2002 Volkswagen Jetta: transmission slipping

Filed Apr 22, 2014 · Transmission · 90,000 miles · MN

After sitting in traffic and driving at low speeds the car suddenly will slip out of gear. The engine races and I am stuck in first. I have to continue to drive at high rpms in 1st just to get home. It happened intermittently at first, but now it happens daily in traffic. I took it volkswagen and they say nothing is wrong. Took it to a transmission shop and they say the transmission must be rebuilt for $6000. If I turn the car off and it cools down, I can sometimes get it to stay in gear. It happened several times while accelerating onto a freeway nearly causing an accident because I had to quickly pull off the roadway. Unreal that volkswagen is "unaware" of this issue and can't seem to repair it. Please recall!

Filed Jan 24, 2012 · Transmission · TX

I have a 2002 jetta & in november 2011, I began experiencing issues with the automatic transmission. It only occurs when the car is cold & after warming up, the issues go away. Upon starting the vehicle, the car shifts hard between the 1st, 2nd & 3rd gears. It revs up between each gear then jumps to the next gear. I took it into one vw dealer service shop who told me that there were several issues, that the transmission was slipping, I had a vacuum leak & the cb boot is split. The transmission would need to be completely replaced costing me $5811.56 (parts and labor). The car has 103,508 miles. I took the car to another vw dealer shop to get a second opinion and they ran test and said that there was nothing wrong. Frustrated with the vw service shops, I decided to take it to a transmission repair - they stated that since this was a sealed transmission I would need to have it rebuilt which would cost $2,500-$3,500. Who knows if this will actually correct the issue since nobody can pinpoint what is wrong or diagnose the issue! I researched it online, and countless '02 jetta owners are experiencing the exact issues. There are several forums and complaint boards regarding vw and their handling of this transmission problem = http://getsatisfaction.com/volkswagen/topics/jetta_2002_major_transmission_issues_anyone_else and also many on the federal safety agency. What is it going to take to get vw to admit that they have a faulty transmission in their 2002 jettas. This needs to be recalled. I loved my car up until now, but the service and their attention to the customers issues is making me second guess ever owning a volkswagen. It frustrates me that nobody from this huge corporation will admit that they've somehow dropped the ball with the transmission. This deserves to be recalled since it is not an isolated incident and is in not fault of the owner. Thank you for your attention to this!

Filed Jan 24, 2012 · Transmission · 115,000 miles · MA

Transmission failure resulting in inability to shift above third gear without allowing the car to warm up for 20+ minutes. Sometimes the transmission will slip out of gear and the car will lose all power from the engine. (rpms drop to 0, car will coast).

Filed Jan 21, 2012 · Transmission · 117,000 miles · NJ

The car began to slip out of gear. