Today I towed with my new to us 190PS 4X4 Diesel DSG Karoq. It's a 2019, almost 2020 on 23,000 miles in Edition trim.

About halfway between Stoke and Keswick on an easy section of the M6 it suddenly threw an orange warning saying the gearbox was going into emergency mode but I could still drive the car. I did the rest of the trip without first, third or fifth gear.

Later, after the caravan was pitched I moved the car slightly and the warning had disappeared.

Apparently the nearest Skoda dealership is 22 miles away in Carlisle and I've got a further 150 mile tow planned for Friday.

What's wrong and what should I do? Car has a 2 year Skoda warranty.

Did the car come with a Towbar from the factory or tow bar prep?

That means, The additional cooling equipment!

If not then the Warranty might be invalidated, or that is what you are going to be told.

Edited 25 June, 202525 Jun by Ootohere

The 2 litre 190PS Diesel doesn't get any mods for towing prep. I'e seen the Skoda tow prep chart for Karoq. Johnsons Wolverhampton had the towbar fitted.

Advice so far is that it's a mechatronix sensor issue. Nothing to do with towing or temperature.

If you have lost 1,3,5 gears I would have expected 7th to have been lost as as well, as odd gears are one clutch and the even gears and reverse on the other clutch. First question is has the DSG oil ever been changed, your Karoq should have the wet clutch DQ381, which requires an oil change and filter clean at 80,000 miles. SO in theory at 23,000 miles its not due an oil change - the purpose of the oil is cool the clutch plates, but it gets contaminated with the dust off the clutch plates. The cheapest maintenance job on a DSG gearbox is changing the oil. On my previous VW, 2 2.0 TDI with a 6 spd wet clutch DSG, which towed a 1,500 kg car trailer, the DSG oil and filter was changed every 40,000 miles or 5 years, I had it done twice and it cost less than £200 each time. . Mechantronic Unit and Clutch pack are more expensive, £1,500 or more I believe I ve seen quoted on this forum.

If it's not had a gearbox service the oil is five year old if using it for towing and also only doing mainly short trips (guessing by mileage) i would change it every three years regardless of miles

1 hour ago, Stonekeeper said:

If it's not had a gearbox service the oil is five year old if using it for towing and also only doing mainly short trips (guessing by mileage) i would change it every three years regardless of miles

I agree. For both our Skoda DSG cars which are now low annual mileage, do the following 'back of fag packet' calculation number of cold starts per hundred miles. Oil is at its least affective when its cold, the engine and gearbox are most prone to wear until they are fully warmed up. Our Fabia DSG does 2000 miles a year its around 20 per 100 miles, For my Karoq, which does 8000 miles per year, some weeks it can be 40 per 100 miles. Compare this with when I was doing a 100 mile round trip to work each day it was 2 per 100 miles.