is very very high.
2. I have lost power punch. I feel like I am driving some maruti wagonR or something
3. Ride smoothness has gone
4. One more unusual issue - engine Jerking in some particular conditions in second and third gear.
Decriptions: I am gliding smoothly around 10-15km/hr with no clutch pressed in second gear. Now suppose due to traffic I start doing halft clutch in second gear. When traffic clears, now I release half clutch, press gas pedal (both actions done gently). At this point "sometimes" I do get JERKING feedback from engine which feels like engine is not able to match those rpm. This is the most serious issue out of all, I am yet to take to service centre guys and get official response for it. I am worried that it might damage my transmission system. I try to be as careful as possible still this jerking thing gets at me appox. 25 times out of 100 incidences of gear changes in 2nd and 3rd.

In my opinion - THIS SOFTWARE UPDATE is PATHETIC. DO NOT GO FOR IT IF YOU ARE NOT IN WARRANTY. As a matter of fact I am not very aggressive driver still I am frustrated with my VW's driving manner

I have received free car care kit (worth 1999) as a perk to get this update on my car

[phoenixash]

Make: Skoda Rapid
Engine: 1.6L TDI

Experience in words: Got a call from the dealer around end-May saying that there is a free update available for my car, which would improve performance and reduce fuel consumption (). He also asked that I send the car in by 15th June to ensure that I can take advantage of the free update, since this will become a paid update starting 16th June.

Gave the chap a piece of my mind and did not send the car. My vehicle will be due for its 5th year service by end-June, and I plan to either send it to an FNG (since my extended warranty period has now expired) or if I send it to the dealer, will specifically instruct them NOT to update the ECU. The excellent mid-range of the 1.6L is the entire reason I bought this car, and am not giving it up!

[patron]

Make: Skoda Rapid
Engine: 1.5 TDI DSG
Experience in words: The update was done without my consent.

The car is simply horrible now. I simply feel cheated. I paid for something and what I got is a far inferior product for no fault of mine. I was in love with the car till the date of the update. Now it is noisy, sluggish and a pain to drive every time.
Will be forced to sell it off now.

[iliketurtles]

Make: VW Jetta Highline DSG
Engine: 2 TDI 1968 cc)
Experience in words: Since the car was going in for a service anyways, I decided to get the update done since the least I could do was give it a fair crack of the whip. The update stripped the engine of its driveability at the top end, making its impact felt when I really wanted to give it the beans. In-city driveability wasn't impacted, but I have to be honest. I probably wouldn't have bought the car if the engine came in this state of tune from the get-go. I thus sent it in to be remapped, and we've lived happily ever after, with me into my fourth year of owning the car now.

[Mission_PGPX]

Voted : I got the update & I'm unhappy with it.

Make: VW Jetta 2.0 TDI trendline MT
Engine: 2.0 TDI (1968 cc)
Experience in words: scandal or not, every vehicle running on fossil fuel emits. Not saying that didnt cheat, ofcourse they did. To cover it up, we got a bag of car care kit?? US owners get upto 10K USD and we are told to clean the car by ourselves, is someone watching this?

regarding the performance, i went for the update once i decided i will go for remap. but had to drive the car for about 10 days with the updated software from VW. City drives will not make you feel any difference at all, but take her to highway and you will see a vaaaaassssttttt difference in the way car pulls, specially above 2500 rpm and the way engine sounds above those rpm. I drove from ahmedabad to mumbai to get the remap with this software update on my jetta and i really want to forget that 8 hr drive. Why kill the USP of such a capable car on the name of dieselgate VW?

[Chetanya Sharma]

Make: 2012 VW Jetta Highline DSG
Engine: 2.0 TDI (1968 cc)
Vote: UNHAPPY with the software update.

Experience: Well, VW started calling me non-stop in the last quarter of 2016 and gave me deadlines to get the 'mandatory' software update done. They even told me if I don't get it done on so and so date, it wont be done ever. Then even past those dates I used to get a call saying, "Sir, please send the car, its free of cost etc, we'll send a driver to pick your car up and drop it back".

