PDK long term reliability

[mollytherocker]

These gearboxes have now been in production for 5 years and over that time have increased in popularity to a point now where we are surely on the brink of the manual box being dropped altogether.

I haven't heard or read of many problems with PDK and its related systems. So are they reliable? Will they last the life of the car? I would imagine a replacement box is a huge cost.

Oh, and no, I am not buying one! Just interested.

Edited by mollytherocker on Saturday 8th June 10:11

[DT398]

There were some issues early on as I remember and a friend had an entire unit replaced in 2008 when they first came out. Having said that I'm on my 4th PDK car since late 2008 and they have all been faultless. Time will tell, I suppose.

[Timbo_Mint]

I would have thought they would be more reliable than a Manual Gear box as you've not got the ham fisted human crashing it about. It's more of a sealed unit and therefore environment the mechanisms are working in is better controlled. The aging control electronics would be more of an issue.

[Bennachie]

Parent VW Audi Group DSG/S Tronic boxes are of similar design lineage and are less than bullet proof in the mechatronics department......

[itsybitsy]

DT398 said:

There were some issues early on as I remember and a friend had an entire unit replaced in 2008 when they first came out. Having said that I'm on my 4th PDK car since late 2008 and they have all been faultless. Time will tell, I suppose.

+1
i have also heard of replacement boxes on early cars 997.2 and software issues but i might be wrong but i think they have improved overtime.dont forget when the 997.2 pdk was launched it was a new product so bound to be build and quality issues for first 18 months.

[Bennachie]

All sound.

I was not suggesting they were the same but that they shared a commonality of design language.

[Magic919]

I've seen mention of replacement boxes via the usual Internet experts, but no direct knowledge yet.

Not sure it matters if it lasts the life of the car. As long as I shift the cars before they get too old for the extended warranty it won't matter.

Can foresee a second line of business for Baz if the PDK box doesn't work out. Would be great if someone started remaps for them too.

[Kananga]

Magic919 said:

...Would be great if someone started remaps for them too.

Is it theoretically possible to upgrade the software on the 997.2 pdk to be more like the 991 pdk ?

[MadMark981]

I've heard of a couple of people needing replacement boxes for both 981's and 991's - plus had oil leaks / shifting issues - so they're not bombproof - but you would have to say that they're pretty reliable based on the small number of failures you hear of!

[Output Flange]

I had issues with mine shortly after buying it, but a software update sorted it.

When investigating the issue online (before Porsche fixed it) I found mention of replacement boxes in the US, but very little about the same over here.