Seat Altea XL SE 2.0tdi DSG

07/06/15 DSG gearbox has let my car down badly after only 19,000 miles, lost drive on the motorway.

Update 07/06/15 yesterday 06/06/15 while on the motorway my D.S.G 6 speed auto box gave up the ghost, scary moment as I got the car over to hard shoulder then refuge layby thank god.
Them orange coloured phones are a great safety idea direct link to motorway services. Seat breakdown came out very quick and said its a workshop job got us home and car to Seat garage were I have it serviced.

They will check it out on Monday, its not 3 years old yet so still covered by Seat warranty, thank goodness.
I believed the 6 speed DSG auto boxes were fine and that problems were with the 7 speed DSG. !!

. They are arranging a loan car till its fixed which is good service.

LATEST UPDATE 15/06/15.
Got my car back new gearbox fitted on Friday 12/06/15 excellent work by all the staff at Seat I cannot fault any of them.

Its the reliability that's letting the side down in as much as the DSG auto-box 19,000 miles and they fail !! Just before the auto-box failed I heard a whining sound coming from the box followed by spanner sign flashing on the dash.
Come on V.W. please sort this out and extend the warranty like you have done in other countries.
I have been told by the service manager that the DSG auto-box is only covered till my 3 year warranty runs out which is in two months time !!. Even though they have fitted a new one ! So I will be looking at extending it by at least a year at a cost of about £500.

Most modern car manufactures offer 5-7 year warranty why not V.W. or perhaps they have not much confidence in the products they make, most certainly in the DSG auto-box !!


Purchased used on the 1st August 2013 with 3500 miles on the clock ex demo managers car, huge saving on new price !

Done 4520 miles now, Averaging 52.2 to the gallon combined on stored display.
55.5 mpg on a long run.
2.0tdi DSG much better than the 1.6tdi DSG.
Plenty of power, smooth 6 speed autogearbox that changes correctly apart from going into 6th gear too quick, some times at only 42mph which is not right!

I would recommend this car in manual mode only, give the DSG auto-box a wide berth !! Until V.W. sort all the reliability problems out.


I like the way the rear seats can slid forwards and back to give more room in the boot if required and the seats spilt in the rear so you have more choice again, the boot is very roomy as well.
Dual climate control, electric folding in wing mirrors both good standard extras which you would pay for on V.W. cars.

I cannot understand why Seat have discontinued the 2.0tdi D.S.G. in June this year 2013 in favour of the 1.6 tdi D.S.G. A lot of people have said its under powered in the Altea XL and bad M.P.G.
It just does not make sense !!!

Since my second very good Seat service which included breakdown cover in the price for 12 months, the car is running even better done 13,000 miles now as at July 2014.
In the summer 2014 on a hot day while on holiday I got 70.2 mpg read out on the dash computer on a run from Upton House N.T. into Banbury, then it dropped to 56.5 as I went round the bypass and met traffic.

I have noticed on the motorway it could do with a seventh overdrive gear that kicks in at 65mph to cruise at 70mph and get even better mpg, or a slightly higher 6th gear, As the fuel use goes up after you go past 60mph. It still works out at about 55mpg on the motorway thou which is quite good.

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