UK-POLOS.NET - THE VW Polo Forum

My daughter purchased a 2012 Polo from a main dealer 3 years ago. A reluctant and somewhat nervous driver we thought the DSG Autobox would be ideal (no worrying about gear changes!) but has proven to be a diabolical piece of engineering, or it has a fault that nobody appears to be able to solve? Were this car to be sold to a friend I wouldn't do so with any recommendation for use by anyone other than a very experienced driver. I've an accident free 40+ years under my belt and at times it's dangerous.

So here's hoping.

Below is a list of emails and reports, starting a few days after collection.
Email to dealer:
In standard mode there's a hesitancy from the off and another vacuum at around 25mph- 30mph. At one point I gently pushed the accelerator an extra half inch and it went into kick down? In Sport mode it's responsive and seamless but switching back to normal accentuates the problem.
Email to dealer having taken to local dealership:
I went on a test drive with one of their technicians who agreed that the gearing was out of sync due he believed to the car having being driven very lightly and the management unit memorising and delivering the gear changes accordingly. His recommendation was that the settings be changed and we are booked in for this to be done next Wednesday afternoon.

We were then told that no software updates were needed, that the gearboxes performance would adjust itself to the style of driving after a few hundred miles. It didn't. A couple of thousand miles more, still no change and arguably worse.

We then took her to an independent mechanic - a relative who has 60 years in the trade, including recent experience working on VW's and historical knowledge of tuning and performance. he reset the software to factory settings and a slight but not conclusive improvement followed.

My daughter gave up driving 18 months ago. Putting a practical slant on the above, when pulling onto, eg., a roundabout, there's a 'dangerous' delay in pick up. (I drive a standard automatic so have something to compare) Sport mode helps but is not ideal in many cases. The fluctuation between gears between 30-35 mph continues and it's only on a leisurely 30-40mph jolly that any benefits of the gearbox come into play.

Footnote: By sheer fluke I met a guy who worked for the original seller, the VW main dealer, for a number of years who informed me that the DSG gearbox is the best thing since sliced bread in a big car but that it wasn't suitable for smaller one's. He hesitated slightly when told it was a 1.4L and not a 1.0 or similar but still insisted it's a manufacturing/design issue.

Any advice welcome?

Im driving the 1.2tsi 77kw with DSG 7speed dry clutch too. Its now clocking 250k km. No matter whats the issue out there. its still best gearbox that you can have today for that price. In comparison, maybe i’ll be ok if im getting the latest 8 or 9 speed AT from bmw/merc but then for now, i will definitely go for dsg again.

No issue at all. But what i share is that:
1) dsg is pretty much a manual gearbox. you need to know what speed/rpm to drive in what gear. and the problem is that many are used to normal AT slush box with Pedal and brake operation only
2) like here in south east asia, high temperature and weather is the enemy really. if i start moving round town in hot sunny day, after 2hrs the clutch sure start slipping. it just dont like it in hot day.
3) there re some SOPs that u have to deal with dsg. e.g. u need a complete stop when changing D to R and vice versa. and u should allow little time gap before u jumping from brake and gas pedal. remember, its not torque converter. in manual car, u do have this gap while operating your clutch and gas pedal. in dsg, its just automatic and much faster.


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I had a DSG equipped Audi A3 sportback from 2005-2008
I didn't specify DSG, but the only way you could get S-line spec, at that time, was as a package including the DSG box.
My god, I hated that gearbox....single most awful thing I've had fitted to any car, ever.
If you ever see the term 'DSG-delay' mentioned anywhere, I promise you I invented that term on Audi-sport.net way back in 2005.

benzinkopf wrote: ↑Fri Nov 16, 2018 8:24 am Im driving the 1.2tsi 77kw with DSG 7speed dry clutch too. Its now clocking 250k km. No matter whats the issue out there. its still best gearbox that you can have today for that price. In comparison, maybe i’ll be ok if im getting the latest 8 or 9 speed AT from bmw/merc but then for now, i will definitely go for dsg again.

