2004 Volkswagen Beetle: jerking or lurching

Filed May 4, 2021 · Acceleration, Fuel system · 160,000 miles · MI

Driving my 2004 volkswagen beetle is dangerous. The tiptronic transmission in the 2004 vw beetle is known by volkswagen to be defective. At any point the valve body can fail, which causes delayed shifting, and hard jerking between gears. My 2004 beetle fails to shift when accelerating between 2nd and 3rd gear. This causes the vehicle to coast for several seconds, sometimes requiring pulling off the road because of traffic. When downshifting it jerks extremely hard. You get in, start the engine, and receive no warnings that anything is wrong with the vehicle. No check-engine light provides any indication that the vehicle is dangerous. You drive down some city streets and hop onto the freeway to go to your favorite grocery store. After getting off the freeway the car is fully warmed up, and as it downshifts from 4th to 3rd gear it lurches. It feels like the engine is trying to jump out of the car! No engine light comes on. Then you stop at the end of the off-ramp, and wait for a traffic light to turn. After turning the car shifts from 1st to 2nd gear. Then it fails to shift from 2nd to 3rd gear. The gear doesn't engage, and the car coasts down the road without any power. Drivers passing by are staring. The SUV behind you is right on your butt; they begin honking. There's nothing you can do. Finally, after 20 seconds of coasting the car enters 3rd gear with a giant lurch. It feels like it's going to explode! You pull into the grocery store parking lot, heart racing, knowing that the car you're driving almost caused an accident that could kill a half a dozen people. And you know to get home it's going to happen all over again. This problem is reported by hundreds of owners. This is an extreme safety hazard. Volkswagen needs to recall the affected vehicles and pay damages for those whose transmissions were destroyed by this defective valve body and transmission.

Filed Dec 29, 2018 · Transmission · AZ

2004 beetle with 85,000 miles hard shifting down - it jerks from gear to gear until it comes to full stop. . Now while upshifting it couldn't make it out of 3rd gear and have almost been rear ended 3 times. Car jerks ,shudders, lurches . Transmission problem is consistent with low mileage vw beetles

Filed May 14, 2018 · Transmission · FL

I bought the new beetle not even a month and I noticed a jerking in the transmission. I found out using specialized websites for enthusiasts that volkswagen issue letters to owners of new beetles in 2010 informing that tons of owners complained about the hard shift they were experiencing in the automatic transmission oftheir new beetle. Vokswagen offered to extend the warranty on the transmission valve body. The models affected spans from 2003 to 2008. In other words, volks sold faulty cars withing this time range and only recognized later in 2010 about the issue. However, the valve body failure in the transmission is across the board and a recall should have been issued for the range of 2003-2008. The component was designed to fail by design. Not even the replacement would fix it because it would happen again. Imagine the danger when there is a hard-shift and the car starts to jerk and changing gears erratically ? Imagine this happening on i95 or any other highway. Vw just extended the warranty but a recall is needed here. I called vw and they are refusing to fix it saying it is an old car and warranty is expired, but the truth is since 2003 the hard shift condition existed. It takes time for the valve body to fail but it will fail. I have other cars, but when I noticed the jerk I investigated. I attached the letter that I obtained from the new beetle.org site and there there is a detail explanation how the automatic transmission will fail due to the design

Filed May 16, 2017 · Transmission · 130,000 miles · OK

The gearbox slips, stutters and jerks . And will slip out of gear and not go back in gear until engine is restarted. This happens when starting to move from a stop.

Filed Jul 1, 2016 · 90,000 miles · OH

Transmission slips, jerks , downshifts , vehicle becomes disabled on roadway, danger to driver, pedestrians and other vehicles on the roadways. There is a class action suit in louisiana regarding this problem . This problem happens while vehicle is in motion 10-15 minutes after it is in motion .

Filed Aug 24, 2015 · Electrical, Engine · 73,000 miles · TX

Tl* the contact owns a 2004 volkswagen beetle convertible. The contact stated that while driving approximately 40 MPH with the accelerator pedal depressed, the vehicle jerked and stalled without warning. The vehicle was able to be restarted but the failure recurred on several occasions. The vehicle was taken to the dealer; however, the failure was unable to be determined. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 73,000.

Filed Jul 29, 2014 · Transmission · 60,000 miles · OR

Car has sudden jerky when shifting also rear windows will not roll up or down. Dealership said needs new transmission but have only had car 8 months. The windows quit working after owning it for one week cost 400 just to fix one window. Dealership estimate to fix transmition 6700.00.

Filed Nov 27, 2013 · Transmission · 104,200 miles · MD

Vehicle lurches forward when starting from stop. Lurching is severe and becomes worse and transmission warms. Transmission is dsg type of automatic.

Filed Aug 16, 2013 · Transmission · 53,000 miles · OR

I found out today that my 2004 vw beetle has a faulty transmission valve body. Upon researching it more, it became clear that vw was aware of this problem and denied any responsibility in correcting the problem. Additionally, vw continued to produce cars for years with the defective transmissions. I bought the car used in 2011, which was already out of warranty. I had no knowledge of this problem until last month when it started lurching and shifting hard. My car has fewer than 55,000 miles, and is only driven to work and back (9 miles a day). It was not until I read the enormous amount of complaints that I found out that this problem was not isolated to my car. I am shocked that vw will not correct an expensive and debilitating issue with their cars that causes transmissions to shut down. This problem should not be happening to a car with low miles and is not normal wear and tear. Vw refuses to take responsibility and basically told me they would not do anything to help. I am hoping this complaint will force them to correct this known problem with any vw beetle produced in the years (2003-2010) that has this defect. It is the safe and right thing to do.

Filed Oct 2, 2012 · Engine, Transmission · 67,000 miles · MO

Erratic shifting up and down between 1st and 3rd gears. Car lurches to the point that a natural reaction is to relieve your foot from the brake which could cause a rear end collision in some cases. Problematic part is internal valve body which is a known problem with vw's of this make and model. We had the problem fixed then called vw customer care to see about reimbursement and were told that an extended warranty was issued for 7 years or 2010. Since my car had low mileage the intication occurred outside of warranty and I was told by vw that it is now my problem to take care of it to the tune of $2300 parts and labor. Incidentally, I also did not receive the warranty as I was told it would have gone to the original owner anyway. Considering this is a known issue and acknowledged by vw to be problematic up to 70,000 miles I feel that vw should offer up compensation in that it is their faulty part. Any help in recouping costs incurred to fix this problem would be appreciated.

Filed Jul 4, 2012 · IN

My car lurches forward when I stop. Took it to the dealership and they ran it on the computer stated found nothing. Mechanic said he took it out for a drive and no problems encountered while driving. When vehicle lunges forward ;I feel like I am going to be rearended by the car behind me because it is so sudden; no way to warn the car behind me. Please help me and others that have posted the same problems on internet. Thank-you.

Filed May 15, 2012 · Transmission · 80,000 miles · CO

My automatic 2004 vw beetle convertible jerks so hard from 1st to 2nd gear, it fells like I have been rear ended, or popped the clutch. I have almost been in 2 accidents due to the severity of the jerking, and have had the wheels actually squeal. The car works fine for the first 20-30 minutes, but then gets so bad I fear I may get whiplash. It is now beginning to rev to 6000 RPM when it shifts into 6th gear, or hesitates and I lose power. Have been told I will need to replace transmission, but that will cost almost as much as the car is worth.