Superb for Taxi

[Yorkie67]

Hi all, apologies if these has been asked before.

I'm looking at buying a 2023 Superb for Taxi use, 100% want an auto. Is the DSG gearbox any good for this style of driving or should I avoid?

Thanks in advance.

[Paws4Thot]

7 hours ago, Yorkie67 said:

I'm looking at buying a 2023 Superb for Taxi use, 100% want an auto. Is the DSG gearbox any good for this style of driving or should I avoid?

I can't comment on the DSG for taxiing (drivers around here 100% choose manuals IME, so there must be a reason?) but a Superb makes a superb taxi/private hire.

[Ootohere]

Welcome.

 

?

Is it not time to go Electric for your Taxi, is there not Grants available for York?

(Tesla Model 3 or if an Estate a MG5 Long Range.)

 

Back when TDI,s had a DQ250 DSG (6 speed wet clutch Oil changes every 40,000 miles) then as long as having a car with a DPF being used as a taxi might not be an issue the DSG was fine.

 

Now with a 2.0 TSI or TDI it will be a 7 Speed Wet Clutch DSG so a DQ381 and they might be troublesome.   (Time will tell but early to recent ones are having problems.)

 

If it is a 1.5 TSI ACT engine it is a DQ200 DSG & really it might need people using those as taxi,s that need to comment.   Personally i would say no way.

 

A Superb Mk3 iV is a PHEV with a 1.4 TSI engine and a DQ400-e DSG.   So Plug in Hybrid,  But the Engine Oil changes are Fixed Servicing so Oil & Filter changes every 9,600 miles or 12 months.

The DSG is a 6 speed Wet Clutch & oil changes every 40,000 miles.  That should be all good.  

 

PS

No idea what is coming as far as the Mk 4 Superb. MY25.

Edited 3 March by Rooted

[Yorkie67]

Thanks for the replies. As for electric I'm not convinced. A colleague had to pass a very good paying job mid shift as he didn't have enough charge left in his Kia, so this really isn't an option for me. Thanks for all the info Rooted.

[classic]

On 29/02/2024 at 19:55, Yorkie67 said:

Hi all, apologies if these has been asked before.

I'm looking at buying a 2023 Superb for Taxi use, 100% want an auto. Is the DSG gearbox any good for this style of driving or should I avoid?

Thanks in advance.

I have recently bought a 2022 Superb estate (1.5 tsi dsg) and whilst it won’t be a taxi I will be doing 20k miles a year in it. I do use taxis a lot as well and one of the firms around me has several Superbs including a few new ones in the last year, they have some manual and some dsg. I’d say they make an excellent taxi, loads of rear legroom and massive boot. 
Rooted is on a one man crusade against dsg, I based my choice on speaking to actual users who were going colossal mileages with no problems.

There are plenty of things to go wrong with dsg if you’re unlucky, so a manual would be a safer bet for long term reliability but you are the person in the seat that has to drive it all day or all night long.

There are also plenty of things to go wrong with dpf, adblue, dual mass flywheel etc. At least, unlike electric at the moment, there are established places that know how to fix them if they do fail.

Hopefully a taxi driver on here with one will give some views.

 

Edited 4 March by classic

[Ootohere]

@classic   I have driven only 2 pedal cars for 4 decades now and DSG,s for 14 years and not anti DSG. 

 

There are issues still with DQ200,s as there have been for 15 years, but different issues 2009-2012, then 2012-2015. and 2015 on and some are landed with these.

 

The DQ381 having issues is growing as an issue and VW Group appear to be allowing the issues that there were to DQ200 owners to be repeated. 

Damn expensive sadly out of warranty.

 

As to a Taxi being off the road, you are not earning and getting a Courtesy car is a problem. 

[Yorkie67]

Thanks guys. I'll have to track other drivers down using them as taxi's. Seen a couple but haven't had chance to speak to them. Really do like the Superb, maybe have to go manual if I really want one!

[Paws4Thot]

53 minutes ago, Yorkie67 said:

Thanks guys. I'll have to track other drivers down using them as taxi's. Seen a couple but haven't had chance to speak to them. Really do like the Superb, maybe have to go manual if I really want one!

