2006 Jetta TDI Automatic - Yay or nay?

[JettaTeeDeeI]

Hey guys, been around for a little while, did most of my research around this forums, so I didn't often create threads, so a big shout out to a lot of the knowledge-able members who contribute.


Anyway, my question is that, I'm looking at buying a 2006 VW Jetta TDI w/ 133,799KM's (83,xxxmiles) automatic. I've had several TDI's, all of them but one manual, and the one automatic Jetta w/ 430,xxxKM's that I had, the tranny was slipping in 1st/3rd gear.. and I know that a lot of Golf's / Jetta's of the MK4's had [auto] tranny issues, but, my 05' Sport edition automatic Jetta didn't have any issues, but then again it only had 240k KMs.
My question is, how are the DSG transmissions on the 06's?? I've read that a few people have had the neutral slippy thingy, and a few other issues here and there, but is it substantial like the early MK4 Jetta/Golf automatic transmissions?!

Thanks!

 

[oilhammer]

The lion's majority of them bolted to the BRM engine in the A5 Jetta are fine. They hold up well, and so long as you are OK with their behavior, I'd not be too concerned.

That said, the DMF is a very common (almost guaranteed) item that will need to be addressed at some point on them, and unlike the manuals, there is no one-piece conversion available.

They are supposed to have an ATF and filter service at regular intervals (40k miles for us), which is not that big of a deal, but it is an added cost.

Once in a while, the transmission controller/valve body combo, known as a Mechatronics Unit, will need to be replaced. This is somewhat pricey, and there are a lot of reasons that could require its replacement as the individual pieces are not sold separately.

 

[Stutgart]

All DSGs need to have the Mechatronic unit pulled out and a suitable replacement installed. Yikes, there is no suitable replacement! You get to start the $2000 crap shoot all over again with the new one!

 

[newlitemotorist]

My mechitronics unit has almost 400,000 miles on it. Seems to be working just fine too. Even if it does go bad soon, 400,000 isn't bad!

Also, they are more like $800, the price of a good clutch. Sure it might cost 2 grand if you have a shop do it but seriously, if you are gonna grip about spending money like that maybe you should try doing your own work.

 

[Stutgart]

Well I stand corrected! One has 400K!

300,000 recalled in China
40,000 recalled in the US
The unrecalled rest are littered with significant failures as evidenced by postings here and thorough out the know world.

Hey, I am not griping about spending money on a DSG. I would not spend any. The serviceability issue qualifies it as an inferior design. Has the electronic control serviceability issue been resolved? The DSG valve body is something to laugh at.

 

[oceanrunner]

I have a DSG and it runs good. If I had to choose all over again I would prefer the manual. Better fuel economy as well.

 

[oilhammer]

All DSGs need to have the Mechatronic unit pulled out and a suitable replacement installed. Yikes, there is no suitable replacement! You get to start the $2000 crap shoot all over again with the new one!

Please stop spouting false information. The 2006 A5 02E DSG is not that bad, and was never recalled. I work on these cars every day. The transmission is rarely an issue.

 

[newlitemotorist]

Please stop spouting false information. The 2006 A5 02E DSG is not that bad, and was never recalled. I work on these cars every day. The transmission is rarely an issue.

This is what I am talking about! You have real mechanics who work on these cars every single day telling the truth and then you have other people spreading "propaganda" which is a simple regurgitation of something someone else spouted off. I often wonder why some people even own a vw if they truly believe the things they say.

I will be the first to admit, I have been guilty of this before and I see it every day on these boards so this is not a direct stab at you stutgart. My point is, we need to stop spreading these generalized conclusions when we have little to no first hand knowledge or experience concerning the topic at hand.

 

[scrambld]

I have a DSG and it runs good. If I had to choose all over again I would prefer the manual. Better fuel economy as well.

I agree, although I never owned the automatic version because I took them for test drives. After a few manuals and a few auto TDI's I just like the responsiveness of the manuals.

So, I went manual...then the mod bug bit me....

