Volkswagen Beetle Transmission Problems

784 messages,  Last post on Jun 09, 2013 at 10:43 PM

You are in the Volkswagen Beetle Forum.

What is this discussion about? Volkswagen New Beetle, Transmission, Convertible, Hatchback

    
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#775 of 784 2004 NBTDI - Needs new Transmission by maxprice

Apr 04, 2013 (11:24 pm)

Purchased this car new with the Tiptronic 6 speed transmission. The car now has 136,XXX miles. Highly maintained. The car would slip out of gear when driving or would not go into gear when shifting at an idle position. Towed to VW dealership - $4800 for new tranny. Towed it to AAMCO - rebuilt transmission for $4500. Going to try one more place tomorrow. This is frustrating. Should be put the money into the car or put it into a new car and sell the 2004 for parts and then scrap it? So sad to do that to a 10 year old car. It is a diesal and should have lasted longer than this. Suggestions anyone?

#776 of 784 Re: 2005 Beetle Convertible automatic shifting problem [the_twins] by geogaldo1

Apr 24, 2013 (10:22 am)

Replying to: the_twins (Mar 10, 2009 9:39 am)
had the same problem with trans, took dealer to small claims. was told i should have taken vw corp to court instead. lost lawsuit. do yourself a favor and file small claims and take vw corp to court. my car only had 45k miles when it started shifiting funny. franchise only covered half the cost $2500. ontario vw. never by another vw. reported to bbb with their complaint. judge felt franchise was not responsible. elected to settle and not spend my time with another trial.

#777 of 784 Beetle misfire in rain and transmission by rbean1

May 10, 2013 (4:52 am)

2002 beetle was misfiring in the rain. Mechanic said to replace spark plugs. Next rain, problem returned along with two transmission codes. Then car started having trouble getting out of 2nd gear. Mechanic referred me to transmission shop who said transmission needed to be rebuilt to the tune of $1600-$3000! And this still would not address rain misfire issue. I never use dealer because of high repair costs but broke down and decided to take it to dealer for 2nd opinion. Dealer says transmission is fine! Water test showed Crack in ignition coil caused misfires when it got wet in rain. Misfires caused transmission codes which cause transmission to go into "fail safe mode" causing wierd shifting issues. Coil replaced, transmission codes cleared and shifting fine. Glad I took it to dealer to learn my transmission did not need a 3k repair. I have not driven in rain yet so jury is still out on misfire fix but optimistic At the very least it is worth paying diagnostic fee (110) at dealer to diagnose problems before expensive repair. Dealer will credit back fee if you have them complete the repair. Wish i had gone there first before spark plug diagnosis!

#778 of 784 2008 Beetle by neisal

Jun 03, 2013 (3:57 pm)

My husband and I purchased our 16 year old daughter a 2008 Beetle. We thought it would be a good starter car for her. Two weeks ago, she was driving down the road, and she says that all of a sudden after she turned, the car slowed down and she though maybe she ran out of gas. She says that she was trying to press on the gas and nothing happened. People were driving around her, and so she turned the car off, and then turned it back on. She said it felt that it kicked into gear and then she was able to drive off.
 
Yesterday, she made a left turn and the same thing happened again. She said the car slowed down again, and she pressed on the gas and nothing happened. She said she pressed on the gas real hard, and the car took off on her. She lost control of the car, and went up the curve, hit a construction sign that broke her windshield and then she was stopped by hitting a light post. She said she was braking the whole time.
 
Of course my husband and I did not believe her, and we were very upset with her. We felt that maybe she had taken the turn too fast. When the police came to investigate, they said that the tire marks were way past the point of her losing control after a turn. As I read on this forum, it what people are describing, is what she described happened. The damage to the car is extensive, and I can not believe that she walked away from the accident. Another thing the cop found interesting, is that the airbags did not go off. He says with the impact of the sign, and then the light post, that her airbags should have gone off. I am so scared for her to drive this car again. Any information would be helpful so that I can get rid of this car.

