2004 Volkswagen Beetle: stuck in gear or won't shift

Filed Apr 9, 2011 · Transmission · 100,000 miles · AL

2007 volkswagen beetle convertible transmission, valve body defect. Vehicle will not shift and only solutions is replacing both with a cost of about 6000.00 for transmission and 2000.00 for valve body. Very unsafe condition when you are on the freeway and your car will not shift.

Filed Jan 3, 2011 · Transmission · 52,000 miles · GA

2004 vw beetle - faulty transmission. The transmission shifts violently into 2nd and 3rd gears causing the car to jolt forward. At other times it becomes stuck in 1st gear so as you accelerate from a stop sign you are not able to increase speed enough to stay out of the way of traffic approaching from behind. A multitude of complaints on line for same problem. Vw admits transmission problems and shifting difficulty on 1998 - 2006 automatic's. They have extended the warranty for repairs, but only cover the valve box, which according to the local vw dealer is not the problem.

Filed Nov 24, 2010 · Transmission · 55,000 miles · CA

My 2004 vw new beetle convertible with triptonic transmission, with only 55,000 miles, lurches in the lower gears after the car warms up in about 10 minutes. The car will not shift smoothly between the lower gears and often revs up to 5000 RPM before it "clunks" into higher gear. The vw dealer mechanic would like to replace the transmission, at a cost to me of $6800. My research has learned that the first generation of vw?s double clutch transmissions had a chronic weak point. They combine a wet clutch (as in traditional automatic) and a gear part (as in traditional manual transmission), however both are lubricated out of same oil sump. The gear part causes the oil to be more contaminated with wear particles (vs. Traditional automatic transmission). This contaminated oil is used also in the valve body and the wet clutch, and these wear particles can deteriorate the performance of the wet clutch (clutch material, resulting in slippage, or clutch and gear change hydraulic controls, resulting in defective shift strategies). Once that happens, damage is usually irreversible. Vw changed the oil service recommendation recommend from (fill for life) or 100,000 miles to 40,000 miles. Even at this reduced amount, they clearly still had a problem. They probably modified the design since but have not admitted it. Vw has not been ethical in their handling of the defective transmission design. The transmission can fail at anytime creating a dangerous situation on the freeway, turning across traffic, etc. Vw of america acts like this is a new problem they have never seen before. Suggests replacing a pressure sensor and replacing transmission fluid at a cost of $700 plus the $150 for diagnosing. Local european repair (well respected) says pressure sensor and transmission valve casing needs to be replaced together (cost $2000)...if lucky this will delay full blown transmission self destruction. Vw of america is screwing loyal customers by not repairing design flaw.

Filed Sep 21, 2010 · Transmission · 55,900 miles · CA

Tl*the contact owns a 2004 volkswagen new beetle. The automatic transmission would not shift properly and it began clanking, jerking and sometime it failed to shift into gear. The vehicle was driven to a transmission shop where she was told that it was the valve body that needed to be replaced. The vehicle should not be driven without repairing the failure. There were no recalls or warranties regarding the failure. The dealer was called and advised her to bring the vehicle in for diagnostic testing so that they could determine the problem. The volkswagen manufacturer was not contacted. The failure mileage was 55,900.

Filed Sep 6, 2010 · Transmission · 83,445 miles · NC

2004 vw new beetle with dsg transmission. Car drops into limp mode. Happened on expressway resulting in low speed to get to median. Happens when pulling away from intersection and goes into neutral. Car will not move until engine is stopped and restarted. Above issues happened 4 times over a 3 day period. Not safe to drive. Dsg transmission with the mechatronics unit is rare in 04 beetles. Not included in factory recalls of 07 and up. Had mechatronics unit replaced for $2250.00 my expense. 80,000 miles on car. 07 and up have warranty extension to 100,000 miles. 04 not included because of low frequency of event. Low frequency because not many around. Car is dangerous and should be covered by warranty same as o7 vw & audi cars.

Filed Sep 3, 2010 · Transmission · 60,000 miles · NV

Transmission has mechanical problems, wont shift smoothly from 1st to 2nd initially, then when in traffic the transmission kicks in like I was rear-ended causing my head to snap. I cannot make it through the intersection without the vehicle not shifting into gear causing a delay driving through an intersection. I almost have been rear-ended many times because of this. I had the transmission flushed and fluid replaced but to no avail. This is very alarming because I never know when the transmission is not going to shift, the rpms rev to 6 and 7 before the shift takes place. There have been times when I have been driving on the freeway when the transmission has suddenly revved into the 7 and 8. Also the airbag light came on, the recall covered the defect in 2008 but, the light came back on and is not covered unless I get a diagnostic from the dealership which they want me to pay 150.00 then they will consider on a case bases.

