DSG woes in The Age

[mythik]

ps. my suspicion of fairfax is this has become a bit of a vendetta against VW because VW pulled their advertising budget from fairfax after the first article....

DING DING DING DING DING.

We have a winner.

[Diesel_vert]

Amen, I was also very much aware they could be trouble from my own research - hence I went for Skoda because I liked the design and tech philosophy but the reliability reports were better.

It does appear that the Czechs build their Skodas better than the Germans build thier VW's, but I've never been able to substantiate that - not least because they share a lot of components, but there we are.

Whether you like to admit it or not, OzVWCrap and Fairfax have probably done you some good. Forget the issues with the cars for a moment; VAG group service, attitude and costs suck - it's been said so many times by so many people on this forum well before this issue came up. VAG needed a massive kick in the proverbials.

No, not really. Dealers have always sucked. Obviously some more than others - but suck nonetheless.

There are of course, good ones out there, but for some inexplicable reason, they're the exception rather than the rule.

For me, Fairfax has merely put into the public consciousness what I (and those who do their research) already knew.

The product is still desirable and people have short memories.

I'll give you that!

DING DING DING DING DING.

We have a winner.

That may well be the case (I'm not denying it!) but it doesn't diminish the concerns that some owners have raised.

[cmrtig]

Diesel_vert said: "I was absolutely gobsmacked when someone in an article claimed that VW's have a great reputation amongst used-car buyers... lol, I presume he was talking about those who didn't do their research." Amen, I was also very much aware they could be trouble from my own research - hence I went for Skoda because I liked the design and tech philosophy but the reliability reports were better.

Whether you like to admit it or not, OzVWCrap and Fairfax have probably done you some good. Forget the issues with the cars for a moment; VAG group service, attitude and costs suck - it's been said so many times by so many people on this forum well before this issue came up. VAG needed a massive kick in the proverbials.

I predict resale will be OK, just don't sell right now. The product is still desirable and people have short memories. Not to mention the huge numbers who aren't even aware this stoush is happening. Wait and see before you hit the panic button.

but it has done a lot of bad as well given the conduct of the media and various posters. for example, there will now be a perception that all VWs are 'death traps'. i hope you are correct about resale but i think some damage is irreversible. the good thing is that the various problems have finally been acknowledged by the media, but at this stage to very little effect. at the moment the only losers are the happy VW owners. i hope resale is not affected and i hope VWA resolves all the problems. i hope, but not very confident!

[cmrtig]

For me, Fairfax has merely put into the public consciousness what I (and those who do their research) already knew..

that is understandable for you, but i think the fairfax reports have done much more then that when it comes to the general public. i had at least 10 colleagues at work today commenting that i drive a 'death trap'. sure they may have been joking, but mud sticks. and in relation to Vws being desirable, well new VWs maybe but not sure about second hand after all this!

[brad]

regarding "short memories". Who remembers when Hyundai had to rivett the front ends back together? It didn't take long for people to forget that.

[BluChris]

Yep, and a ton more besides. Can't say I've seen Toyota sales or resale nosedive on the back of the recalls and they were recent. For that matter many of the cars I have owned or operated (company) over the last 15 years have had a recall for something. Never bothered me, couldn't see any impact on popularity of those models versus ones that weren't recalled.

True that when I traded my 'scary' Skoda last August the non-VAG dealer did ask if the DSG was OK, but I had the printout of the last service with zero faults, I said "no" and their test drive verified it. They also kept it on their lot to sell. Trade in was OK despite the brand

[Transporter]

Re: DSG woes in The Age

regarding "short memories". Who remembers when Hyundai had to rivett the front ends back together? It didn't take long for people to forget that.

Hyudai also introduced the 5 Years 130, 000km warranty at that time to restore people's confidence.

Sent from my GT-N8000

[Diesel_vert]

that is understandable for you, but i think the fairfax reports have done much more then that when it comes to the general public. i had at least 10 colleagues at work today commenting that i drive a 'death trap'. sure they may have been joking, but mud sticks. and in relation to Vws being desirable, well new VWs maybe but not sure about second hand after all this!

I have to say, the initial article making the tenuous (and as yet unproven) link between the death of Ms Ryan and recall of DQ200 in overseas markets (considering her car was a manual) and the manner in which it was written, really came out of nowhere for me (not that I hold the opinions of Drive.com.au in any high regard).

It's also fair to say that Volkswagen isn't the only manufacturer whose cars suffer from these sorts of issues. And in a more general sense, no manufacturer is immune to faults.

However, what counts is their response and how they deal with the issue - and I think Volkswagen could have done a better job in responding to customer complaints (even way before the initial article was published, but since the cat has been let out of the bag, I guess it's a bit too late for that).

For better or worse, it has given readers the opportunity to really voice their views (some of which is well justified), highlighting the manner is which Volkswagen deals with some of their customers. Now, like all websites, it has attached its far share of antagonisers, but it has also given a voice to those who were treated rather shabbily by Volkswagen recently, and in the past.

