Gearbox in emergency mode - no reverse gear

[MesaSunrise]

2 hours ago, roottoot said:

AA is the Skoda Assist responders.  No need for Dealership contact if the Skoda Approved used car deal gives Skoda Assist cover.  But you need to look at the deal as you got it.   Skoda assist / As if there is cover can get someone out, read fault codes.  Arrange recovery to a dealership and arrange a vehicle.  Hire car delivered if required.  Or you can wait til tomorrow and get proper customer service or not.  Read the Skoda Approved Papers that should have been provided in hard copy or online. 

 

Thanks again. I think I will wait until tomorrow and talk to the dealership.

Courtesy car would be great as the closest dealership is about 30 miles away.

My concern about getting AA out now is that there would be issues recovering to a dealership as they are closed.

[MesaSunrise]

The below is what's covered on my Skoda Approved Used warranty. It says Roadside Assistance and reading through the booklet this is the same as AA National Recovery and Onward Travel (which I have just also added to my AA membership...)

I don't think I can call them out if my car is currently at home though.

 

 

 

 

[Yogi-Bear]

3 hours ago, MesaSunrise said:

It says Roadside Assistance and reading through the booklet this is the same as AA National Recovery and Onward Travel

 

I would have thought it was the same as you get with new cars... which does include Home Start and pretty much everything else.

 

https://www.skoda.co.uk/owners/roadside-assistance

[MesaSunrise]

I had to call few dealerships as was given a month lead time. Found a dealership willing to have a look today. 
 

It’s the mechatronic unit and they have to order it in and have to book the car in another day. They asked me to collect car so I am guessing should be ok to drive in meantime. 
 

I’ve asked if extended warranty will cover this and was told I need to speak to the warranty advisor. Fingers crossed. 

[Ootohere]

The Dealership always needs to talk with the Warranty Advisor and the Master Tech knows what to tell them and the repair needs approval because it is expensive.

 

Not as expensive as if a Customer was paying the bill though.  If it needs a MCU then that is a formality and they might well drag out 'On back order' and all that jazz.

As long as they have the trained and qualified technician then there is no need to turn a crisis into The goose that lays the golden egg.

 

PS

It is surprising that it needs a MCU but is OK to drive now or until the new MCU is fitted.

Edited 21 March, 2022 by roottoot

[MesaSunrise]

I believe it was the mechatronic when she mentioned on the phone. When I went to pick my car up the service advisor was on lunch. 
The person who did the handover doesn't seem to know much, she didn't even know how to read from the work sheet.

Just said they need to order some special parts. I have asked for someone to ring me back and go from there.

If it's indeed the mechatronic unit I am very surprised it failed on a 3 year old car on 21k miles...

[SurreyJohn]

20 hours ago, MesaSunrise said:

I believe it was the mechatronic when she mentioned on the phone. When I went to pick my car up the service advisor was on lunch. 
The person who did the handover doesn't seem to know much, she didn't even know how to read from the work sheet.

Just said they need to order some special parts. I have asked for someone to ring me back and go from there.

If it's indeed the mechatronic unit I am very surprised it failed on a 3 year old car on 21k miles...

Occasionally parts do fail early (either weren’t manufactured properly in which case tend to fail early under warranty) or can be unlucky.   But majority go for years and never give any problem.

 

A common solution is to change a whole mechatronic control unit, even if it is a tiny part inside.   Although this expensively fixes a problem, to some extent is the gearbox equivalent of changing the whole axle if you have a puncture to avoid working out where tyre has a hole.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[MesaSunrise]

4 hours ago, SurreyJohn said:

Occasionally parts do fail early (either weren’t manufactured properly in which case tend to fail early under warranty) or can be unlucky.   But majority go for years and never give any problem.

 

A common solution is to change a whole mechatronic control unit, even if it is a tiny part inside.   Although this expensively fixes a problem, to some extent is the gearbox equivalent of changing the whole axle if you have a puncture to avoid working out where tyre has a hole.

 

 

Thanks SurreyJohn. Skoda has confirmed they will change the mechatronic unit under extended warranty, so that a big sigh of relieve...
Might get futher warranty after my approved used extended warranty expires but not sure what to get...