Well, for reasons I spent most Saturdays for about 6 months travelling between Dumbarton and Balornock (say 40 minutes each way) in a private hire Superb. That's why I'm so sure they're good taxis.

[Ootohere]

They are good Taxi,s plenty around the world.

Are 2023 good as a Taxi for in and around town driving or more out of town ans Airport Transport is the question and which engine / gearbox competition.

 

A Superb 280 TSI is a good VIP / Transport / Taxi. 

[Yorkie67]

That's the reason I was looking at a superb, the size of the car. I'm using  a Merc C-Class at the moment just not quite big enough for me. That's the question Rooted, which gearbox? Really did want an auto this time.

 

[classic]

19 minutes ago, Yorkie67 said:

That's the reason I was looking at a superb, the size of the car. I'm using  a Merc C-Class at the moment just not quite big enough for me. That's the question Rooted, which gearbox? Really did want an auto this time.

 

So did I, so got one. Early days with dsg for me but I really like the way it drives.

[Winston_Woof]

I take the pragmatic view. Any car can have problems to one degree or another and like many other things in life it's only the failures that we ever hear about despite the fact there are many thousands of people who never have an issue.

If you want an auto get the auto and if its for business use just make sure you have the correct backup cover should the vehicle develop any problem that will prevent you from earning. To my mind that's more important than losing sleep over potential issues.

[Ootohere]

^^^ So a TAXI / Private hire car is a tool of the job.  Get it right, know the potential issues.

If you can have a Warranty Covering a Taxi then get it.    Other member learned the hard way, but then that was 1.6 TDI,s and another with a DQ200.

Warranty did not cover a TAXI. 

 

 

Are you buying a Used 2023 or something from Stock?

 

With a new car before First Registered you can extend the Manufacturers Warranty,   But used just extend a Warranty, but Taxi,s Couriers etc can be excluded.

 

If a DQ381 DSG i would want a warranty covering it past the Manufacturers Warranty. 

 

 

Edited 5 March by Rooted

[Winston_Woof]

also as a sort of sidebar you would like to think if you bought via a taxi supplier then all the relevant warranties etc would be in place.

https://www.thetaxicentre.com/new-taxi-sales/skoda/superb/

[Yorkie67]

Looking at buying used. Plenty in my price range with less than 30k on the clock. Looking to renew in the next couple of months, so plenty of time to sus things out.

[Ootohere]

Remember then that any Skoda Approved Used Car, cars with FMDSH / Full Main Dealer Service History might have little done by 30,000 miles, a full history showing how little.

One on Variable Servicing might have and  one Oil & Filter / Inspection service and maybe not even a Pollen Filter replaced. 

[EnterName]

Does this 4 year 40K interval now apply to the DQ381, @Rooted?

[Ootohere]

No.

Nor did 4 years apply to any of them.  & 40,000 does not apply to Dq200,s.     Or does the Cam Belt apply, and as for the AC, they wish people will pay.

No mention of VAQ diffs. 

 

It is pretty much mis-information, but it was a Skoda chart.  Fixed Servicing.   

 

*** 80,000 miles and not change the Filter if that is advice Skoda or VW were to give would be pretty pants, there is a filter.***

This chart is from TPS though not VW / Skoda. 

Edited 6 March by Rooted

[EnterName]

That's good to hear. I'm still planning to do my DQ381 at 8 years, but that will be under 40K miles. It's 4.5 years now and hasn't even cracked 20K miles yet.

[Stonekeeper]

On 04/03/2024 at 20:27, Rooted said:

@classic   I have driven only 2 pedal cars for 4 decades now and DSG,s for 14 years and not anti DSG. 

 

There are issues still with DQ200,s as there have been for 15 years, but different issues 2009-2012, then 2012-2015. and 2015 on and some are landed with these.

 

The DQ381 having issues is growing as an issue and VW Group appear to be allowing the issues that there were to DQ200 owners to be repeated. 

Damn expensive sadly out of warranty.

 

As to a Taxi being off the road, you are not earning and getting a Courtesy car is a problem. 

 

The number of failures in the DQ381 growing would make sense now because it was first used in 2017.

 

More now out of warranty and also more likely not to be following a service schedule.

