£10k gbox bill on 4yr old Audi. Was it ever fit for purpose?

[MattyB_]

CraigT007 said:

Also, yes, the box was perfect in every way, problem only occurred a few weeks after getting the gearbox oil changed. Coincidence or not?, I don't know, but it's the same dealer who has the car just now.

Funnily enough, AMG auto box was worse after I changed the oil (or rather, a garage did).

Still, I think Merc wanted about £6k to change the box, I had it rebuilt by an auto gearbox specialist in Cannock (VMTP) for £2500.

[CraigT007]

Perth Audi has had a good name for many years. After Glasgow Audi failing me at the time of sale, i drove up to Perth, gave the sales chap the opportunity to sell me a car in less than five minutes, (by matching the costs from other dealerships down south) but due to missing out on manufacturing slots, they also missed out on one of those 'secret dealer-only deals' that allowed me to get a further £2k off the price. The sales guy was very good, advised he couldnt match it and that i should take the deal if it was still available. I bought it from Epsom Audi.
The current dealer is less than five miles from me, Glasgow is about 20, but tomorrow I'll be passing Perth late afternoon and will make that call. as noted with my bike, I experienced terrible customer service and support from the local dealer and ended up having works done 250miles away at Shipley, Leeds. (If only these guys done Audis... :-) )

They'll have all the details about oil change then complaint a few weeks later.

thanks for input.

[CraigT007]

rockin said:

Cupramax said:

The 3.0tdi is the highest torque engine that Stronic gearbox gets fitted to, and you've remapped it to more. Audi fit the 8 speed ZF torque converter auto to the BiTdi (next more powerful engine) for a reason apparently...

Auto boxes have a max' torque rating for normal service life. Remap probably gave increased torque (why else would you remap?) and shortened that lifespan.

Whilst the above is completely logical, the Audi tech did state that the nature of the fault was unlikely to be as a result of the increase in torque. (or the re-map in that matter) At present I know the symptoms, but not the actual fault.

I will update with the results from this, but one thing I will ask is the matter of the 'mechatronics'. One guy told me 9/10 times this is replaced it fixes the issue, and I see a previous poster mentioning this too. Anyone got experience with this being replaced?

I'm hoping this reaches other users that's had 'snatchy' gearbox issues too.

[bigdom]

I'd suggest a chat with Mackie Automatic Transmissions Ltd, based in Glasgow, the fix is likely to be a lot cheaper. They're one of the best ZF specialists in the UK.

[GrandAndrew]

If the map is no longer in place and providing there is no record of it I'd be inclined to take it to another dealer, have a fresh appraisal, have no mention of mapping and see what they say.

You won't be hurting the dealer as if they can get a warranty claim put through they will be glad of the work.

[caelite]

MDMA . said:

Audi S-Tronic. German for " how much?".

Out of curiosity do you know if the DSG gearbox is shared across all VAG models. I've been toying with pickup up a mk2 Fabia VRS but these electronic gearboxes worry me.

[scherzkeks]

"Was it ever fit for purpose?"

Yes, just at lower levels of tq.

[utm]

Just sending a short post from my mobile so will be light in detail:
I had a similar problem with my 2009 S4 stronic (but was not remapped)
Car had done over 100,000 miles with a full Audi service history.
At the time it was very difficult to source any reconditioned gearboxes and the supply of new was tightly controlled.
I can't recall the exact figures involved but my dealership managed to secure a (relatively) small goodwill gesture from Audi UK.

In the end had brand new gearbox fitted and car has been fine.

[bloomen]

CraigT007 said:

My part of the bill was 20% of the labour. Which worked out at £230 for £6k worth of work.

Are you a time traveler from the future where inflation has run wild? Who keeps giving you these repair figures?

[Cupramax]

caelite said:

Out of curiosity do you know if the DSG gearbox is shared across all VAG models. I've been toying with pickup up a mk2 Fabia VRS but these electronic gearboxes worry me.

Theres been several iterations of S Tronic boxes. 6 Speed 7 Speed, Transverse FWD & Longitudinal FWD & 4WD so no they're not shared across all models but many do use the same box.

