Greetings, SWMBO has been flirting with the Idea of a Fabia instead of CitiGo over the last couple of days. I have been drawn to the Fabia for some time however SWMBO hasn't liked its bland looks, her view not mine. I have always liked them and since the refresh in 2010 like them even more.

We have in mind a hatch back not estate as the hatch is shorter and better suited to our short driveway at home. We want an elegance model with DSG both of us not liking manual gear change since having our first Auto in our Merc. I would like to ask, if there are lots of problems with the DSG box? I have read and reread many threads about hesitation problems but think that this isn't too much of an issue as long as you modifiy your driving style am I correct?

Another reason for asking is this, Honest John that well known Telegraph columnist answered an email I sent him with my quetions about possible small car replacements and he quite bluntly told me to " Not buy a Fabia with DSG " and he also said not to buy a CityGo with ASG as these were horendouse gear boxes. He Said there were too many problems with DSG boxes.... My thoughts were does that mean ever car fitted with one in the VW-Audi group have rubbish gear boxes fitted? He also mentioned that it was feedback from BRISKODA that led him to not recommend my two choices of car.

I have looked at the alternative's he suggested and have to say they are not a patch on Skoda for quality and comfort. How comfortable if the elegance on those big wheeled low profile tyres? BTW....

All thoughts welcomed.

My Dad has a DSG 1.2 Elegance (I think) on a 60 plate. Gear box is fine. I think they did a software update to fix the hesitation in first gear (in general, not his car), but someone else might have a definitive answer on that.

Another reason for asking is this, Honest John that well known Telegraph columnist answered an email I sent him with my quetions about possible small car replacements and he quite bluntly told me to " Not buy a Fabia with DSG "

Well well that won't help the residuals hopefully he won't put that in the telegraph !

The dsg in my vrs is excellent. Can't say if it's as good in the lower powered model with less torques etc.. If I read correctly elsewhere, the 7 speed auto is more reliable than the 6 speed. I don't know if it used to have the 6 speeder and that's what HJ was basing his opinion on.

I had a Citigo asg as a courtesy car. It is the worst gearbox ever invented for a city car. Test drive one and you'll never buy it.

I have a VRS with DSG and I love it, I don't have problems with it at all.

It was a bit of a change coming from a manual stick change but I wouldn't go back, the DSG changes gears quicker and some what smoother than you can imagine.

Ron.

Edited 30 January, 201313 yr by Lukeskywalker

I have a DSG box in my golf and its superb, to the point where I wouldn't buy another car without DSG.

On the slight hesitation point, I can understand why they say this as they only test drive it for a short time. At first when doing slow manouevours I found it would hesitate and then suddenly go, which isn't great when parallel parking.

However this only took a couple of weeks to get used too and then you learn to feather the brake better and it's no longer an issue for me.

Other things to bear in mind.

Needs a DSG oil change every 40,000 miles which is £200.

Need to be smoother with the throttle out of junctions or it'll kick down a gear.

Sticking to the speed limit is harder as it changes up so smoothly you forget what gear you're in.

Hope that helps.

You asked how comfortable the Fabia Elegance is on big low profile tyres. Both of mnine have had 16" 205*45 tyres on and both have been comfortable to drive. Have never had 15" wheels though so can't compare.

Needs a DSG oil change every 40,000 miles which is £200.

£200??? Are they serious?!

I have looked at the alternative's he suggested and have to say they are not a patch on Skoda for quality and comfort.

You're probably right on comfort. But quality? In a Fabia? I'm sorry but no way. Very nasty plastics in the cabin, they get scratched as soon as you look at them. I've also read about some people already having wear problems on seat fabrics. And rattles are quite common too. Even a Fiat Punto feels much better built. To me at least.

The Fabia is cheap for a reason. It's a great car for what it is, loads of space, frugal, plenty of kit, rides well, "generally" very reliable (don't know about DSG's, and the VRS is a different story altogether), and good fun to drive, the petrol versions at least. But don't expect quality, and that goes for the majority of the dealers too, they're very disappointing.

Care to share what alternatives Honest John suggested?

Yep £200 is what my Golf cost me for the DSG service, a guy at work with an S5 paid £400 for his DSG service. Hopefully Skoda is cheaper....

That honest John sounds like a ****, there is nothing wrong with having dsg in the Fabia I have a vrs and its been a great little car

Yep £200 is what my Golf cost me for the DSG service, a guy at work with an S5 paid £400 for his DSG service. Hopefully Skoda is cheaper....

I can only assume that a DSG service involves changing its oil, as in most autoboxes. Maybe a filter too, if it has one. £200 for what is essentially an oil change is extortionate. £400 in the case of the S5? Audi's transaxle box carrying twice as much oil? What kind of oil is that? A magic potion of some sort?

It's hard to describe, but I've found you need to be "positive" when driving with the DSG. If you drive tentatively, then that's when it starts getting hesitant and jerky. It's like you confuse it by being indecisive or subtle.

the DSG 7 (dry clutch) doesn't need any oil changes. I'm up to 45k faultless miles. many boxes have seen over 150k without issues. the DSG 7 has no inherant faults and is the most reliable DSG box produced by VAG (so I'm told by a skoda master tech) also, I cannot think of anyone on here who has had a DSG 7 failure (someone may prove me wrong) .... a taxi driver in the octy sections has run a DSG 6 (wet clutch) for over 250,000 miles without issues (apparantly his car says there is no more clutch adjustment available, but he says it still drives as new)

I really wouldn't worry.

edit: all this hesitation stuff.... I have never had a problem, and I use my car to teach learners in, and none of my learners has ever had a problem either...

ASG on the sitygo is single clutch and a different kettle of fish alltogether! (we have one in our fiat ducato at work, and its really not nice.)

fully concur with Sharkrider but i have only done 31k in my vRS.

However, i do recall one or two instances on here from people who have had problems with the 'mech-a-tronic' unit on the DSG which i guess is the bit that swops the cogs. These though iirc where when their cars were relatively new, i have not heard anything in respect to the longevity of the DSG as in it falls over after X miles and that is it.

Having said this, when you compare how many of these faults there have been compared to the number of DSG boxes out there this is a very small number, unlke the TFSI in the vRS

From FAB59

Care to share what alternatives Honest John suggested?

Suzuki Splash, Vauxhall Agela, Hyandi i10. I asked about the i10 in the CityGo thread and was warned off, the Agela i had a look at but hated the stiff seats and horid plastic.... Not even as nice as my Panda. The Fabia holds it head up well IMO.

Many thanks everyone for the information, did the DSG change from a 6 to 7 speeder when the car was refeshed? The ones I have seen advertised all state 7 speed. I feel much more confident now and once we find a suitable one will be rejoining the world of skoda. Been without one for a few years after having to give up my Octavia because of ill health.

As for the oil change at 40k thats ok with me and a lot less expensive than in my MB. I looked into a DIY change in my MB but realised that it is quite a long job as you have to dismantle quite a lot of the car to get at the filter etc. So thought I would rather leave it to the pro's.

Oh, ok, that figures. Those are alternatives for the Citigo. It's only normal that a Fabia would feel more upmarket, compared to any of them.

If it's a big job to get to the filter in the autobox, then I can understand the cost, to a certain extent. I've never had to do this, so I wouldn't know. Only had one car that was auto, but got rid of it rather quickly. Just couldn't live with it. That was a long time ago though, before DSG was invented.

As far as I know, the Fabia only got the 7-speed DSG. There was a 6-speed autobox on the pre-facelift 1.6 petrol version available, but that was called a Tiptronic, so it was just an ordinary old-style automatic.

7 speed dsg doesn't need an oil change as far as I am aware. Love the dsg box in my fabia won't go back to a manual

7 speed dry clutch definatly doesn't need the 40k oil change, the 6-speed does and is fir higher torque engines like the diesels

I am liking the sound of this more and more, will be off with SWMBO to visit some cars. She has her wish list as do I of things we want from the car. I feel more reassured about the DSG now but I would still value any other comments...

Try and talk her into a VRS??

Have a look on drivethedeal and you can get them without options for £13,700??

edit: all this hesitation stuff.... I have never had a problem, and I use my car to teach learners in, and none of my learners has ever had a problem either...

Some early 1.2 TSI's had this, along with issues with EPC the light coming on now and then. The fix being the much mentioned turbo actuator shim mod and software update. Had this with our first early production Elegance TSI 85, which the mod did cure but the engine lost it's original smoothness in the process.

TP

4Matt, I have driven several VAG dsg's of all kinds and not had any hesitation problems. As the guys are saying, I think reliability is not a problem either even long term now. They are sorted.

You will find two sorts of people commenting on DSG on here. Those like me who have it and won't now look at a car without it. Then there are those who don't have it and get worried by Honest Hohn etc., etc. Up to you who you trust

Id say DSG is the way forward. Its not perfect but it is very good, particularly when really moving on. I hate the manual gearshift in the Fabia, like stirring soup so thats why DSG would be for me. Lack of gearshift paddles might make it a little dull though.

Something I would say is that the 6 speed wet clutch unit in my experience is smoother than the 7 speed; DSG in my Octavia Blackline way better than the unit in my old Fabia vRS estate.