Car has problems shifting gear.

- Keystone Heights, FL, USA

The contact owns a 2001 Volkswagen Jetta. The contact purchased a used car and, within the same week, it began to stall. The dealer could find no failures. She took the vehicle to another Volkswagen dealer and they gave her a list of all the failures. The list included the transmission, rattling in the engine, and the brake sensors. There are four different tires on the vehicle and each are the incorrect size. The contact stated that she does not have the money to repair all these failures. The failure mileage was 110,000.

- Paris, CA, USA

Transmission malfunctioned, fails to shift.

- Los Gatos, CA, USA

2001 VW Jetta VR6 for years my automatic transmission has occasionally slipped while shifting between 2nd and 3rd gears. Also, my gear selector slips between "D" and "3" without an resistance. A couple of days ago, with my car being regularly maintained, this problem became persistent. Now, every time the car shifts from 2nd to 3rd the car shifts/bucks very hard. Also, the gear selector easily moves from "D" to "3" and while in "3" the dash still shows the car to be in "D". I'm afraid this is going to drop my transmission while driving. I've asked two different dealers and one said nothing can be done, while the other said that is very common with this car because VW put poor automatic transmissions in these cars. I also have the crayon smell in my car that does make me and my passengers somewhat ill feeling. However, I'm more concerned with my transmission.

- Gardner, KS, USA

The contact owns a 2001 Volkswagen Jetta. Whenever the contact attempts to accelerate from a stop sign or light, the vehicle lunges and/or surges into the next gear. The vehicle takes a long time to shift from third to fourth gear and then drives normally. The current mileage was 170,594 and failure mileage was 50,000.

- Forestville, MD, USA

When shifting from reverse to drive there is.5 to 1 second delay to engage forward gear. At first it was barely noticeable but now it feels like 1 to 2 seconds pass before drive gear is engaged. When parking on a hill car rolls back.

- Scarsdale, NY, USA

The contact owns a 2001 Volkswagen Jetta. The contact reported transmission failure on the vehicle. The dealer remedied the transmission failure and one month later, the problem recurred. The contact stated that the epc lights began to malfunction. When the lights illuminated the current speed in which the contact was driving, reduced drastically. The indicator illuminated intermittently while driving to the dealer. The dealer diagnosed the failure as bad wiring and performed the remedy, but the failure continues to persist. The contact then stated failure with the brake pedal switch, however it was unable to be duplicated by the dealer. The brake pedal switch failure also continued to persist. The current mileage is 52,908, and failure mileage was 1,000.ak

- Freemont, CA, USA

Earlier this year, there was a recall for the brake light switch on my 2001 VW Jetta. The dealership replaced this. However, within the last month, the automatic shift lock (asl) has not allowed me to shift out of park on numerous occasions. Usually, I am able to wait a minute and the asl light will go off, or I turn off the car or fiddle with the steering wheel. However, three times this past week I have gotten stuck and have had to abandon the car temporarily. The last time, I was finally able to get it out of park and drive it to my local mechanic (I had an appointment with my dealership, but I couldn't get in for a week). He noticed that my brake lights were out again, and believes that the brake light malfunction may be related to the asl malfunction. This may explain why the electronic power control (epc) light turns on whenever the asl light turns on, as it indicates a problem in the electronics. The local mechanic is currently examining the problem.

- Wauwatosa, WI, USA

When the consumer would start her car and try to put it in gear, it would not come out of park. This happened without warning. The dealer fixed it. The consumer was at dealer because of a recall and had them look at this at the same time. The consumer witnessed another make/model vehicle with a similar problem while at the dealer.

- San Antonio, TX, USA

2001 VW Jetta VR6 transmission fails to shift smoothly from 1st to 2nd and 2nd to 3rd gear. Engine rpms spike/surge before engaging next highest gear, at which point the gear is slammed into as the rpms are too high to engage the gear properly. Have taken the vehicle to two different VW dealers two different times (four visits total) and dealers say they cannot duplicate the problem or that they reset the shifting points in the fuzzy logic. Independent transmission shop calls for replacement of the valve body, all electronics and hard components in valve body for a cost of $3425. VW of America refuses to acknowledge a problem exits unless diagnosed by a VW dealer and will not pay for diagnosis by a third party mechanic. This problem has persisted for over 15 months and 30,000 miles.