#779 of 784 Re: 2008 Beetle [neisal] by maxprice

Jun 03, 2013 (5:47 pm)

Replying to: neisal (Jun 03, 2013 3:57 pm)
We had a 2004 that did the same thing. Left us stranded on the interstate and in town several times over a week long period. Had 3 different transmission specialists plus the dealership and they all said the same thing...needs a new tranny ($3800-4000). We sold it off for pennies on what we paid for it and got rid of the headache. We bought a good old 2002 Jeep Grand Cherokee....American made. No more imports for us.
 
Your daughter is probably telling the truth on this one.

#780 of 784 Re: 2008 Beetle [neisal] by bad04beetle

Jun 06, 2013 (5:22 pm)

Replying to: neisal (Jun 03, 2013 3:57 pm)
Wow! so glad your daughter is ok! We got rid of our 2004 ...just could not risk something bad happening and refused to put anymore money into the car!! I myself have been a long time Honda owner, my daughter now has a Civic. Lost money...but her safety was far more important!!

#781 of 784 Re: 2005 VW New Beetle Trans Problems [perotma] by calitri

Jun 07, 2013 (3:22 pm)

Replying to: perotma (May 03, 2011 3:14 pm)
To Perotma: My wife has a 2006 VW Beetle with only 34,000 miles. The car is at the dealer as I'm writing this and they inform us that she needs a new transmission; the cost $6,000.
 
We never received any information concerning an extended warranty for a transmission valve body. regardless I can't imagine an automobile with only 34,000 miles needing a new transmission.
 
I would appreciate any information that you might have that would help our dilemma.

#782 of 784 Re: Another bad transmission [blackdog20] by jmargaret

Jun 07, 2013 (4:40 pm)

Replying to: blackdog20 (May 21, 2011 4:17 pm)
I have a 2004 beetle. Covertile that had to have new transmissio at 70,000 miles. Took out a loan an paid for it( missed warranty also-something I knew nothing about). Now- 3 months later it needs new motor! Can't pay this time. Its just sitting in driveway. Please please let me know of any recalls. I have all paperwork. Have all paperwork. Just waiting!!!

#783 of 784 2005 Bug with only 48k miles... by ericm1461

Jun 09, 2013 (5:34 pm)

Now my wife's Bug has joined the many here with transmission issues. It started at about 44,000 miles. Same thing of inttermittantly lurching and not shifting. Took it to a Big specialist and he was reluctant to work on it, but did do a service of the oil and filter. He said the 6-speed autos are terrible and advised us not to buy another VW! This from a VW specialist.
 
So we made it a couple more months and finally took it in to another reputable transmission shop that my auto buddy recommended (forget the shifty VW dealer in Dublin). They gave us a best price of $5000 for a rebuilt transmission. i am not sure that even addreses the possibility of the tcm being bad, which from what I have read here could cause the problem in the first place.
 
I am pissed. My wife drives very conservatively and bought the car new. This is absurd. The car shows on KBB as having a fair value of $6000. We are honest folks and could not sell it without telling about the transmission problem. I found the class action attorney listed before and emailed her to see if the case is still viable.

#784 of 784 Re: Transmission History [beetleyp] by dee119

Jun 09, 2013 (10:43 pm)

Replying to: beetleyp (Mar 31, 2013 7:55 pm)
I Just bought a used 2005 turbo convertible and I'm having the same probs. I took it to the dealer after reading all the blogs on the possible problems and at first the mechanic tells me there is no fix. Then I mention the recall, which expired in 2011. And suddenly he knows what I'm taking about. My car stalls and recovers even on the freeway at 80mph. He wanted to replace the fuel pump at first, his diagnosis, but I told him that from what I've read, others have replaced the MAF, fuel filter and fuel pump but and the problem still exist. I wasn't comfortable guessing at what the prob could be. Of course, there are no error codes which I already knew that because I had taken it to my own mechanic. The dealer tells me to try to call customer service and maybe they will help me. I do call the and get a rehearsed answer from the rep so I call corporate and get a very nice lady, Emily Goga but when she calls the dealer they tell her they suspect a different transmission problem other than the valve recalled part! And I have to pay $120 for the dealer to diagnose the problem, she won't take my mechanics word. But that VW in no way could help with the cost because the extended warranty has expired. On top of that my airbag light has come on and they want $600 for a module that has gone bad. In my opinion, VW is ok with having unsafe vehicles on the road.
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