A car for the missus.. Jetta Turbo DSG

[duke5700]

Now before you blast me I've done some searching and done a little reading and I came up a little light.

Who has owned a Jetta 2.0L Turbo DSG say from 2008 onwards?

What did you think?

How was servicing?

Anything to look out for?

I'm mainly interested in the driveline side of things as I am worried if for arguments sake the DSG dies... how many dollars? Is it common etc?

:1peek:It also may get an exhaust and tune:eyes:

Basically I want a safe, comfortable car with a little bit of poke for when I drive it. 2008 Models are sub 20K if you shop hard enough.

[smoov GTS]

Who has owned a Jetta 2.0L Turbo DSG say from 2008 onwards?


My wife owned one for 4 years, we just traded it for the new model. Was a great car, no probs really, alot less than my GTS anyway.

Serviceing was ok too, except the 60k one was a bit steep ($900) it was for the dsg service and oil change, very expensive oil in that gearbox.

Car was a hoot to drive, basically a GTI with a boot and sleeper looks.
Trade-in was dissapointing, ended up getting $18k for it. Had leather and sunroof too. Bonus was the new model was $6k less than we paid for the old one 4 years ago. New one is all new, a bit bigger and sort of Audi looking.

[73.RSR]

We purchased a VW Golf in May this year through our company, had it for one week before it went back for repairs, still waiting on a replacement car to this day!

We are now out of pocket 4 months of insurance fees, solicitors bills plus all the time involved stuffing around with the department of fair trading.

Over 4 months of giving lame BS excuses for why the car won't work - apparently VW don't feel that 4 month wait is such a big deal.
Customer service is non existent, no phone calls or follow ups.

We won't be buying one ever again.

Touch wood, my GTI has been fine.

[Epic_Dragon]

we recently purchased a 2005 VW Golf GTI DSG, and it is absolutely fabulous. We will be changing the oil ourselves very soon in the gearbox however. nothing wrong with it just not something we want to go wrong on us. but if they had too many issues they wouldnt sell so many :D its incredible though! i think you are on to a good thing if you go the Jetta way. we too needed an easier car for me to drive, with left hand indicators as id had enough of my wireless driving aids not indicating or working the main beams, something great on fuel that goes hard when you want it to. and these cars tick all those boxes :) (we will be chipping ours and putting exhaust on too) out of all the cars i have owned, this is my fave. (have owned r34 skyline, vt commo manual wagon, ve ssv ute to name a few) well other than my panelvan, that is my fave car of all time. the auto window wipers are heaven. not having to wait for an auto to have an arguement with itself before gear changes is heaven. they are small cars that feel very big inside which is great too. very comfy. and drive very nice.
that sucks things havent gone so well with you though 73 RSR. hope you get a resolution fast.

[Drew SS]

plenty of them here in ireland the broher in law has a 2008 loves it

[hsv-direct]

I've been hooning around in a 2006 Golf R32 with the DSG box. Excellent cars to drive, currently has done around 50,000kms.
I give it a bit of a thrashing & the gearbox never misses a beat.

[duke5700]

The indications from what I've read it seems that the DSG failure is rare but if it does happen its a pretty bloody expensive fix.

I took the car for a test drive yesterday and I can say that it will be perfect for what I want it to do.

[CLUBRED]

I've heard the DSG can hold some good power so I'd expect failures to be rare - but as mentioned, that probably attracts a premium to service, repair, replace.

You could borrow it for a couple hours and visit your local APR dealer.

http://www.goapr.com.au/products/ecu_upgrade_8golfgti.html

You can get a free trial (6 hour time out period from memory) if you ask nicely.

[duke5700]

Thats quite impressive actually.. I noticed that even while take the car for a test drive yesterday the traction contrl was working pretty hard through 1st and on a hard down shift into 2nd. An extra 45kw and 100nm of torque wouldn't help that :lol:

I like the abilty to easily flick between mapping.. and that Valet mode is awesome. When I was at the dealership yesterday, the service guys when taking them for a test drive are rather stiff with the test out of the driveway up to the speedlimit.

[73.RSR]

Yep, the APR tune is great, I just have the stage one with a CAI but 190kw and 410nm in a 1360kg car is plenty quick enough.

Traction is a problem in first gear and in the wet second as well.
Starting, idling and temperatures are all the same as the factory tune and you don't lose one bit of bottom end torque.

I went for manual just because I don't care for the low speed hunting and hesitation off the mark with the DSG, doesn't seem to bother most people though.

[duke5700]

I honestly didn't notice any weirdness in the DSG operation at low speeds? Is it something to look for?

[73.RSR]

Yeah, the golf that we have been waiting to get repaired and my wifes golf wagon both have 7 speed DSG and they both roll forward even when the selector is in reverse - parking on hills can be difficult - requires 2 feet.
Sitting in traffic it likes to jump up a few too many gears, labours then shuffles down again - gets annoying in heavy traffic.
And from a standing start there is a big delay before it takes off.
I have never driven the 6 speed DSG so can't comment.

