Team-BHP - Skoda & VW | Are the newer DQ200 DSG gearboxes reliable?

Hi All, my family is considering buying a 1.5 TSI DSG from Skoda or VW (i.e. the Slavia/Virtus/Kushaq/Taigun).

I'm interested to know how is the DSG doing wrt earlier DQ200 boxes:

Have there been any reported failures of the DSG (on 1.5 TSI) and how was the response?
How is the driving feel/performance/smoothness vs 1.0 TSI (with Aisin TC), as this is what I drive
How is the current DSG wrt Hyundai DCT

Regarding your query about DSG failures, there have been three reported cases. I gathered this information from a YouTube source. The car owners sent their vehicles to the service centre for resolution, and the problems are currently being addressed.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=me7EbEVhkgI

If you're considering a car with a DSG gearbox, it's advised to be prepared for at least one potential malfunction. Despite these concerns, my family purchased a Skoda Slavia 1.5 DSG with a similar mindset.

When it comes to the reliability of the DSG gearbox, while there have been a few instances of failure, the overall prevalence of issues might be exaggerated. It's worth noting that mechanical failures can happen with any type of gearbox. As an example, even our Wagon R's AMT gearbox failed after a year of use, despite my dad's cautious driving. Machines are prone to malfunction over time, and components like the DSG clutch may need replacement eventually.

The combination of the 1.5 TSI engine and DSG gearbox is a match made in heaven. The vehicle offers both smoothness and impressive power. I've also experienced the 1.0 TSI engine, and I find the 1.5 TSI to be more refined. The car effortlessly maintains speeds of 120 km/h, and it can be a challenge to keep it below that due to the remarkable acceleration it offers.

While I haven't had the chance to sit in the new Hyundai DCT models, it may excel in terms of 0-100 acceleration. However, the 1.5 TSI engine in the Skoda and VW cars offers an excellent balance between power and stability. The driving dynamics and stability provided by Skoda and VW models are hard to beat. Ultimately, I recommend test driving all the cars you're considering before making your purchase decision.

Hey dsr001,

Among my very small circle of hardcore car fans, of whom a lot are VAG fans, there was fair consensus that the people buying the Taigun/Virtus, Kushaq/Slavia were just asking for trouble. That they would be in only a short matter of time where early Polo and other DQ200 car owners had been years ago. With most of us putting aside Skoda/VWs claims of the 'improvements' made to the DQ200.

Here we are some 2 years later and we have yet to hear of a single DQ200 failure from either of these cars, and T-Bhp is the first place you hear of such failures(unless I missed something!) and en masse. The volumes of the 2.0 cars which combined have been significantly higher than the same gear box in Octavia/Superb/Polo sales as I understand. With the sample size being so much more than the initial DQ200 vehicles and even if some failures were reported, atleast in my social group, we feel the DQ200 in the 1.5 TSI's are today a much much more reliable unit.
I would also like to add that upon my test drive in 3 of the 4 the 2.0 cars Kushaq, Virtus and Taigun, I felt that the gearbox isn't as fast shifting as what I experienced in the early Polo GT TSI models etc., I am still not sure if this was my imagination or if indeed the gearbox is tuned to be more relaxed, and perhaps thus more reliable? I am not that technically inclined.

I am strongly considering the DQ381 equipped Volkswagen Tiguan after the last couple of years seeing just the one failure, and as I recall according to the member the 'faulty' Germany shipped 381 was reported to be working fine and fault was elsewhere that local technicians were not able to figure out. I might be speaking too soon but If this trend continues for another few years one could say that the DSG AT is as unreliable as any other AT, when compared to a manual.

I dare say you may now consider VAG cars as your daily driver with some some fair confidence.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Maky (Post 5607752)

Hey dsr001,

I dare say you may now consider VAG cars as your daily driver with some some fair confidence.

To this point: If one is punctual in getting service and has access to a reliable after sales service then VW cars are the most reliable, cheap and trouble free. My 1.65 Lakh km run Polo was cheaper to maintain than my 80k run Hyundai Accent. The ownership has become been cheaper for Virtus under India 2.0

A 12 years VW owner: 2 Polos and a Virtus. Many times I jumped my Polo on the incline in front of Akshardham temple before this section was changed to Delhi Meerut Expressway. I did it once in my Accent and wheel hub and bearing went kaput.

Thank you all for sharing your views/data.

If it helps, we have 3 VW/Skoda vehicles and are familiar with the brand, just that the 1.5 TSI+ Torque convertor would have been a no brainer.

So far there have been some incidents as shared by Motordev, but seems none reported here by forum members, for the 1.5 TSI DSG.

If I remember correctly, the Scorpio N AT is also an Aisin TC; wonder how the in house DSG option was preferred for 1.5 TSI instead of the plug and play, as with the 1.0 TSI.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Maky (Post 5607752)

Here we are some 2 years later and we have yet to hear of a single DQ200 failure from either of these cars, and T-Bhp is the first place you hear of such failures(unless I missed something!) and en masse.

I think this is precisely the reason. It's just 2 years. The DQ200 is fundamentally flawed & I don't expect its long-term reliability to be good. Just wait for these cars to cross the 5-year mark and 40,000 - 50,000 km.

Quote:

Originally Posted by GTO (Post 5608586)

I think this is precisely the reason. It's just 2 years. The DQ200 is fundamentally flawed & I don't expect its long-term reliability to be good. Just wait for these cars to cross the 5-year mark and 40,000 - 50,000 km.

Your logic is sound.
It's just that I recall hearing complaints about this almost immediately during the early DQ200 years and comparitively this revision has proven itself well, thusfar.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Maky (Post 5607752)

I don't think that's true. It's more likely that customers have resigned to expect these failures as a part and parcel of ownership, and expertise of service centers has also improved, to replace these gearboxes quickly without much ado. Ofcourse, I can't substantiate this with proof.

It's too early to comment on Taigun/Virtus, Kushaq/Slavia - it's also likely that people are clocking lesser Kilometers with these machines, because fuel cost per Km for Turbo petrols are going through the roof!

A dear friend of mine owns a 2022 Taigun 1.5 DSG and has completed almost 26k kms within 10 months ( 70% highway 30% city). It is used by multiple drivers with various driving styles and most of them have quite a heavy foot. The car does not get any princess treatment as such, just the periodic services are done on time. The car has had NO mechanical issues so far and is going strong.

I was also lucky enough to enjoy it during a 1300km roadtrip to Kerala recently. The acceleration is quite smooth and urges you to keep pushing harder, just that it sounds a bit too vocal at higher rpm. If you are someone who really pushes the car to limits you might find that downshifting using paddles in manual mode does not really help in terms of engine breaking.

Quote:

Originally Posted by GTO (Post 5608586)

Another factor could be the lower output 1.2 & 1.5 TSI engines compared to 178 bhp + 250 Nm 1.8s that the Octavia used to run.

After 2014-15, DQ200 is pretty much fixed with a few isolated incidents (hey, even marutis have rainy days but you better keep a 100k spare just in case).
Go for it because if you remove reliability factor, it is one of the most efficient and fastest transmissions on the market.
1.5 TDI DSG 2 years and counting (touch wood)

P.S.: Do shift into neutral if stopped for more than 5 seconds and change transmission oil at 5 year/100,000 km mark