We've had one since 2014, the 7 speed dry clutch DSG on a Skoda Roomster.

I didn't like the idea but the price was right as a pre-reg and it only does 5,000 a year so I took a chance. Nothing bad has happened yet.

But. I'm not sure I'd buy a used one out of warranty.

Opinion follows.

To my mind they will always be a bodge job. They were IIRC originally conceived by Porsche for racing, because a twin clutch can do millisecond sequential changes. On the move, they work very well.

Since then they have evolved to mimic a traditional automatic. They appeal to people who buy performance cars but I think the reason for their ubiquity in bread and butter cars is economy. They can match or even better a manual for mpg and emissions.

Undoubtedly the programming has got better over the years, but the fact is that you have a friction clutch that is computer controlled. With a manual, the driver controls the clutch. If they typically manouevre by slipping it then they will wear it out. In over 40 years of driving I have never had to replace a clutch because I can see, in my mind's eye, what it is doing and I avoid abusing it and overheating it.

DSG's are just the same. If they are held on the accelerator then the clutch is slipping. This will not only accelerate wear but it will also heat up very quickly. The 'boxes monitor temperature and will tell you to stop if it gets too hot but by then...well, there's a good chance it's got too hot and if this is repeated often enough something will fail. They don't like heat.

The handbook for ours actually says not to hold it on the accelerator but to keep your foot on the brake when stationary. But how many people read that or remember it?

Because you can't control the clutch directly then if you want the box to last I think you have to know how it works. Fine manouevring is absolutely painful. We have an upslope to the front of the house where we currently live and we park two cars up to the front wall. One is an Outlander with a slush box. This is an absolute joy to inch into place. You can take as long as you want and do it half an inch at a time, and stop with full control just by releasing the accelerator a millimetre or two.

You can try to do this in the Roomster but what happens when you release the brake in D is that there is a hiatus (hill hold stops it rolling back - this is just about essential on these cars) then, after a second or so, the 'brain' brings the clutch to the biting point. You press the accelerator to move forward. It moves. You then have to back off the accelerator because the brain continues to let the clutch in and you are lurching towards the wall. You press the brake. This fully disengages the clutch as the car stops. Then you repeat. If you are far enough away when you start this lark, it might even change into second (they do this as soon as they are rolling, I usually knock it into manual and put it in first as I turn into the drive to prevent it). You do this three times, by which time you have either hit the wall or you decide you're near enough even though you'd like to be a bit nearer.

After a while you get bored with this and just drive in in one go, and try and gauge your first stop where you will park the car. You can't do this slowly because the clutch is fully engaged, so usually you are a yard and a half away, occasionally you are worryingly close.

My personal theory is that the boxes that give trouble are most likely those driven by people who try to use them like a slush box. And why wouldn't they? Many won't even know what sort of automatic it is, so they do what they've always done.

We are both conscious that in traffic we need to keep the brake pressed until we set off, then we set off, without creeping. Creep is one of the joys of automatics, but death to DSG's. We don't shuffle along, we wait for a decent sized gap before moving. In the Outlander, I just let it creep but progress is more of a series of hops in the Roomster.

Of course many people just don't worry about this. For just setting off, driving along and stopping they are pretty good. Damned clever in fact. Ours is rarely in the wrong gear, and then not for long.

My daughter has a Audi A6 with a 3 litre diesel and a 7 speed wet clutch job. That is much better at creep and I think you could mistake it for a TC auto - presumably it's programmed to feel better as the multiplate clutch in an oil bath can cope better than the single plate dry clutches in the Roomster. I think her car has done maybe 50,000 miles without problems.

I'm sure they have got better, and more reliable as the software has been tweaked. I still don't like the dry clutch version, although it is superb once rolling. I think you can improve your odds a lot by careful use, provided a previous owner hasn't worn it out or overheated it, hence I wouldn't be confident about buying used.

Of course I'm biased, I don't like them so I focus on their weaknesses. But it's becoming clear that they are being dropped by manufacturers in favour of improved TC boxes or CVTs.

Edited by Manatee on 03/09/2020 at 10:35

The DSG gearboxes which are 6 or more recently 7 speed used on the larger VAG engines are generally reliable and probably as reliable as any other automatic gearbox.I find them very good to drive as well.

It is 17 year old technology so hardly unknown. I'd probably avoid the early ones but most of those cars have been scrapped due to other things anyway.

The 7 speed used on smaller engined VAG cars between about 2007 and 2010 did have some specific issues and I'd probably avoid those.

Ford's "Powershift" does not seem to have proved as reliable as VAG's.

Torque converter gearboxes can have issues and I shudder when people describe them as "bulletproof" on here.

Edited by SLO76 on 03/09/2020 at 11:38

Not all dual clutch gearboxes are renowned for unreliability, e.g. those from the Hyundai/KIA stable, but even with VAG's DSG, as many of our own Backroomers show, how you use them can make a huge difference as to how long they last. Whether the same applies to Ford's Powershift, I'm not sure.

People should stop calling dual clutch gearboxes 'automatics' - the stick may fool people into believing they are, but all they are are semi-automated manuals, as they have two clutches instead of one, which the car controls.

If you engage in manouvres that, using a manual car, would cause you to slip the clutch, like hill starts, riding the clutch in heavy traffic, towing, etc, then a dual clutch transmission will wear out relatively quickly, as would a manual's. Even people who have a driveway on a slope may experience more wear problems if the car's used a lot.

My (manual) car went through its clutch in only 60k miles (it was 10+ years old at the time) precisely because a good proportion of my commuting (time-wise) was in jig-jog traffic, especially in the year before I changed the clutch.

DSGs/DCTs are primarily designed for efficiency and performance driving - in my view, if your driving pattern is driving in lots of slow moving/stop-start heavy traffic, especially in more hilly areas or you tow, then these aren't the gearboxes you should go for, especially those that seem more susceptible to damage from that sort of driving.

With TC and CVT auto boxes, this isn't the case as much as they don't come with a clutch, but you can still burn through one if it is abused.

My next car (assuming I can afford it) will likely be an automatic, and I'll likely go for a TC (Mazda) or at worst a CVT (Toyota). I could get a DCT if I get a Hyundai or Kia. That's assuming we're not all gone EV by then, in which case, it doesn't matter! :-)