Originally Posted by Christine
Reply With QuoteSo I've read through these forums about the various DSG and Mechatronics issues owners have experienced.
My car is a Golf TSI Highline. MY2013.
Issue: car suddently went into 'false neutral' on a very busy road. Couldn't get it moving (engine running, no drive to the wheels). Very nearly got hit. Slightly scary situation until I managed to get it off main road (was on a slight incline so was able to roll it backwards).
Had to be towed to the dealer - same dealer that had replaced the DSG only 3 months earlier.
I think Christine was a little hard done by initially but you are clearly civilised members and even more clearly VW fans. So I think it may be a bit risky posting this as I too was a fan until this incident combined with various other issues. Yes other car manufacturers have had a number of issues and recalls and handled them badly (e.g. Toyota in the US). I would have hoped VW would be better than this. BTW - I realised early that Fairfax's attacks on VW following the awful death on the Monash Fwy was junk journalism, as subsequently confirmed by the coroner. Bought the car after these issues were reported and before coroner's verdict. I only say this to demonstrate (hopefully) that I try to be evidence based in forming my opinions.
We have here a company which deliberately lied in the US about its diesel emissions via a, admittedly quite clever, software package so the vehicle knew it was under test conditions. Outright fraud for which jailings are needed. They've had continuing problems with its DSG and Mechatronics transmissions, and don't seem to have fully addressed them years after.
It's all very well to say other vehicle manufacturers have their own issues. I have owned many vehicles - not one has ever left me stranded in the middle of a busy road and subsequently needed to be towed. I would have thought VW would have had ample time, following previous DSG and Mechatronics "campaigns" (not recalls) to address their transmission issues. It may be a small percentage of their product (but how small? what are the numbers involved?), and yes many units have been going strong for 10+ years as noted in earlier posts. But it's not a trivial issue or one experienced after years of use.
I think the other real problem is VW's response. When I contacted their customer service department, the representative said quite abruptly "Your car is fixed, so what do you want from me now? There's nothing more we can do". This lack of customer concern is consistent with previous posts I've read and also with other media articles (e.g. in Drive - okay a Fairfax publication but I think the comments were fair). A company which truly cared about its reputation and customer satisfaction surely would have apologised sincerely, promised to raise it internally with the people who need to know and dare I suggest offered something as a goodwill gesture - I dunno, say some movie tickets or one month extra warranty or a car care voucher. Just a token to demonstrate they care about their customer's experience?
I've been involved with front line customer service. We used to joke about battered customer syndrome. No matter how badly you treat them, they just keep coming back. I think VW is lucky in a way to have such a loyal following and if it wasn't for this experience, I would likely have been part of it. Unfortunately, I really don't think I'll be considering another VW product when it comes to replacing my current vehicle. When you lose a customer's trust, it's very difficult to get it back.
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