Photo: original photo created by autoevolution
The DSG gearbox is slowly evolving from Volkswagen's biggest strength into their biggest weakness. A number of recalls have been announced all over the world, the biggest one being 400,000 cars needing a fix in China and another 90,000 from Japan.
Viewed as the new-age alternative to changing gears yourself, DSG works by using two clutches instead of one. The complicated system is cause for concern for some customers now, who are worried about expensive repair bills when these gearboxes break down. To reassure its customers, VW is extending the DSG gearbox warranty to 10 years in some countries, but the Australian division is so far refusing to do a recall for a what is likely a DSG problem, waiting for official word from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC).
A recently opened coronial investigation into the death of a Volkswagen Golf driver on Melbourne’s Monash Freeway in 2011 has caused at least 15 other car owners to voice their complaints. 32-year-old Melissa Ryan died in a car crash when she was struck from behind by a heavy haller truck with two trailers. The truck drive says Melissa's car suddenly without the brake lights coming on.
Acceleration loss has been reported in the last in relation to DSG gearbox problems. However, we believe clutch slip can't cause this rapid deceleration. Instead, engine braking in combination with downshifting could cause the problem. The family of the victim supports this flame, and so do other owners who have experienced similar problems.
After hearing Mr. Ryan's story, radio host Dj Webster said she had the same problem. A yellow light came on and the car suddenly died. "It was quite bizarre. It was moving. I just couldn't accelerate. "I was really lucky I was where I was. If I had a truck bearing down behind me, God knows what would have happened," she said, according to drive.com.au.
Other VW owners report similar problems"I did not feel safe driving a car like that. It was frightening," said Jean Lim, who was driving a 2007 Golf automatic, according to theherald.com.au.
Volkswagen is trying to isolate the recall in China from problems experienced all over the world by saying those cars were actually produced in China using a bad batch of parts. The recall in Japan, on the other hand, was blamed on hot and most climate damaging the parts and a lot of stop/start traffic. Volkswagen has had problems with injectors in its engines, which have caused cars to lose power, so don't be surprised if manual cars also suffer from sudden deceleration problems.
If you're an angry VW owner, we'd like to hear your story.
A recently opened coronial investigation into the death of a Volkswagen Golf driver on Melbourne’s Monash Freeway in 2011 has caused at least 15 other car owners to voice their complaints. 32-year-old Melissa Ryan died in a car crash when she was struck from behind by a heavy haller truck with two trailers. The truck drive says Melissa's car suddenly without the brake lights coming on.
Acceleration loss has been reported in the last in relation to DSG gearbox problems. However, we believe clutch slip can't cause this rapid deceleration. Instead, engine braking in combination with downshifting could cause the problem. The family of the victim supports this flame, and so do other owners who have experienced similar problems.
After hearing Mr. Ryan's story, radio host Dj Webster said she had the same problem. A yellow light came on and the car suddenly died. "It was quite bizarre. It was moving. I just couldn't accelerate. "I was really lucky I was where I was. If I had a truck bearing down behind me, God knows what would have happened," she said, according to drive.com.au.
Other VW owners report similar problems"I did not feel safe driving a car like that. It was frightening," said Jean Lim, who was driving a 2007 Golf automatic, according to theherald.com.au.
Volkswagen is trying to isolate the recall in China from problems experienced all over the world by saying those cars were actually produced in China using a bad batch of parts. The recall in Japan, on the other hand, was blamed on hot and most climate damaging the parts and a lot of stop/start traffic. Volkswagen has had problems with injectors in its engines, which have caused cars to lose power, so don't be surprised if manual cars also suffer from sudden deceleration problems.
If you're an angry VW owner, we'd like to hear your story.
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