2002 Volkswagen New Beetle Transmission Problems

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

NHTSA ID

10100587

Incident

Aug 17, 2002

Mileage

10,000 mi

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

NHTSA ID

10075150

Incident

Jun 8, 2004

Mileage

23,500 mi

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

NHTSA ID

10074998

Incident

May 14, 2004

Mileage

27,800 mi

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

NHTSA ID

10064453

Incident

Feb 23, 2004

Mileage

24,750 mi

AFTER THE VEHICLE WAS STARTED, THE CONSUMER WAS UNABLE TO SHIFT THE GEAR FROM PARK TO DRIVE. *JB

NHTSA ID

10016049

Incident

Apr 1, 2003

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

NHTSA ID

786447

Incident

Jun 1, 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

NHTSA ID

759383

Incident

Feb 5, 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

NHTSA ID

758474

Incident

Feb 3, 2002