Whilst I am tempted by the new Skoda Scala, for less money (c£16k or under) it looks like I could get a fairly new used Octy DSG etstate, with lowish mileage. Would you go for the 2.0TDI or the 1.5TSI?

 

Performance, economy and C02 look fairly similar, but it looks like the government really isn't diesels friend on other emissions.

 

My car tax renewal for my 09 Peugeot 308SW 2.0HDI has just come in at £290! Hence why I'm thinking a turbo petrol might be the way forward.

 

What are the pros and cons you've found of the the TDI or TSI DSG Otcy estate?

How many miles do you do and what kind of journeys typically? Unless significantly more than average, or you need to tow, the TSI probably makes more sense.

 

The TSi should be the sensible choice unless you do mega miles and will offer more refinement.

 

But there's a but if you want DSG and a big but in my opinion,

 

The 1.5TSi will have the 7 speed dry clutch DSG DQ200 and it's not known for reliability. I've had five, only one has been trouble free and the last one in an Octy 3 had over £5k's worth of repairs.

A used 2.0Tdi will have the 6 speed wet clutch DSG DQ250 and as long as they have their regular servicing they are probably the most reliable DSG box. I've had three of these and all faultless. My first one is owned by my father in law now and with over 100k miles still drives like new.

 

 

Edited 13 April, 20197 yr by logiclee

The DSG in the Scala would also be the 7speed dry version for any engine producing 250nM or less of torque.

Under warranty then the risk is acceptable, Out of warranty it could be a problem although the VW group in Australia have been very accommodating regarding these problems out of warranty as they suffered huge customer backlash and adverse publicity from the massive number of failures the Australian climate caused the dry dsg box from their use of incorrect lube.

Local comments about dry dsg boxes from all brands ( including kia/hyundia/ford etc) suggest they all suffer a higher rate of issues than wet dsg boxes.

I've never had an issue with the 7 speed dry clutch DSG and I've had many, at least one different car for the last 8 years.

35 minutes ago, ItalianJob said:

I've never had an issue with the 7 speed dry clutch DSG and I've had many, at least one different car for the last 8 years.

Do you mean you change your car every year?

 

Is it a revelation that a DQ200 can last a year? Especially if under 3 yrs old.

 

Many on here are low mileage drivers, many change their new cars every 3 years, lots on 3yr/30000 mile or less PCP or lease.

 

With respect, not a useful source for reliability information on anything. Cars are expected to last without breaking for the manufacturers warranty period.

 

My opinion....DQ200 only

 

In short, if buying a DQ200 (dry box) equipped car second hand, think carefully about the potential cost of repair. Any warranty, which is highly recommended should always be taken out with a DSG, should be checked carefully that it covers everything, DSG wise, including "wear and tear" clutch packs and DMFs.

Only a proportion of DQ200s will fail, but he proportion is much higher than other types of gearbox and unfortunately that proportion rockets as mileage goes up. If they give trouble, the cost is ALWAYS very high, between 1k and 4k. 

 

If possible to glean, I would try to avoid examples where the useage has mainly been crawling in traffic, round town with higher than average no of gear changes, and particularly lots of hill starts and manouvering, but thats going to be almost impossible to find out.

 

ALL OTHER DSG (wet boxes)

 

Walk away from examples that have not been serviced on time. Maximum of 40,000 miles between DSG oil/filter changes.  (Don't confuse with engine oil changes)

 

 

 

Edited 14 April, 20197 yr by xman

Out of all of them, 2 were new. The rest were used and I change every year as I get that itch and want to change to try something different. I've flitted between the Octavia, Superb and Leon and recently made

the mistake of getting a Civic 1.5T Auto!

 

We've also got 4 diesel DSG Octavia's at work and they have been faultless.

 

I definitely wouldn't buy one without a warranty though, just in case.

 

I've come from the 2.0 PD 140 engine of the Skoda Mk2 in manual gearbox to the Mk3 TSI 140 petrol. with the DQ200 auto.

 

Whilst the torque is certainly much less than the derv it was hard to pass up the £30 road tax for the petrol.  I went to petrol partly because I fancied a change and also because I was not sure how well dervs were holding up in the future regarding road tax, emissions, diesel gate etc.

Coupled to this I actually do a lot of smaller distances these days which would really disagree with the DPF in the dervs.

 

I do notice a lack of oompf at motorway speeds compared to the diesel but around town the petrol feels quicker with the DSG.

 

You have to be prepared to drop a few cogs on the petrol TSI to get going where in the dervs you had that torque almost on tap in the gear you were in, once the turbo spooled of course.

 

The wife also has the DQ200 DSG in the Fabia too. That is a very quick car considering it's a 1.2 105 PS unit.

 

For miles per gallon, in the TDI I could get 50 mpg easily on a long run, even remapped, for the TSI I can only seem to obtain about 44 mpg.  

Around town the TDI was in the high 30's, the TSI the low 30's.

 

Coupled with the smaller fuel tank on the Mk3 it does appear that the TSI gets through a lot more fuel. 

 

Heat up times are lovely though in the TSI, I was always waiting for the temps to heat up in the derv, even with a supplementary heater in the PD unit.

For the TSI, it heats up very quickly indeed.  Goes to show the efficiency differences I guess.

 

DSG really does help with performance. I feel the 1.4 TSI wouldnt be half as quick if you had to stir the gearbox yourself if in a manual.

 

Which comes on to reliability.  There seems to be a lot of users out there who have had issues.  Touch wood, for the Octavia we are ok thus far (apart from an appalling DSG update recently) and the Fabia is still holding in there at 44k.

 

Basically, anything that goes wrong with a DSG is going to be expensive to repair so you have to factor that in on your purchase. I cannot remember any instances where I had a manual gearbox issue in all of my car ownership.

 

Bottom line, I am really enjoying the TSI DSG experience and this was because I loved driving the wife's TSI DSG Fabia.  In the back of the mind though is that one day, not sure when, there could be an expensive repair bill for the DSG.

Until then, I love the DSG changes and getting back to a petrol.