Consumer Complaints
| Fail date | miles | occurences | Purchase date |
|---|---|---|---|
| POWER TRAIN - AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION | |||
| 06/10/2010 | 220000 | ||
| I have a 2002 vw new beetle with an automatic transmission that has failed with 220,000 miles on it. it began to slip and not down shift properly at 170,000 miles. it is a diesel and i expect the engine will continue to perform for another 3 to 400 thousand miles. has vw been honest with the consumer about its track history of transmission failures in the new beetle? please add my new beetle to the list of automatic transmission complaints. | |||
| 10/16/2009 | 104000 | 1 | |
| After driving the car for about 20 minutes, i stopped at a redlight. when the light turned green, my car acted like it did not have a lot of power and would not shift into 2nd and 3rd gears without over revving. whenever i slowed back down, the car abruptly and severely downshifts. the shift is hard enough that it slings me forward. i fear that i will soon be rearended because of this. i do not feel safe to drive my car. this occurrence happens sporadically and i can't get it fixed until a mechanic witnesses it happening. *tr | |||
| 09/01/2009 | 110000 | 1 | |
| 2002 volkswagen beetle automatic transmission. there is a long hesitation then a violent jerk going into gears. i had stopped at the stop sign at the end of my road, i then proceeded to cross 4 lanes of highway traffic when the transmission decided to do a long hesitation. a multiple car accident was almost the result. i have since parked the car and do not drive it because i cannot afford to fix it and volkswagen told me that the repairs would be $5700.00. this hesitation and jerking happens everytime time now when driven. i believe this is a safety concern and should be looked into. thank you! *tr | |||
| 07/28/2007 | 51400 | 20 | |
| When you put the car in drive with your foot on the brake, when you let off the brake the car will roll backwards then jerk forward. | |||
| 09/04/2004 | 21057 | 3 | 05/10/2002 |
| Transmission replaced three times, still not working properly, lunges into forward and reverse, and will drop into and out of high and low gear when driving. sunroof leaked because the drainage tubing was not connected at factory causing water damage to leather seats and now mold is growing inside of vehicle, making it difficult to be inside and have had one sinus infection already. *jb | |||
| 01/26/2005 | 17000 | 5 | 12/31/2004 |
| I purchased this like newvw super beetle on dec 31 04. it had only 17000 miles on it. since that time i have had the transmission modulator on it changed, and in the shop 6 time for a transmission problem. when the car has been sitting for an hour or so it will hesitate then slam into 2nd gear. it causes me and passengers to lunge foward then back. i am told this is a charaturistic of vw and should just ignore it or get use to it. | |||
| 08/17/2002 | 10000 | 4 | 08/01/2002 |
| The transmission in my 2002 new beetle fails to engage for a second or two after the car has been sitting for a while. doesn't do it at other times, only when the car has been sitting an hour or more. dealership replaced transmission module twice (two different dealerships) and the third and fourth time i brought it in with the same complaint, they said it was normal for the transmission to behave this way. inherent to the design of the transmission was this small delay for emissions reasons. i am not buying it, not with all the other issues i have had with this car. i have had it in four times for power window problems and getting ready to bring it in for a fifth. the monsoon stereo has been replaced once and is malfunctioning again. the parking brake assembly broke and had to be replaced. lots of bothersome problems and now i hear what sounds like a valve tap.*ak | |||
| 04/01/2003 | 1 | ||
| After the vehicle was started, the consumer was unable to shift the gear from park to drive. *jb | |||
| 06/01/2002 | 3 | 08/20/2001 | |
| A component within the transmission causes the vehicle to either not come out of park or while being driven the vehicle drops down to 20 mph and speed cannot be regained. nlm | |||
| 02/05/2002 | 100 | 02/01/2002 | |
| Transmission noted to be downshifted very hard when coming to a slow stop. when slowing to a stop and reaching the 15-20 mph area car will jerk hard. took back to tony honda for service and they told me that everything checks out to volkswagen specs and they were not going to check into it any further. volkwagen was contacted by me and told to take car for second opinion at cutter volkwagen here in honolulu. steve from service drove the car and could not belive it was doing the downshifting. after several days in the shop they replaced parts of the transmission and it was still doing it. they were authorized to replace my transmission with another from a new car in stock but they also did the same thing. it turns out that there is a computer malfunction in the transmission and it needs to be reprogrammed. they are supposed to be getting this in from germany and so far i have been waiting 2 weeks. during this time i spilled hot coffe on my leg and have 2nd degree burns due to this shifting problem and while my wife was driving with my son he hit his head on the dashboard coming to a stop when this defect occurred. they told me this is non-life threatening but i beg to differ. they told me that i will be the first in hawaii to have this reprogramming done. i want out of this car, it is unsafe to drive and volkwagen doesn't care.*ak | |||