 

With the mechatronic unit on this gearbox sharing the oil with the gearbox i am very surprised that 80,000km was ever thought of as suitable. 40,000 makes a lot more sense.

 

 

 

 

[Ootohere]

Sadly that is not the increasing failure of just early ones where VW group appear to be just treating it as one of these things.

 

Newish low mileage ones from the last couple of years are requiring replacement MCU,s and that is globaly.

 

So while it is 3 monkeys from VW Group it looks like the DQ381 problem might be greater than anything there has been with DQ200,s since 2009.

With vehicles costing maybe as much as 50% more than those with DQ200,s. 

 

Vorsprung Durch Technik.     Sadly no....

 

Skoda Dealership Service Desk Staff maybe need to know about SERVICE SCHEDULES,  and if they are there any number of weeks surely ,

'Never heard of that' is because they do not listen, or they work with Tommy.   A Deaf dumb and blind kid that sure plays lots on a smart phone. 

 

Someone with a new vehicle or a year old or so is missing no Service Schedule on a gearbox and it is not a case of 'They all do that' when they report issues of which 'They do not all have' or just a few are having, very few really so far. 

Edited 6 March by Rooted

[Winston_Woof]

I'm curious, are there any "official" figures (such as a FOI type request) on the DSG failure rate?

V.A.G combined sold around 462k units iin the UK in  2023 (source) so lets presume that 50% of those were DSG, wonder how many failures there have actually been?

NB I'm not pretending there have been no failures, rather attempting to quantify the scale.

Edited 6 March by Winston_Woof

[Stonekeeper]

There a a lot of variations with dual clutch automatics, go on any manufacturers forums and search for "automatic" problems and you will find the same ones.

 

It goes by many different names. Volkswagen has dubbed dual-clutch transmission cars DSG (Direct Shift Gearbox). Porsche calls it PDK (Porsche Doppel Kupplungs getriebe), Audi prefers S-Tronic. EcoShift, SpeedShift, and PowerShift have all been thrown into the pot (by Hyundai, Mercedes Benz, and Ford, respectively). Still, the various monikers all refer to the same thing: the dual-clutch transmission.

 

Salesman have no interest in "problems" and service staff always say "that's rare" they only care about what happens under warranty. Once out of warranty are people still likely go to main dealers for repairs

 

A DCT needs servicing. How often will probably depend as much upon how the car is driven as it does on mileage and time.

 

A DCT is not an automatic, it is a manual gearbox with two clutches for alternate gears controlled by a computer to change the gear automatically .

 

When looking to buy a second hand one i would be interested in trying to work out how the mileage and time relate as well as evidencing service done.

 

 

[Ootohere]

@Winston_Woof  Skoda produce about 2,200 DQ200 DSG a day for 48 applications / models of VW Group Vehicles.

 

The DQ381 issue will not be in big numbers yet, but there are companies that are Refurbishing / Repairing DQ381,s as there are with DQ200,s.

For DQ200,s there are people producing improved components to the OEM that get fitted under warranty, or if a repair is done at a main dealership. / Repairer.

http://briskoda.net/forums/topic/511232-dsg-dq381

 

It is an issue that buyers need to be aware of.  Have a valid warranty will be a help in the first place.

Knowing what DSG you have in the first place can be a help, and many do not know. 

Edited 6 March by Rooted

[Winston_Woof]

2 minutes ago, Rooted said:

@Winston_Woof  Skoda produce about 2,200 DQ200 DSG a day for 48 applications / models of VW Group Vehicles.

 

The DQ381 issue will not be in big numbers yet, but there are companies that are Refurbishing / Repairing DQ381,s as there are with DQ200,s.

For DQ200,s there are people producing improved components to the OEM that get fitted under warranty, or if a repair is done at a main dealership. / Repairer.

 

It is an issue that buyers need to be aware of.  Have a valid warranty will be a help in the first place.

Knowing what DSG you have in the first place can be a help, and many do not know. 

Again though whilst there is no doubt that the DQ200 (as I believe is fitted to my MY18 1.4TSI Superb Estate) is regarded by many as the "worst" of the bunch I do wonder:

a) how many vehicles have been fitted with this box
b) how many of them have failed


Although it is also good to know there are improved components available should there be failure.