09 GT Shifting problem - 3rd time at dealer

[rgarner]

Hi,

I bought an 09 GT (1.4 TSi 160PS) last July as part of the scrappage scheme. To start with the gearbox was excellent - slick as butter. Over the course of only a few short months, shifting into 2nd (clutch all the way down) started to feel like dragging a lead pipe through a bag of ball bearings. Clutch action is fine, it's just shifting into 1st and 2nd that has been the problem.

On the first visit to the dealer, they said the syncro meshes for 1st and 2nd were "worn" and replaced them. This made the problem slightly better for a (very short) while. It degenerated to worse than before, starting to occasionally refuse to go into 1st or 2nd.

On the second visit to the dealer, they said the "linkage [had] seized". They claim they unseized it and adjusted the cables. About 50% of the time I'd get a smooth shift into 2nd, the rest of the time it had the crunchy ball-bearing feeling again. On the way home it refused a shift into 2nd. The very next day my missus couldn't shift into 1st from a set of lights, had to roll the car slightly and try again.

Today it's been in for the 3rd time - it had been recalled to reprogram the ECU, so I asked them to look at it again. They say they've adjusted the cables. Before I even go to pick it up, I know this won't have fixed anything. They've lent me a Golf TDI Estate, on which the gearbox is absolutely perfect (and feels the same as my GT when it was new). They tell me that this is a totally different gearbox so I shouldn't expect it to be the same. The guy on the desk informs me that he has a GT and it's the same on his and that there's nothing wrong with it.

Is this a massive fob-off? If so, what can I do to get the gearbox on a car which is just over a year old to not feel worse than the gearbox of the 10 year old Focus which we scrapped?

[percymon]

You've given them three opportunities to fix the problem now, so under uk law you could start procedigns to reject the car (albeit yuo will lose an element of your original expenditure for wear n tear).

I don't suggest you actually go down this route, but i'd be asking to see the service/aftersale manager and putting this point as a possible scenario to him/her - it will do wonders for their ability to look at the issue.

If you don't fancy this route then write a letter to the service manager, delaer principal and to manager, VW Customer Services lodging your concerns and disappointment at the inability to sort the issue, leaving you with a potentially unsafe car (what if one day you can't get 1st or second when needing to pull away from standstill ?)


Despite all the above, give the dealership the chance to prove they have improved matters this time - take the car for a quick spin and if you're not ahppy go straight back (even if this is at their closing time - they hate being held up at the end of their day!!)

[rgarner]

Cheers Percy - useful stuff which I'll be giving a go later. Some people seem to suggest that all Golf Mk6 manual gearboxes get like this, but mine's done less than 9000 miles, I can't see this being acceptable at all...

[percymon]

Cheers Percy - useful stuff which I'll be giving a go later. Some people seem to suggest that all Golf Mk6 manual gearboxes get like this, but mine's done less than 9000 miles, I can't see this being acceptable at all...

I've done 16000 miles in 10 months and my 'old tech 5 speeder' is the same as the day i collected the car.

[Keithuk]

No there is definately something wrong there. There is nothing wrong with my 6 speed gearbox its just the clutch pedal vibration.

As David says keep trying to get satisfaction with the dealer if that still fails the contact VW and get it logged.

VW Contact Us As they say here

For most queries relating to our products or services it's always best to talk to a local retailer first.

There are some useful phone numbers and addresses on there. I don't know how efficient the email is I haven't tried that yet.