[Impala59]

My friend got a VW Polo GT TSI in 2013 and has been facing a lot of problems, especially with the clutch. Here is his post on Volkswagen's Facebook page:

I am an owner of a Polo GT TSI from Mumbai purchased in November 2013. In October 2015, the car had travelled a mere 6500 kms and I had to replace the multi clutch (ironically, of an automatically car) because the car was making a screeching sound while changing gears and also jerked randomly at times. I read about this issue online and about 1.6 million cars worldwide had been recalled due to an issue in the DQ200 DSG gearbox which heated up in hot conditions of the city causing the multi clutch to fail. I had the multi clutch replaced under warranty with no cost and was assured that this would not repeat again. However, within 6 months of the replacement, I had the same problem again. Just two days back, I took my car to the Shaman dealership (Sewri, South Mumbai) and now that the car is not under warranty, I am being charged exorbitantly high prices for job work : Rs. 1150 for scanning and some other crap, Rs. 4000 to open up the gear box and an estimate of Rs, 1,17,000 to change the multi clutch and flywheel. I can assure you that the model is faulty and replacing parts will not help, bringing back the same issue in a short period. I have had too many problems previously with car, ranging from faulty music system to weak doors.
I would like someone with the authority to deal with my problem directly without contacting someone higher up the hierarchy to call me as soon as possible. I would otherwise be forced to take action against the company, be it legal or otherwise.

P.S: Volkswagen has provided me with the worst after sales service by far and this comes from an owner of cars of varying brands.

Advice needed from the T-BHP experts regarding how this problem should be handled. Any help would be appreciated

[Jaggu]

Is the car covered in extended warranty? Owner would have to purchase the same within 2 years? If so it is a relatively easy case.

If not start with writing directly to VW India, since this is a recurring issue and if they are wise enough they should offer a decent resolution. Ideally they should just replace the whole transmission unit to rule out any other issues that is causing this.

Do try to find out if it is mechatronic system or something more that is failing?

[dark.knight]

Originally Posted by Impala59

Advice needed from the T-BHP experts regarding how this problem should be handled. Any help would be appreciated

They say that most people are being paranoid about DSG issues, but when it does strike this seems to be the damage - 1150+4000+117000 = Rs.122150/- which does seem excessive given the car cost at about Rs.10L.

To start off with, its always wise to take extended warranty for as long as possible when it comes to a TSi, was an extension possible post the 2/3 year mark? If yes then your friend might have made a small mistake, if not.. well back to square one. The only chance now is to perhaps write a mail citing the earlier failure and the company's inability to pinpoint and rectify the same. Was any reason, specific or otherwise given when replacing the first time through warranty?

There have been umpteen attempts to repair this issue, starting with replacement of synthetic with mineral oil in the gearbox, software updates, mechatronics tweaking etc.. its difficult to pinpoint. Just hope that the service station knows what its doing and will oblige with your request of handling the repairs and/or replacements under goodwill warranty.

Good car, hope it fulfils a few tens of thousand kilometres healthily before retiring.

Mod Note : Can be shifted to Technical Stuff under DSG troubleshooting for more accurate suggestions.

[Rajeevraj]

Thats sad to hear. In general have not heard any major issues with the problematic DQ200 on the Polo GT TSI. Not buying the extended warranty for a car with the DQ200 (or any car for that matter) is a big miss. VW spare parts in general are expensive and same holds good for the DSG Gearbox and its components. So the numbers quoted are not surprising. It is definitely very expensive and a full gearbox replacement will be even more expensive.

The best thing to hope for is to escalate to VW India and hope for a replacement under goodwill warranty. The DQ200 has a notorious history and VW has claimed it has all resolved all issues related to it. Considering they use it now in the Vento, Rapid, Ameo, Octavia and even the GTI, they should be wary of bad press related to the DQ200 and hence may be more supportive.

Would also be good if your friend can provide more details about all the issues faced since he bought the car and what all has been done so far. Could be that he has ended up with a lemon.

In addition 6500km in 2 years is next to nothing. So would be good to know the pattern of usage (like if it has been left for long periods without being used)

Originally Posted by dark.knight

was an extension possible post the 2/3 year mark? If yes then your friend might have made a small mistake, if not.. well back to square one.

Unfortunately no. The extended warranty should be taken before the expiration of the standard warranty-Which is 2 years.

[Impala59]

Originally Posted by Jaggu

Is the car covered in extended warranty? Owner would have to purchase the same within 2 years? If so it is a relatively easy case.

If not start with writing directly to VW India, since this is a recurring issue and if they are wise enough they should offer a decent resolution. Ideally they should just replace the whole transmission unit to rule out any other issues that is causing this.

