2008 Volkswagen GTI: hesitation when accelerating

6 of the 67 complaints about the 2008 Volkswagen GTI describe hesitation when accelerating.

owner complaints: 6
of this car's complaints: 9%
typical mileage: 20,000
recalls: 0

Is there a fix? 9 service bulletins cover this area of the car. See below

Hesitation when accelerating by model year

2024
1
2023
1
2019
1
2016
1
2012
1
2011
1
2009
3
2008
6
2007
4
2006
2
2003
1
2002
1
2001
1

What owners say

Filed Sep 4, 2014 · Transmission · 55,000 miles · PA

Tl* the contact owns a 2008 volkswagen gti. The contact stated that while attempting to drive, the vehicle hesitated and made an abnormal noise when shifting gears. The vehicle was taken to a dealer. The technician diagnosed that the transmission failed and as a result a flush needed to perform. The remedy failed to repair the failure. The manufacturer was notified of the issue. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was 55,000.

Filed Oct 30, 2009 · Transmission · 12,000 miles · CA

Normal acceleration from a stop or rolling, the dsg transmission will hesitate and produce a very rough shift to the next gear. This is intermittent but almost daily. Car is now in the vw dealers repair shop.

Filed Aug 2, 2009 · Transmission · MA

-when I lift my foot of the brake and apply gas after coming to a stop, the car will hesitate and then violently lurch forward as it shifts into gear, this is extremely bothersome when in bumper to bumper traffic situations, when I have many times lifted my foot of the brake, applied no pressure to the accelerator, and the car proceeded to violently lurch forward 6 feet or so, nearly into the back of the car in front of me. It seems as thought the transmission can not slowly move into 1st gear. -there is often a delay in power when "getting on it", this is especially troublesome when making a merge onto a busy highway when I need to quickly accelerate. I will literally put the pedal to the floor and the car will either rev and not move, or simply stutter for 2-4 seconds. I am surprised I haven't been rear ended because of this already. -both in drive and reverse the car makes a bucking motion when a consistent light amount of pressure is put on the accelerator. Although my foot does not move, the engine goes into a cycle of power surges.

Filed Jul 23, 2009 · Transmission · 12,000 miles · PA

Problem with dsg transmission surging and car lurching at lower speeds. Makes parking particularly dangerous and difficult. Car downshifts very harshly causing exaggerated engine braking. Vehicle will hesitate from a stop and sometimes is indecisive about which gear should be engaged. We are told the "mechatronics" unit will need replaced, it's been over 4 weeks and no update on parts or service. We are told the parts are coming from germany.

Filed Jul 19, 2009 · Transmission · 20,000 miles · TX

I started to notice a few months ago that my dsg transmission on my 2008 volkswagen gti was starting to act weird. It would have a hard jerking when it would downshift into a gear when coming to a stop. Its would also hesitate going into gear when I would give it throttle. A few times when the hesitation would occur it almost caused me to get into an accident.

Filed Jul 13, 2009 · Transmission · 20,000 miles · IN

Car shifts very roughly 100 percent of the time. When I accelerate from a dead stop the car hesitates and then jerks into gear. Sometimes it slams into gear very harshly with even the lightest pressure on the pedal. This has taken me by surprise on several occasions almost causing me to rearend the person in front of me. It also downshifts very strangely...sometimes searching for gears.