Volkswagen Problems

We haven’t heard of similar problems with the Touareg. The tyres are the obvious starting point. Have you changed them? If so the new tyres could have changed the behaviour of the vehicle. If not, try running the pressures a little higher than VW recommends and see what affect that has. If that doesn’t work, check the shock absorbers to see that they are working correctly, and suspension bushes for wear. As it’s under warranty the dealer should check it for you.

You’re buying a used car, it’s not new, so you have to expect some wear-and-tear issues. The older the car, the greater the wear-and-tear, and the more likely it is to have suffered mechanical failures or even a crash. That means you have to thoroughly check the car before purchase, and you have to rely on the honesty of the vendor. If the car has had clutch problems it should be recorded in the service book. It’s the same with the others you’re looking at, check them thoroughly, and if you’re uncertain have an expert check them for you. Of the three others you are considering I would avoid the Passat as a potential money pit, and go for the i40 in preference to the Commodore.

No, it isn’t. Get it checked by your dealer.

You need someone you can trust to do the right thing and fix your car. If you’ve given up on the dealer, as it seems you have, go to an independent specialist VW mechanic.

A conventional automatic transmission is the one that we have been used to in cars dating back to the 1940s.

Holden introduced its first automatic in 1961 with the EK model. A conventional transmission is one with a torque convertor between the engine and transmission so provide smooth easy drivaways. It basically disconnects just above idle speed so the engine can idle, but engages again when you accelerate away.

The transmission uses fluid to operate the various clutches inside the transmission for smooth shifting. The conventional transmission has proven to be very reliable over the years, but it isn’t the most efficient in terms of fuel consumption, particularly when compared to a manual gearbox. Engineers have been trying for years to make a more efficient transmission that has the smoothness of operation and the efficiency of a manual gearbox.

The two most successful have been the CVT “Continuously Variable Transmission) and the dual-clutch transmission, such as VW’s DSG and Ford’s Powershift. The CVT is designed to keep the engine revving at its most fuel-efficient speed by continuously varying the gearing.

To do that it uses a system of pulleys and a belt. It seems odd when driving it because the engine sounds like it’s revving its head off at a constant speed instead of climbing and dropping as it would normally do. The CVT was first used on a small DAF car in the 1970s, and picked up by Volvo when it took over DAF. It took a long time to develop the transmission, particularly the drive belt, to be used on anything other than a very small engine. Those problems have largely been fixed, but you’re correct that Nissan, and also Honda, had troubles when they first used the CVT.

The dual-clutch transmission is really a manual gearbox with two clutches that operate in synch with each other, one releasing one gear while the other engaging another gear. VW, Ford and Holden have had a lot of trouble with it, mostly related to the clutch packs, and the electronics.

It should be noted that both the CVT and the dual-clutch auto are more fuel-efficient that the conventional automatic, and both now seem to be largely trouble free.

It’s quite possibly caused by the clutches in the gearbox; they may need to be replaced.

The automatic transmission in the 2009 model was a conventional one, not the DSG that proved so troublesome after it was introduced in 2011, so there’s no cause for concern there. There was a recall in 2012 related to an injection pipe on diesel engines that could crack with the possibility of a diesel fuel leak and engine fire.

We haven’t had any previous reports of the problem that has affected your car. On the surface, it appears that VW has done the right thing by you in offering to repair your car at half the original quoted price.

The car is now out of the 3-year warranty, so if you can’t prove that it did fail within the warranty period you will have trouble mounting a case to be fully compensated. The offer VW has made is a standard one typically used by carmakers.