2005 Volkswagen Beetle: engine stalls while driving

Filed May 18, 2018 · Electrical, Engine · 200,000 miles · OH · crash · fire

Tl* the contact owned a 2005 volkswagen beetle. While driving 73 MPH, the vehicle hesitated and stalled without warning. As a result, the contact crashed into a ditch and smoke appeared from the front of the vehicle. There were no injuries and a police report was filed. The vehicle was destroyed and towed to a towing lot. The contact called bill marine volkswagen at (937) 210-4257 (located at 415 e north st, springfield, oh 45503) and was advised to bring the vehicle in for diagnostic testing. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 200,000. The VIN was not available.

Filed Jun 29, 2016 · Engine · 100,000 miles · AL

Tl* the contact owns a 2005 volkswagen beetle convertible. While the vehicle was at a stop sign, it stalled and was able to be restarted. The vehicle was taken to be diagnosed. The contact was informed that the catalytic converter needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure was intermittent. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 100,000.

Filed Sep 3, 2015 · Transmission · 75,000 miles · TN

Problems with shifting between 3rd & 4th gears, lurching, and lagging. I called the dealer, gave the symptoms and asked what they thought the problem could be, they insisted they hadn't heard of vw's doing that. My car continued to decline, becoming stuck in a gear, violently lurching, stalling, and all gears lit up(bracketed) on the dash. When I took car to vw nov 2011, 80,000 miles, first they said they couldn't duplicate, but I persisted explaining my horrible, lurching drive into work, where I stalled several times almost getting hit, and how I couldn't put the children I care for in my car for fear of someone hitting my stalled vehicle. The vw mechanic talked me into flushing out the trans and checking the magnet($560). He said 80% chance it was my trans(quoted $6,000), even after there were no metal shavings in the pan, or said it could be the valve body(quoted $1,600), but they wouldn't know until after the repair. I have driven other cars well beyond 200,000 miles without having a trans issue, so was shocked the trans could be bad at 80,000 miles! I took good care of my car, and drove her kindly. The mechanic denied trans issues being common for beetles. I paid the $560, and there wasn't an improvement. I found out about the extended warranty on the valve body too late(even though it was in effect when I took my car in for service!) I was scared every time I drove, and irate once I learned through online search that faulty transmissions are a hugely known problem and vw won't fess up and fix their problem!! After the trans blew on the interstate(that was terrifying having a trans go at 70mph and I am so thankful I was able to guide my car to the shoulder of the road before I was hit!!), the beetle sat in my driveway while I still made payments on it for several months. Please investigate and force volkswagen to recall these dangerous transmissions!!

Filed Apr 12, 2015 · Acceleration, Driver assistance · 95,000 miles · TX

On the 2nd my son was driving my car on the highway with me as a passenger at 70 MPH when suddenly the RPM's shot up and the car stalled out. Fortunately he was able to restart the car and safely get us off the highway. We then approached a light in which we had to stop at and the car did not want to go. I finally figured out the car was in a safety mode and is stuck in 3rd gear. I have had three mechanic look at the car. No one can figure out at this point if it needs a new transmission or it is an electrical problem with the transmission. Either way a transmission should not have issues at under 100,000 miles. I have also looked on line and seen to shock how many people with this car are have issues with their transmissions. Why have the transmissions not been recalled? We could have been killed or seriously injured when the car just stalled out at 70 MPH. On top of the car is falling apart! In the 9 months I have owed the fuel pump has gone out, waterpump, timing belt, and thermostat as well. Not too forget to mention that the interior is slowly falling apart as well. Something done about this situation!!!

Filed Oct 16, 2012 · Engine · 120,000 miles · GA

Tl* the contact owns a 2005 volkswagen beetle. While driving approximately 10 MPH, the engine stalled without warning. The vehicle was restarted with the illumination of the check engine warning light. The warning light remained illuminated until the engine was turned off. The vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer where the catalytic converter was replaced. One month later, the failure recurred five times. The vehicle was taken to the dealer each time the failure recurred. In addition to the previous repair, the cv booster was also replaced. The manufacturer was notified of the defect. The approximate failure mileage was 120,000.

Filed Feb 20, 2011 · Transmission · TN

2005 volkswagen new beetle convertible [xxx] purchased in the fall of 2004; multiple requests for service to dealer gossett volkswagen / memphis, tn regarding hard shifting tiptronic automatic transmission started reporting this jan 2005 at 198 miles but I have recently discovered that the service advisor was not recording my complaint, describing visits as "30 day inspection"; only documentation of programming of shift points at 59860 miles according to their records dated 7/17/08; nothing helped; multiple requests for assistance from dealer ignored dealer claiming could not duplicate issue. Problem caused hesitation in traffic; involuntary jerking and sometimes sudden forward motion of car. On more than one occasion had to pull car over to side of road to shut it down. Problem resolved when car below normal operating temperature then manifests at normal operating temperature. Dealer stated "unable to duplicate" until after warranty expired then declared transmission failure without opening so-called sealed unit to diagnose. Volkswagen of america issued recall on transmission valve body late last year; refused to repair my vehicle this january after 6 years of visits to dealer for numerous issues including this one. I allege that the dealer and voa knowingly sold this model year with a manufacturer's defect as many owners of previous and same model years have frequently posted accounts of the same problem on various consumer websites including your own; appealing for your intervention in this dangerous situation. The car is now parked in my driveway. I have also filed a complaint at the state of tennessee consumer affairs agency alleging that gossett volkswagen and voa have engaged in a fraudulent pattern of avoiding responsibility for a very dangerous issue because of the expense of necessary repairs. This car is parked and is no longer being driven because it will stall, lurch, and accelerate and decelerate erratically because of the problem.

