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.
2009 Jetta tdi sportwagon with only 90 total miles on the odo, 3 days off the showroom floor jumped our of gear into neutral on the freeway traveling at 65 mph. The car is in the show (dgs transmission). Car had to be towed to the dealer for repair. Waiting on parts.
The dsg transmission jolts the car when shifting at lower speeds while the shift lever is in S mode. The "mechatronics" control unit has been changed, but the car still jolts. I'm afraid that these jolts put excessive strain on the rest of the drivetrain and can create an unsafe condition.
Dsg transmission at slow speeds will suddenly downshift into 1st causing abrupt engine breaking in traffic without warning (<25mph). Trying to accelerating from the slow speed or stop will causing a 1-2 second delay/jerk in traffic (narrowly avoiding being rear-ended in stop-go-traffic).
We recently purchased a brand new 2009 VW Jetta 2.0tsi with a direct shift gearbox (dsg) transmission. This transmission is just like a standard clutch type stick shift but without a clutch pedal. On board computers depress the clutch for the driver instead. The driver has a choice of selecting the gears themselves (tip mode) or choosing a 'd' fully automatic mode. We prefer full auto mode. We loved the way our car drove until a few weeks ago when we felt the car surge, pause, and then surge again as we accelerated from a traffic light. The tachometer indicated that the transmission was shifting erratically without any rhyme or reason, as if it hadn't ever learned how to shift gears properly. But the erratic acceleration didn't repeat itself at the next light or the next one either. We dismissed it as a fluke. But over the next few weeks this condition repeated itself until it got so bad it would take a long pause between gears then surge ahead without control! we feared driving it so much that we stopped and contacted our dealer that Monday. We also googled 'dsg problems' and were astonished at what we saw, and read! we weren't alone. Some have had near collisions while others were left stranded. It appears the 'brains' of the dsg is at fault. It's called the mechatronics unit module and is on back order for up to 2 or more months. We've read that many who have had their mech.U. recently replaced are experiencing repeated meltdowns. Our car had only around 570 miles on it when it happened. We're contemplating filing a lemon law claim with VW. We don't trust this car' we fear it! please help before someone gets seriously injured.
Dsg transmission goes into neutral sporadically at speed, and loss of wheel power occurs for 5-10 seconds, then transmission reengages. Prnds gear indicator on dash flashes during the episode. Happens repeatedly but no engine check light triggered, and dealers cannot diagnose problem because no fault codes are generated. On two occasions the vehicle would not reengage and had to come to a complete stop and the engine had to be powered off on and back on to clear problem. This is a safety issue.
- Kingsport, TN, USA
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Transmission down shifted approx 2 gears and was stuck in 2nd gear. The transmission selector would not respond to attempts to shift out of gear or to the automatic mode. The prnds lights on the central dash started flashing. I was able to drive to destination stuck in 2nd gear, which seems to be a default limp home mode.
I have the wolfsburg edition 2.0T automatic transmission. When the car is accelerating and shifting gears there is a loud rattling sound. I took it to the dealership service dept and they claimed that's a normal sound. I had a passat with the 2.0T prior to the wolfsburg and it never made this sound. We took another Jetta wolfsburg edition for a drive that was on the sales lot. Unfortunately, it made the same sound. It is absolutely ridiculous because it's a brand new car. It rattles every time the car accelerates and is switching gears. It sounds like something is loose in the engine.
I had a complete loss of power and blinking prnd while traveling 65 mph, and scared me. First time it happened, I though I hit the shifter with my knee; second time got me concerned; third time I said I'm going to the dealer; 4th and 5th times it happened on the way to the dealer! while in the shop for 2 days, I sent a detailed account of what I experienced to the head mechanic, knowing he would not likely be able to recreate what I experienced on his own. He never got a fault code for this. After calling VW, he checked and found a faulty transmission temperature sensor, which showed failure 54 times! apparently, the tranny goes into protection mode (death mode on the highway if you ask me) with this fault condition. Waiting now for a tranny temp sensor for about a week now.
This is a Jetta sportwagen tdi with dsg automatic transmission. With dsg transmission in 'd" mode, coasting at moderate speed in traffic, transmission slipped out of gear into false neutral, transmission display flashing "prnds". stepping on accelerator caused engine to rev to redline, car did not speed up. This happened on two separate occasions, each time I tried repeatedly placing transmission into "tiptronic" mode and back into "D", problem resolved within 30 seconds and transmission then functioned normally. Cel did not illuminate. As this happened in light traffic, the failure only delayed vehicles behind me temporarily. I have not taken it to VW dealer yet as they have no information about the problem. Tdi club forum posts suggest problem is faulty transmission temp sensor, may be more common in vehicles sold in spring 2009.
I own a 2009 vokswagon tdi wagon. Last week while on vacation with my family I experienced several "false neutrals". the vehicle while traveling at various speeds would shift into a neutral gear and the RPM would rev to 3000+ rpnds lights on the mfd would flash and acceleration would cease. This happened while driving on the highway as well as in the city... it also happened once while I was stopped at a traffic light.
