Last September my Kamiq 1.5 DSG 2020reg (regularly serviced) displayed 'Gearbox in Emergency Mode'. Very near home so able to limp home. Dealer took it in and fixed it under extended warranty. All okay until a month ago when it happened again, this time far from home. Switched off the car, restarted and all back to normal and drove perfectly. Yesterday it happened again and only D2 available. Started car today, no problem, all working, no warning sign. I'll be contacting the dealer again, but has anyone else come across this. Is it just a software glitch? I'm worried that this could happen on the motorway.

You are right to be concerned. Car needs a full diagnostic and read of all fault codes by somebody who fully understands what they are looking at. TBH a DSG specialist might be a better bet for diagnosis.

I would go to the Skoda dealer who fixed it the first time, Skoda give a 12 month/12,000 mile warranty on all work carried out, and in this case, assuming it is the same problem and you are withing the time/mileage limitations, they should fix it again.

Thank you to cnc and Aldfort for your replies. I'm contacting the main dealer tomorrow. According to Skoda Assist the odd gears and even gears are controlled by two separate electronic systems, which perhaps explains that after switching off/on it goes back to normal, like rebooting your computer. I was interested to hear if any other owners had experienced this.

Apart from this, I really like my Kamiq. I'll report here on progress in due course.

Do not let them or anyone try to explain what is something they have no idea about. ie Skoda Assist.....Did the Responder plug in and read any saved Fault Codes and print them out? Is yours a FWD Karoq with a 7 Speed Twin Dry Clutch DSG. ? So basically 2 oils used. and likely the MCU has a fault. There is oil in the Mechatronic Control Unit (MCU) & an ECU. No Service Schedule for a DQ200, so regular servicing irrelevant. Unless someone hopeless serviced it. ??? What was done under the warranty? What was replaced or repaired?

Edited 14 June14 Jun by Evolution13

Kamiq 7 speed DSG. Responder was from AA Skoda Assist, but from the VW Group section, and he did plug in a laptop. I'll find out more tomorrow at the dealer. Thanks for replying.

1 hour ago, DRW said:

I was interested to hear if any other owners had experienced this.

I'm not going to say it's common, but certainly not unheard of. The odd & even gears are controlled by different clutches, and sometimes the mechatronics unit (controlling brain of the gearbox) can fail requiring replacement.

If you Google 'Mechatronics' there will be plenty to read on the internet, here is one such post from another well known forum, I hope you get a satisfactory response from your dealer https://www.tiguanforums.co.uk/threads/2018-tiguan-mechatronics-failure-has-this-happened-to-you.11135/

Thanks cnc. I've followed your link. Interesting reading and I'm obviously not alone.

Update: I have been to the dealer and they will have the car in under the extended warranty and we'll go from there. Interestingly, I get the Parkers newsletter. Their journalist had a Kamiq DSG on long term trial and was full of praise for it EXCEPT that it has gone into Gearbox Emergency Mode on several occasions!

Further update: The Kamiq went in for investigation on 30th June. Verdict was "requires clutch pack adjustment as TP1 & workshop manual." Inspection report said 'covered under warranty'. However, today 13th July VW Warranty have told me that this will not be covered as it is an adjustment, not a fault being repaired. They will need the car for a week to remove the gearbox and the cost is in the region of £3k. The fact that this same Gearbox warning appeared last Sept and they replaced an oil pressure valve is irrelevant! The service staff at the dealers are being very helpful and I appreciate that it is not their decision. I am going to challenge this. Even if I pay up there's no guarantee that it won't happen again.

Well, it's not a weeks work to take the box out that is for sure. Keep going with the challenge, the gearbox going into emergency mode without warning does not sound like some minor adjustment.

Ask if there is a specific technical bulletin (TPI not TP1) covering this issue and ask to see it so that you can make sure they symptom you experience is the actual one the technical bulletin talks about.

Most technical bulletins have a section which says "customer reports" ... Make sure this is the problem you have or the bulletin is irrelevant.

They are 'havering', the Dealership and VW Warranties. They can do adjustments / resets by plugging in. The Adjustment of the clutch packs is the same as if they were fitting new clutch packs. They are going into the box to look see what the fault it. £3,000 covers the cost of new clutch packs. VW Warranties need to clearly understand 'an adjustment' compared to what is actually being done. Is the Dealerships Tech actually doing 'The Adjustment' or farming it out, as even dealerships as big as Parks might do. eg Parks Skoda Hamilton.

Edited Thursday at 13:183 days by Evolution13

Thank you Aldfort and Evolution. I'm not giving up yet. I awaiting answers to some questions I've sent to the dealer and then I'm contacting VW with my concerns.

This is the reply I got from one of the service reps at the dealers. They have been very helpful but their hands are tied and the decision is not theirs. The technician found a fault code in the car "P081000 clutch position control error". This fault code related to a TPI (Technical Product Information) which tells the technician to carry out an adjustment of the clutch pack. This is due to the fact that the gearbox detected that the meeting points for the gear changes were out of line and the gearbox goes into emergency mode to protect itself from further damage. 

The reason for warranty rejecting the claim is due to the fact an adjustment is needed and no replacement is taking place. They state that adjustments are not covered under the warranty T&C's. 

 I still intend contacting VW Warranty so they can tell me directly and I can express my dissatisfaction.

If the car is under some kind of warranty which covers the gearbox, it either works properly or it doesn't. If it doesn't work properly, it is irrelevant whether the solution is a clutch pack adjustment or a clutch pack replacement.

I had a DSG fabia some years ago which needed a clutch pack replacement when it was around a year or so old. It was done under warranty by a Skoda dealer who said they needed the car for 2 days. At the end of day 1, they rang me to say the work had been done but it was too late for me to pick the car up that evening. For the dealer to say they need the car for a week is a joke as is their attitude in this case. Fight them as far as you can.

On 11/06/2026 at 20:33, DRW said:

Last September my Kamiq 1.5 DSG 2020reg (regularly serviced) displayed 'Gearbox in Emergency Mode'. Very near home so able to limp home. Dealer took it in and fixed it under extended warranty. All okay until a month ago when it happened again, this time far from home. Switched off the car, restarted and all back to normal and drove perfectly. Yesterday it happened again and only D2 available. Started car today, no problem, all working, no warning sign. I'll be contacting the dealer again, but has anyone else come across this. Is it just a software glitch? I'm worried that this could happen on the motorway.

I have same issue on my Dq381 gearbox. Intermittent "gearbox in emergency mode" message, limp mode only 2,4,6 and R available and couple of times got stuck in 2 gear.. Once on German Autobahn🤦.

Repaired by Skoda - replaced one of the clutch control modules, service of the dsg gearbox done. Cost me £1200 but they gave me 2 years warranty for "whatever happens" with the gearbox.

Every dealership is different and some trying to rob us. Be persistent, expect answers with details and don't let them ignore you.... Good luck!

Thank you nbramwell and Rafal78 (and some others) for your replies. Having received some answers from the service rep I now intend phoning VW Warranty people tomorrow. I also subscribe to the Which? Legal service who offer advice and help with consumer issues so I'll be booking a call. I will post updates because I do appreciate the advice various members have posted.