Very seldom do Mercedes auto boxes go wrong, mine is 17 years old ,apart from regular oil and filter changes has not been touched and is as good as new.

I think its true to say that most who contribute here, who buy their own cars and keep them after warranty has expired, would even consider a DSG or automated manual gearbox.

Company car and under manufacturers warranty risk only IMO doubt if even one will still be original at 17 years old.

If you pick it up tomorrow, sell it asap, and get yourself one of the koreans, (or japs) toyota, honda, hyundai and kia don,t seem to have these problems, or chevrolet with their torque converter boxes. Vag will only learn when the badge snobs desert in droves.

Don't forget that a lot of modern cars are engineered to last for the warranty period and fleet sales. HJ has his own thoughts on this. And I agree entirely with him on this point.

Personally would never have any VAG product, saw at first hand problems in the 80's, and the way the dealer dealt with an overheating engine on a petrol jetta was pitiful, "No sir it is not overheating in spite of fan on and water being expelled via pressure cap." Got rid of car still under warranty as px and then i was called did i know anything about problems when it broke down, referred them to service dept..

Edited by oldroverboy. on 31/10/2013 at 12:27