OV9

Ascender wrote: Mon Aug 24, 2026 4:20 pm I forgot to disable the interior alarm on my way home when I popped into the shops, but when the alarm went off I got a notification on my phone and a helpful photograph of the culprits.

Love it
I’ve got one photo of the interior saved, just finding out how it works. No doggos. How are they enjoying it?

Not mine, but SiL's 17 plate Passat GTE has lunched its Mechatronic unit on the way home from holiday. Cost to repair is in excess of £5k

DeskJockey wrote: Fri Aug 28, 2026 1:03 pm Not mine, but SiL's 17 plate Passat GTE has lunched its Mechatronic unit on the way home from holiday. Cost to repair is in excess of £5k

I had to google which gearbox that is - it appears to have the 6-sp DSG. They are sufficiently mainstream that I bet she can find a specialist to get it repaired much cheaper than that.

ETA: no idea about cost but these people in Bedfordshire seem to have knowledge and experience with that box: https://eco-torque.co.uk/blogs/news/dq4 ... dsg-faults

Looks like a refurbed Mech unit is about 600 (or was, back in 24) plus 3 hours labour.

So about £1500 should be more in-line from a good gearbox specialist. Alas, my old Merc went in for an £800 mechatronic repair, that spiralled into a 2.5k rebuild due to other issues, so not always straight forward with modern autoboxes!

They were recovered to a local VW specialist, and that's the quote they've been given. Slightly stuck in that they'd need to have the car recovered somewhere else and then wait for a diagnosis. Ideally they'd be able to get a couple of quotes, but I think it is too late for that now.

Been told it is two days labour, and I assume they've been quoted a new unit. Does seem high.

BiL is currently on the way up there in the Galaxy to recover their stuff, including their trailer tent that the garage didn't want to store for them.

Edit: prices for the units seem to be all over the place, from £150ish to £800+ in a variety of states (used, refurb, etc).

£5k ?? Get out.

Fair enough a garage won’t want to fit a random s/h unit from eBay or whatever and will (justifiably) insist on a properly refurbished item because they need to stand by the warranty, but £5k is mental. That must be a whole new gearbox ?

Edit - although this thread seems to corroborate the £5k figure:

https://www.volkswagenforum.co.uk/threa ... um=organic

I looked up the garage the car is at, and they're (if the website is to be believed) experts on all things VAG (fnar).

Back at Chateau Jumper, today was time to take the M5 for its first MOT in my ownership. My local place is good, but they have a new MOT guy now. The last guy was always very quick to get things out the door if you booked the last slot of the day. The new guy was seemingly grumpy about working on a Friday afternoon and although the car passed he gave me advisories for all four tyres "slightly damaged/cracking or perishing". Meh. He was being very picky and there's loads of tread so I have no intention of changing them.

Related - a set of OEM spec Michelins are £1200 from Camskill.

Sundayjumper wrote: Fri Aug 28, 2026 5:04 pm £5k ?? Get out.

Fair enough a garage won’t want to fit a random s/h unit from eBay or whatever and will (justifiably) insist on a properly refurbished item because they need to stand by the warranty, but £5k is mental. That must be a whole new gearbox ?

Edit - although this thread seems to corroborate the £5k figure:

https://www.volkswagenforum.co.uk/threa ... um=organic

Yeah, I didn't realise there is a specific hybrid gearbox - missed the GTE bit - and they are quite a bit more expensive to repair. This is what concerns me about hybrid cars...the idea is great, but the tech that goes into bringing both drivetrains together sounds incredibly complicated, so you've gotta wonder how expensive these things can be to fix when it all goes wrong.

Will I manage to make it to September before I fill up with petrol?

Driving without the ac on is cheating!

That was after I’d turned it off

Based on 3.3 miles/kWh and 6p/unit on our tariff, that’s about £15 in electricity; add 48l of Tesco 99 at 171.9 which works out as £82. Total £97 for 843 miles. Other than making sure I use electricity as much as possible (so I get home in the evening with only a mile or 2 of EV running left) I’ve been driving entirely normally subject to speed cameras.

Matty wrote: Fri Aug 28, 2026 6:13 pm

Sundayjumper wrote: Fri Aug 28, 2026 5:04 pm £5k ?? Get out.

Fair enough a garage won’t want to fit a random s/h unit from eBay or whatever and will (justifiably) insist on a properly refurbished item because they need to stand by the warranty, but £5k is mental. That must be a whole new gearbox ?

Edit - although this thread seems to corroborate the £5k figure:

https://www.volkswagenforum.co.uk/threa ... um=organic

Yeah, I didn't realise there is a specific hybrid gearbox - missed the GTE bit - and they are quite a bit more expensive to repair. This is what concerns me about hybrid cars...the idea is great, but the tech that goes into bringing both drivetrains together sounds incredibly complicated, so you've gotta wonder how expensive these things can be to fix when it all goes wrong.

Towing in a hybrid does make me wince… my ex broke her Evoque hybrid by driving it in a spirited fashion and I just think the stress testing of hybrids doesn’t cover heavy loads or hard driving

The trailer tent is well within the tow rating for the car. That shouldn't be the issue. Whether the gearbox has ever been serviced might be a bigger thing. They take it to VW, but I've no idea of what the service schedules are like.

@DeskJockey you may remember that my wife's mechatronic shat its guts out a few years ago and we got it replaced at a local specialist to here. Over £2k still, but that was a lot cheaper than new from Skoda etc.

Worth a call?

Simon wrote: Fri Aug 28, 2026 11:28 pm @DeskJockey you may remember that my wife's mechatronic shat its guts out a few years ago and we got it replaced at a local specialist to here. Over £2k still, but that was a lot cheaper than new from Skoda etc.

Worth a call?

Appreciate it, but they've accepted the quote from the garage it is in. It is also nearly three hours from Gatwick, so would need to be recovered there first.

DeskJockey wrote: Fri Aug 28, 2026 9:38 pm The trailer tent is well within the tow rating for the car. That shouldn't be the issue. Whether the gearbox has ever been serviced might be a bigger thing. They take it to VW, but I've no idea of what the service schedules are like.

I'd missed the "GTE" bit too. It seems to have a lower towing capacity than the regular models, 1600kg vs. up to 2200kg for some variants, but yeah, a trailer tent is not a big deal. And this isn't a servicing issue (unless VW warranty and lack of service history is their get-out).

What is the actual fault with these mechatronic units ? I'm obviously now wondering if it's possible to pick up a broken one for a few grand under market and fix it myself ! We've had two Passats in the past and quite liked them.

IanF wrote: Fri Aug 28, 2026 8:27 pm Towing in a hybrid does make me wince…

A hybrid ought to be ideal for towing, all that immediate torque from a standstill is exactly what you want. As long as it's built to cope with it...

Some get diagnosed as a mechatronic unit but are actually just a faulty solenoid valve I believe

jamcg wrote: Sat Aug 29, 2026 9:19 am Some get diagnosed as a mechatronic unit but are actually just a faulty solenoid valve I believe

Yes, but apparently the problem is that just replacing that solenoid in the mechatronic is really hit and miss and some of the repair kits don't have consistent quality.

And after all the labour to remove & refit, it would be a bummer to find out it was something else.

I'd also overlooked that a broken one would of course be undrivable and I don't have a trailer any more. D'oh