This is a problem with the 2009 volkswgen Jetta tdi with dsg transmission. The auto so equipped cannot be driven safely as the car has serious acceleration lags before popping into gear and severe downshifts. There is no way to predict when the next incident will happen only that the acceleration lag has caused numerous near misses at intersections. To date only a scraped wheel while pulling away from a bank drive through.
While driving at approximately 65 mph on I-95, car disengaged from transmission. Engine revved, but slowed down. At approximately 45 mph, transmission re-engaged. At same time, center display flickered and began indicating all drive modes. On July 10, 2009, while stopped at an intersection, the same thing happened. When I pressed the accelerator, the engine revved, but transmission didn't engage, and wouldn't engage, until I restarted the car. As the intersection was on a slight downgrade, this left me in the middle of the intersection, until I was able to restart the vehicle.
I just got my brand new 09 VW tdi sportwagon with the dsg transmission and it only had 298 miles on it, I was on the throgs neck bridge with my 20 month old twin girls, sophia and jessica and the transmission was slipping and then no power at all. I was stuck on that bridge for over 3 hours with my twin girls ! the tow truck finally came and towed the car to bayside VW.
2009 VW Jetta tdi with dsg transmission appears to shift to neutral under highway conditions resulting in loss of power/acceleration. Requires shifting transmission to another mode, sometimes pulling off to the side. Occurs typically once a day under prolonged driving conditions, but can be completely random. Effect of sudden stop or deceleration in traffic, very unsafe. Problem not corrected, dealer unable to reproduce or find fault. Others with issue have had transmission temp/speed sensors replaced.
2009 VW Jetta tdi sportwagen: Loss of drive at speed, on the highway. The car's dash board flashes the indicator lights for its automatic drive mode 'prnds' and produces no power to the wheels, despite the shifter remaining in 'd' for drive. Vehicle power was restored only after coming to a full stop, shutting off the engine and restarting it. This happened only once, for us. VW checked the vehicle, found no computer generated "codes" and returned it to us with no change made. We believe it was unsafe to be without power on a four lane highway, with no shoulder and hope VW will identify the problem before it happens again.
On multiple occasions, in traffic and not in traffic, I have had my transmission go into a false neutral that would not recover until I re-started the car. Traveling along at 65 mph, the engine suddenly approaches redline, with no warning. The transmission indicator, P R N D S starts to flash, indicating that the transmission is in neutral. Trying to get to the shoulder is a white knuckle ride. I am reporting this here now, as I just found out about this site.
While driving in the fast lane at approximately 75 mph the vehicle began to act as if it were in neutral failing to deliver any power to the wheels. I struggled to get over to the shoulder and was nearly in two accidents and I think I scrubbed one of my rims on the curb, but didn't notice at the time since I was freaked out. I then had to stop and restart the car to get it to drive again. This was the sixth time in about a week that we had the car act as if it were in neutral while driving along. This was the first time that power was not regained shortly after losing power. The frustrating thing is that I had brought the car to the dealer earlier in the week complaining that a similar incident had occurred the previous week where I had lost power to the wheels but that I had regained it after 5-10 seconds. They said they could not do anything because they couldn't reproduce the problem when they test drove the car and that no "errors" showed up in the computer history for the vehicle. They basically said that since there were no bulletins put out by VW they couldn't do anything until the error occurred again. Thankfully I was carrying my video camera in the car and my girlfriend recorded much of the incident. I am emailing the dealer today and we'll see what they have to say now.
TL-the contact owns a 2009 Volkswagen Jetta. He states that dsg duel cluth automatic transmission that the temp sensor goes bad it sends false reading=S to the elctronic module and causes the tranmission to lock up. Going at 70mph on the highway the vehicle shifted to neutrel. The vehicle stayed in neutrl until it hit 45 mph when got off the highway and at a stop sign on a off ramp and trying to pass the transmission continued to lock up and almost caused an accident. The vehicle was then turned off and then towed to an dealer and they took a look at the vehicle and they are investigating the problem with this vehicle. Also Volkswagen didnt take this situation serioulsy. The failure and current mileage was 868.
09 VW tdi sportswagen dsg will randomly shift into neutral. This has occurred at various times varying from being stopped to cruising at highway speeds. The vehicle has been in the shop twice for this problem. During the first visit, the dealer was unable to replicate the problem. The second time, we took a video of the event and showed it to the lead mechanic. The shop has determined a temperature sensor in the transmission is overheating and causing the car to slip into neutral. The part is reportedly on back order and we do not have any estimate as to when the repairs will be completed.
Dsg transmission disengaged while driving down brooklyn-queens expressway traveling 50mph, had to coast car from left lane to right side shoulder. Incident happened about 3-4 times when care had less than 700 miles from new purchase.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Prunedale, CA, USA