I was out driving my 2003 beetle on the freeway and the vehicle begin to stall and slow down. I pressed the accelerator and the engine just rev very high and started jerking. I immediately got off the freeway as soon as I can. This problem appears to be on going. After driving for approximately 20 to 30 minutes the transmission will rev high as though I put the car in neutral and eventually jerks and lunges. If I stop at a red light the car will stall and lurch forward upon acceleration. I have approximately 106,000 miles on this vehicle. This car is unsafe and should be repaired by volkswagen.
2003 Volkswagen Beetle transmission complaints
Page 2 of 6: complaints 11 to 40 of 134, newest first, as owners wrote them.
My car was purchased as a used car. I purchased it with 100000 miles (approx.), and I have put on 31000 additional miles since (within 5 years). My car has always been routinely maintained/serviced. I take excellent care of my beetle. In november 2013, my automatic transmission began to slip. It has become worse, and it lurches forward will in drive, and at a controlled intersection my car either hesitates to take off or it rocks back and forth. This is a very expensive fix, having consulted two mechanics and receiving their estimates. I feel that this transmission issue poses a safety hazard for myself, other drivers, and pedestrians who may be crossing in front of my lurching vehicle. I think that with the multitude of 2003 transmission issues/failures, vw needs to stand behind their faulty product with a recall.
Tl* the contact owns a 2003 volkswagen beetle. The contact stated that while driving 20 MPH, the vehicle stalled. The contact took the vehicle to a local mechanic for a diagnostic test and the mechanic stated that the power train had failed. The contact had the transmission replaced. The contact did not call the manufacturer. The failure mileage was 36,000. Updated 11/15/13
The automatic 6 speed transmission fails to work properly.
I am the third owner and I should have cked this car out since the person who sold it too me didnt tell me a thing about the car.I am so dicusted about this adorable looking car. I only drove it once and took it too our mechanic. Wished I had taken it there first$800.00 later and just the beginning! I paid too much to begin with. Ipaid $4500 for a 2003 vw because it was cute! So I wish vw would help us american people. I want to drive my car but have only driven it once.! Help !! Still at the mechanics! Wish people could be honest ! This would not happened in the 60"s . We have a good mechanic! Thank god!
Over the last couple of years my 2003 vw beetle has been in and out of the garage. It seems to have trouble changing gears (it's an automatic) and has gotten stuck in 3rd gear. It will jerk and lunge when slowing down. Each time the mechanic has "reset the codes" and the test drive showed no signs of anymore trouble. It has gotten much worse and now after driving for about 25 or 30 minutes it begins the jerking and lunging. After researching, I see that this is a common problem with this car. I love my car, but no longer feel safe driving it and I certainly cannot rely on it. I now feel that I am stuck with a car that I cannot drive nor can I sell.
Tl* the contact owns a 2003 volkswagen beetle. The contact stated that the transmission would not shift and would exhibit an abnormal banging sound. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was determined that there was an internal problem and the transmission would need to be replaced. The failure mileage was 79,000 and the current mileage was 82,200.
My daughters 2003 volkswagen beetle shifts very hard after driving for about 10 minutes, almost to the point of possible causing a severe accident! I've read message boards and have realized that this year of beetle needs to have a recall on this before someone losses their life! It shifts the worst between 2nd and 3rd gears. She is scared to death to drive this car!
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.
I have a 2003 vw beetle that I purchased on may 18, 2003 off the showroom floor of my local dealership. It currently is sitting in my garage as I have experience issues with the transmssion slipping hard into gear or jerking to a hard stop when slowing down. This started in april, 2012, I took it in to the vw dealership and was told I need a new transmission and I only have 85,000 miles. Well, I took it too several independent repair locations and they said the same with a cost up to around $6,000. I worked hard to pay my car off and now it sits covered in my garage as I have read their are possible class action lawsuits against vw for this issue. I did receive a notice from vw in november of 2010 regarding warranty extension - transmission valve body. It covers the valve body in your vehicle's transmission to 7 years or 100,000 miles, whichever occurs first, from the vehicle's original in-service date. Well, I bought my car in may of 2003, so my 7 years was up in may of 2010...so vw sends out a worthless notice in november 2010 and I am stuck with the bill. I have been getting calls and emails from my vw dealearship that I can trade in my car and they will give me top $$. I don't want another vw car, I just want this one fixed by vw. Please help direct me to the appropriate group, person so that I can be included in any lawsuit or settlement.
While driving the vehicle unexpectedly and erratically down shifts or hard up shifts, creating an unsafe condition.
Was driving my beetle convertible at around 40mph there was a car that stopped in front of me and I started slowing down as the transmission down shifted it jerked so hard it made me go into oncoming traffic and almost have a head on collision vw is aware of these cars doing this and warrantied the valve body's but when I called and told them about mine they said I was to late that the warranty was over!!! This is a very serious issue and could result in people being killed vw didn't even offer me the part to pay someone to fix my car so now it sits in the yard and I can not drive it due to I have children and I'm scared it will gets us in a very bad accident and harm us! There needs to be a recall for this before so many people are hurt!!!! Step up vw and do what's right!
Transmission suddenly failed!
The vehicle starts up fine and accelerates normal at first. Just before the vehicle switches to second gear it gets stuck. The only way to get it to properly shift to second gear is to give it more gas, which makes the rpms go up to 7,000. At this point the vehicle changes to second gear and lunges forward. I have almost rear ended multiple people do this problem. Once the vehicle gets into second gear it accelerates normally again, just until it changes to third gear and does the same problem that I described above. This problem is not only dangerous, but also financial hurtful. I have read hundreds of reviews on this problem and they all describe the same thing, along with their vehicles being very low in mileage.
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.
