Have you ever felt like you’ve always been bothered by a specific part issue with your vehicle, or the car often have trouble in a similar area? It is correct that every vehicle has a specific vulnerable point but the real problem may lie in the other area. Especially in terms of auto transmission faults, these symptoms transfer in various ways. Besides the inspection knowledge and experience of the mechanic, the cost will vary accordingly, if you cannot find the right person to diagnose the fault correctly. Here we had two cases of transmission issue; one is related to misdiagnosis, and the other is price problem.
Case1. The Trouble Really caused by Only one part? ─Volkswagen Golf 2012 DSG Transmission
Lately, a Volkswagen Golf owner asked us to inspect the defective clutch─that was the result of a diagnostic he got from another mechanic. We quickly settled down to test drive the car and indeed found a symptom of a slipping clutch. However, our experienced technician doubted some possibilities was not only the clutch. From his perspective of a technician, the slipped clutch might be caused by the other faulty part issue.
The results he delved, the main issue was the valve body had a pressure issue and that caused the clutch to be worn out. The Golf requires not only replacement of the clutch but also overhaul the valve body. If the vehicle owner only replaced the clutch, the same problem would happen forever and needs to replace the clutch again unless the valve body improved.
Case2. Price problem of prestige vehicles─Maserati GranCabrio 2009
We were talking with a Maserati owner about a similar issue as above. The vehicle required replacement for the clutch and the valve body but the problem was the price of those. He has already visited the authorised dealer and found that would cost $28,000. We definitely can say taking a second opinion was a wise decision in this case. As you know, Maserati requires pricey maintenance fees but there are some smart ways. The Maserati transmissions are made by the ZF Friedrichshafen which is a German car parts maker, a worldwide supplier of automatic transmission. If you replace your transmission parts in the authorised dealer, the pieces need to be put the Maserati logo as proof of authorisation.
We can stock ZF parts from the supplier that means the same parts as Maserati dealer’s parts. The difference is only the logo attached or not. This is the smart way that you can keep costs down with prestige vehicle maintenance. But you need to make sure that whether your vehicle is still in warranty. The warranty will be invalid if you replace the car parts without the authorisation logo within the guarantee period. If you don’t have the manufactures warranty or don’t care about that, such OEM parts are definitely a reasonable cheaper option.
One more thing that you have to know about transmission. Faulty transmission symptoms transfer in various ways. It may be caused by the valve body, clutch, oil leakage around the gasket, engine oil deterioration, pressure leakage, transmission gears, control module, solenoid, and so on. All these parts are not cheap components; therefore, precise inspection by an experienced technician is crucial.
You can prevent from such transmission malfunctions by taking our transmission service including oil and oil filter replacement. Transmission problems can happen to almost any car, so we recommend transmission service every 60,000 km or every five years. You’ll waste your time and money not only if you ignore the maintenance but also if you choose in an experienced mechanic.
📞Please feel free to contact us for any inquiry or booking: 02-9955-0125