[Sheepshanks]

bigdom said:

I'd suggest a chat with Mackie Automatic Transmissions Ltd, based in Glasgow, the fix is likely to be a lot cheaper. They're one of the best ZF specialists in the UK.

I might be due a whoosh parrot, and I know someone mentioned ZF but OP's car is has a VAG DSG, not a ZF torque converter auto.

[J4CKO]

Is this the same unit ?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Audi-A5-3-0-Tdi-Dsg-Quat...

Its from an A5 3.0 Quatrro

[J4CKO]

Actually, think this is the correct one

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/AUDI-2012-ON-3-0TDI-V6-A...TYAAOSwUKxYdfOd

[CraigT007]

bloomen said:

Are you a time traveler from the future where inflation has run wild? Who keeps giving you these repair figures?

haha, I wish I was, I guess I've just been unlucky with some of the machinery I've purchased/run. These are genuine, zero exaggeration quotes guys. now where did I park the delorean... :-)

[MDMA .]

caelite said:

Out of curiosity do you know if the DSG gearbox is shared across all VAG models. I've been toying with pickup up a mk2 Fabia VRS but these electronic gearboxes worry me.

Yeah, they're st

[Heaveho]

I haven't read everything that's been posted in the thread, so maybe it's been covered. I have a friend, who until recently was workshop controller for my local Audi dealer. Sixty percent of the work carried out was warranty or goodwill. Gearbox issues are common. Audi would choose not to have this as common knowledge, for obvious reasons.

Another friend has a 59 plate A3 2.0 TSI which, also at 56k miles, FSH, and obviously out of warranty, had an issue involving the replacement of both clutch and gearbox for thousands, supposedly at the owners cost. I put these two people together, and after a short discussion of how the A3 owner should progress the situation, Audi replaced all parts necessary, with the owner being out of pocket for a few hundred quid for labour. If you approach Audi and let them know that you know their cars have gearbox reliability issues, you may find the situation becomes more favourable for you.

[Alucidnation]

GrandAndrew said:

If the map is no longer in place and providing there is no record of it I'd be inclined to take it to another dealer, have a fresh appraisal, have no mention of mapping and see what they say.

You won't be hurting the dealer as if they can get a warranty claim put through they will be glad of the work.

They will know it was mapped.

[Rich_W]

The Spruce goose said:

for a start it won't need a new gearbox i bet, the dsg can be repaired, most are the mechatronic failing which is a grand to repair.

This.

Kiss points are clutches
Jerking "is often" Mechatronic unit.

Unless they've st themselves and coated everything inside the box in a fine metal flake which has caused untold damage to the bearings and gears and as a result a full rebuild is not cost effective.

Asw for TD1 "Chip tuning" Maybe talk to the people that did the work and tell them they need to pay for the new gearbox. Audi wont give you anything.

[r129sl]

I would find a specialist transmission repairer who can diagnose and repair it for you. I would be surprised if it cost more than £2k and I would expect it to be significantly less. I had a differential rebuilt recently (because the alternative was a £3k replacement) and while I was looking for someone to do it I came across a couple of outfits which purported to specialise in Audi/VW and DSG transmissions. The other alternative is to source a used replacement box from a write off.

There is a lot of independent expertise out there. That is because these things do fail and it is usually more economical to repair than to replace. You need to educate yourself about your problem rather than look to the main dealer for an instant no-cost fix.

I would observe that you are highly unlikely to show that a transmission failure in a four year old car is attributable to a defect which was present at the time of sale. While you and I know that the remap may have nothing to do with it, nobody else is going to buy that one. And the manufacturer will look to wriggle out of it. And even if they gave you 50% goodwill, it's still a £5k bill. So you need a different solution.

Edited by r129sl on Friday 17th February 21:02

[anonymous-user]

For £10k of work on a 4 year old Audi not only would I expect a new gearbox I would be getting a new engine also! They're taking the piss, it will be heavily profitable for the garage but they would argue the Audi stamp in the book and the Audi approved techinician knows best..