- Saint Louis, MO, USA

Upon starting the vehicle and putting foot on the brake to move into another gear the brake light illuminated. The brake appeared to lock the gear shift, and you could not get it to go into another gear. The shift will not come out of park. Consumer took the vehicle to dealer to be repaired.

- Saint Petersburg, FL, USA

While driving 20 mph transmission jerked before shifting gears. Dealership was notified, but did not resolve the problem.

- Harrisburg, PA, USA

2001 Jetta- makes winding noise at 40 mph, ear piercing, technicians claim this is normal but overpowers radio? unacceptable. Transmission shifts erratically all the time, car will lunge forward when at a stop when foot taken off brake pedal. Car makes a knocking noise when at a complete stop.

- Hampton, GA, USA

2001 VW Jetta tdi - total transmission failure @ 68,000 miles. Warranty was up at 50K. VW stated they could not do anything about it, except charge me $3800 for a factory referbed transmition (part only). 68,000 miles on this car would be considered a good break in milage not an oops you got to replace the transmition. I am very unsatisfied that VW will not stand behind there product even though it is out of warranty. 68,000 miles on a totally sealed transmition. Not even a dip stick to check fluids. No leaks were present, no warrning signs, just instant failure. First and last VW for me. Consumers be azware!!!!!

- Fletcher, NC, USA

Consumer complained about a transmission problem. Transmission was replaced twice within the past 4 years. Check engine light came on every other week. Dealer was not helping with the existing problem. Vehicle was purchased new. But, it was one issue after another, and Volkswagen was very evasive in responding to the problems at hand.

- Los Angeles, CA, USA

Before I picked up the car- it needed a new fuel tank because the dealer was unable to put gas into the car. At 60,000 miles the crank shaft broke off and a new engine was installed. My driver side window fell down. Two plastic things keep falling out of the sunroof and I put them back up. Numerous oxygen sensors have been changed but my check engine light remains on. Finally, at 107,000 miles my transmission went out and VW refuses to help with any of the cost because it is out of the warranty.

- Clarkson, KY, USA

While accelerating from either a stop or moving, the transmission occasionally will slip while shifting from 1st-2nd gear, regardless of either light or heavy throttle. This problem has proven elusive to duplicate on demand and has occured under various conditions, to include: Light & heavy acceleration; moving & from dead stop; dry & wet roads; inclined (uphill) & declined (downhill) and various combinations of listed conditions. This started occuring around 29,000 miles and has continued on/off up to its' current 40,073 miles. Without being able to duplicate it for the dealer it will be a moot point to bring it in for diagnosis/repair, as they will "guess" the cause and charge me accordingly.

- Brunswick, OH, USA

Car has just had the second transmission placed in less than 11,000 miles. I have had this car in the shop 17 times losing it each time at the least for 2 days and at the most for a week and a half. The dealership and VW refuse to provide any type of assistance with a rental car leaving me to rely on others for transportation or pay high rental costs. Every time the transmission goes out it begins to slip when going into gears and pounds into gears other times. I have also replaced several emission sensors and completely rebuilt the back brake system. These are just a few of the numerous problems. So far most of the parts have been replaced under warranty, but there has been several that I have had to pay for out of my own pocket. I bought a VW for its supposed excellent quality, but have obviously purchased a lemon.

- Northglenn, CO, USA

While shifting gear into reverse vehicle would not move on it's own. Consumer was able to drive the vehicle to the dealer for inspection, and mechanic could not resolve the problem.

- Orange, CA, USA

While traveling consumer heard a knocking noise coming from the engine department. Dealership serviced vehicle, and determined transmission needed to be replaced.

- Oakland, CA, USA