[axe_deo]

I have owned an Octavia 1.8 TSI with the infamous DQ200 DSG gearbox. I haven't had any DSG breakdown in more than 5 years of my ownership, although I have clocked little more than 40000 km only. We keep complaining about DSG failures only, but there are other factors to consider too.
Recently, I had an unfortunate accident where my car was hit at the rear by a bolero. One tail light and the boot were damaged. It took more than a month for the entire repair done under insurance at the skoda workshop. One month is too long for accidental repairs. At Hyundai or Maruti, it would have taken 4-5 days or at most 10 days.
Also in my 3rd year of ownership the AC compressor was replaced under warranty which again took almost a month. Although I was provided a loaner car as it was a warranty claim, the wait period was too long.
So be prepared for these downtimes when you own a Skoda/Volkswagen. For the joy which you will get driving these machines you may lose some peace of mind over the course of your ownership.

[The Rationalist]

I don’t know your stomach for risk, but I’m in my 40’s, bought an even rarer DCT by Ford! 7th year in running and 55,000 kms, it hasn’t given up yet! I wouldn’t trade the DCT experience for anything!!! I would definitely buy another DCT/DSG/DCA whatever they name it. In fact I’m looking for another automatic, and have shortlisted Tata Altroz DCA Volkswagen Virtus DSG & Skoda Octavia DSG (pending test drives & GNCAP 2022 ratings, skeptical about DCA in 1.2 NA in Altroz though). Life is too boring to drive a AMT/CVT/TC offered in cars below ₹25 lakhs. I haven’t driven the TC in BMW’s, but the experience in the forum says it is very good. If you are an enthusiast, look no further than a DSG.

[abhii176]

My 2 cents. This is exactly the same dilemma I find myself in! Keeping the reliability bit aside, this is a no brainer, I would get the DSG eyes closed just for the pure driving pleasure. But when I hear of frequent DSG breakdowns from friends and family, it does scare the shit out of me. My wife and daughter travel with me frequently and I shudder at the thought of getting stranded in the middle of a highway because of a DSG breakdown.

So for me, I would probably put reliability at a higher pedestal and get a 1.0 TQ instead of the 1.5 DSG. Make no mistake, I will continue to long for the DSG cos its a hoot to drive but will still settle for a little less worrisome ownership experience with the TQ.

[landcruiser123]

Depends on how many cars you have access to. If the DCT powered car is the only one in the garage(or even the main one), no!

My old neighbor is high-ranking corporate executive who had a Laura and a Brio. When his Laura DSG broke down, he had to be chauffeured everywhere in his Brio for a month! I'd hate such a situation.

Originally Posted by GTO

Go for it. YOLO (you-only-live-once) and all that. I am personally okay with enjoying a German car for 361 days of the year and enduring a headache for 4 days. It's still a 99 : 1 ratio of joy : pain.

[SmartCat]

Originally Posted by BleueNinja

I frequently travel during nights on highway, so is there a decent enough chance I might be left stranded?

I feel this bit about frequent night drives on highway means you should look for a reliable vehicle and give the DSG a miss.

Sure, all cars can get stranded because of mechanical or electrical or even tyre blowouts. But you are likely to have these exact same issues in VW/Skodas too, in ADDITION to the gearbox issue. So the probability of brands known to be unreliable leaving you stranded is higher.

[thiagust]

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.

I really want to go for the GT variant but is the DSG gearbox really that bad as it’s made out to be? I frequently travel during nights on highway, so is there a decent enough chance I might be left stranded? there was an option to book 1.5 MT but, I didn’t want to splurge huge money on car yet miss out on creature comforts.

My second query is, should I go for XUV700 AX5 MT? or Tata harrier XT ? I am not comfortable waiting for a year for a car and with TATA again reliability is in question over here. I am a sedan guy and the only reason why SUV is in picture over here is because of my frequent highway travel and to be honest the peer pressure being created by family and friends to go for a SUV.

Head says to go for 1.0 TSI AT or Book harrier/xuv 700 but, I really want to own a DSG / TSI combo considering this might be my last ICE car.

I own a gt tsi 2013 model. One of the first to buy it in Chennai. Have done 63K on the odo and have done a lot of long drives. I have not faced any major issues sonfar. Had run into a problem where there used to be a jerk when on D mode , which was eventually resolved after a visit to the service center. Almost 9 years of ownership come August and I plan to keep this at least for a few more years.

[imp!]

I currently own 3 VAG cars, 2 with a DSG and have had a centre court view of the woes of several owners. To be completely honest, it is a hit and miss scenario. I, and many others have been lucky and have head headache free ownership. Several others have not. You need to be prepared to replace the gear box should it fail out of warranty. This is perhaps the biggest reason I would not consider a pre-owned Skoda/VW with the DQ200.