Will this lead to anything substantial? Maybe. I think wai has already made some interesting insights into this.

[DoggieHowser]

Is there a typo in that, are you overseas, or have you just pulled that from somewhere else? If you don't know why I am asking then... Well.

The Mk6 77TSI and the Tiguan 155TSI are in Australia. The rest are owned by my relatives in Singapore.

All these cars are made in Germany and even if they aren't sold here, use similar engines as the ones in Australia so I guess these are useful points of comparison.

[wai]

regarding "short memories". Who remembers when Hyundai had to rivett the front ends back together? It didn't take long for people to forget that.

Or that the Ford Cortina GUARANTEED to develop cracks in the front sub-frame rails and that Ford's solution was to stop drill the end of the crack so that it would not propagate further? The hole was around 10 mm diameter and simply allowed all the mud available to ender the chassis rail and rust it out.

Or the Volvo that when converted from LDH to RHD saw the rubber steering coupling close to the exhaust manifold what resulted in the rubber hardening and breaking until Volvo put a heat shield between it and the manifold.

Or the VL Commodore where the cylinder head was higher than the top radiator tank or overflow bottle which meant you could end up with an air lock starving the top of the cylinder head of coolant.

Yes, we do tend to have short memories.

[RoknRob]

Yep, and a ton more besides. Can't say I've seen Toyota sales or resale nosedive on the back of the recalls and they were recent. For that matter many of the cars I have owned or operated (company) over the last 15 years have had a recall for something. Never bothered me, couldn't see any impact on popularity of those models versus ones that weren't recalled.

True that when I traded my 'scary' Skoda last August the non-VAG dealer did ask if the DSG was OK, but I had the printout of the last service with zero faults, I said "no" and their test drive verified it. They also kept it on their lot to sell. Trade in was OK despite the brand

And that's the point...

When a car has been recalled, you can rest assured that the problem has been fixed. Confidence grows again.

[cmrtig]

And that's the point...

When a car has been recalled, you can rest assured that the problem has been fixed. Confidence grows again.

Exactly, they have made no recall and it seems unlikely. Wai has already indicated that for some reason few have rang the relevant authorities although 300 rang fairfax. So it seems the chances of someone making VWA make a recall are not looking great either at this stage!

So how long is this going to continue? In the meantime we all lose. There is no magic wand here to solve everything and no one can predict how long all the speculation will continue for and again we all the, before this, happy (and perhaps a little poorer and more uncertain now) VW owners suffer in the meantime! It is naive to think this will be resolved in a way that all VW owners are happy any time soon, but again I hope it is!

[BluChris]

I said "no" Der, brain fade. Meant "no faults".

Should they do a voluntary recall for the diesel injectors? Would be good PR about now and its a known fix so yes. Should they do one on the 7 DSG? Twincharger? Tricky. Are they confident of a fix yet? They have extended the warranty on DSG but 10 years like OS would build confidence. 10 years for the engine? Why not, Mitsubishi offer it already if you are the original owner and dealer service.

[PassatB6]

Now obviously, I can't personally vouch for the guy, but even if he were making the whole thing up (and I don't think he is), I'm sure there are many others who would be in a similar situation as he has described - and if they are, they'd probably share his sentiments as well.

I am not saying he's making it up, but he stirred up a hornets nest and then said he would keep the car for six more years and "consider the case closed" all based on the information he received about his car not having the type of gearbox which is causing the problems.

Now people who hadn't had a problem and weren't concerned now are while OZVWCrap is over it all apparently.

[hoi polloi]

VWA has lost little at this stage, fairfax have increased their revenue and come out looking like heroes after years of recommending VW cars.

VW have pulled a lot of advertising from Fairfax since this whole thing blew up... No, no-one is a winner out of this...

As for the thread in general, I find it amazing that people draw such long bows regarding the tragic death of Melissa Ryan - circumstances that are not impossible but have a very remote chance of happening IMO... These kind of arguments are more appropriate coming from the lawyer trying to cast doubt over the truck driver's guilt...

The only thing I can really say is that VW don't do PR very well at all... The possible affects of the public backlash / loss of goodwill / loss of loyal customers etc. probably outweigh the cost of performing the same DSG recall in Australia as in some overseas markets in the first place... Saying that I do love my VW - I've driven Mercs and BMWs (albeit lower-end models) and the gap just isn't as great as you'd think...

A little O/T story...

All cars are capable of having problems - I once owned a Corolla that liked to destroy alternators... It was caught in Sydney's 1999 hailstorm and had $15,000 damage done to it... Unfortunately for me it was insured for $20,500 and the insurance company fixed it (wouldn't even write it off and give me $15,000)... It had a new roof welded on, bonnet, bootlid and one of the front fenders was replaced... Needless to say it was never 100% (and yes, it still destroyed alternators)... I traded it in for $9,000... So, if you've got a VW that is genuinely giving you grief and you've exhausted all your avenues just cut your losses and get something else... Argey-bargey in here does no-one favours...

Regards,
- Anthony.