T5 and DSG

[craig_the_german]

Hi everyone,
My wife and i are looking at purchasing either a late model used or new (depending on finances) T5 Crewvan.
Although we both prefer a manual gearbox, it seems many (most) used Transporters are DSG.
As we currently own a MK 6 golf, we have lived through the hysteria of the DSG recalls etc....despite our golf being a manual.
Of those of you who own Transporters with DSG, how reliable are they? Are they effected by the same issues as the Golf ones, though just not reported.
Is there anything else we should be looking for?
Thanks in advance

[Sunny43.5]

There are articles related to the DSG's in Transporters in this part of the Forum , myself personally have listed some small concerns with our now 12 month old T5 DSG . But from what most of the members have posted the DSG in the T5 is the 500 series and so far has not had any of the widespread problems of the smaller versions as fitted to Golfs etc. I will only add most of the T5's are now just approaching the 3 year mark and no major problems so far .Read this article but it is only "one " van and as was pointed out the Golf problems with DSG's were starting to happen just after purchase new T5 DSG dropping gear? WTF HELP?

[IN2VWS]

The T5 DSG is pretty reliable. As Howard mentioned, the DSG in the Transporters is a different model than the DSG fitted to the problematic passenger cars.
I think one of the problems with the Transporters, which has not been talked about much, is the EGR valve failures. My van is on it's 3rd EGR valve. A mate with a 2010 Transporter had his fail last week, and it was out of warranty. It is getting replaced for free, as VW know there are problems with them.......you just have to argue with the asshöle dealerships to get it done for free.

[Transporter]

Also, it's worth to mention that, no automatic gearbox in the past (any brand) and the DSG is no exemption was perfect and they all had the odd shift, late shift or misbehaved somehow once in their lifetime and still lasting many 100's k km.

[Sunny43.5]

Agree Transporter but the good old days before technology was loaded into trannies they were more resilient and easier to service and fix . Submerging electronic components inside a sealed environment with boiling hot fluid is a recipe for problems , even the most cynical would agree . Yes I know car makers worldwide are aiming for economy but there are downsides sometimes in their ideas, as has been documented loss of drive /hesitant drive is not something we should have to experience , its just plain SCARY

[Tig-uan]

On T5 DSG hesitant start/lag issue. I think there is none as such in T5 DSG because the first gear is low thus it starts off easily.
But, what might feel like a lag, is that if you have not come to a complete stop, say just slowed down to 3km/h, then when moving on again, DGS might remaind in Second gear, and the Second gear much slower to take off in, considering that the turbo might be off-boost as well.

IN2VWS, what are the symptoms of EGR troubles, and how this may be communicated to dealer?

[IN2VWS]

IN2VWS, what are the symptoms of EGR troubles, and how this may be communicated to dealer?

Symptoms - warning light on the dash.
The first time mine failed, the van went into limp mode. Removing the key and starting up again, was good for another 20km. This had to be done regularly to get the van home.
The second time, I only had the warning light on the dash. Could still drive OK.
Supposedly, I have a new improved EGR in the van now.

Communicated to your dealer - I don't know what sort of relationship you have with your dealer, but my dealer bends over backwards to help with any issues that I have. All my services are done at that dealership.
Without going into the legalities of it etc. - but if you only go to the dealer for warranty issues, and no service, I wouldn't expect them to try real hard to fix problems. My 2.2 cents worth (gst inc.)

[Sunny43.5]

My wife still cannot get a smooth take off and those micro seconds are off putting to lots of people , and if as you say slowing down to 3kmh is going to cause the problem then in my personal opinion its not good enough petty ? yes I know I am . You read so many stories about how good the DSG can be quick changes etc but there are some issues my mates T5 same years as ours has some very lumpy changes . Never had that sort of problem with our older T5 Tiptronic auto instant take off every time [wont bring up its catastrophic death last year ]. oops sorry that slipped out .

[Transporter]

Warning! The rant!
...
...

The DSG or not, the statistics are there showing that today's cars are more reliable than those built a decades ago. It's just the internet that makes a little problems look much bigger than they really are. Take Sunny43.5; he had posted his one transmission problem at least at 10 different places of the vwwatercooled at different times. That's just one person, with one fault. He is well within his rights to complain. Now it's up to you, who want the reliable information from the internet to sieve through the chaos and the information overload to find out what if there is a real problem or not. It safe for me to say that all other makes forums are the same in that regard, full of repetitive complaining coming form the same bunch of people.

I see the younger generation of drivers posting here their problems even before the car gets properly diagnosed and when diagnosed and problem has been found to be not a problem, they don't go back to their post and admit, "hey that was me I did something wrong and the car just reacted to it".

Today's automatics incl. DSG's are more reliable than the automatics from 70' that were still used in 90's. They will not necessarily last 300,000km because like everything today they probably don't build them to last that long. Which is not just the car manufacturers fault, the buyers don't want to pay more for their purchase and most of them keep their cars 3-5 years.

To those buyers who like always a new, there is really nothing to complain about. You've got what you wanted. A new fancy car every 3-5 years for show of, so you have to suck up the rest that comes with it.

The end of rant!

[craig_the_german]

Thanks everyone for your replies. It is good to get feedback from actual owners rather than all of the reviews and opinions from people who have never actually driven one.