Gearbox in emergency mode Tiguan 2017

[Timmy35851]

Diagnosed as faulty transmission control module
Not sure if same as mechatronics?
Think they mentioned it’s still inside the gearbox? Maybe that controls the mecha?

They did say that they have started seeing more and more tiguans with this problem though..

Yes Mechatronics

[The J Man]

*sigh*
started a 1400km round trip road trip today
100km in - geabox in emergency mode, only R, 2, 4 and 6 work
Limp to a dealership near Newcastle - they are too busy, can't even look at it
Limp to a dealership in Newcastle, they manage to diagnose the gearbox - they say the mechatronics ECU (TCU?) needs replacing. That'll take a few weeks to get the part in.

Wow - weeks- I assume VW hand build these parts

Gearbox no longer in emergency mode so I decide to drive home

A couple of emergency modes on the freeway (exit, stop/start car, keep driving) then I get 15km from home and only 2 and R are available.
****

NRMA carried me the rest of the way home - in the meantime I'm trying to book the car in to get it sorted out.

They can't use the diagnostics from Newcastle because apparently VW doesn't share that kind of information.
SO I have to book the car in to get diagnosed THEN they'll order the part(s) they need after being told what VW Newcastle already knows



Huge kudos to VW Newcastle for getting the diagnostic done within 90 minutes of me just rolling in off the street and then charging me $0
Piss poor effort from VW Australia overall though
And a special ***k you to the western sydney dealership who pretty much lost all interest in helping me (beyond saying "pull over, don't drive") once they found I was out of warranty.


I'm 2 months past Warranty - but I don't expect a $55k+ car that's been regularly serviced and has gone only 60,000km to develop a fault that takes it off the road for over a month. Especially if that fault is in an electronic component that they should have spares of in the country (given this does not appear to be a one-off issue)

The phrase "not fit for purpose" definitely springs to mind. Probably my last VW if they don't do right by me

[Chalnoth]

I can sympathise, my Tiguan has been sat at Ringwood VW for 5 weeks and I am still waiting to see if VW Australia will do a Good Will fix (out of warranty but only done 62k). There seems to be an increase in these incidents with DSG in the Tiguan I've been a solid VW buyer for 3 decades but after 'dieselgate' and now this I think it is time to consider other brands.

Update: just heard from Ringwood VW that VW Australia have agreed to cover the repair costs. Could be several weeks to get the coded part from Germany but at least I won't be out of pocket.

[The J Man]

They did say that they have started seeing more and more tiguans with this problem though..

I smell a class action

[nermal]

I smell a class action

Is there a particular model of gearbox that are having the most issues, and that people should watch out for? (eg. DQ500, DQ380, DQ381 etc)

[The J Man]

Is there a particular model of gearbox that are having the most issues, and that people should watch out for? (eg. DQ500, DQ380, DQ381 etc)

hmmm - interesting, for some reason I though the 162kw would need a DQ500, but it seems the 380/381 should be able to handle 350nm of torque

edit: never mind, pretty sure I have the DQ500

[smarty]

Yep I haven’t driven mine now for 5 weeks and it’s been at the dealer for now 3 weeks. Rang them today and they were still waiting on the TCU, apparently it’s in china at the minute. So I’m guessing it will still be weeks away from being finished and then they have to submit the goodwill claim to VW because I’m also out of warranty, about 6 weeks out. Utterly rubbish that such a modern car that’s not cheap, properly maintained, not tuned or driven hard will come apart from now what is becoming an ever so apparent and common problem. Why also they don’t keep these parts in stock also has me beat (when they are starting to see more and more of them…)

[VW Convert]

Why also they don’t keep these parts in stock also has me beat (when they are starting to see more and more of them…)

As someone who has worked in the vehicle parts industry for 50 years, let me assure you, the supply chain is completely, utterly broken, has been for a couple of years and recent events in China have exacerbated the situation. I've never seen parts availability across the board in such a mess.

[The J Man]

As someone who has worked in the vehicle parts industry for 50 years, let me assure you, the supply chain is completely, utterly broken, has been for a couple of years and recent events in China have exacerbated the situation. I've never seen parts availability across the board in such a mess.

Well that explains why it can take weeks/months to get a replacement.

But why aren't there any spares in the country?
Have they all been used up? Is this a design flaw?

[nermal]

Well that explains why it can take weeks/months to get a replacement.

But why aren't there any spares in the country?
Have they all been used up? Is this a design flaw?

My guess is the modern just-in-time inventory control systems/models being used, that rely on free-flow of logistics to reduce local warehouse costs... it's cheap, but very vulnerable to supply-chain interruptions.

[The J Man]

Right - well it seems that many weeks of being off the road because of a design flaw was happening before Feb 2020 so VW have been messing this up for over 2 years and can't blame resurgence of Covid in China or worldwide supply chain interruptions for their 2+ years of ongoing incompetence

Damn I should have kept an eye on this forum for signs of trouble.
I really believed they got their DSG sorted.
Should have offloaded this pile of german garbage while it was still worth a dollar

[VW Convert]

Well that explains why it can take weeks/months to get a replacement.

But why aren't there any spares in the country?

Here's an actual scenario I'm facing right now. One area of business I'm currently involved in is supply of diesel engines for industrial applications sourced direct from one of the largest Japanese manufactureers. I placed an order in March for a number of engines, production is scheduled for May which is normal, I had planned to and should receive these in July if there are no shipping delays. No problem there, the reorder process takes this lead time into account.
I placed a further order in April, based on past history and the manufacturer's previously advised production schedule, production was scheduled for June so I planned to receive these engines in August. I've just been advised that due to parts shortages in Japan, production will not take place until August so the earliest I will receive them is October, two months later than anticipated.
The nett result is that I will run out of stock some time between August and October and there is not a damned thing I can do about it.
This is just one scenario but we're confronted with such scenarios all day, every day for some time now, we've upped our ordering to the point the warehouse is bursting at the seams but there are still items where we run out of stock as there is no consistency in supply. Not to be forgotten is the considerable impact on operating capital, we've put milions of dollars of extra stock on the shelf and/or on order in an attempt to keep our customers happy but there is only so much cash available.

[The J Man]

Well perhaps if VW Aus stocked up on DSG parts when they started to fail ....

[Panoply]

I had the same problem on my MY2019 (late 2018 162 Rline.) VW covered the replacement under warranty and provided me with a hire vehicle for the 5 weeks it took for the replacement part to come from Germany! The gearbox has been working fine since! Thank goodness!

[Ozsko]

I am also on the end of a supply chain and we have given up trying to import the product so Australia no longer can buy the product from anyone and no it won't benefit anyone to explain who is involved. I can tell you now I have indirect experience with a major Japanese OEM and selling a VW to buy one of their cars will not get you spare parts for a lot of their products any faster than it will for a VW. The supply chains for everything imported are not just broken they are smashed and I think it is about time that people who demand things realise that their demands can't be met no matter what the product. Australia blew it when a certain PM stood up and said we don't need to be a manufacturing country we need to be a smart country. That went well, no car manufacturing, no trades people being trained etc.