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Hatchbacks Volkswagen Beetle Volkswagen Beetle Transmission Problems
124 messages, Last post on Dec 04, 2009 at 4:49 PM
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I have a 2002 turbo Beetle. I am the original owner and I just recently paid it off. It has just over 80,000M on it, and the warranty was only 5 yrs or 50,000. I did not buy an extended warranty. The car has been to the dealer for every single service check. In 12/07, after spending $1600 to have the blown water pump replaced and to fix the collateral damage caused by the blow, I started to have problems with the car shifting. Basically after driving the car on the freeway for some distance, then driving for a few minutes in stop and go city traffic, the car will refuse to go from 2nd to 3rd gear. The engine will scream as the RPM's go into 6000. The only way to get the car to shift into the next gear is to whomp on the gas pedal, drive the RPM's higher, and the car will lurch into the next gear. When it's not refusing to go into gear at all, it is "rough shifting", which is going into slightly higher RPM's than normal for a bit longer than usual, then finally shifting, giving the car a little jerk as it does so. So far I have brought the car to the dealer for this problem 5 times, and it is happening again. The first time I took it in the dealer could not replicate the problem and told me to bring the car back if it happened again as they were not detecting anything wrong with any of the systems. The second time it happened I took the car in and they again could not replicate the problem, but told me the transmission was bad (they said the fluid was completely burned up and there were metal shavings in the trannie), so I paid $4600 to have the trannie replaced. A short time later it happened a third time, so I drove it in just before the New Years holiday, left the car running, found a mechanic that had not gone home early who got in the car and confirmed the problem so at least I had a witness now. This trip cost me $1000 for a new Transmission Control Module, which they said was probably at fault for making the first trannie go bad. Just a short time later it happened again for the fourth time, so back to the dealer, kidnapped another mechanic, confirmed problem, they said the left rear tire had too deep of a tread and was screwing with the Anti Skid Resistance system, which was reading the pressure changes from the tread as wheel spinning and setting off the safety feature that kept the car from shifting. They replaced the rear tire for free (but not really, since they kept the brand new tire they took off). Short time later, happens again for the fifth time. Back to the dealer, kidnap same mechanic from fourth time, he confirms problem still happening, this time they said it was a faulty valve in the transmission, which they fixed for free since the transmission they put in the car has a warranty for 1 year or 12,000M. Now, less than two weeks later it happened again as I got off the freeway heading to work, about 40 miles from where I live and the VW dealer that I bought the car from and has been taking care of the car since I bought it. I called the dealer when I got to work and he says bring it in Monday (this was Wednesday). I asked him why Monday and he states that the mechanic who has been working on this is not in till Monday. Goodie for him. Maybe that's the problem and they need to get a different mechanic, but from the stories I have been reading here and at consumer affairs, it's the car and will probably never be fixed correctly. Anyone got any advice besides driving the car up the dealers rear end?  PS It's really funny seeing the add on this page for the VW Sign Then Drive Event. Yeah, like I would ever buy a VW again. |
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I recently purchased a 2002 Beetle from a private dealer and am unsure about how the transmission works. Do I have to take it to a dealer to have the fluid checked or is it a "self check" transmission?
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Replying to: bluebug22 (Oct 18, 2007 8:32 am) Thanks- Doug |
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Replying to: regnef (Jan 06, 2008 5:52 pm)
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Replying to: efonteno (Mar 14, 2008 10:56 am) 
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this is interesting, I thought I was the only one who experienced having problems with transmissions. I almost throw my Vox to junk, good thing my dad (a mechanic) went home on time and told my to buy the corresponding Volkswagen Beetle parts and a new battery. After spending almost $1000 on overall tuneup of my dad. It went good, I hope I'll never encounter that kind of problem again. It swiped away all my money.
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I recently got an 01 Beetle - 2.0 engine w/ 4 speed auto trans. I've had it for 5 months and maybe put 300 miles on it, most of them to and from my mechanic. My current problem is something that I've seen other posts about but haven't really seen any solutions. About 4 weeks ago the battery died. Interestingly enough, when I went to get a new one and when they pulled up which one for the car a big warning came up on the computer saying NOT to remove old battery because it could render the car undriveable. So what the hell are you supposed to do? You gotta replace the battery.... So of course now it won't shift right. From 2nd to 3rd it races the engine before it engages in gear. I have a really good mechanic and he suspected the computer and tried several things that didn't work. He has a VAG Com but apparently the software to get into that part of the computer is VW propietary. So, we took it to VW and specifically asked them to simply reprogram the computer and of course they said it needs a new tranny for $4000. So my mechanic thought maybe the problem was the valve body inside the tranny. We replaced it and the problem's still there. So now I'm faced with having to replace the damn transmission but it just doesn't seem right. I still believe there's something electronic going on, especially reading some of the other posts. Does anyone have any feedback for me on this problem??? PLEASE PLEASE HELP!!! I'm at the end of my rope and the noose is getting tighter.  Scott |
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My heart is broken - I bought my used VW bug - (yellow, of course) - early December of 2007. I paid $5,000 and the vehicle barely had 50,000 miles on it. The person I bought it from, a reputable mechanic in my area, had done work on it before putting it up for sale - however, he did not replace the clutch because he noticed that it had already been replaced (prior to him getting the car). Truly a GREAT deal ... absolutely LOVE the car - until this past Sunday. The clutch started slipping - severely - so I took it back to the fellow I bought if from so he could take a look at it ... long story longer - it will cost me nearly $1,000 to replace the clutch/assembly - due to it being a labor intensive job. The car has 62,000 miles on it ... I have been driving a manual transmission for the past 30 years .... I know how to drive stick .... What I don't understand is how the heck can Volkswagen NOT address this issue.... it is plain to see that there is problem with this car. How can my car - with only 62,000 ORIGINAL miles be on its 3rd clutch!???!? |
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My daughter has a 98 Beetle with about 105,000 miles on it. We bought it used about a year ago with 98,000 miles on it. I don't have any history on it - a Carfax turned up only regular maintanence for a couple years. I checked the fluid level when we bought it and it was good. It ran perfect for about a year then started lurching in drive every once in a while. Recently it started slipping bad and it's basically not driveable. I pulled the pan and replaced the filter and gasket. The fluid was brown but did not smell burned. There was a small amount of metal shavings on the pan magnet but not much considering the mileage on the car. After servicing it, it still slips in and out of drive. Is there anything else I can look for before I take it to a mechanic to have it checked out?
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Replying to: regnef (Jan 06, 2008 5:52 pm) Finally, driving on the freeway, it finally stopped shifting at all. I was stuck in third gear on the 405 in LA. I had to pull to the shoulder and call a tow truck to tow me to the dealer. It took them three days to even look at the car, at which point they told me it needed a new transmission. Incidentally, the car had 66,000 miles on it and the powertrain warranty expired at 65,000. They wanted $6,000 for the new transmission. Rather than pay it, I had the car towed to a transmission specialist who's been in business since 1963. After sitting for a few days, the car was shifting somewhat normally again. The transmission shop took it out for a drive and told me they couldn't find anything wrong. I told them they had to take it for a longer drive, and then they discovered the problem. They proceeded to take the entire transmission apart - it's burned and black and does need to be replaced. However, the problem isn't caused by the transmission. It's caused by the computer forcing the transmission to shift at improper times - wrong signals or whatever. So the computer is messed up and that's messing up the transmission, causing it to burn itself out. I have to have the computer fixed as well - if I just replace the transmission, it will just happen again. Still waiting to hear how much the transmission replacement and computer repair/replacement are going to cost.
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