I was annoyed when I read wheels magazine and they mentioned the same problems with the DSG in the Polo they are testing, they took it the dealer and it was rectified yet both of our cars have went back and were told "it's normal, that's just how they work" I bet if I was road testing for a magazine it would have been looked at.

Again it comes down to personal preference, I can't handle any delay from the pedals or steering wheel - it drives me crazy.

[duke5700]

Honestly this never seemed to have an issue at all. It certainly shuffled through the gears in traffic though when in auto mode obviously trying to achieve good fuel economy but in sport mode it seemed quite good and in manual mode did as it was told.

Realistically the car is for my girlfriend who has no interest what so ever in going fast.. my question mainly relate to when I need to drive it which will account for about 5% of the time.

[csv rulz]

Would you be better of getting a brand new 118tsi Jetta for $25k?
Get a new car with new car warranty, only problem is it wont be quite as quick.

[duke5700]

I am open to idea :)

[duke5700]

Would you be better of getting a brand new 118tsi Jetta for $25k?
Get a new car with new car warranty, only problem is it wont be quite as quick.

Nothing auto that cheap. I'm looking at 30K for an auto.

[COSMOS]

I've got a GTI - Feb11 build. Fantastic car - love it in fact. DSG equiped. Highly recommended. The jetta is a little too bland looking for my tastes but as others have said it is Audi looking...

[smokey777]

i only have the 90tsi golf manual but it is a excellent car best ive ever owned my only problem is i really shoulda got the 118 just for a bit more spunk. but it does what i got it for heaps of kays & cheap running daily. but they are excellent to drive full quality all round.

[WHLS1]

Have its cousin the A3 1.8T.

Hard driving/manual shifting is sensational.

Some can be poor in stop/start traffic. Transmission will be hesitant on takeoff.

The demo A3 I drove was perfect. The A3 I bought is less than ideal in stop/start to the degree that in looking for a second hand S5 as my next buy I am only considering the manuals.

Buying a secondhand or in stock new vehicle gives you the opportunity to test how the transmission performs in stop/start situations.

[duke5700]

I've got a GTI - Feb11 build. Fantastic car - love it in fact. DSG equiped. Highly recommended. The jetta is a little too bland looking for my tastes but as others have said it is Audi looking...

They do have an option of a fairly subtle kit and I think with a nice set of BBS wheels and take an inch out of the ride height... I will not modify it :lol:

Yeah I agree they are a little bland compared to the GTI. The salesman was telling me though that the GTI and the Jetta with the 2.0 Turbs engine share the same basic drive train and suspension?

Any truth to that do you know?

[Jarhead]

They do have an option of a fairly subtle kit and I think with a nice set of BBS wheels and take an inch out of the ride height... I will not modify it :lol:

Yeah I agree they are a little bland compared to the GTI. The salesman was telling me though that the GTI and the Jetta with the 2.0 Turbs engine share the same basic drive train and suspension?

Any truth to that do you know?

Yep - the 2l Turbo Jetta or the TSI has exactly the same drivetrain as the Golf GTI.

They also have the same chassis/suspension etc. The Jetta has a massive boot where the GTI is a hatch.

When my I was waiting for the R to be fixed at delivery they loaned me a TSI Jetta with DSG. I said before and will say it again - for the money there is very little that can match it's performance/value for money.

The only other car that I would consider in this price range is the Renault Clio Sport but that's a personal choice.

[motomk]

Along with every flavoured Golf under the sun at work, one guy has a Skoda Octavia RS wagon and loves it. Can chuck his dogs in the back and then zip through the roundabouts! His is a manual, Probably hard to get out in the country though as they don't have many dealers.
Actually think I followed one of the Jettas mentioned into work this morning. Looked very stealthy considering the badges on the back of it.

[duke5700]

Not sure if the thread is worth bumping but ended up buying a 147 TSI Jetta DSG.

The local dealer had some great specials on and I was all but sold on getting a new one. Noticed an add on Carsales.com.au for a 2010 Turbo Jetta, in Silver for 24K. Thought can't hurt to have a look, car was perfect. So picked it up for 20K as he was desperate for a sale. Not to bad and had 60K kms on the clock.

Thoughts after having lived with it for a 5 months.

It uses oil like a VT LS1. Considering the sump doesn't hold much I found that pretty interesting. Doing some reading indicates it is normal for some usage. Some do and some don't. Sound familiar?

The gearbox when you are a little heavy handed with the throttle can get a little confused. It also has some issues with low speed car park stuff being a bit jerky. Talking to the local VW Service Centre there is some software updates for it and he will pop them in when it get its first service/tune/exhaust.

Overall driving the car is pretty flawless at higher speeds. Car feels well sorted and zips through the Canberra roundabouts with ease. It is comfortable and all the appointed bits work quite well. Sound system is nice (Bose upgrade), seats are comfortable and heated etc etc. It has plenty of poke, well enough to see off the general run of the mill cars and so far average fuel usage around Canberra has been in the 7's.

In summing I am pretty happy with it and will probably look to upgrade it in another few years for another Jetta.

[WHLS1]

Good luck with the DSG. My Audi A3 next week goes in for it's second twin clutch replacement within 3 years.