No issue at all. But what i share is that:
1) dsg is pretty much a manual gearbox. you need to know what speed/rpm to drive in what gear. and the problem is that many are used to normal AT slush box with Pedal and brake operation only
2) like here in south east asia, high temperature and weather is the enemy really. if i start moving round town in hot sunny day, after 2hrs the clutch sure start slipping. it just dont like it in hot day.
3) there re some SOPs that u have to deal with dsg. e.g. u need a complete stop when changing D to R and vice versa. and u should allow little time gap before u jumping from brake and gas pedal. remember, its not torque converter. in manual car, u do have this gap while operating your clutch and gas pedal. in dsg, its just automatic and much faster.


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I appreciate that the DSG box reacts differently to most others but the issue of driving style shouldn't effect the problems which are........

1.Several changes up and down the gears between 28 and 35 mph, as if the box can't make up it's mind which to select.

2. A vacuum and unacceptable delay when pulling away in standard drive mode leading the car to lurch forward on engagement.

3. In reverse gear it's as if Sports mode has been selected. Very sensitive, a delay and difficult to control in tight spaces.

If this were a manual car i'd maybe be looking at hoses and blocked filters as causes of the vacuum but the Polo has been thoroughly checked by 2 main dealers and at least 2 other mechanics.

Could the problem be anything other than the gearbox itself?

over here, if we were to complain about what you wrote here, the first answer shall be directly replacing the mechatronic unit. maybe you should ask for mechatronic replacement because the issues seems like coming from the brain control.


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I've not heard of the mechatronic unit before but on Googling see that it's a recognised replacement for gearbox problems, although not necessarily directly comparable to those we are experiencing.

Would I be right in thinking that the main dealers may have fobbed us off to avoid having to sort this under warranty?

Yes I think you have hit the nail on the head, dealers will say anything to maintain profit margins, most do not realize it looses them customers.

I’m a happy DSG user and find it verging upon perfection, certainly no problems of the nature you describe.

I would be reluctant to buy any modern car not equipped with a twin clutch gear box.

What car are you driving Ricmundo?

I'm booking her in with an independent VWAudi specialist who will plug her in and run some diagnostics but probably more useful, will get her test driven by 2 or 3 of their VW trained mechanics who's combined experience will hopefully tell us if there's an issue.

I hope it sorts the problem for you without too much outlay.

I thought that the 6R Polo 1.4 16V had a CVT kind of transmission and not the DSG gearbox, ie a preDSG auto box?

Hope you get some joy from the specialist.

Still got your iQ David? You helped me out on a couple of occasions and provided a brighter internal LED assembly. We've still got ours along with a Polo R-Line (manual).

Best of luck with the Polo.

benzinkopf wrote: ↑Fri Nov 16, 2018 8:24 am Im driving the 1.2tsi 77kw with DSG 7speed dry clutch too. Its now clocking 250k km.

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Awesome!!!!

Tarquin wrote: ↑Sat Nov 17, 2018 10:28 pm I'm booking her in with an independent VWAudi specialist who will plug her in and run some diagnostics but probably more useful, will get her test driven by 2 or 3 of their VW trained mechanics who's combined experience will hopefully tell us if there's an issue.

Did you get anywhere?

I have a 2015 1.2 TSI & the DSG seems to get worse with age. Issues I have:

• Roll up to a roundabout/junction, hit the throttle & it bogs down before leaping forward with the turbo.

• Disengages on a slight incline so won't creep but will roll backwards. PITA when crawling uphill in traffic or parking.

• Generally poor pulling away from rest. Either reluctant to get going or lurches forward.

Prior to this I'd driven regular autos for 25 years with none of these issues. I suspect there's some truth to the idea of them being more suited to larger engines that can produce sufficient power without engaging the turbo. I feel quite embarrassed when carrying passengers at my inability to drive the thing smoothly.

I've not had a chance to get her looked at yet but will be doing so in the next couple of weeks so will report back.

I keep trying to put my finger on a particular driving style, change in the weather/temperature or anything that may influence the way she feels. A few days ago on a short trip all seemed well. Another journey later that day and at 35mph in 5th gear she 'bogged down' and jumped to 6th and 7th in a second.