Do try to find out if it is mechatronic system or something more that is failing?

Sadly, he hasn't taken extended warranty
He has written a very strong letter to Volkswagen. Let's see now.

Originally Posted by dark.knight

They say that most people are being paranoid about DSG issues, but when it does strike this seems to be the damage - 1150+4000+117000 = Rs.122150/- which does seem excessive given the car cost at about Rs.10L.......

No extended warranty sadly! 1.22L is a lot of dough especially when it is absolutely no fault of yours. A strong letter has been written to VW. Let's see how things unfold. Like I mentioned above, the ASS has been horrible.

Originally Posted by Rajeevraj

Thats sad to hear. In general have not heard any major issues with the problematic DQ200 on the Polo GT TSI. Not buying the extended warranty for a car with the DQ200 (or any car for that matter) is a big miss. VW spare parts in general are expensive and same holds good for the DSG Gearbox and its components. So the numbers quoted are not surprising. It is definitely very expensive and a full gearbox replacement will be even more expensive.

The best thing to hope for is to escalate to VW India and hope for a replacement under goodwill warranty. The DQ200 has a notorious history and VW has claimed it has all resolved all issues related to it. Considering they use it now in the Vento, Rapid, Ameo, Octavia and even the GTI, they should be wary of bad press related to the DQ200 and hence may be more supportive.

Would also be good if your friend can provide more details about all the issues faced since he bought the car and what all has been done so far. Could be that he has ended up with a lemon.

In addition 6500km in 2 years is next to nothing. So would be good to know the pattern of usage (like if it has been left for long periods without being used)

Apart from the Facebook post, an email has been sent too.
Problems with the car as mentioned by him include a faulty music system, some problem with the doors and the main one with the clutch. Whenever the car shifts from 1st gear to the 2nd, a screeching noise is heard. Usage is quite regular. At no time was the car not used for a long period of time. So much for German engineering

[SmartCat]

The symptoms (screeching sound while changing gears, occasional jerks) seem to be different from Skoda's DSG issues (total breakdown). Perhaps this is not the infamous mechatronics failure, but something else?

[GTO]

It was silly of your friend to not have taken extended warranty, even though his gearbox was repaired so early in the car's life. I recommend extended warranty even for the Maruti Swift, leave aside a complicated car like the Polo GT TSI & its pricey repairs.

At best, he can hope for a discount from VW. If they're in a good mood, free repairs. But it's going to take a lot of work. I agree with SmartCat - your friend should get a second opinion on the actual cause.

Originally Posted by Rajeevraj

In general have not heard any major issues with the problematic DQ200 on the Polo GT TSI.

You didn't because the Polo GT TSI was a late launch. It came only in 2013. I never believed that a change of oil magically solved the DSG's issues and that's been proven by the many DSG failures on 2014-2015 cars. On the D-segment sedan poll, an owner commented on how his <1 year old Octavia has already suffered transmission failure.

Wait another year or two (as the Polo & Vento DSGs rack up kms). We'll be hearing of a lot more failures.

[dark.knight]

Originally Posted by GTO

I never believed that a change of oil magically solved the DSG's issues and that's been proven by the many DSG failures on 2014-2015 cars.

Yep, logically the oil is just there to prevent friction and to enable the gearbox to function quietly and normally.. important aspect but not related to jerking or failures. Climate can influence how oils can lose or retain their viscosity to a degree.. thus it might be useful if the statistics of failures are mapped in tropical/warm countries like India & Australia where failures have been reported and then the same statistics in cold countries like Germany, China & Britain. Also what kind of failure, must be recorded. Even within India I'd like to know what the difference is in a city like Bangalore (where the level of heat wouldn't remotely matter to a car) and those like Delhi & Mumbai where the heat would test the gearbox to an extent (I seem to remember the case of a person who was stranded on an NCR toll and reported that the car overheated).

The DQ200 has been recalled back in 2013 to the tune of 2.6 million units (7.5 million in the cold country of China), not for no reason I can add. The side effects of implementing a double-clutch is that at all times, one gear (odd or even) is "held" is reserve while the other is released, the tuning is such that it'll be most effective when driven in a straight line with sequential and gradual upshifts or downshifts and no sudden surprises. In India this is anything but possible, that's why I suppose many have suggested to put the gear into N mode and use handbrake to take the load off the clutch, this is the problem with electronics taking over for human thinking as using foot brakes with D mode would keep the clutch active and its not wise to use the P mode in traffic as one nudge and the parking brakes are finished.