 

[Stutgart]

OK I am wrong the DSG recall is not 300,000 in china, near 400,000 http://money.cnn.com/2013/03/20/news/volkswagen-china-recall/index.html

OK I may be wrong on the US recall figure of 40,000. I'm having trouble finding US recall numbers, but I'll bet a beer its higher than 40,000. Friend, chime in with a reliable link if you like.

Oh, Oilhammer, I respect your professional opinion. What do think of non-serviceable valve bodies? My opinion, not expected to be accepted universally, is that a non-serviceable valve body is a very poor concept and is to be avoided.

1.6 million worldwide DSG recall ( VW is so big 50,000 cars is just a rounding error)http://www.autoblog.com/2013/11/14/vw-worldwide-engine-light-recall/

Good luck riding to the rescue of the DSG's reputation all you modern Don Quixotes.

 

[cheoah]

Ya all my fiends that drive autos (bless their heart) have had no problems. Mines a stick, I've already replaced the clutch and DMF.

If your numbers are to have any meaning, it would have to show percentage of DSG failures, alongside some controls, like other cars and associated failures.


Sent from my iSomething using Tapatalk
Please forgive typos and commas

 

[oilhammer]

Lots of automatics have non-serviceable valve bodies. Probably more today that are like that than are not. Again, please don't spread rumors and lies.

Also, the DSG recall here did NOT cover hardly any 2006s, and it was for the ATF temp sensor when it was a recall on the ones that were (mostly newer ones).

I personally would rather row my own gears, for the record. But I am not about to beat up on the 02E as for the VAST majority of the cars that use them they have been perfectly fine in the durability department.

 

[ITDID]

Hey guys, been around for a little while, did most of my research around this forums, so I didn't often create threads, so a big shout out to a lot of the knowledge-able members who contribute.


Anyway, my question is that, I'm looking at buying a 2006 VW Jetta TDI w/ 133,799KM's (83,xxxmiles) automatic. I've had several TDI's, all of them but one manual, and the one automatic Jetta w/ 430,xxxKM's that I had, the tranny was slipping in 1st/3rd gear.. and I know that a lot of Golf's / Jetta's of the MK4's had [auto] tranny issues, but, my 05' Sport edition automatic Jetta didn't have any issues, but then again it only had 240k KMs.
My question is, how are the DSG transmissions on the 06's?? I've read that a few people have had the neutral slippy thingy, and a few other issues here and there, but is it substantial like the early MK4 Jetta/Golf automatic transmissions?!

Thanks!

My DMf went at 77k miles and took out the gearbox (destroyed the housing). Cheap insurance is to get the DMf replaced if it was not done already. The original part number for this component is in my opinion a ticking time bomb. The replacement has 160k miles and is running fine. I do my own gear box oil changes every 40000 (miles).No biggie, esp the top fill method.

 

[V-Rod]

Replaced my DMF around 150,000 miles. I have just over 205,000 miles now, best auto trans I have ever driven!

 

[Ol'Rattler]

I think that the thing for me is that the DSG is just more complex than a manual. If something goes wrong with DSG, it can be stupid expensive to fix.

Don't get me wrong, but the frugal nature in me prefers a manual. No Mechatronic and the fact that I can replace the lame DMF with a SMF really has my attention................

I do think that the DSG is pretty awesome though. Split second shifting and being able th come extremely close to if not better that a manuals MPG, whats not to love?

 

[BuzzKen]

Go with the DSG. The manuals trans have a MUCH higher failure rate in '06 than the dsg's. And you have the peace of mind that you can upgrade power and not have to upgrade a clutch like you would on the manual.

 

[N.CaTDI]

Got 145k miles on our Jetta TDI auto. All we have done is the 40k service every few years. No problem so far but we do worry the clutch

 

[bobthefarmer]

Mine, 2006.5 with 134.5K miles DSG with regular 40K change and original Dual Mass Flywheel. All around spectacular. Since I have arthritis in my left knee, I've been happy to drive with my right foot. You may loose 4-10 MPG, but simplicity of driving in traffic is amazing. I have never changed my front brake pads to date! I'm pretty heavy footed, so my MPG is low at 43 (best). My BIL swears he gets 50 MPG same car.