 

 

 

 

[Teir]

@MesaSunriseThat's good news, hope the work gets sorted soon. 

 

In terms of further warranty, if you are intending to keep having it serviced by a main dealer, then the 'All In' plan is good value. In addition to a two year extended warranty, you also get two oil and inspection services (one of which will be 'extended scope', and you can also get a new set of spark plugs, air filter and pollen filter included), two MOT's, and two years of roadside assistance. It costs £32 per month for two years, or £768 upfront. https://www.skoda.co.uk/owners/all-in-service-plan

 

 

 

[MesaSunrise]

10 hours ago, Teir said:

@MesaSunriseThat's good news, hope the work gets sorted soon. 

 

In terms of further warranty, if you are intending to keep having it serviced by a main dealer, then the 'All In' plan is good value. In addition to a two year extended warranty, you also get two oil and inspection services (one of which will be 'extended scope', and you can also get a new set of spark plugs, air filter and pollen filter included), two MOT's, and two years of roadside assistance. It costs £32 per month for two years, or £768 upfront. https://www.skoda.co.uk/owners/all-in-service-plan

 

 

 

 

Cheers, I will have a look. That looks like good value.

There is a service due which I was originally planning to get it done at local garage but have changed my mind and will let Skoda do it.
If the car is not serviced at Skoda I am guessing the warranty will not be honoured?

[Teir]

As long as genuine Skoda parts are used, the warranty should be honoured. Experiences vary, however. 

[Ootohere]

The replacement MCU only has a warranty as long as this Extended Warranty runs so to have 2 years parts and labour warranty on the MCU you need to pay some money towards in, even a couple of quid.

Since this is not really possible best you get an extended warranty, All in or any that covers the DSG / MCU.

 

They can not say 'there is a known issue'  so Warranty not valid, as they are fixing the car and there is no 'known issue' after repaired.  

[MesaSunrise]

8 minutes ago, roottoot said:

The replacement MCU only has a warranty as long as this Extended Warranty runs so to have 2 years parts and labour warranty on the MCU you need to pay some money towards in, even a couple of quid.

Since this is not really possible best you get an extended warranty, All in or any that covers the DSG / MCU.

 

They can not say 'there is a known issue'  so Warranty not valid, as they are fixing the car and there is no 'known issue' after repaired.  

 

Yes, this is definitely my plan once my extended warranty expires in September. 
At least it's another 2 years peace of mind.
This is my first DSG box and to be honest probably my last. I have had automatics in the past and never had such issues, especially on low mileage car.

[Ootohere]

Really the Wet clutch DSG's are reliable and as far as i am concerned a joy.

 

With the 7 speed wets there have been a few reported issues since they became available and really until they are on the roads 4 or 5 years you never know how well VW Group Skoda have got on with them for people wanting 5 year old cars and older as keepers.

That is the same with any new introduction or evolution from VW Group.   

 As long as they just face up to any having issues or reasons for them to just put on their big boy trousers and admit they are responsible if the number that might have issues is too high and their fault. 

[Yogi-Bear]

59 minutes ago, MesaSunrise said:

This is my first DSG box and to be honest probably my last. I have had automatics in the past and never had such issues, especially on low mileage car.

 

Don't let this experience put you off... it would be a shame as dual-clutch auto 'boxes can be a real "best of both worlds" between cruising lazily around and wanting to get a bit of enjoyment from driving your car properly*. Also, you'll be discounting a lot of cars that aren't VAG if you want an auto 'box that isn't dual-clutch.

 

Having said that, I seem to recall something about BMW going back to torque convertor 'boxes from dual-clutch, at least on M cars.

 

*if you believe that a manual 'box is a requirement for driving your car properly.

[MesaSunrise]

4 hours ago, Yogi-Bear said:

 

Don't let this experience put you off... it would be a shame as dual-clutch auto 'boxes can be a real "best of both worlds" between cruising lazily around and wanting to get a bit of enjoyment from driving your car properly*. Also, you'll be discounting a lot of cars that aren't VAG if you want an auto 'box that isn't dual-clutch.

