VW DSG.....Bad or
 

So is the VW DSG as bad as they claim or is it another 996 IMSB beatup?
Any long term owners?

We have had one here at work since it was new. The owners son was in sales, he wanted at Jetta TDI as his sales vehicle. At the time the salesmen had a choice of a Taurus or a Dodge minivan, he got the Jetta.

That car has been nothing but trouble. The transmission has been fixed by the dealer twice but I am of the opinion that it doesn't work correctly. It slams in and out of engagement and makes loud grinding noises.

There had been a lot of other problems. Our fleet guy tells me that it is more expensive to operate per mile than the gas engine 1 ton utility body duallies.

I don't know why they keep it. It's not just the DSG - the whole car is junk. Maybe it's a lemon.

BTW - I'm driving a 2000 Jetta as my personal car. I have owned several VW's and I generally like them.

I have a 2011 Jetta TDI Sportwagen with the DSG with 80,000 miles.

Zero issues with the DSG, only problem so far is the A/C just went kaput.

Just have the DSG fluid changed every 40,000 miles, about $110 for the fluid and filter and can be changed without using the VAG-Com instead of spending $400 at the stealership.

Dry clutch DSG = bad
Wet clutch DSG = good (as long as you change oil every 40k miles and remember not to drive it like a slushbox)

I have mentioned before I have driven a few medium to high milage Jettas and a Passat with DSG and were impressed with how they held up. The 2.5 like Jetta with DSG was a completely different animal from the same car with a manual 5 speed.
I would buy one.
Best
Les

I avoided them. Bad reviews on vw forums...

I believe majority of bad reviews come from people not really understanding that DSG is not a automatic gearbox. It is automated manual...with extra maintenance needs. It will not "creep" like TC-equipped slushbox. (Well, it actually will but by slipping the clutch).
Treat is as such, it works fine, shifts quick and saves fuel.
But if you ride the brakes in bumper-to-bumper traffic (like you did with a slushbox) and defer oil changes, it will develop issues...

Oh, and dry-clutch DSG7 is junk...but you only got it in one model in US I believe....some sort of hybrid.

Maintenance is expensive. Every 40,000 miles?

2011 TDI Jetta with DSG. ~70K miles. Only DSG issue was loss of Mechtronic unit that controls shifting at ~61K. VW covered even though it was outside of warranty and charged us $100 for entire fix. Mechtronic unit seems to be weak link, but I believe it is a result of folks treating it as a normal automatic (as noted above). I know my wife tends to "creep" in it and it is her car. Other than that we love the vehicle and hate the idea of giving it up because of the TDI issue, but will because they are offering us just too damn much money for it.

Once my buy-back appt. is scheduled I will see how much abuse the DSG will take before turning in the car :D

I have 120k on my GTI with DSG. I have always kept up with all advised maintenance and had no problems with the gearbox.

I have been through 1 throttle body and 2 intakes in that time though.

We had 60k on ours before the car was totaled. Nary an issue.

My friend bought a used GTI and has had plenty of troubles but it's a used car of course. Mechatronic unit failed just out of the warranty so it was a chunk of coin to replace. We're engineers so when he got the old part we opened it up and everything looked fine, all the solenoids worked, so it must have been something in the electronic part.

He's from Europe and always drove it in manual mode but people keep telling him that is somehow bad for it. I don't buy that.

I have a 2015 Golf R DSG, owned it since June this year.

Just brilliant, so relaxing and flexible with the different drive mode settings. Race mode is awesome.

I traded in my 2008 GTI with a DSG with 160K miles. Changed fluid every 50-60K and had a couple of TSBs done to it. No problems and shifted the same at 160K as it did at 0. Now how it shifted based on your driving style is a different conversation, but reliability is very good.

My GTI with 50k has DSG. No problems so far.

I don't like how it seems to roll a few inches and then jam itself into park if I park it without the e brake on....which I always use...


Didn't like paying almost $800 for 40k service


Probably would get a manual next time

"Didn't like paying almost $800 for 40k service"

VW dealers do the refill around $345/400.around Balt/DC. Usually offer coupon for service.

Rode in an R32 with one at an autocross. I wasn't a fan. It hunted for gears and was slow to shift.

I drove a TDI Jetta Sportwagen with one and didn't like the feel. I bought my TDI JSW with a standard shift for the feel, and the cheaper maintenance. Dollars I've spent on trans maintenance in 130k miles: $0.