2012 Diesel Wagon Gearbox Shuddering

[JBlyth]

UPDATE:_ 3rd March, 2019

I will get back to Western Australia next week, but I heard form John Hughes Volkswagen last week that Volkswagen Australia has said that they would replace the ENTIRE gearbox at no cost, apart from the labour costs of fitting, which is abut $700.

It is going to take another 4 weeks or so to arrive from Germany, so I will have to drive back to home to Carnarvon, and then return once the new gearbox arrives, a 1000km trip each way. The afore mentioned juddering/vibration is much more noticeable now, but hopefully the old box will last out the two way trip, as it doesn't have to change gears too many times on the trip!

I naturally would have preferred not to have had to pay anything for the replacement gearbox to be fitted, but I am happy that Volkswagen Australia have been prepared to back their product as well as they have. Some companies have shown they are much less will to offer their customers support when things go wrong after warranty has expired.

I must say that John Hughes Volkswagen in Perth have been very helpful in sorting out this issue with Volkswagen Australia. Their Head Mechanic and Maintenance Manger have been very understanding of my at times garbled attempts to explain what was wrong with the gearbox, as way back in August last year, the symptoms were quite subtle.

I will update this thread when the new gearbox is fitted and hopefully all my worries will disappear!

[JBlyth]

FINAL UPDATE - 12th April, 2019

I am VERY pleased to report that John Hughes VW in Perth installed my brand new Passat DSG Gearbox last week, and that all the problems I was experiencing with juddering in second, fourth, and sixth gears have completely disappeared! I have now driven 1000km to Albany and back with the new gearbox, and it is perfect.

In the end, I had to pay around $727 for the labour costs only for the replacement, but VW Australia supplied the gearbox itself, and also covered the $1200 cost of the number three injector that they said should be replaced, but which didn't fix the problem in anyway. All in all, while it would have been nice not to have had to pay the labour costs, the car was 6 years old when the problem was first apparent, and I think my paying for installation was not unreasonable - and I now have two years of new warranty cover on the new gearbox.

Just to remind everyone, my Passat Diesel Wagon was a MY12 purchased from John Hughes in late November, 2011, and it had traveled 64,000km when the shuddering was first noticed (and quite subtle). By the time the box was replaced at 71,000km, it was VERY marked. The current thought is that it was a dual clutch binding problem, but that is yet to be confirmed.

John Hughes VW in Perth did all the hard work in discussing the ongoing issues with VW Australia, and I can't praise their after sales service enough. As they say in their ads, "They are with you every kilometre". They have certainly fulfilled that pledge in my case.

So I think full credit is due to both John Hughes VW Perth and Volkswagen Australia for supporting their products so well.....