Volkswagen, Skoda and Audi owners in the ACT and elsewhere are being told to wait as long as until February and March before potentially dangerous gearbox faults to their vehicles are fixed.
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The company announced on Friday it is recalling a further 2.6 million cars worldwide to rectify gearbox and electrical faults and fuel leaks. Cars with the problematic DSG transmissions can drop out of gear, decelerate suddenly and be at serious risk of being struck from behind if they are in traffic.
Volkswagen Australia recalled 33,971 vehicles fitted with seven-speed Direct Shift Gearboxes (DSGs) in June. The recall is expected to cost the company more than $12 million in labour costs alone.
Only 40 per cent of the affected vehicles have been rectified to date. A company spokesman said he expected the recall work would be ''largely complete'' by April.
Damage to the brand is said to be many times the cost of the new parts and labour. Volkswagen sales plummeted 19 per cent in the wake of the announcement and by September were down by 12.6 per cent for the year. Friday's recall, which affects Polos, Golfs, Tiguans and Amaroks, is expected to depress demand even further.
A Canberra couple who bought their Volkswagen Golf TSI brand new three years ago, said they had been contacted by Volkswagen Australia (VWA) about the initial recall in a letter dated July 1.
''According to our records your vehicle is affected by this voluntary recall,'' it stated. ''Volkswagen Australia is currently preparing the [rectification] campaign and will contact you in writing … when the required parts for your vehicle are available.''
They heard nothing further until late October when they were told to book their car in with a local dealership. The dealership advised that due to the backlog of work their car could not be fixed until late January or early February.
The couple were able to ''jump the queue'' for repairs when their gearbox failed late last month, totally immobilising the vehicle.
The latest recall follows a November 2009 recall of Australian cars fitted with Volkswagen's six-speed DSG unit.
Despite the problems with direct shift technology the company is pressing ahead with plans for a 10-speed DSG transmission to be released in 2016.
Voluntary recalls to rectify seven-speed DSG gearbox faults were announced in America, Germany and Taiwan in 2012, more than six months before Australia.
Volkswagen, which has factories in China, India, Nigeria and Taiwan as well as many European and South American countries, recalled 380,000 DSG equipped cars, at an estimated cost of $600 million, in China in March this year.
That recall followed a nationally broadcast investigation and a direct call by the Chinese government's Quality, Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine Department.
A Volkswagen Australia spokesman said the Australian recall had been carried out in a timely fashion and that the company had to comply with federal legislation before it could proceed.
Due to electrolysis (a chemical reaction) deposits of ''conductive material'' can form in the gearbox control units (known as the ''mechatronics'') of the DSG gearboxes. This can cause a fuse to blow, allowing the vehicle to ''free-wheel'' if it is under way. This translates as a sudden loss of power and velocity.
The VWA spokesman said existing mechatronics units are being replaced with a newly developed unit and the gear fluid was being changed.
Volkswagen is the most popular European car in the ACT. As of July last year 8937 were registered here. There were also 2482 Audis and 420 Skodas.
