2003 Volkswagen Beetle transmission problems

Filed Aug 29, 2021 · Transmission · SD

Vehicle does not shift properly, vehicle does not shift to drive correctly and either shifts down or stays in neutral

Filed Jan 2, 2019 · Transmission · 80,000 miles · NC

. Gets stuck randomly in 1st gear ... Some of the time it shifts but if I leave it running in park for a few minutes (especially then) or when it warms up nicely and I then have to slow down into 1st like at a light after I exit the highway and then try to drive again it won't shift out of first . And. I know when it's about to start this because it starts shifting so hard the car lurches (sometimes so roughly that if I hadn't made sure to be extra far away from any vehicles in front of me then my car would have leaped right into theirs - even if I am braking) very scary:( and I feel unsafe especially when it lurches badly and also when the car stops gaining speed because it got stuck in 1st and the cars behind me almost run right over me ) from what I've read while researching this, this issue is a well known defect. V w made a minuscule effort to address it ... An extended warranty which is useless because it doesn't cover fixing the damage to the transmission that this defect causes, leaving us owners to have buy a new transmission basically because of this known defect. Vw should fix it since they clearly know about this as a defect. It effects new beetles years 2003 to 2007! And in my research it is clear that many many '03-'07 new beetle owners have very similar problems and most feel like I do...that these cars are scary and unsafe to drive.vw is aware of this but doesn't care so I implore you to please take a deep and serious look into this problem and help make vw take responsibility and fix this dangerous and unpredictable defect. Thank you very much and look forward to hearing from you. Respectfully, [xxx] information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u.s.c. 552(b)(6).

Filed Dec 7, 2018 · Brakes, Transmission · 133,437 miles · TX

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 volkswagen beetle. While the vehicle was at a stop light, the brake pedal was applied; however, the vehicle failed to stop and rolled back. In addition, while driving at unknown speeds, the accelerator pedal was applied; however, the vehicle failed to respond and the safe mode engaged. There were no warning indicators illuminated. The local dealer was not contacted. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not contacted. The failure mileage was 133,437.

Filed Nov 3, 2018 · Transmission · 96,000 miles · OH

On 11/3/2018 at around 11:00pm, I was driving my 2003 volkswagen beetle on the highway (90e towards cleveland) going 65mph. Suddenly, my automatic transmission popped out of gear and hard downshifted. This caused a drastic reduction in speed, and I was almost hit by a semi-truck which was behind me . Luckily, the driver of the semi was alert and swerved out of the way just in time. This isn't the first time that this auto trans has acted up either. However, this is the first time where I really could have been seriously hurt or killed as a result of it. This transmission is faulty, the symptoms point to a malfunctioning valve body unit, and there needs to be an investigation or a recall. How many people have gotten into accidents,hurt, or even killed because of this bad automatic transmission (jerking/popping out of gear at random) not shifting properly? Enough is enough!

Filed Jan 29, 2018 · Transmission · 97,000 miles · OH

The car runs fine while it is cold but when it warms up then it begins to "jerk", shift up and down "hard". We were told it was a tiptronic switch was bad so we replaced it and now we are told that the valve body transmission is bad. The car has less then 100k miles on it. This is a safety concern as we have almost been rear-ended when the car began jerking.

Filed Apr 18, 2016 · Transmission · 75,000 miles · WI

Once the car warms up, the transmission begins to shift very erratically. This includes while upshifting - the transmission slips causing the engine to rev up and suddenly shift into the next higher gear without warning. Sometimes the upshift is so sudden that it causes the tires to break free. It also occurs when slowing down to come to a stop - the transmission downshifts into low gear unexpectedly at too high of a speed causing everything in the vehicle (including occupants) to lurch forward. The sudden deceleration could cause rear end collisions from following vehicles. Edmunds.com has a forum full of this exact problem - http://forums.edmunds.com/discussion/7375/volkswagen/new-beetle/volkswagen-beetle-transmission-problems/p2

Filed Apr 27, 2015 · Engine, Transmission · 118,000 miles · VA

My daughter was driving her 2003 vw beetle on the highway and noticed that she was having an issues with her RPM's revving very high. She pulled off the highway and shut the car off and restarted it after awhile. She got back on the highway and continued to drive home, her speed was roughly 65. All of a sudden her vehicle dropped her speed down to 50 causing her to almost be rear ended on the highway. This has happened at least 3 times. As she is away at college so her car is not driven much, so we are unsure if this is a constant issues. This is a safety issue with the vehicle and was taken to a car repair shop and we where told the transmission is having issues.

Filed Apr 8, 2015 · Transmission · 86,560 miles · VA

We have purchased this 2003 beetle bug for my daughter and the transmission is hard shifting and down shift really bad. After doing research on this model and year. There as been nothing but complaints about the transmission (valve body). My understanding the extended the warranty for 7 years and 100,000 miles. This beetle bug only has 86560. We can't even drive this car. I can't believe with all the issue that volkswagen has had with transmission there is no recall on this. This is a major safety issue while driving this car.

Filed Apr 3, 2015 · Transmission · 86,560 miles · VA

We just bought a 2003 beetle bug and only has 86560 and shifting and jerking really hard after driving the car for a couple miles. It shift hard and down shift thru 1, 2, 3 gears. After reading several reports there is a known issue with the transmission for this year and model. Every where I read, they extended the warranty until 2010 and 100,000 miles. We are under the mileage by far. I feel the dealer need to fix this issue since this is a know issue for this year. You don't know you have an issue until you hit around 80,000 miles mark. I need some help and direction what can be done for this car,

Filed Feb 15, 2015 · Airbags, Electrical · 65,551 miles · IN

Vehicle engine stopped while driving. Battery dead, no power in vehicle at all. Found melted battery fuse box under hood. Root cause determined to be corrosion on alternator power supply cable that created heat enough to melt plastic (~450f) and burn the protective cover off the alternator supply wire back 2 inches. Poor contact due to corrosion caused battery to drain, which eventually could no longer sustain engine ignition. No warning lights prior to engine stopping. No battery power also means no power steering, no power brakes, no airbags during collision. Online forums indicate this is happening to a lot of people. It would appear to be as deadly as the gm ignition switch issue, but it is not being taken seriously by vw.