 

Having said that, I seem to recall something about BMW going back to torque convertor 'boxes from dual-clutch, at least on M cars.

 

*if you believe that a manual 'box is a requirement for driving your car properly.

 

To be fair this is also our first Skoda and we really enjoy it. It's very good value for money, seems well built too. Just a little shame about the gearbox issue. I specifically hunt for a low mileage full service history car to avoid potential issues.

We need occasional 6/7 seats so not many options around within budget, hence went for the Kodiaq.

Our last family car was a 3.0 Tdi Q7. It's big, comfy and powerful but started developing issues so we sold it. Car is mainly driven by my wife so mostly just short trip around town which is not great for diesels.

Perhaps the 2.0 litre TSi would be a better fit for the DSG box?

 

 

[Yogi-Bear]

2 hours ago, MesaSunrise said:

Perhaps the 2.0 litre TSi would be a better fit for the DSG box?

 

Not at all - the 1.4/1.5TSI engines are both great and work perfectly with the DSG 'box, especially around town. Really don't see the need* for anything bigger.

 

*yes, I'm back to the difference between 'need' and 'want' 🤪. I didn't need a VRS, but I wanted one!

[MesaSunrise]

So today finally got the mechatronic replaced under warranty. Minor service was due so I've got that done too.

According to service history it's been almost 2 years(!) since the last one, so well due.

The gear changes, especially from 1st definitely feels smoother now. No jerking.

Weird thing is that whilst waiting for parts to come in, the car was driven around Northamptonshire and Buckinghamshire and there were no errors at all.

I'm relieved this is all sorted under warranty, and fingers crossed troublefree motoring ahead!

[Teir]

Great result - enjoy!

[Yogi-Bear]

15 hours ago, MesaSunrise said:

According to service history it's been almost 2 years(!) since the last one, so well due.

 

All depends on what service regime it was set to when new - time or mileage. There's this great misconception that cars need to be serviced every year... my last two have been set to mileage so were serviced every 18,000 miles, which was approx. every 18 months. When you know you're going to be getting rid of the car at the end of the PCP deal, it seems stupid to have it serviced more often than you have to!

 

My vRS is set to time as I may end up keeping it, so I'm more willing to pay for it to be serviced every year, no matter what the mileage.

[silver1011]

Unless of course you're like the OP and buying an older model, at which point annual servicing potentially becomes a very real advantage.

 

I love driving DSG's but wouldn't want to run one without a suitable warranty.

[John1701]

Our Superb MK3 is currently at the garage awaiting diagnostic on the same error.

Easter Bank Holiday weekend we encountered the issue on the way back from Cornwall. The AA were able to clear the error and advised we took the car into the Garage.

Garage could not do anything due to the faults being cleared. They drove it on a few 15 mile drives but could not replicate the error.

The day after I collected the car the error triggered again on the motorway and only had access to gears 1 and 3.

Limped it to a skoda garage near the motorway and they will hopefully find and fix the problem this week.

Pain they cannot sort these things out when fault codes are cleared 

 

[John1701]

Well Skoda managed to diagnose the issue and for us the problem is pretty severe.

Mechatronic unit needs replacing and there is also a small gearbox fluid leak as well.

It should be all covered by warranty.

Pretty disappointed a 4 and a bit year old car suffered quite so badly.

 

[vRSNZ]

Just this morning had my second error message pop up so took the car into the dealer.  Confirmed as mechatronic unit, parts could be a month away, maybe 2. 

Here in NZ for 2018 we only had a 3 year warranty so of course that's well gone... given an approx. of NZD2-3k.

Guess at least they had the decency to give me a load car.  Now will be interesting to see if Skoda NZ chip in some of the cost for goodwill.

 

[TonyArnold]

On 16/06/2022 at 13:28, vRSNZ said:

parts could be a month away, maybe 2

If you’re lucky. I’ve been waiting for a new mechatronic since late April - my Kodiaq has been sitting at the service yard the entire time. Skoda won’t provide any ETA, living up to the terrible VAG service reputation.