1 minute ago, Ootohere said:

What there is is lots of mess beside the clutches.

As to oil colour there are various posts on here showing the colour changes.

The 'Famous DQ200 Clutch Slip thread' in the Fabia mk3 section is good.

That issue came in from 2015 once the DQ200,s were being turned out in big numbers by the Skoda Factory.

I still want to know what the kangaroo issue with my MQ250 was.

Ultimately, people will service a car as much, or as little, as they desire. In the latter instance, premature breakdowns are often blamed on the car, rather than anything else.

That being said, it is a bit depressing that main dealers, let alone the manufacturer, can't be trusted to give defacto maintenance advice.

I added a link to my last post.

Apologies for the confusion.

I should have said I'll be getting the Gearbox oil changed at 40,000 mile intervals or 4 years whichever comes first.

@Aldfort your money but that really seems to be an expense too far for a DSG with no Service Schedule.

On 31/05/2025 at 13:29, Ootohere said:

@Aldfort your money but that really seems to be an expense too far for a DSG with no Service Schedule.

The average price I've seen is about £220. A tiny sum when compared to all the other running costs.

@Aldfort Where have you seen The Average price for servicing a DQ200?

There are prices often given here for a DQ250 or DQ381, one oil and a filter.

Not £220 for a few years now unless a nice cheap independent. Thing £300 + now for a DQ381.

As it is 4 years never was a Service Interval for DSG,s, 40,000 miles (38,000 Audi) or 80,000 miles DQ381 as given in the UK.

DQ200 DSG,s as an when anyone wants, done by someone that does it right.

If that is for £220 then 'What is the worst that can happen'.

Maybe best spend that on an extended warranty covering the DSG though.

Edited 2 June2 Jun by Ootohere

A great price at Awesome.

I drive a petrol 1500 Scala with a DSG gear box. I always have the Stop-Start function active

I occasionally use the Neutral position when stopping in traffic for more than, say, about a minute. I use Neutral because 1) I don't want to dazzle following traffic with my brake lights, especially if its raining. 2) I was told that if the brake discs are hot, clamping the discs with the brake pads makes the disc-cooling uneven and can lead to warped discs. 3) I can set the manual hand brake and take my foot off the brake pedal. The engine restarts automatically when I press the brake pedal and select Drive.

BUT I believe latest advice on stopping in traffic is to hold the car still with the foot-brake because it is always more positive than the hand brake. This is safer for the occupants if there is a rear end collision because the car will not be shunted forward so easily and the car crumple-zones will take up more of the impact thus protecting the occupants and reducing the chances of a multiple collision.

I guess this is why the DSG box does not allow you to stop and apply the handbrake in Drive without also using the foot brake.

I used to think the Neutral position was for towing the car but it seems that this will cause gearbox damage if done for more than a few meters because with the engine stopped the gearbox lubrication stops. I had thought of shifting to Neutral on a long down-hill but I am not going to do that now.

I think I can get less fuel consumption using Manual mode carefully, but it's so much easier to leave it in Drive.

@SoupDragon Does your car not have 'Coasting' mode?

As far as any advice from Skoda / VW group on stopped and foot on brake pedal that is very likely because the UK,s Highway code means nothing as far as they are concerned and rear brake lights.

I checked 'Coasting Mode' in the manual, my car is 2024 build SE model. The manual states that the gearbox will automatically change to Neutral if in 'D' and the accelerator and brake pedals are not pressed, and if you are not towing, and your speed is above 20 kph. This is a very common situation. I have not noticed the gear indicator changing to 'N', I will look out for that happening. I have noticed the fuel consumption read-out changes to '---' and also that overrun braking is minimal. For that reason I often change the gear selector to Manual and change down through a couple of gears as I come up to traffic lights etc. The engine does not stop under these conditions.

When I learnt to drive I was taught to always be in the gear to match your speed and not to coast in neutral but that was with a manual gearbox. I suppose things have changed in the the last 55 years. Also, when LED brake lights first came into use, if you were stuck behind a tall vehicle like a Range Rover and its brake lights were held on, they were annoyingly bright and I would see green dots in my eyes for minutes after we started off again. I think brake light intensity has been softened a bit since then.

OccyVRS, kangaroo issue with my MQ250.

For 3 miserable years I had an manual Octavia 1500 petrol, built 2018. It went for several software updates but for time of my ownership it went from revving its head off when trying to drive slowly to jumping or stalling with the last s/w improvement. I hated driving that car, it was impossible to drive it without the utmost deliberate care and caution and entirely unpredictable when entering a roundabout. I now drive an automatic 1500 Scala with I suppose the same engine and in auto mode, it's a peach, no trouble at all, but I think its fuel consumption is a bit worse.

@SoupDragon maybe with your car / DSG do not look for the indicator changing to N. Look for it going from D7 to just D when coasting.