VW has stated that in warmer climates the oil has to be replaced quicker than its scheduled 60,000km? in the manual, but not exactly sure how much quicker. The mechatronics unit is a series of built-in functions which hold and release the dual clutches engaging either odd or even gears.. I suppose even a minute flaw in electronic/software programming will botch the release and replicate a "learner" driving a manual where one might leave the clutch too fast or too slow hence the jerking. Again there is a thread here in Technical Stuff about a member's Vento TSi seemingly having improved after a particular software update yet not completely cured.

Interesting to see how the issues are tackled.

[drmohitg]

Originally Posted by Impala59

My friend got a VW Polo GT TSI in 2013 and has been facing a lot of problems, especially with the clutch.

Advice needed from the T-BHP experts regarding how this problem should be handled. Any help would be appreciated

Sorry for reviving an old thread but did your friend get any response from VW? What was the final decision? Please update the thread.

[Nissan1180]

I read a news article on VW Malaysia a few days ago.
Here's the link.

They're offering a free 200,000 km or 2 year extended warranty for DSG cars produced before December 2013.
I'd not be surprised if this never makes it to India. We'll still perceive them as a premium brand even when they fail to fulfill their basic obligation of providing a reliable vehicle despite making the customer pay a premium.

[khoj]

This free warranty comes in to play after the standard warranty of '5' years gets over and there's more. Read the following portion from the original article itself

QUOTE

"Volkswagen Passenger Cars Malaysia (VPCM) today announced an additional 2-years “VPCM Customer Care Goodwill” on the Direct Shift Gearbox (DSG) on cars produced up till December 2013, with mileage of up to 200,000km. This goodwill takes place after the expiration of the 5-years warranty period on these vehicles. Additionally, “VPCM Customer Care Goodwill” is also offered on other selected components for Volkswagen cars that have passed its 5-years warranty period expiration date.

Goodwill on DSG*

For DSG, after the 5-years warranty, VPCM offers an extra 2-years Goodwill for cars produced up to December 2013 with mileage up to 200,000km.

Do note that Goodwill is NOT an extended warranty as it is decided on a case by case basis and to be able to enjoy this 2-years Goodwill, your car needs to be serviced at a Volkswagen approved dealer, with full service history.

The Goodwill covers 100% parts, with a minimal shared labour charge (this is a standard parts warranty, excluding wear & tear items for all cars serviced and repaired at a Volkswagen approved dealer). This means, after the 5 year warranty, there is a 2-years Goodwill, with labour cost sharing. Then a further 2- years parts warranty on the Goodwill repair, only when cost sharing, which covers both parts and labour 100%."

UNQUOTE

Compare this to the raw deal VW is doling out to it's customers here.

Originally Posted by Nissan1180

I read a news article on VW Malaysia a few days ago.
Here's the link.

They're offering a free 200,000 km or 2 year extended warranty for DSG cars produced before December 2013.
I'd not be surprised if this never makes it to India. We'll still perceive them as a premium brand even when they fail to fulfill their basic obligation of providing a reliable vehicle despite making the customer pay a premium.

[Impala59]

Hi guys!
Sorry for not updating this thread.

VW India did not charge him a single rupee of the 1.17L quoted. The only time he had to pay was for a servicing before they replaced it (Around 8k)

Haven't been able to talk to him properly, but will get back with a detailed reply. Thanks a lot everyone who helped

[Altocumulus]

Originally Posted by Impala59

Hi guys!
Sorry for not updating this thread.

VW India did not charge him a single rupee of the 1.17L quoted. The only time he had to pay was for a servicing before they replaced it (Around 8k)

Haven't been able to talk to him properly, but will get back with a detailed reply. Thanks a lot everyone who helped

That's really great news. Details would be welcome here and would help build confidence on the brand among prospective buyers.

[Jaggu]

Originally Posted by Impala59

Hi guys!
Sorry for not updating this thread.
=====
Haven't been able to talk to him properly, but will get back with a detailed reply. Thanks a lot everyone who helped

This is indeed a very good gesture from VW, do let us know the details of the same. Was it a compromise deal or a voluntary gesture from VW side?

[Rajeevraj]

Originally Posted by Impala59

Hi guys!
Sorry for not updating this thread.

VW India did not charge him a single rupee of the 1.17L quoted. The only time he had to pay was for a servicing before they replaced it (Around 8k)

Haven't been able to talk to him properly, but will get back with a detailed reply. Thanks a lot everyone who helped

Good to hear this. As already mentioned above, request to share the full details as soon as possible. The poor history of the DQ200 DSG is a main reason that many people hesitate to take the plunge to go for the Polo/Vento TSI. The fact that VW replaced the components in spite of being out of warranty will help mitigate the fears a bit.

Of course, the fact that it failed is still a concern though.