Filed Jan 19, 2011 · Transmission · 72,000 miles · NY

I currently own a 2005 vw beetle with 72,000 miles. About one year ago, it began to violently jerk between first and second gear after about 20 minutes of city driving. When accelerating from a stop light or stop sign, the car would stall, then buck forward as if I was being rear-ended. The level of unreliability is really dangerous, because I never know if it's going to speed up like it's supposed to. I'm in constant fear that I will get rear ended or stuck in the middle of an intersection. I've taken it to two mechanics and talked to two transmission specialists and all of them have said that they won't work on a vw beetle's transmission and that I need to take it to the dealer. I've tried aiding the problem with a new battery, but that hasn't helped. Other complaints online (300 on townhall-talk.edmunds.com) have stated that repairs for this problem are $5,000-$7,000 and that it hasn't always fixed the problem.

Filed Dec 28, 2010 · Transmission · 73,000 miles · DC

I currently own a 2005 vw beetle with 96,000 miles. Before me, the car was owned by my parents since it was bought in 2005. About one year ago, it began to violently jerk between first and second gear after about 20 minutes of city driving. When accelerating from a stop light or stop sign, the car would stall, then buck forward as if I was being rear-ended. I have taken the car to aamco, plus 3 additional transmission specialists in that time. To date, I have spent $1,100 to have the transmission serviced and the shifter replaced. The problem has only gotten worse and the car now violently jerks from second gear into third gear and hesitates on the highway when shifting between fifth and sixth gear. In stop and go traffic, I've nearly been rear-ended twice in 2010 alone. This is a daily occurrence. To date, volkswagen has essentially refused to stand behind its product. Though the volkswagen group of america has extended me a 7-years or 100,000-miles warranty, douglas volkswagen, the dealership from which the car was bought in new jersey refuses to replace the valve-body (the part covered under warranty) and has recommended I put a new $8,000 transmission in the car. They claim the transmissions made after 2008 do not have the problems 2003 through 2007 models had. Regardless, they have not tried to replace the car's valve-body, which is a part of the transmission. They seem to find it appropriate that I replace the defective transmission out of pocket at a cost higher than the car is presently worth. For that reason I have registered a complaint with volkswagen group of america. Many new beetle owners complain that they have also encountered similar resistance from volkswagen and have been pushed to pay for new transmissions only to realize the problem persists after thousands of dollars have already been spent. The company has made feeble efforts to correct the problem. I hope the federal safety agency will assist consumers presently being politicked by vw.

Filed Sep 23, 2010 · Transmission · 82,836 miles · GA

2005 vw beetle with major transmission problems. The tranny will not shift on time and when it does it jerks the car. It will also stall during acceleration and leaves me stranded in the middle of the intersection. This is a safety issue as the car will not move when you need it too. The issue seems to get worse more and more.

Filed Sep 20, 2010 · Transmission · 101,345 miles · MO

2005 volkswagen beetle convertible automatic has trouble going from first gear to second gear around 20mph. Jerks hard when changing gears and sometimes makes a loud noise and does not change gears. Which causes the car to stall at times. Other times it stays stuck between gears and I have to pull over and wait a few minutes before I can start driving again.

Filed May 2, 2010 · Transmission · 97,700 miles · CA

I have a 2005 vw beetle purchased new, I was driving and noticed jerking between 1st & 2nd then it started stalling going into 4th gear and a few days ago it slipped out of 6th gear in the caldecot tunnel, nearly got rear ended! Took it to a tranny guy and he checked it out. Come to find out the vw tech he contacted told him that they go out at 100,000 (currently at 97,700) and it can take up to $7,500 to replace and it can't be fixed. Vw tech said they did this to get you to buy a new car.

Filed Aug 25, 2006 · Transmission · 7,385 miles · CA

Dt*: the contact stated while driving 10 MPH, the vehicle hesitated when the accelerator was depressed. The vehicle was taken to the dealership twice who declared the problem could not be duplicated. The dealership also declared that other models with the same electronic module presented the same transmission defect but did not provide any solution. Updated 10/17/2006 - the hesitation and stalling problems occurred when using the left foot to brake the vehicle. The vw technician said the computer module receives conflicting signal due to one foot on the brake and one on the gas pedal. There were no apparent warnings in the vw owners manual. There seemed to be no problem when using the right foot on the brake and gas but the problem showed up immediately when using the left foot on the brake and right foot on the gas.