Coolant leaking

[Cameciso]

My Tiguan purchased March 2011 has developed a small coolant leak - about 1/2 a teaspoon a day but not every day. But on one occasion when the car had been parked in our driveway facing downhill for three days my daughter took the car out and I noticed a large amount of coolant dropping from underneath when she backed up the driveway. It must have accumulated on the cross member or somewhere. I later checked the coolant level and found that it needed about 300 ml to top up. Since then it has been parked on the flat and either has no leakage or just a couple of ml and hasn't required any top up. Any advice on what is going on before I take it to the dealer to fix?

[Cameciso]

Sorry. Forgot to mention it's a 7 speed DSG diesel.

[Umai Naa!!]

All you can do is book it in with them, and tell them its losing coolant. That's really all you can do. It sounds like it'll be easy to find.

[Cameciso]

Yeah. It was easy to find - needed a new water pump - another $1300 spent and it's only done 100,000 km in 50 months. Pretty poor show for a supposedly high quality and costly vehicle. That was on top of an A/C compressor at $1600 needed after 3 1/2 years.
Thanks for the reply anyway.

[Johnny]

My Tig has now done 168000km and I've just recently had the timing belt, waterpump, and all rollers replaced as the standard service, the total cost was around $740 au (EURO 500), so either you are being ripped off or I have lost track of prices in Oz. Having said that, I am more than satisfied with the Tig performance and quality.

[Cameciso]

I didn't have much choice in the end regarding the water pump but just had to take the VW dealer/service word on price (which did include timing belt); as far as the A/C compressor goes I had a quote from a VW dealer and then an A/C specialist who was within $50 of original quote. They ended up installing a Passat compressor which they said was more reliable, the original compressor having had several failures in other vehicles of the same era. I agree the Tiguan is a good car overall but has been severely let down by the components and by the limited warranty from VW. I am worried about what will go next; for example how long does the DSG last?

[tigger73]

I had the water pump replaced under warranty on Tig1 and will be getting an end-of-warranty inspection done on Tig2 before the warranty expires. I'm also seriously considering taking out an extended warranty on Tig2 to cover this sort of thing.

Regarding the DSG I haven't heard too many problems with the 7 speed DSG in the Tiguan. Yes it's a big ticket item so something you should take seriously. if you're looking to keep your Tig long term I'd shorten the recommended service intervals to increase the life.

On Tig1 I did an intermediate oil change at 7,500km and DSG oil change at 45,000/90,000 (standard is every 60,000km).

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[Cameciso]

Thanks for the replies Umai, Johnny, and Tigger73. The major service that I had done before heading off around OZ included a DSG oil change; that was at 60k so it sounds like a good idea to have it done again soon. As far as longevity goes, I was looking to keep the Tig for some time but I must admit my feet were starting to get very cold after the water pump went. If something else major goes soon I fear that I will be off to the safety of Toyota or Honda for a more reliable, albeit boring, vehicle.