It is primarily this gear box on a petrol engine that has issues. Given the car situation, if you really like the Slavia and your primary use is not stop and go traffic (the gear box really does not work well in this environment); I'd just buy one and max out the warranty and bite the proverbial bullet should the need arise.

[84.monsoon]

I would go for the DSG. The responsiveness and eagerness of this gearbox is exceptional, perhaps the only other gearbox in the sub 50 lakh range to match it is the ZF 8 speed TC in the BMWs.

As other folks have said here, you should get the maximum extended warranty and prepare for potential incident. However, the image that comes to mind, of being stranded in the middle of nowhere etc. due to a DSG failure, seems a bit exaggerated. From the cases I have read, the DSG gearbox starts to give hints of issues weeks or even months before it breaks down, such as a lag in shifting from P to N or D etc. So an alert owner should be able to get things addressed before embarking on long trips, avoiding the above nightmare scenario, that people often picturize to discourage ownership.

[shancz]

Originally Posted by BleueNinja

I really want to own a DSG / TSI combo considering this might be my last ICE car.

- If you really want, get the 1.5 GT and keep 3 lakhs as a DSG fund and enjoy your drives. The DSG is telepathic

- The DSG failures don't usually leave you stranded, you will usually get indications like slight jerks while accelerating , some error on console etc. The one I experienced in a friend's car was that the car jerked slightly while accelerating from slow speeds.
Check our dedicated threads for more info.

- Don't give in to peer pressure, most of them wouldn't know what a TSI-DSG is in the first place. Also don't buy more than what you need, IMHO.
If the roads you travel don't need the higher GC or if you don't need the higher seating, I don't see the need for an SUV.
But if you feel that's also needed then why not the Taigun ?

- I hope you've TDed the City as well. Although it won't hold a candle to the 1.5TSI-DSG combo but that 1.5NA is the only engine revving to the 7000rpm mark. But on highways the VAG should behave much better.

[androdev]

First, you won't get stranded with a sudden catastrophic failure like some are suggesting. You will see many symptoms way in advance as the gearbox is heading towards a failure. Even when it fails, it will allow you to drive in limp mode with limited functionality. DSG is not a safety issue. It is only a financial risk - which you can mitigate with warranty and potential-DSG-repair-fund. Don't overthink if your finances are comfortable.

Most people don't understand or appreciate the uniqueness of DSG. It is not just the crazy lightening shifts, DSG by design has a very mechanical feel that can not be expressed in numbers unless you experience it. This is where DSG is better than BMW's ZF8 - which is as quick as DSG and even better than DSG when it comes to "skip shifts" (such as going to 4th gear directly from say from 8th gear for a sudden overtaking). ZF8 is highly damped and super smooth. DSG feels raw and clunky (hint: like manual transmission) - some people hate those clunks and bangs while others love those things. These clunks/bangs/judders/shocks are terrible if you are crawling in slow city traffic but very exciting if you are on open roads. That's why don't buy a DSG car for city traffic - it is not only unpleasant to drive, it results in a lot of premature failures.

It's odd that people don't discourage buying unsafe cars but get pretty vocal when it comes to financially risky purchases without knowing the affordability of the buyer. As GTO and many others mentioned, if you can afford max warranty and a "potential" repair after that, a DSG car will serve you 10 years and 1.5L km easily. Having said that, don't buy it unless your driving allows you to enjoy a DSG.

[BleueNinja]

Originally Posted by shancz

-

-
If the roads you travel don't need the higher GC or if you don't need the higher seating, I don't see the need for an SUV.
But if you feel that's also needed then why not the Taigun ?

- I hope you've TDed the City as well. Although it won't hold a candle to the 1.5TSI-DSG combo but that 1.5NA is the only engine revving to the 7000rpm mark. But on highways the VAG should behave much better.

Actually, I own a Honda city, “this” new car will be replacing that hence, the reliability quotient has kicked in. I also own a Polo comfortline TSI AT, that’s why I am wondering if it’s worth getting another 1.0 TSI AT.

The whole idea behind SUV was my frequent night travel and SUV’s provide a better view and a comparatively “safe” kind of an assurance due to their size and presence.

I took test drive of Harrier, liked the car but somehow it didn’t resonate with me. Even though my family seems to be dead set on Harrier. I have my doubts about it specially : clutch burn and shoddy after sales.

I took a test drive of XUV 700 but, somehow AX5 looks very boring from the inside, the waiting period is very very long, Max I can wait for a car is 4 months and I don’t want to extend my budget beyond 20 lac OTR Pune.

I Agree that no car is perfect and in today’s market you have to chose your “compromise” but right now Virtus seems to be the only car that is making me compromise on less.