I told them clearly that I do not trust anyone with my car and that I will come to you when I am back in town. Early 2017 I thought of getting this out of the way, so I ended up in the workshop, the SA told me that it'll be ready in a few hours, honestly whenever I go to a VW service centre, I go with ZERO hopes, cause if you have expectations from them, you are most likely going to be disappointed.

To my surprise, the car was ready before time, washed up to my standards and ready! This particular SA was good for a change. Although when I asked him if there'll be an increase in performance or decrease, he thought lying would be the best bet and said performance increases!

I regret getting this update on my car, every time I take it out. The car feels sluggish, overweight and under-powered. VW as it is low-balled us with a 138bhp version of the engine and on top of that this sluggish re-map!

Another thing I have noticed is, the car doesn't change gears at a lower rpm from 2nd to 3rd, it'll run up to a very high 1900 rpm and then change to 3rd.
In city traffic, you're mostly pushing a 2nd gear at 1900rpm - approx speed of 25kmph.

I don't think VW took us Indian customers seriously. They thought that a 'free wash' and a car care kit is all thats needed.

Look at Triumph, they gave money back and/ or accessories to their customers who felt they were sold a higher powered engine, when they were actually given a de-tuned version.

I may never buy a VW again. It is my first new car and I went out of my budget to get it since it was the best in the market at the time and the safest.

Best to stick to a Maruti, Toyota or Hyundai that you can throw around and not worry about it.

Apologies for the rant.

[Annibaddh]

Make: Vento HL, 2012
Engine: 1.6L TDI

Experience in words: Both Mumbai and Delhi centers have bugged me to kingdom come to get the update done. One of them was kind enough to offer a "Free Dry Clean", the other didn't even bother with that. Do NOT intend to get the update done. Which puts me in a moral dilemma! Hate the fact that I might be driving an unclean car.

Which is why, also willing to join anyone who wants to explore this case further in the consumer court. This update fundamentally changes the product, implying breach of contract. Without the update, the product is anyway different given it's emissions, which too is breach of contract.

[narsi_6989]

Make: Skoda Rapid 2014
Engine: 1.6L TDI

I seriously feel the 'Pre Monsoon' and 'Summer Camps' organised by Skoda and VW are all for a reason to cover up one thing or the other and give a software update. Most of the cars going in for this pre monsoon camps are updated with the software, some even without knowledge of the owner.

In my case, I did not receive any calls or reminders to update any software. I had sent my car to replace the AC Center Flap position and Flow Straightener replaced under extended warranty. While delivering the car, they mentioned that they had provided a software update and my car is up to date now. I did not notice any significant loss in the punch of the engine. Have covered more than 2500kms post the update. But I do have an issue to report. I get a strange noise from the engine (guess it is from engine only) as I hit speeds excess of 60KMPH. I find it difficult to describe the noise. It comes in regular intervals and the frequency increases with speed. My tires are 50k old and I still cannot be sure whether it is tire noise or it is from engine. Also, i get a weird noise after each gear shift.

NOTE: It has been sometime since I regularly used my Rapid. Been using the Kwid in Bangalore wile Rapid was doing duties in Chennai. Started using Rapid immediately after this update and hence cannot pin point Pre and Post performances or noises. That is the reason for me being not too confident about the noises I have mentioned above.

On a different note, my buddy owns a 5 year old Vento 1.6TDI. He had given his car to a service center in Bangalore to attend to the engine malfunction light. Along with this issue fix they updated the software. He is not happy with the update. The noise has increased and the mileage dropped.

[oblivion]

I hope this is the right place for this question. Basically what is this Diesel gate Fix? Why Volkswagen is forcing owners to fix this? How they are tuning the engine with this fix are they increasing or decreasing the bhp figures. Is there any way one can check what were the actual figures before and after this fix.

Please clarify.