2003 Volkswagen Beetle: harsh or hard shifting

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 Jul 9, 2013 · Transmission · 85,000 miles · LA

The transmission on this vehicle has started hard shifting when warm, causing erratic speed changes and possible lack of traction. Vwoa issued a recall around a year ago however only within a very limited number of miles done, showing they acknowledge there is a problem but will not take adequate action to resolve the issue.

Filed Oct 12, 2012 · Engine, Transmission · 114,385 miles · FL

I own a 2003 vw new beetle convertible with an automatic tiptronic transmission. Recently , at random times, when shifting between 3rd and 4th gear the engine would rev up past 4000 RPM and jump into gear. Essentially a very hard shift. With plans to keep this vehicle for many years to come, I immediately took the vehicle to a trusted mechanic. After test driving and experiencing the "hard shift", I was informed that it was most definitely transmission related, however, only vw can access the transmission due to the fact that it is completely sealed. The vehicle was taken to a david maus volkswagen of orlando for the diagnostic. I was informed that the transmission was "coming apart from the inside" and that it was a "ticking time bomb". Because the vehicle is over 100000 miles , it does not fall under the transmission valve body recall. The repair cost for a new transmission is $6000.00. I feel that this is gross negligence on the part of volkswagen of america, to knowingly place this vehicle with such a major defect on the marketplace. I now have an unusable hunk of scrap metal sitting in my garage for fear of the time bomb under the hood. I refuse to drive this car and potentially put others lives at risk. Volkswagen needs to be held responsible for knowingly putting a car with such a major defect on the road.

Filed Jun 27, 2012 · Transmission · 68,000 miles · CA

My vehicle will down shift really hard from 3rd to 2nd with a loud clunk noise. The transmission at times will get stuck in a gear at a intersection and not move at all..then all of a sudden it will take off really fast. It has done this on the freeway as well. I have done some research on this car and found that I am not the only one that has complained about this issue. I have contacted vw and they said I need a new transmission. They know that their is a problem with their transmissions but fail to fix it. They should be recalled. This is a very dangerous situation a lot of these car owners are young (new ) drivers and this is not a safe car!

Filed Jul 7, 2011 · Engine · 104,000 miles · CT

Beginning around september 2010, my 2003 vw new beetle began experiencing hard shifting and engine revving during normal driving. When accelerating from first to second gear, and from second to third gear, the car idles at very high rpms while failing to actually shift for a few seconds, then shifts very hard into gear forcing the car to slow down, jerk and buck. Vw did issue a warranty extension some time ago but the extension was only to 100,000 miles and at the time, my car had approximately 104,000 miles on it and vw wouldn't do the work - which involves replacing a faulty transmission valve body. Since that time, the rpms have gotten stuck idling almost to red zone levels while I'm driving, though the car is not actually accelerating. It's as if the car is in neutral with the foot on the gas. This has happened at least 10 times and is remedied if I pull over and turn the car off, then restart it. In addition, when downshifting to exit the highway or upshifting to enter the highway, or simply when pulling away from a stop light or stop sign, the car has a tendency to skip a gear or shift so hard it jerks and bucks and revs very high until the gear engages (like it does when a kid is learning how to drive a stick shift, only it's an automatic). This happens every time I drive the car and has continually worsened. I haven't had an actual accident but believe it is imminent if the condition keeps getting worse.

Filed May 26, 2011 · 73,525 miles · CT

On april 25, 2008 we took our 2003 vw beetle convertible to our vw dealer for service and a complaint about the transmission shifting hard or clunking at times. They said the noise was the exhaust and adjusted it and signed off. That was not the problem. The hard shifting continued occasionally for some time. Then it started to happen more often and be more severe. On october 23, 2009, we returned to our dealer for service and told them again about our concerns about the hard shifting as we had on several occasions in the past. At this time they ran a diagnostic ($90.00) on the transmission. They had to order a part and we returned on november 5, 2009 to have the cable installed. ($1406.36) the problem got worse and we returned november, 10, 2009 for another diagnostic and another cable install.($179.78) still not fixed the car goes into limp mode when you try to drive it. We left the car with our dealer for them to try to find a used transmission. No luck. On december 2, 2009 we decided to contact a transmission shop a friend told us about. I called a transmission shop to pick up the car at our dealer and take it to their shop to look into rebuilding the transmission. All to no avail they could not get parts for that transmission. The next step was to look for a used one again. Still unable to locate a used transmission we decided to have a vw rebuilt transmission installed. ($5469.60) this was done and the car was picked up on january 7, 2010. Now on december 14, 2010 we receive a letter that describes our original complaint about the hard shifting. The letter was extending the warranty on the transmission. I then sent a claim to vw to ask for reimbursement. That claim was not accepted.

Filed Feb 11, 2011 · Transmission · 81,009 miles · CA

2003 vw new beetle transmission valve body. Rough shifting up and down. 1st and 2nd.. Could not be driven safley. I had to have it repaired at aamco. Vw is rufusing to reimburse me. 4k +.

Filed Jan 16, 2011 · Transmission · 35,000 miles · NH

My 2003 volkswagen beetle, with under 50,000 miles on it will shift dangerously hard. When it shifts into 1st or 2nd gear, it shifts with a slam and lurches forward. There is a pause before it shifts which makes it very dangerous due to oncoming traffic, instead of moving forward when it should there is that pause while it lurches down and slams into gear. It does this on a regular basis.

Filed Jan 3, 2011 · Transmission · 82,000 miles · NY

2003 vw new beetle has a faulty transmission which is presenting a safety concern as the vehicle is driven on roads and highways. Car does not shift right, hard shifts, bucking, etc. And now stalling, probably a totally failed transmission for which vw is taking no responsibility.

Filed Dec 11, 2010 · Transmission · 70,000 miles · NY

After warming up, the car's transmission jerks very badly, and runs wildly before shifting. The mileage is just 75k. It is really dangerous especially driving on the highway due to the hard shift. Many other owners have similar experience. Vw must be responsible for this horrible defect.

Filed Oct 21, 2010 · Transmission · 75,000 miles · KY

2003 volkswagen beetle convertible automatic was "hard shifting" after warming up for 15-20 minutes from 1st to 2nd gear, and down from 4th all the way to 1st. This issue started after 75,000 miles. Fix = replace valve body...around $2000. I was told that this is a very common issue, and that vw has addressed this defect in newer models. This seems to be a manufacturer defect if it is a known, common, and fixed problem by vw.

Filed Aug 30, 2010 · Transmission · 56,000 miles · GA

2003 new vw beetle transmission issues. Please look into this.... Look on the vw forums and edmunds- there are 100s of complaints on this cars issues. I have a 2003 vw beetle convertible and it hard shifts downwards from 3rd to 2nd. I am told by the service advisor off the record that this is a problem with beetles in general, and he has seen over 100 in his one year with the company that need to be replaced. Mine has what many people have reported- brackets around all the drives (p,r,n,d,s) so the transmission does not know what gear it is in, it gets stuck in 3rd sometimes and I have to pull over to shut it off and restart it, and when it downshifts, the car jerks and pushes my head forward (this is an automatic, and does not downshift properly). Please investigate and recall....please please please. It is a very common problem, and we as consumers should not have to purchase new transmissions when there is obvious faults with these cars.