Acceptable mileage on a Golf GTI DSG

Arthur Hucksake · 11 Jun 2016 at 22:08

Just pondering a Golf GTI but budget seems to limit me to the 70k mileage range.

Thinking MK5 / MK6 era

How much life can I reasonably expect to get from it?

Yearly service, change whatever needs it.

nas · 11 Jun 2016 at 22:17

DSG Services are every 40k, a well maintained box shouldn't give any trouble.

Jumper118 · 11 Jun 2016 at 22:28

software updates are very import on dsg gearboxes. they should be updated every service if there is one available.

Randell Floyd · 11 Jun 2016 at 23:04

Jumper118 said:
software updates are very import on dsg gearboxes. they should be updated every service if there is one available.

Any idea on any dates for these updates, or last few release details?

Minstadave · 11 Jun 2016 at 23:23

nas said:
DSG Services are every 40k, a well maintained box shouldn't give any trouble.

A well maintained and generously lubricated box will tolerate years of hard punishment.

Arthur Hucksake · 12 Jun 2016 at 06:15

Good to know. Crawling through peak traffic with a manual is getting tiresome and my clutch gets hammered. One thing I never seem to get better at.

Rexxar · 12 Jun 2016 at 07:04

Bought my Mk5 GTI at 60,000 miles, sold on at 85,000 , still going strong and without a hiccup (DSG Gearbox)

Arthur Hucksake said:
Good to know. Crawling through peak traffic with a manual is getting tiresome and my clutch gets hammered. One thing I never seem to get better at.

I did find that mine could sometimes not make it's mind up between 1st and 2nd , depending on the speed of traffic, so i used to switch to manual mode then and hold it in the gear i wanted or it can feel jerky.

Minstadave · 12 Jun 2016 at 08:08

I had the same wet clutch 6 speed in an Audi A3 2.0T and I sold it with 110k miles on the clock and it was still trouble free (askMID says it's still insured so must be still going ok).

Mine also had the 1st and 2nd gear issue which occasionally tried to kill me at roundabouts.

Rroff · 12 Jun 2016 at 08:22

It is usually around that 70K point that stuff like the clutch needing some maintenance starts to exhibit itself especially on VWs but unless you get unlucky should be relatively inexpensive work and they'll usually go on for ages after that - my brothers mk6 Golf GTI was over 100K when he sold it without any problems really and my parents previous Sharan was still going at past 500,000 miles locally as a taxi last I saw of it heh.

Dogbreath · 12 Jun 2016 at 10:10

Arthur Hucksake said:
Good to know. Crawling through peak traffic with a manual is getting tiresome and my clutch gets hammered. One thing I never seem to get better at.

A DSG box still uses friction clutches, so stop/start crawling will still be frequently slipping the clutch and causing wear. A conventional auto is a better choice in this respect.

Minstadave · 12 Jun 2016 at 10:14

The DSG clutches are a lot longer lived than a normal manual. Not seen many reports of DSGs needing their clutch packs changing, even when remapped.

Si105 · 12 Jun 2016 at 11:44

Rexxar said:
I did find that mine could sometimes not make it's mind up between 1st and 2nd , depending on the speed of traffic, so i used to switch to manual mode then and hold it in the gear i wanted or it can feel jerky.

I have one, and this is exactly the issue in stop start. I never use automatic in the city because it will switch to second gear almost instantly and never drop down to first unless you stop completely. It feels like I have to put more thought and effort towards driving it than my Clio 172 (which has a notoriously heavy clutch). DSG Is lovely in general though!

96k and still going strong though, oil changed every 40k.