This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.
So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.
Driving my 2004 Volkswagen Beetle is dangerous. The tiptronic transmission in the 2004 VW Beetle is known by Volkswagen to be defective. At any point the valve body can fail, which causes delayed shifting, and hard jerking between gears. My 2004 Beetle fails to shift when accelerating between 2nd and 3rd gear. This causes the vehicle to coast for several seconds, sometimes requiring pulling off the road because of traffic. When downshifting it jerks extremely hard. You get in, start the engine, and receive no warnings that anything is wrong with the vehicle. No check-engine light provides any indication that the vehicle is dangerous. You drive down some city streets and hop onto the freeway to go to your favorite grocery store. After getting off the freeway the car is fully warmed up, and as it downshifts from 4th to 3rd gear it lurches. It feels like the engine is trying to jump out of the car! no engine light comes on. Then you stop at the end of the off-ramp, and wait for a traffic light to turn. After turning the car shifts from 1st to 2nd gear. Then it fails to shift from 2nd to 3rd gear. The gear doesn't engage, and the car coasts down the road without any power. Drivers passing by are staring. The SUV behind you is right on your butt; they begin honking. There's nothing you can do. Finally, after 20 seconds of coasting the car enters 3rd gear with a giant lurch. It feels like it's going to explode! you pull into the grocery store parking lot, heart racing, knowing that the car you're driving almost caused an accident that could kill a half a dozen people. And you know to get home it's going to happen all over again. This problem is reported by hundreds of owners. This is an extreme safety hazard. Volkswagen needs to recall the affected vehicles and pay damages for those whose transmissions were destroyed by this defective valve body and transmission.
The contact owns a 2004 Volkswagen Beetle. While driving 60 mph, the battery and ABS indicators illuminated and the vehicle downshifted into first gear. The vehicle seized and was moved to the side of the road. The contact attempted to restart the vehicle, but was unsuccessful. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic who diagnosed that the wire harness failed and needed to be replaced. The fuse box was replaced three times, but the failure recurred. Leith Volkswagen of cary (2300 autopark blvd, cary, nc 27511, (919) 842-5624) and the manufacturer stated that the VIN was not included in a recall. The failure mileage was approximately 157,000.
2004 Beetle with 85,000 miles hard shifting down - it jerks from gear to gear until it comes to full stop.. now while upshifting it couldn't make it out of 3rd gear and have almost been rear ended 3 times. Car jerks, shudders, lurches. Transmission problem is consistent with low mileage VW Beetles
I bought the new Beetle not even a month and I noticed a jerking in the transmission. I found out using specialized websites for enthusiasts that Volkswagen issue letters to owners of new Beetles in 2010 informing that tons of owners complained about the hard shift they were experiencing in the automatic transmission oftheir new Beetle. Vokswagen offered to extend the warranty on the transmission valve body. The models affected spans from 2003 to 2008. In other words, volks sold faulty cars withing this time range and only recognized later in 2010 about the issue. However, the valve body failure in the transmission is across the board and a recall should have been issued for the range of 2003-2008. The component was designed to fail by design. Not even the replacement would fix it because it would happen again. Imagine the danger when there is a hard-shift and the car starts to jerk and changing gears erratically ? imagine this happening on I95 or any other highway. VW just extended the warranty but a recall is needed here. I called VW and they are refusing to fix it saying it is an old car and warranty is expired, but the truth is since 2003 the hard shift condition existed. It takes time for the valve body to fail but it will fail. I have other cars, but when I noticed the jerk I investigated. I attached the letter that I obtained from the new Beetle.org site and there there is a detail explanation how the automatic transmission will fail due to the design
The contact owns a 2004 Volkswagen Beetle. While driving approximately 30 mph, the vehicle felt as if it were in neutral. The contact coasted the vehicle to the side of the road, placed the gear shifter in park and then back into drive, and was able to resume driving. The contact stated that she had to repeat the same procedure five times until she reached her destination. There were no warning indicators illuminated. The vehicle was taken to perrysburg auto mall (26875 N dixie hwy, perrysburg, oh 43551, phone number: (419) 874-4331) where it was diagnosed that the transmission failed and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 63,000.
- Toledo, OH, USA
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The gearbox slips, stutters and jerks. And will slip out of gear and not go back in gear until engine is restarted. This happens when starting to move from a stop.