The 2003 vw beetle has started to slip at 96,500 miles going from 2nd to 3rd gear. I have done alot of online research and there are several forums and thousands of similar cases as the one I am having. I called vw of america customer care and talked to tim and he said because the car was out of warranty they could not do anything. I mentioned that the problem seems to be the valve body and he agreed but still could not help me. Further research LED to me finding a class action suit agains vw america for exactly this problem. Since there are so many documented cases, I feel there should be a recall immediately as this can lead to a serious safety issue on the road. Worse yet, vw knows about it and is not doing anything! Please help. *tr
The transmission downshifts on its own at any giving time. Was close to getting rear ended several times..
Tl* the contact owns a 2003 volkswagen beetle convertible. The contact stated that while driving 60 MPH, the transmission down shifted automatically and the vehicle decelerated. The contact mentioned that the check engine warning lamp illuminated and the vehicle started to jerk violently. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, who was unable to diagnose the failure. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and did not offer any assistance since the vehicle was no longer under warranty. The vehicle was not repaired. The VIN was not available. The failure mileage was 88,000 and the current mileage was 98,000.
Tl* the contact owns a 2003 volkswagen beetle convertible. The contact stated that the vehicle jerked when there was a shift of gear. The contact also stated that the vehicle slid out of gears by itself. The vehicle was taken to a repair shop, where it was inspected and it was determined that the transmission was faulty. The contact was informed that the transmission needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure, however no assistance was provided. The VIN was unavailable. The failure mileage was 108,000 and the current mileage was 109,000.
When this car shifts into third gear, it is very hard and violent with an awful lunge, making it difficult to keep the car in control. I am still driving it, but waiting for an accident to happen.
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!
2003 volkswagen beetle owner blogs, failed transmission is a common and frequent occurrence. *05/31/12*bf the consumer stated that upon starting the car and shifting it moved forward for a few seconds and then stopped. The engine still ran fine but, the transmission did not shift to higher gears. The transmission slipped and the car would not move forward. Updated 06/06/12
At 70,000 miles, my vw starting shifting hard causing it to be difficult to drive. Vw states that this should not happen this early but that they can't do anything about it.
My 2003 new beetle convertible has been having transmission problems where it will jerk violently when it shifts up or down and sometimes it will not shift at all. It will get stuck in a gear and I have to stop it and turn the engine off and restart it. It will jerk even when stopped at a light. I have to make sure I am far away from the car in front of me. I no longer drive it because I don't know what will happen at any time. My airbag light stays on and will not turn off also, so I'm not sure if it will even work if there was an accident. Transmissions should not be jerking that way at all and if someone was to walk in front of my car at a stop light or sign, it could jerk forward and hit them. Not a safe car.
My transmission valve body is faulty, but vw's extended warranty only covers vehicles after 7 years or 100,000 miles. My car was just 4 months too old to qualify and they refused to replace anything, despite it being a major issue affecting drive performance. Other cars in my same model year qualified, but mine did not. How is this fair?
Tl* the contact owns a 2003 volkswagen new beetle. While driving approximately 30 MPH, the transmission began to down shift continuously into lower gears. The failure recurred whenever the vehicle was in operation. The vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer who stated to the contact that the transmission valve body was faulty. The vehicle was repaired. The failure recurred two years later. The vehicle had not been repaired for the most recent failure. The manufacturer was notified of the defect and was unable to provide further assistance. The approximate failure mileage was 60,000. The VIN was unavailable.
My 2003 beetle has been violently jerking after about 10-15 minutes of driving (when it warms up). If I'm at a stop sign or red light and accelerate - it violently jerks into gear !! If I baby it and barely move (where traffic is practically running into me from behind), it is not soooo bad, but still bad and it is very dangerous. Vw also extended the warranty until 2010 or 100,000 which ever came first, and unfortunately 2010 came first and they refuse to extend the warranty to be used under the 100,000 miles rule. This is extremely expensive to fix, I've read thousands of the same exact complaints in this car -- thousands, the very same thing and vw will not take responsibility to change it to 100,000 miles and not just 2010 (which obviously has past 2 years ago). This is dangerous and expensive. It is a defect and vw should pay for this. Do people have to get killed before they offer the extension up to 100,000 miles??? Thank you
I was driving on the highway and as I was exiting the highway, my car shifted down very hard and the steering wheel jerked causing me to hit a guardrail. I took my car to a shop and had the body repairs done ($3910.00), and upon taking my car, it did the same thing again. I had it taken to a mechanic and he stated that it was a known problem with those vw's and they had a recall on it. My local vw dealership stated that they would not do anything for me because the warranty on the vehicle was up. I was hoping that someone there could help me resolve this issue. The estimated cost of the repair is 5900.00 for the transmission and the body damage was 3910.00. Thank you, [xxx] information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u.s.c. 552(b)(6).
From day one this car had transmission problems which were denied by the dealer on 5 visits, after I sold the car I received a recall from vw, now that I am looking at blogs they have apparently recalled this recall to suit them. Other complaints with this vehicle are window troubles, convertible roof troubles, electronic troubles, seatbelt troubles, airbag troubles. I can't believe anyone will allow this car to still be sold or on the road. It is a safety hazard on wheels.
This car was purchased new and within three months had to have the transmission replaced under warranty. Recently it started to lurch at stops and starts, and the diagnosis was a failed valve body on the transmission. The transition company referred me to websites where there are multiple complaints for this exact problem with this model. I called volkswagen in mi and was told there had been a warranty extension, of which I was not informed, but that it would not apply to me now. It appears to me that the frequency of this problem warrants a look at this model and its transmission. The dealer warned my transition specialist that the repair which has been frequent only works about 50% of the time. I asked if it is safe to drive as is and was warned only for short distances. It appears to e that this should have triggered a recall or a class action suit.
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