DSG woes in The Age

[THE_EGG]

Hmm well, the article doesn't have any evidence linking the death with DSG as her car was a manual but even so....

When I had a Polo 66TDI (completely stock) fitted with the DQ-200 DSG7 I experience several failures such as the false-neutral thing. One scenario when it happened was when I was turning across oncoming traffic only to find the car crawled a few metres and then did the false-neutral thing almost causing a head-on collision. Thankfully the guy coming the other way swerved out of way but if it were a truck I think it could have ended very differently. The dealer just did a software updates each time I came in and said there was nothing mechanically wrong...In end I sold it after many failures and breakdowns as I did not feel safe driving it (only had it for about 4 months). VWA did jacksh*t to help out same with "VW customer care/assist" or whatever they're called.

But yes if something is to be done I think the government will have to step in considering virtually nothing has been done so far in Australia. Lots of people power is needed.

[OilBurna]

Greg

103kw failure shuts down whole engine if it detects a fault in one it will shut the others down as well. So no stalled and then would not re-start.

[sVWatt]

Momentum in the media still building
VW owners complain of 'terrifying' speed loss

[jdd]

Greg

103kw failure shuts down whole engine if it detects a fault in one it will shut the others down as well. So no stalled and then would not re-start.

I'm trying to understand if the Golf I have is included in this group.
It's a 2008 2.0 TDI Pacific with the 103kw engine.
From what I've read the only 103kw engines with this issue are the ones fitted to the Passat.
Is anybody able to confirm this ?

[Diesel_vert]

Firstly, the title of this thread is misleading - the car in question had a manual gearbox.

Secondly, assuming the car itself is directly found to be the cause of the accident, how would any subsequent recall (if any) affect those currently with DSG issues?

Thirdly, this seems indicative of problems with VW in general, rather than specific to any DSG issue, so it may not be enough for VW HQ to issue a voluntary recall of DSG gearboxes (or at least, not before July at the earliest, which is when the coroner will hand down the findings of the inquest).

[ill0gitech]

VAG's response is interesting.
They have much the thought some others have had, which is that this death is not related to the DSG issues. I particularly like the point that the people who spoke to Fairfax didn't have DSGs either...

[JonP01]

The ABC News (News 24) has just revealed tonight that VW cars can now defy the laws of physics. Apparently a modest road going bread and butter VW can now decelerate from a steady 100 kmh to zero in 3 seconds. Race prepared and very high performance vehicles might be able to manage this, as well as lower spec vehicles on very sticky slicks on a racing surface all driven by professional calibre drivers, but I strongly suspect it is a tad beyond your average Polo, Golf and Passat driven by the average driver on the average public road (well it is impossible, you just need to put the numbers through the appropriate physics equation.

[nat225]

OMG, THIS IS AWESOME!!

That means my Golf and many others can actually stop 100-0 in 3 seconds!! No point wasting $$$ for better brakes guys!

The ABC News (News 24) has just revealed tonight that VW cars can now defy the laws of physics. Apparently a modest road going bread and butter VW can now decelerate from a steady 100 kmh to zero in 3 seconds. Race prepared and very high performance vehicles might be able to manage this, as well as lower spec vehicles on very sticky slicks on a racing surface all driven by professional calibre drivers, but I strongly suspect it is a tad beyond your average Polo, Golf and Passat driven by the average driver on the average public road (well it is impossible, you just need to put the numbers through the appropriate physics equation.

[Rileyowner]

People who dropped out of high school or just made it to year 12 have had buckley's of becoming journalists since about the mid 1970s. Journalists are not always right and are sometimes driven by agendas but then so are you - and so am I.

In regard to 'transmissions that only come from a handful of global manufacturers', then VW picked the wrong one. You really need to take my wife's Alfa Mito TCT for a drive. It's everything the DSG should have been.

[gavs]

Well so far, I've seen 2 useful comments in this thread.

Those of you who have commented about how those of us with the dsg must be making up stories etc, let me point something out here. NONE OF YOU HAVE BEEN IN A VW WHEN A DSG FAILS.

I have.

Nomadx38 was behind me at the time, all he knew is the overwhelming stink of fried clutch engulfed his nostrils, for me it was very different. I sh*t myself. I was accelerating when I lost everything, all drive, all gears, all brakes except the handbrake which in the 3-4 seconds of nothing, I didn't reach for. Now before any of you get on your high horses about 'I would have slowly applied the handbrake...' Well I say bullsh*t to you because in 3 seconds, you can't even think about what to do, your still trying to work out what the hell is going on, when suddenly your engine revs to redline, there is an almighty 'CLUNK' and you are driving with an intermittent flash between 4 and a spanner on your mfd.

3-4 seconds is a sizeable gap in traffic at 110kph, a bit over call it 110m. When you have a 40 tonne truck coming the other way, your approaching each other at 220m a second. If you pull out and start accelerating to overtake someone on a country highway, you might be at 130kph when suddenly you lose everything. That truck which was a close gap away is now very close and probably has already slammed their brakes on because they will need about 400m to come to a complete stop if fully loaded.
Even if you hit at 30kph each, you're not walking away. The inertia of 40 tonnes will mix you up on the insides. If you hit at 60kph, fair chance that you will be carted back home in a big garbage bag.

My point? Don't comment on sh*t you don't know about. This is why I am (bombshell alert) considering selling my polo. I take a deep breath every time I start the car because I don't know I the car is going to bring me home or end up on a flat bed or worse.

Too many torched pistons, to many replaced engines, too many clutch packs, too many mechatronics units, too many whole gearboxes, too many stretched timing chains, too many faulty coilpacks and spark plugs, too many creaking seats.

I've already had 6 warranty jobs in 2 years. My parents have had a grand total of 1 warranty job carried out across 3 Holdens in the past 10 years and so many of us are more than happy to get on here and slag off the locals. Will I buy a holden or ford? No. Will I ever buy another Volkswagen (other than an early 70's karmann ghia)? No chance.