 

[corr]

If I had a choice, I would never buy a DSG. I have had two failures of the Mechatronics unit. DMF failure and entire transmission failure, all before 105,000 miles. I'm at 145,000 miles and figure that I have another 5,000 miles before another failure. It is even worse knowing that I paid an extra $2,000 over a manual transmission, for this "wonderful" piece of engineering.

 

[oceanrunner]

Mine, 2006.5 with 134.5K miles DSG with regular 40K change and original Dual Mass Flywheel. All around spectacular. Since I have arthritis in my left knee, I've been happy to drive with my right foot. You may loose 4-10 MPG, but simplicity of driving in traffic is amazing. I have never changed my front brake pads to date! I'm pretty heavy footed, so my MPG is low at 43 (best). My BIL swears he gets 50 MPG same car.

I have the same car with DSG and I'm averaging about 40MPG mixed and as high as 45MPG straight highway. I really cant understand how some people are getting 50mpg from the same exact car. My car is fully serviced and I run 37/38 psi. However, I do live in Florida and use the AC almost all the time...I don't think it should be using that much power to run AC.

 

[oilhammer]

Getting stuck behind all the blue hairs is probably what's hurting it. Dozens of slow moving Buicks and Mercurys seeking out the 3pm dinner special at Cracker Barrel is all I think of since that is all I remember about Florida.

Take a look at my sticky in the fuel economy section for some pointers, though.

 

[oceanrunner]

So your saying the Horse blinder sunglasses over your eyeglasses is out of style?

 

[oilhammer]

We always called those 'fallout glasses', I always assumed children from the '50s learned about them during the 'duck 'n cover' drills of the early Cold War era.

 

[bl00tdi]

Go with the DSG. The manuals trans have a MUCH higher failure rate in '06 than the dsg's. And you have the peace of mind that you can upgrade power and not have to upgrade a clutch like you would on the manual.

Can the first part bet substantiated here? I'm surprised a statement like this was lobbed out there without any supporting details. And secondly, you could replaced the clutch/flywheel and gearbox fluid several times for the cost of one mechatronic unit replacement.

 

[oilhammer]

I've never once replaced a manual gearbox on a BRM car. I have seen a few (VERY few) on BEW and ALH cars, but I would consider these exceptions to the rule, and for the most part had a lot of use on them already.

 

[vw_london01]

Go with the DSG. The manuals trans have a MUCH higher failure rate in '06 than the dsg's. And you have the peace of mind that you can upgrade power and not have to upgrade a clutch like you would on the manual.

When comes to dsg 95% of the time if something brakes it's flywheel! But it's easy fix! Manual tranny on brm are ok but have more problems! Such as flywheel, diff blows up, 5th gear goes bye bye! On average every month I have two 5 speed trannys from brm with one of the problems mantion above! So usually i go with alh or bew manual tranny! As replacment! Much better! When comes to dsg I get one maybe every 3-4 months if that! Yes dsg much better on brm but personally I prefer manual!!

 

[bl00tdi]

Well the 5th gear lube problem has been well documented. You can either drill a strategically placed hole in the inner casing or my choice, slightly overfill the fluid. There's also the fact that adding gearbox fluid using the fill hole on the BRM tranny will also guarantee underfilling as it's placed too low for the conventional method. This has also been well documented. Without knowing for sure I'd be willing to bet that the problems you've seen come from an underfilled gearbox. This is what happens when cars are serviced by people that don't know its quirks.

 

[oilhammer]

I just undo the roll mount and jack the front of the drivetrain up when filling, same as I have been doing on transverse VAG manual gearboxes for decades.

And CHECK it this way once in a while, too. That extra half liter can make all the difference!

 

[bl00tdi]

I just undo the roll mount and jack the front of the drivetrain up when filling, same as I have been doing on transverse VAG manual gearboxes for decades.
And CHECK it this way once in a while, too. That extra half liter can make all the difference!

Good idea. I would hope that all mechanics that service the BRM 5MT would take care to do the same.

 

[Jakupi]

I just got my 06 Automatic handed down to me by my parents. It's great. They did however replace the clutch on it. They did give me very little detail as to what was wrong with the car.