Transmission on way out. Overhaul now, or later when it breaks, or trade in?

[antipodes78]

Hi everyone. Just picked up my Volkswagen Golf 6 (bought new in 2012, done 220.000km now) from a service at my trusted mechanic. Was told there is oil leaking from the transmission and will likely to have problems with it within the next 12 months. At the moment the car drives fine though and my mechanic said it's otherwise in good condition. The car's Mechatronic was changed back in 2015 under warranty. Was told a transmission overhaul would be around $5k. I would love to hear your thoughts and advice on...

• Should I wait with transmission overhaul until there are actual problems while driving or get this done now while there are no problems yet? I don't want to end up in a body bag due to transmission giving up on me while pulling out into an intersection or losing traction on a freeway with an old truck with bad breaks behind me.
• Should I trade in the car instead? I wouldn't mind getting a different car eventually but I'm being told new and second hand cars are still really expensive at the moment, so maybe waiting a couple of months could save me $1000s?

Thanks everyone!

[Lucas_R]

Is your mechanic a VW specialist? If not then its probably worth taking it to an independent VW specialist mechanic to have the transmission diagnosed. Otherwise you may well be signing up to spend thousands of dollars unnecessarily.

But if there is something terminal with the gearbox, then you would want to know about it so you can plan what to do. Personally I could never trade/sell a car with a fault of any kind without disclosing it to the buyer and pricing the car accordingly - but people do this every day and then some poor unsuspecting person buys a ticking timebomb.

Assuming this is the notorious 7 speed DSG and you have a 1.2TSI or 1.4TSI Golf, then I don't think its worth the investment to overhaul the transmission - as this will almost certainly cost more than your car is worth. Which leaves either diagnosing the issue(s) and replacing those specific parts, or buying a used DSG from a wreckers and having that fitted.

[Jaffs]

It's not usually the gearbox itself, is it? Not sure it helps much but I just had the below done on my Mk 6 GTI with 6 sp DSG and the difference is unbelievable. I had a slight DGS fluid leak which was from probably from a crummy oil filter seal, but it can also be the mechatronics unit seal, the electrical connector for the mechatronics unit, or clutch seals. Really depends what's leaking and how much - could be worth logging some parameters related to clutch pressures etc.

Remove and Replace DMF and replace rear main seal $156.50
Dual Mass Flywheel - VW $1448.06
Flywheels bolts $99.76
Crankshaft Seal Housing - Rear $180.04
DSG Clutch Replacement Labour $1173.75
REP KIT $1095.34
DSG Wet Clutch Transmission Fluid $187.60
Transmission Filter SET $68.45
Also supposed to have a wheel alignment that I haven't done it yet.

[Jaffs]

By the way, I drove mine for 6 months or more with it clunking into D from R when the motor was cold, having a bit of vibration upon take off, and clunking in 1st or 2nd when accelerating or decelerating. I babied it a fair bit when that started happening, especially before the car had properly warmed up, but that became annoying. I decided to fork out nearly $5K on this job because I love this car, it only has 135000 km on it, and I tend to keep my cars for ages.