[kpkeerthi]

Originally Posted by steadfast

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

Are we talking about a DSG Polo?

[Gurudatt28227]

VW may have tweaked their DSG's for better reliability in their 2.0 cars because if my memory serves me right the polo 1.2 GT tsi that i had driven in 2018 shifted way more aggressively than the Taigun/Kushaq . I currently own a Kushaq Montecarlo DSG and it is a better transmission than anything else thats available in the segment today in my opinion. I also own a 2020 polo GT tsi with the torque convertor and ,while that car feels great in the city with smooth shifts and slightly aggressive creep, it can get confused on the highway sometimes especially in D-mode and the downshifts are way slower compared to the DSG.

[Astonite]

Originally Posted by GTO

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.

Precisely. My 2016 Octy is 77k kms now and we have changed the mechatronics twice till date. Latest was last year. In case of DQ200, it’s better to be a pessimist than an optimist.

As you’ve posted multiple times before, it’s a freaking hard upgrade but narrowing down on replacing this with Thar petrol RWD.

Originally Posted by itwasntme

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.

Could be. But still a speculation at this point. But I believe there have been cases of failure in the 1.2 as well.

[Chrome6Boy]

I loved my Vento 2016 TSI with all my heart. I drove it 1,35,000 kms and loved most of it. However the mechatronix died at 99,920 kms and I could luckily get it replaced under warranty. It happened again at 1,20,000 kms at which point the service center managed to get it working while informing me that the transmission will die soon.

I took a risk and drove it another 15,000 kms never using the S mode or the manual mode and also never really reaching high rpms and it managed to last. I was sorry to see it go when I finally sold it, but also a little relieved that I don't have to baby the transmission any longer.

My friend who bought the 2016 Vento TDI DSG has so far changed the mechatronix once and also the clutch once. He has driven the car 1,75,000.

We both loved our cars and no CVT or TC was ever going to match this driving experience.

We also own a 2019 Hyundai Venue DCT which we bought when it was first released. That DCT was changed under warrant last year after there was a severe jerk moving from 1st to 2nd gear.

Based on my experience, if you value the driving experience more than reliability (like I did) then buy it without question with the 6 year warranty. However, you have to hope and pray you won't be one of the people who have the dreaded gearbox failure. Remember, even if the replacement happens under warranty these things take time and can be very frustrating to be without your car while the approval and repair processes happen.

If you can manage, EVs give a better driving experience with a higher reliability than the TSI - DSG combination.

[sachin_cs]

Fellow DQ200 owner here, I drive a Rapid 2019 TDI DSG and as of now I have completed 81,000kms. Regarding the gearbox, it still drives the way it did on the day 1, there's no lag, no slip, no mechatronic failure. Being an automobile engineer myself, I can tell you that just take care of the gearbox and it will keep you happy in the long run.

Couple of practices I follow-

1. Shift to N when I have to wait in a signal for too long
2. Don't accelerate too hard from standstill, no drag races please.
3. I don't drive sedately, 40% of the time my car is in the sport mode, the key here is- be gentle during gearshift around D1 and D2. What I mean to say is, DSG is jerky at lower gears, don't mash the accelerator during such shifts, once the car is on hold of a gear, you can give the beans.
4. Get DSG adaptations done during your annual service. Once a year I get my DSG plugged to ASC computer and check for clutch wear or if there's any reset needed.
5. Take your car on highways regularly, this engineering marvel is made for open roads. If you are driving it on stop go traffic daily, you are doing more harm to it.
6. Most importantly Buy that damn extended warranty

Here's a picture of the odometer (The car is 4.5 years old)


Mileage is the added bonus of that 7th cog




I'm really happy with the DSG and it's one of the best gearbox this side of 40L.


Regarding newer gearboxes, I had a chance of interacting with the engineers and they had to say that they have worked more on the reliability front when compared to previous crop of DQ200s.

[SPB_drives]

Originally Posted by three10

2015 polo GT TSI with the DQ200 box - I’ve done about 55,000 km and I’ve had absolutely no issues (touch wood!).

I’ve always made sure to shift into neutral when the car is stationary for > 5 sec.

The gearbox is awesome and a TC box would probably not be as good.

So shifting the car to neutral is the only good-practice you have adopted? Any other pointers you would like to suggest to have a long-term reliability for the DSG/DCT box?

[nicodash]

Originally Posted by sachin_cs

Get DSG adaptations done during your annual service. Once a year I get my DSG plugged to ASC computer and check for clutch wear or if there's any reset needed.

I haven't read about this anywhere before. What exact words/phrase should I say to the service guys to get this done? Is it paid service or is it included as part of the routine service package?

[audioholic]

Originally Posted by SPB_drives

So shifting the car to neutral is the only good-practice you have adopted? Any other pointers you would like to suggest to have a long-term reliability for the DSG/DCT box?

I follow these practices:

• Shift to Neutral when I stop
• If in Bumper to bumper traffic either use M1 or sports mode depending on how severe the stop go is. Also I dont frequently brake and creep in B2B traffic and wait for at least one car length to clear up before I move the car
• I am easy on the A pedal in D1 and D2.

Since I am new to the DSG game I have only done this bit to see if it works out. But to what extent I have researched about the DQ200, the main issue is with the clutch which wears out some day. The Mechatronic would only fail if driven under severe conditions for a long time.