Few pre-owned cars considered:

1. Skoda Octavia 1.4 TSI MT : got this car on test drive from spinny, got a quote of 10 lac, 35,000 KMs done.

2. Hyundai Verna 1.6 CRDi SX AT(2019) : loved the car, it had only done 39,000 kms and was in my favourite colour shade , black. However, there were lots of scratches on the car, the dashboard wasn’t in decent shape, front tyres were MRF , rear had a CEAT and an Apollo. 11,38,000 was the price quoted for this car. If they would have quoted the car right I would have considered this car and might have gotten it re-done but the seller isn’t willing to budge from that price.

Originally Posted by androdev

It's odd that people don't discourage buying unsafe cars but get pretty vocal when it comes to financially risky purchases without knowing the affordability of the buyer. As GTO and many others mentioned, if you can afford max warranty and a "potential" repair after that, a DSG car will serve you 10 years and 1.5L km easily. Having said that, don't buy it unless your driving allows you to enjoy a DSG.

Thank you for your elaborate response on the DSG situation, this response along with few others on my thread are one of the most well laid out and rational responses I have come across regarding DSG ownership experience.

I will be updating my booking from Topline AT to GT variant , although I will stick to colour choice as carbon steel grey, I have some nice ideas on how I would go about decking it up

Safety quotient is part reason I didn’t consider Creta and Seltos. No offence to any current owners of those two cars but i am skeptical of those two cars specially after Seltos barely making it to 3 stars in GNcap. I don’t think Creta would be far off.

Harrier is being considered strongly by family.

Now, after the inputs provided by folks here and from family members, I have to decide between Harrier (family’s choice) and Virtus GT TSI (my choice).

Let’s hope things go in my favour

[99octane]

Hi. I have been using a 2014 Vw jetta diesel dsg highline and the car has been good to us. We have clocked over 70k kms with it and only Recently have had a lot of flywheel noise and clutch issues wherein there is gear slippage while in first gear only, that too only when removing foot from the brake for the car to creep ahead. Other than that haven't faced the slightest issue with the gearbox.

Apart from the gearbox have had EGR issues and AC Condensor issues which are both well documented on this forum.

Cheers to the members for helping me throughout this ownership via their detailed threads!

[Santoshbhat]

Originally Posted by androdev

Most people don't understand or appreciate the uniqueness of DSG. It is not just the crazy lightening shifts, DSG by design has a very mechanical feel that can not be expressed in numbers unless you experience it. This is where DSG is better than BMW's ZF8 - which is as quick as DSG and even better than DSG when it comes to "skip shifts" (such as going to 4th gear directly from say from 8th gear for a sudden overtaking). ZF8 is highly damped and super smooth. DSG feels raw and clunky (hint: like manual transmission) - some people hate those clunks and bangs while others love those things. These clunks/bangs/judders/shocks are terrible if you are crawling in slow city traffic but very exciting if you are on open roads. That's why don't buy a DSG car for city traffic - it is not only unpleasant to drive, it results in a lot of premature failures.

Your description and comparison between DSG and ZF8 is spot on . The use case for DSG, as you say, is very important. If it is primarily city usage you are looking at, DSG makes no sense. We've owned TC, CVT, DSG and ZF geared cars and for city use, DSG is the definitely the least suited. Out on open roads, the story is completely different. DSG feels like a driving a sports car. My reference is not just my GTI, but also the GT TSI that I've owned for the last 8 years/30k kms that is running perfectly fine. That raw mechanical feel of fast upshifts and rev matched down shifts is to die for! And paddle shifts take the game to another level.

[Turbohead]

If your trips inside the city in bumper to bumper traffic is limited with more running on the highways, I believe the DSG is a good buy.

From all I've read and understood so far, the DSG should be avoided if you travel through heavy traffic everyday (not only in terms of distance but time as well) especially the ones which require a lot of clutch slipping in manual cars. But if you're mostly using it on the highway, the DSG is built for it and will be able to handle the loads unless it's abused with frequent launches(best avoided).

Plus, to be mentally prepared after taking all the precautions, buy a DSG only if you have the time and patience to deal with it and not just the money.

[sachin_cs]

3 years and 50k kms, I'm satisfied with my DQ200. There's nothing which comes close to the driving pleasure of a DSG equipped car at this price point. I know, at some point of time it may fail but "when" is something I don't know. Till then, I'm enjoying my car to the fullest, also buying the extended warranty soon and have already started a monthly SIP for DSG fund .

And the car in concern, I have driven the Slavia DSG and it's a hoot to drive, Virtus won't be any different. Life is too short to drive boring cars.

Brownie points: DSG extracts maximum mileage when driven in D-mode