The contact owns a 2004 Volkswagen Beetle. While driving at any speed, when the vehicle slowed down to approach a stop sign or traffic light, it would downshift independently. The vehicle became inoperable and had to be pulled over, turned off, and restarted. The mechanic stated that the transmission needed to be replaced. The manufacturer was not notified and the vehicle was not repaired. The approximate failure mileage was 90,000.
The contact owns a 2004 Volkswagen Beetle. The contact stated that after the vehicle was parked, fluid was leaking from the front passenger side of the vehicle. The vehicle was taken to a dealer where it was diagnosed that coolant was leaking and an unknown hose needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. On another occasion, the contact stated that while driving at an unknown speed, a burning odor emitted inside the vehicle. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where it was diagnosed that the timing chain and the water pump kit needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. In addition, the contact stated that after the vehicle was started and switched into the drive position, it failed to accelerate without warning. The vehicle was towed to the dealer where it was diagnosed that the clutch needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 15,000.
For the past 3-4 years my Beetle has had worsening electrical issues. Sometimes it just turns off all by itself. Everything electrical goes out. It has even happened while driving, I was in traffic and it shut off. I was nearly killed.
April 2014, the mechatronic unit for my 2004 VW new Beetle tdi failed. It would surge in and out gear. This part was recalled overseas but not in the usa. This January 2015 what I had a turbo failure and a dual mass clutch flywheel failure. This is the dsg 6 speed automatic transmission. The special flywheel has failed, it has a hole in the out casing and the internal springs inside are slowing breaking up and were shooting out the assembly. These pieces then somehow managed to machine the transmission bellhousing creating at least 3 holes in the transmission case. The car seriously vibrates at idle but when under power the car runs normal. There is a grinding sounds also when at idle. I am amazed that the transmission hasn't catastrophically failed yet. This would be a potential crash if not repaired. Are there any other cases similar to the aforementioned problems. Please help!
Transmission problem only when at use for 20min starts to thump in all gears. But mostly noticeable at 3 and 4. sometime locks at 3 and have to turn off and let rest to engage 1 again.
Car has sudden jerky when shifting also rear windows will not roll up or down. Dealership said needs new transmission but have only had car 8 months. The windows quit working after owning it for one week cost 400 just to fix one window. Dealership estimate to fix transmition $6700.
The transmission slips in and out of gear. The lights on the dash indicating prnd2 all have brackets around them and don't indicate what gear the car is in. It feels like we hit a road hazard every time the transmission does change gears, the dealer told us this is normal, but it is getting worse and after looking through online forums, this is a common issue with this vehicle.
Simply what happen was I bought the wrong car it seems.one night I was driving to work and all the sudden as I press the accelerator I notice the car was just revving and not going anywhere at all and on the gauge cluster the pnrds was flashing so I put my hazards on and moved into the breakdown lane and waited for a tow truck.
Car slipped completely out of gear when shifting from 3rd gear to 4th gear. It continues to do this when the car has completely warmed up. Going out of gear essentially makes us a sitting duck on the highway for a rear end collision. Very much a safety issue for the children riding in the back seat.
I found out today that my 2004 VW Beetle has a faulty transmission valve body. Upon researching it more, it became clear that VW was aware of this problem and denied any responsibility in correcting the problem. Additionally, VW continued to produce cars for years with the defective transmissions. I bought the car used in 2011, which was already out of warranty. I had no knowledge of this problem until last month when it started lurching and shifting hard. My car has fewer than 55,000 miles, and is only driven to work and back (9 miles a day). It was not until I read the enormous amount of complaints that I found out that this problem was not isolated to my car. I am shocked that VW will not correct an expensive and debilitating issue with their cars that causes transmissions to shut down. This problem should not be happening to a car with low miles and is not normal wear and tear. VW refuses to take responsibility and basically told me they would not do anything to help. I am hoping this complaint will force them to correct this known problem with any VW Beetle produced in the years (2003-2010) that has this defect. It is the safe and right thing to do.
My car was fine and it started running a lil funky so I took it to get a diagnostic test and turns out there is a recall on my air bags ! transmission and body valve ? it absolutely doesn't want to go in reverse anymore and I barley bought the car in July of 2012 and this incident happens just 5 months later. Very disappointed please help I am a working nursing student that still makes payments on this car. I know my rights and I feel you can help me out please and thank you. ## VIN failed ##
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- Grand Rapids, MI, USA