Filed Aug 25, 2010 · Transmission · 53,800 miles · TX

My 2004 vw new beetle convertible with triptonic transmission, only 53,800 miles, lurches in the lower gears after the car warms up in about 10 minutes. The car will not shift smoothly between the lower gears and often revs up to 5000 RPM before it "clunks" into higher gear. The car will not accelerate properly, left turns into oncoming traffic are dangerous. The car may decide to shift into neutral rather than lurch into gear. After stopping at traffic lights, I am often tailgated because the car will not get up to speed quickly. Luckily I have not been rear-ended as some others have. The vw dealer mechanic would like to replace the transmission at a cost to me of $6800. A transmission should not fail at only 53,800 miles unless there is a major design defect. There are hundreds of complaints in various car forums, in particular http://townhall-talk.edmunds.com where there are more posts about transmission problems for the new beetle than anything except maintenance. My research has learned that the first generation of vw's double clutch transmissions had a chronic weak point. They combine a wet clutch (as in traditional automatic) and a gear part (as in traditional manual transmission), however both are lubricated out of same oil sump. The gear part causes the oil to be more contaminated with wear particles (vs. Traditional automatic transmission). The contaminated oil is used also in the valve body and the wet clutch, and these wear particles can deteriorate the performance of the wet clutch (clutch material, resulting in slippage, or clutch and gear change hydraulic controls, resulting in defective shift strategies). Once that happens, damage is usually irreversible. Vw changed the oil service recommendation from "fill for life" or 100,000 miles to 40,000 miles. Even at this reduced amount, they clearly still had a problem. They probably modified the design since but have not admitted it. Vw has not been ethical in their handling of this design defect.

Filed Aug 16, 2010 · Transmission · 44,646 miles · CA

My 2004 vw beetle at 44,000 miles had to have the automatic transmission replaced, I allowed the vw dealer to do all the work.. The problem that occurs is it jerks and won't shift gears when on the freeway or in other dangerous situations. Over a year later at 54,000 miles my same car is now doing the same thing on the freeway. This is extremely dangerous and occurring on a so-called "brand new" transmission vw claims to have put in. My parts warranty from a year ago recently expired. A car should not have two automatic transmissions under 54,000 miles! I found several message boards full of the same complaint, same problem in the beetles from this time period. The transmission jerks on people when they are driving down a highway or road. There are hundreds of these complaints online. I am filing mine with you in hopes you will start investigating these complaints before someone gets killed driving from them.

Filed Jul 30, 2010 · Transmission · OH

I own a 2004 vw new beetle and the transmission seems to be going bad. It is a sealed system so no one has tampered with it. At times, the vehicle will jerk very hard when trying to downshift from a higher speed to a lower speed (especially when trying to stop). At times, it will not shift up when trying to go from a lower speed to a higher speed, thereby causing a jerking in the vehicle. The people riding in the vehicle are also being jerked forward and backward as in a whiplash motion. There have been several people with a volkswagen new beetle that claim to have the same problem. There is a website where people have complained/blogged about their problems and vw is claiming no linkage to any of the effected vehicles. Can you assist in this matter or tell me where I can go to obtain assistance?

Filed Apr 12, 2010 · Airbags, Transmission · 82,000 miles · FL

Problems with transmission/shifting problems. Everytime the car shifts into a gear, its very rough and infact will jerk very hard. This started every once in a while and began happening more regular as a month or so went on. Now it will stick in 3rd gear and just stay there. We can stop at a redlight, and it will remain in 3rd gear, then drive from the redlight with the car starting in 3rd gear! This is a safety issue, because the car will stick when shifting almost everytime and you could push the gas but only the rpms will go up..nothing else. This could cause me to be rear ended or hit from the side when turning left. I have had many close calls due to this issue! I have children, and the car is not safe to drive anymore. I have priced what would fix this, and its not only that I can not afford it, but the solution to the problem is only temporary! I have seen many, many people have the same issues with the same car, and they have spent countless dollars on a problem that still persists. This past saturday my family was driving and the car stuck in gear going 45 MPH, which caused the car to descend in speed, giving the people behind us hardly no time to realize what was happening. We were very very close to an accident. To add to this problem I have had an airbag sensor come on the dash about 2 months ago and will not go off. I had this looked at because it was a safety recall, but the vw dealer told me that my car was no one of the vins, but looked as if it had the same problem! This is serious! They said they could fix it, for a very high amount, but if it was defective that I could be bringing it back in for repair! This is not acceptable!!! We are talking about life or death in a crash!

Filed Nov 12, 2009 · Transmission · 101,000 miles · MA

I have a 04 vw beetle conv. The transmission is acting up. It shifts late & bangs into gear or doesn't shift at all. The dealer say the trans needs to be replaced @ a cost of 6k. I brought it to a transmission shop & they can not fix the problem after having the veh for over 2 months. In reading the web pages I find many others with this veh having the same problem, with low & higher mileage. Vw knows there is a problem, but will not address it. I ended up having the trans rebuilt, but its still doing the same thing, no change. The trans shop is baffled.

Filed Nov 9, 2009 · Transmission · 90,000 miles · GA

While driving the car it will not shift out and then jerk real bad. Downshifts extremely hard and sometimes will not come out of gear when slowing down to a stop. It has been to the dealership and several other people are having the same problem. When taking off the car will stall and then engage in gear almost causing me to be rear ended several times.