Golf Gti DSG or Manual?

kinger8938

kinger8938

kinger8938

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Mk5 gti arpund 2008

As title really, ive not driven an auto before but there is a dsg gti fairly near to me for sale and hadnt really considered an auto golf so just wondering if anyone could tell me what they are like?

Dont do much long distance driving, works about 15 minutes away and can have a bit of traffic between here and there
 
Had a go in a mk5 r32 recently with DSG box. Wasn't that overly thrilled with the gearbox to be honest. Although it was super quick and all the rest of it, I desperately wanted a manual. I suggest going for a test drive in both manual and DSG to make up your mind.
 
DSG for the road definitely.

When you are stuck in traffic on the motorway/in town you will be glad you did.

Open road, just get frisky with the paddles, great fun and faster than the manual.
 
Make sure you take it for a long test drive and understand the negatives of gearboxes like this. For example, slow down from 50 approaching a roundabout, as you're rolling at about 10-15mph at the entry to the roundabout put your foot down.... A lot of DSG (and other auto boxes) have an uncomfortably long delay in circumstances like this - which is a situation in the real world you encounter a lot.

Otherwise read up on common issues and mechanical things to look out for, these go wrong fairly often and can cost a lot of money to put right. 2008 is starting to get on a bit in age so you want to make sure you're not going to be landed with any big bills
 
That roundabout delay caught me out a few times when I had a DSG A3. Despite that I'd always have the DSG over a manual unless I was purely using the car for the odd blast/weekend toy.
 
I really like it as a box, particularly later iterations where they seem to have dealt with that confusion at low speeds a bit better (software?)- but I would always be very wary about the box eating itself. There are just too many examples of them going really wrong. I guess if you could get yourself comfortable with the risk factor (or maybe even find one that had just been fixed) it'd be a great option.
 
AFAIK if you change the gearbox oil at the specified intervals it helps greatly with their long-term reliability.
 
Hard to be convinced by that to be honest - I'm sure it's a good thing to do and I could also buy into it prolonging the time taken for any issue to occur/really impact, but I don't believe that the many failures are a result of the fluid not being changed.

I don't doubt they improved them longevity wise over time, but an early car would still really worry me
 
rodenal said:
Hard to be convinced by that to be honest - I'm sure it's a good thing to do and I could also buy into it prolonging the time taken for any issue to occur/really impact, but I don't believe that the many failures are a result of the fluid not being changed.

I don't doubt they improved them longevity wise over time, but an early car would still really worry me
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Considering the fact that if it's the wet clutch system then the oil not only lubricates the gearbox internals but the clutches as well, and is used hydraulically by the mechatronics unit, I can see old worn/sludgy oil causing problems.


I've been told by Ford (and also read elsewhere) that the only real issues they've had with the Powershift gearbox were when the owner didn't have the oil changed on time (the interval is 37k miles).
 
You're talking about a different box though. Yes the way it works is/will be the same, but it's not the same box and hasn't been around for as long nor had anything like the reported number of failures - plus of course Ford are going to tell you that.
 
rodenal said:
You're talking about a different box though. Yes the way it works is/will be the same, but it's not the same box and hasn't been around for as long nor had anything like the reported number of failures - plus of course Ford are going to tell you that.
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My point about the oil and its function applies to the DSG box. Google it, there's plenty of reference to a 40,000 mile service interval.
 
rodenal said:
I know, but I remain far from convinced that it's the main issue with them. They seem to have fundamental issues outside of fluids.
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Well unless you can shed some light on what that issue might be, I think it's just down to the fact that there are so many of them in circulation, a few people are bound to come online and moan when theirs becomes faulty.


I myself remain convinced that the service intervals are specified for a reason, though.
 
i have dsg in my fabia vrs. ok its different car but same 7sp dsg gearbox.

i love it! everytime i have a courtesy car when the vrs is in for service.m i could not believe how hard work to change the gears! especially in town

but i would not own a car with dsg without any kind of warranty. usually with dsg gearbox, if a very little thing go wrong = new gearbox
 
How expensive are they REALLY to fix nowadays? Surely there must be a fair few specialists around by now who can recon whichever parts are actually breaking in these boxes?

You seem to see lots of advise saying that they are prone to bork and very expensive but not a lot first hand from people saying X broke and cost me Y to fix.
 
wesley said:
i have dsg in my fabia vrs. ok its different car but same 7sp dsg gearbox.

i love it! everytime i have a courtesy car when the vrs is in for service.m i could not believe how hard work to change the gears! especially in town

but i would not own a car with dsg without any kind of warranty. usually with dsg gearbox, if a very little thing go wrong = new gearbox
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+1

The DSG box is our Fabia vRS is very very good.Both myself and my wife love it. But would i have it with no warranty protection............no
 
sovietspybob said:
How expensive are they REALLY to fix nowadays? Surely there must be a fair few specialists around by now who can recon whichever parts are actually breaking in these boxes?

You seem to see lots of advise saying that they are prone to bork and very expensive but not a lot first hand from people saying X broke and cost me Y to fix.
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Story time. Bosses wife had an A3 2.0 TDI DSG - started jumping out of gear and not going into reverse. Would have been a ~£3k car if it was working properly, but he only used Audi for repairs and they wanted £4k for a new box, effectively writing off the car.

My friend is a mechanic and runs his own garage - quite often buys cars needing new engines etc to make some money on or use himself. His GF wanted to replace her old civic with an A3 so it was ideal - ended up buying it for £500 and towing it away. He did all the work himself in spare time, so no labour costs - but that car owes them about £2k all in, there was about £1500 in parts alone. So it was still a good deal for them and it's still going strong a year later, but you won't find many people saying "yeah it was just a £20 bearing"
 
I have a Seat Leon FR which uses the identical 2.0TFSI engine and DSG gearbox to the Golf GTi. My car is 2007 with 108k miles on the clock and the gearbox is absolutely fine.

I don't notice any kickdown lag when approaching roundabouts (no more so than if you approached any roundabout in too high a gear) and the upshifts and downshifts are silky smooth :)

As has been mentioned, just make sure it has been serviced at the proper intervals.

I used to insist on only having a manual gearbox too, but I now spend more of my time commuting than I do "enjoying" my drive. When the occasion warrants it though, the flappy paddles and sport mode are plenty entertaining.
 
The one i was looking at has just over 40,000 miles on the clock, full dealer history so i will ask if the last service included the gearbox oil change as i have read about that too! The mileage for it being 08 seemed pretty good to me
 
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