Had a test drive in an SEL 170 DSG Estate yesterday (6 months old, 15k miles), and have joined the forum to see if it is going to be a sensible buy.
Never had an auto before but DSG seems to work brilliantly - slight hesitation on pick-up from start but otherwise seamless. This car seamed pretty tight, no rattles, and in A1 condition. I'm very tempted.
Have run a 2.0TDi SE manual estate as a company car for 6 months/8k miles and was generally happy - several visits to dealer to reset emissions warning in first 1000 miles but cured by a replacement glow-plug control module. Found VW Heathrow very helpful.
On paper, the 170SEL DSG is exactly what I am looking for, good size estate, good performance, reasonable economy and CO2. But what about reliability?
I want to run the car for at least 3 years and expect to do 20k business miles per year.

The SEL would be a private purchase and have found so many owners complaining of expensive sounding problems on various websites/forums I have almost been put off.

My main concerns are -
Long term reliability of DSG - it seems great but will it last?
Fuel pump/ high oil consumption problems - potential for wrecked engine.
Front suspension creaks - is this only on Sport spec cars or all cars?

If you have problems with the above - do they get sorted under warranty or do they end up costing big money? Should I plan to sell before 3 yrs/60k?

Loads of questions - but any feedback would be most welcome.