This cannot be compared to the earlier mechatronics failures of the DQ250 which was due to the oil getting contaminated and then messing up the electronic circuitry. In case of the 200 its mainly clutch wear and long term wear out of the hydraulic pump or accumulator. Thats more predictable.

[three10]

Originally Posted by SPB_drives

So shifting the car to neutral is the only good-practice you have adopted? Any other pointers you would like to suggest to have a long-term reliability for the DSG/DCT box?

I’ve done nothing else specifically with regards to the DSG. Overall, I’ve adopted three things

1) shift to N if you’re stationary for more than 5 sec.
2) let the engine warm up before starting off (the rpms drop a bit and stabilise)
3) idle for 10-15 sec before shutting off the engine.

That’s it. The car doesn’t receive any other extras from a driving perspective.

[low_rider]

Originally Posted by Maky

Hey dsr001,

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.

The sample size of 2.0 cars may be much smaller than expected since a major chunk is of the 1.0TSI (Torque Converter) types. For people familiar with VAG DSGs, TC is a better choice due to reliability. And for the common folks (non-enthusiasts), 1.0 TSI offers much of the package at a lesser price. So, the proportion of DSGs in the 2.0 cars is less than what would make an ideal sample size.

One query: Now that VAG DSGs are there in only Petrol cars whereas earlier a sizeable number of them were in Diesels, does this also affect the DSG wear and tear considering the higher starting torque of diesels which would have been handled by D1-D2 gears?

[Torque123]

It's too early for me to comment on the reliability factor of the DSG - DQ200 as I have owned the Slavia 1.5 DSG only for 7.5 months with 8.3k kms on the ODO. Hence, I am having a neutral view on its reliability for now. However, I feel Skoda/VW has worked on improving the reliability of the DSG but how much of it has translated into a positive result is something which we will get to know in another year or two. I diligently follow the below mentioned actions.

1. Press brake pedal -> Shift to Neutral & engage handbrake -> release the brake pedal for stops >5 Secs & <2 Mins
2. Press brake pedal -> Shift to Neutral -> engage handbrake -> Shift to Parking Mode -> release the brake pedal after parking the car.
3. No hard acceleration in D1 & D2. Frankly speaking it's not required either as the 1.5 TSI has a mind blowing mid & top end punch (not that the low-end grunt is bad or insufficient).
4. I hardly drive in stop & go traffic. Whenever I do, I move the car from standstill only if I have a minimum of 1 car length ahead of me.
5. Always switch off the auto start/stop functionality at the beginning of every drive. I just hate this feature.

Nothing comes close to a DSG. It's the best gearbox on offer today performance wise. I don't think I will be ever go back to MT or any other forms of AT. And yes, I got the extended warranty

[sachin_cs]

Originally Posted by nicodash

I haven't read about this anywhere before. What exact words/phrase should I say to the service guys to get this done? Is it paid service or is it included as part of the routine service package?

When I was around 60k mark, I was feeling a slight lag between acceleration and the engine responding to it specifically in the D3. So, I brought it to the notice of my service guy and he plugged his laptop. He found that it’s usual clutch wear, so what he did was adaptation to the current condition of the clutch and asked me to drive it normally as I do and the DSG will learn the driving pattern. I didn’t notice the immediate difference but eventually the lag has gone now. This was not charged, it was part of the general service. You can ask them to check the condition of the clutch, it can be found via VCDS and if needed, they will do the adaptation or reset. Hope it helps.

Originally Posted by audioholic

. Also I dont frequently brake and creep in B2B traffic and wait for at least one car length to clear up before I move the car.

Count me in, I forgot to mention in my earlier post but yes, I make sure that I don’t creep with brakes half pressed.

[dsr001]

Couldn't have imagined the thread I started getting space on home page... and thanks a lot to forum members for sharing valuable experiences.

A related question for those who have driven considerably, the 1.0 TSI torque converter AT and 1.5 TSI, how different is the driving experience ?

I have driven the 1.0 TSI AT a lot and hear on the forum that 1.5 TSI DSG, though powerful, has a more mature feeling to it (and 1.0 runs as if it's stage 1 tuned!).

I'd want to ideally move up to 1.5 but is the increased performance worth the risk ?

[Evyas]

Hi,
I'm sure you've gone through it but if not, please peruse one of the great threads here at TBHP by @JoshMachine about DSGs.

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/techn...t-gearbox.html (DSG, demystified! All you need to know about VW's Direct-Shift Gearbox)

All safe practises and how to use it are explained in brilliant, painstaking detail! And the discussion on various things in the thread is worth its weight in gold.

[sunilarkt]

A few changes VW has made to the newer DQ200 DSG :

1. Gears are optimized for a less aggressive driving style. If you're familiar with previous DQ200s, you will immediately notice this.

2. Oil has been changed. Newer oil is less viscous than before and makes it easier for the transmission to shift gears.

3. Improved clutch cooling: Due to the above two factors, clutch cooling will improve and lead to better thermomanagement as well.

4. VW has also worked on optimizing responses using software modulation in different drive modes and idle mode.

Source Disclaimer : From a friend who works at the VW transmission and powertrain development team

I'm not sure how much all these steps will improve reliability, but VW is actively looking to get it right (Jury is out till the newer updates spend significant time on the road). DQ200 is bread and butter for VW Group in emerging markets, and I don't think they are taking the previous issues lightly. That being said, there are no alternatives for enthusiasts in the market below 40lak for a similar or better performance, and your decision may be down to how risk-averse you are.