| 02/03/2002 | 50 | 02/01/2002 | |
| Car downshifts extremely hard when coming to a stop, causing driver and passengers to be lunged forward in their seat.. dealer states that this is a characteristic of the car. problem is intermittent and increases when vehicle is warmed up. on occasion downshift occurred so hard that i thought i was just rear -ended by another car. i bought the car for my wife and now she is afraid to drive it.*ak | |||
| POWER TRAIN - CLUTCH ASSEMBLY | |||
| 12/22/2005 | 77000 | 1 | 04/30/2002 |
| Clutch failure (began to slip) on 2002 nb tdi @ 77k mi. *nm | |||
| 11/01/2005 | 38000 | 1 | 03/06/2002 |
| Vw new beetle - in shop for 3 months out of 24 months owned. engine trouble, window trouble, starter trouble and now clutch problems. *nm | |||
| 11/05/2004 | 34934 | 1 | 10/24/2002 |
| Problem: very hard to shift gears while driving and almost impossible to shift into reverse. car only had 35,000 miles. took car to vw dealership for repair. repair person knew instantly what problem was. after taking clutch apart, vw dealer said total clutch failure and showed me the clutch parts. vw dealer replaced clutch and i was billed $1600. vw said not covered by warranty because wear and tear item. (i even purchased an extended warranty from the same dealer when i purchased the car). this is b.s. a clutch does not fail only after two years of normal driving. this type of clutch is a major defect and vw knows about it. i called vw of america to report problem which was totally useless. i am so disgusted with vw now, i will never buy a vw again and i will always advise my friends and family never to own a vw.*ak | |||
| 06/08/2004 | 23500 | 1 | 08/08/2002 |
| The clutch on 2002 beetle 1.8 turbo went out on my wife on i-40 in amarillo. the car would not accelerate and she was going 30 miles per hour in heavy traffic on the interstate. she was able to move across two lanes and exit the interstate without incident. the vw clutches in the 1.8 turbos seem to be having very early failure. the clutch was replaced for $1450.00 and not covered by warranty. i have requested to see the old parts. i have read that the new clutch and flywheel have different part numbers than original.*ak | |||
| 05/14/2004 | 27800 | 2 | 09/06/2003 |
| Vw 2002 turbo beetle had an epc light come on. the car was loosing power and would cut off at times (in traffic). i took it in and they said that it a problem with the vacuum on the turbo. the receipt shows that they replaced a switch. about a few weeks later, the car started loosing power again. i called the dealership and brought it in. i was told that the car's clutch was out and that i needed a new clutch & flywheel. the estimate was $1800 to repair. the car has about 27,000 miles (probably less). the powertrain warranty does not cover the clutch even at 27,000 miles. i was told that it was only a 12,000 mile warranty for this type of repair. this is a major part of the drive train and should be covered under the drive train warranty for more than 12,000 miles. i have driven standards all my life. there is apparently a problem with the vw clutches.*ak | |||
| 02/23/2004 | 24750 | 3 | 12/28/2001 |
| Vw 2002 turbo beetle suddenly started to lose power, cut out in traffic a couple of times. took it into the dealership as an emergency. was told the clutch was bad at less than 25k on the speedometer? part not covered by powertrain warranty - hidden warranty, so they wanted $1800 to fix. i have been driving manual transmissions for 30-years, never had a transmission or clutch problem even on cars with over 200k on clock. they charged me $300 to tear down clutch, vw maintained driver outside influences. meanwhile i get on the internet and there are pages of web sites and hundreds of letters on vw 2002 turbo beetles with bad clutches, going out at 5k, 11k, 17k 25k, 36k and so on, but very early in he life of the vehicle. after more research, it turns out that the engines are poorly designed and the clutch is too small for the turbo engine and thus burning up at low mileage. also problems on 2001 vw jetta's where flywheel is cracking and leaking onto clutch and burning up clutch. vw are very aware of the situation and are now placing larger clutch in newer models. however, they were denying responsibility and placing repair costs onto customers. vw customer care were the most arrogant and difficult people i've dealt with in 30-years of driving. they messed with my life and the life of others and this is unconscionable. i will never buy another vw or recommend a vw to anyone again. the vehicle is repaired but i am turning it in for a honda. *nm | |||
| POWER TRAIN - MANUAL TRANSMISSION | |||
| 06/22/2011 | 68543 | ||
| 02m transmission 6 speed; shift fork in 1st and 2nd gear fail, a small rivet is used to secure this fork (brass fork and steel shaft) together. my 1st and 2nd gear were hard to get into and progressively got worse over time; until the shift fork failed and 1st, 2nd gear are nonexistent; all other gears work fine. this is a known issue and widely reported problem on websites such as vwvortex. this particular car; 2002 new beetle turbo s; only has about 70k which is low for a catastrophic failure such as this. | |||