2008 Passat 3.2 FSI - Gear Box replaced.. Need advice

[vijusnn]

Friends, need advice.

New to VW family. I bought 2008 Passat 3.2 with DSG ( 111,000 km ) from a colleague, he was the first owner since new and had done all servicing in showroom since new.

I was on motorway at 110km/hour speed, sudden error on dash board "Parking brake failiure, check owner manual" error and I had to pull over. Car never started again, PRNDS lights flashing in gear box. Had to tow 100 km till Volkswagen specialist and he identified as gearbox + mechatronic failure.

Car itself was 9000$, he recommended to to install used gearbox for 4000$.. without much choice I had to swallow it replace the gearbox assembly.

Now car is running fine ( 1000+ kms ), few drops of oil which mech fixed already. Now my big question is .. can I trust this car for 1-2 years ? Or shall I sell it ? Need expert advice to make decision.

Thanks.

[Amalgam]

Hi Vijusnn,

Sad to hear about the DSG.

So that the forum can help,

How old is the replacement gearbox. Year of the car it was from and kms before it was fitted to your car.
Was it refurbished or from the wreckers?

Thnaks

[vijusnn]

Thanks Amalgam.
It was from wrecker, was driven 140,000 km before it was wrecked and 10 years old. I could get only this information.

Regards

[Old Navman]

vijusnn

Firstly, I am not an expert on DSG transmissions.
From what I know the dry DSG gearboxes are more prone to developing problems but it should be remembered that many more wet clutch DSG's were build than the dry ones. Though we should get opinions from members of this forum who are actually experts in this field.

The wet clutch DSG gearboxes (such as the DQ250 in 3.2's) are actually quite robust and resilient but ... like everything else they can fail. Yes, we are mindful about those problematic DSG gearbox issues.

With yours, I assume you got some warranty whether from the wreckers or statutory so you should be covered by these for a while?

I have an earlier 3.2 built in 2006 but apart from the initial global mechatronic recall had no problem with it since. The box has been going OK (touch wood) I've done nearly 270K (YES) and I hope to go on till at least 500K. If you do regular servicing (I change t/x oil and t/x filter every 20K not as recommended every 60K) hopefully you'd be a happy Passat owner for a while yet.

Cheers

[Passat my07]

I'd keep it and take the small risk that it could fail again.
What would you replace it with anyway? Any 10 year old euro car can have expensive gearbox trouble.
....Or buy a new reliable Camry and die of boredom.

[Old Navman]

I'd keep it and take the small risk that it could fail again.
What would you replace it with anyway? Any 10 year old euro car can have expensive gearbox trouble.
....Or buy a new reliable Camry and die of boredom.

Classic comment about the Camry! Ha, ha

[Umai Naa!!]

I have several DSG-equipped VWs and Audis on the books with over 200K, some closer to 300K, on the the original box. No issues to report, so they can't all be bad.

High-km failures aren't very common in the wet-clutch ones. They usually die pretty early on in life, or remain trouble-free.

I'd say keept it, change the oil and filter now, and contiue to service it every 60K.