2006 Audi A3: harsh or hard shifting

Filed Jun 11, 2013 · Transmission · 61,453 miles · CA

Vehicle goes out of gears while driving on the freeway for about 20mins in hot weather, this was going about 70 MPH. The "prnds" light flash for a quick second and back into gear again. I have various issues with harsh shifts up and down, especially in the lower gears. While slowing down to a stop the vehicle has a hot time going in to second gear and sometime first. It makes a very noticeable clunk sound when it does. From a stop, giving just a bit of gas and the car don't seem to move then it will surge until the speed comes up. While getting up to speed it will try to get into the highest gear as soon as possible, I would be in 6th gear while only going 35mph. There are some safety issues involved and that is why I'm taking the time to file.

Filed Aug 2, 2012 · Transmission · 50,000 miles · CA

I have an audi a3 2006. Several years ago (end of 2009/beginning of 2010), I started feeling and hearing a clunking noise and the car would lunge forward a few inches when approaching stop signs or red lights and downshifting from 2nd to 1st gear. This would happen periodically and has been increasing in strength. I was told by audi that it was a due to a faulty mechatronic system, which is like the brains of the car. Audi service quoted me a cost of approximately $2500 to replace the mechatronic system. I have read on many forums that this has been happening to many audi a3 owners and that they have not issued a recall for this issue. Given the frequency of the issue, I think this should be addressed by audi and recalled.

Filed Apr 21, 2011 · Transmission · 87,000 miles · KY

Since the day I bought my 2006 audi a3 2.0t, I am having this issue. When I start moving from a complete stop (such as on a red light), the car jerks back and forth 1-2 times roughly. This happens all the time without fail. The jerk is so powerful that it makes all passengers' bodies shift forward with its momentum. It feels as if I slammed on the brake suddenly. Also, at times, from a stop when I put my foot on the gas, the car hesitates before slamming into gear after 2-3 seconds of not responding to my throttle input. This has scared hell out of me at couple of instances because I almost got into a read rend collision from someone behind me not paying attention and almost slamming into the back of my car. Luckily, as I know my car had this characteristic so I react quickly in such occasions. From what I understand after reading plenty of stuff online, this is a problem with the mechatronics unit. Many people have had success fixing the problem by getting a replacement dsg/transmission/mechatronics unit installed. When I visit audi dealer, they say everything is fine. I had been to audi dealer for 3 times. But, I'm sure that everything is definitely not fine. Something needs to be done to fix this problem as everyone I have met with the same car has the same problem. Instead of ending into the hospital beds for whiplash from read end collision or worse, this has to fixed in all the audi a3s.

Filed Apr 1, 2010 · Transmission · 97,000 miles · MD

I got a 2006 a3 (automatic) with 90k miles on it. We started experiencing transmission problems 2 weeks ago, basically while driving (at any speed) transmission would sporadically shift to neutral followed by a jolting/clunking noise, and then prnds lights would go off onthe dashboard. The same thing has happened 3-4 times within 1 week. The scary thing is that driving on highways, such I-95, my wife almost got rear ended by a 18-wheeler. This is a safety issue. Talked to audi na complain line, and they mentioned there wasn't anything reported to them, there was no recall on this item, and no willings to help to cover the cost of replacing parts. I don't see this any different from the gas pedal issue that toyota is addressing. Many complains or cases have been reported on audi/vw forums.

Filed Oct 10, 2009 · Transmission · 49,870 miles · FL

My wife is traveling a long trip. She is driving a 2006 audi a3. She had been having weird things happen during her trip. It started when she made a right hand turn from a stop sign. She pushed the gas, but the car did not move for a few seconds and then it went. This happened a few times, all the same sort of way. Then after a right-hand corner turn, the car made this huge noise and clunk upon acceleration. Again, it drove ok after that. However, the big unsafe problem first occurred @ apx. 49,870 on odometer, ironically, just before the warranty was out. She was driving about 45 MPH & backed off of the gas to slide in between two cars & then pressed on the gas to accelerate to the speed of the moving traffic & suddenly without warning, the car seemed to go into neutral but because the gas was increasing, the engine kept revving. She seemed to coast, no increase in speed. The car behind her swerved over in time, but it was too close! She backed off of the gas or braked, she couldn't remember and the car clunked into gear. When she called me, the car had 50,150 & she was concerned because this had just happened a 2nd time. It happened the same way, when she was accelerating. I called my local audi dealer & spoke with the service manager who agreed to provide a free diagnostic test. We have since discovered that there is a recall for this same problem in effect for the 2007-2009 audi (including a3) as well as for 2007-2009 vw's with the same transmission problem. 2006's need to be included in the recall too.

Filed Sep 28, 2009 · Transmission · 48,800 miles · TN

My audi a3 with dsg has been experiencing shifting problems from 1-2 and 2-3. On the 29th, while accelerating from a light in heavy traffic, the transmission shifted very roughly and the engine seemed to have lost power. When I looked into my mirror, the car directly behind me didn't expect my sudden loss of acceleration and came close to rear ending me. This rough shifting is getting progressively worse and I am going to take it to the dealer to have it checked out soon.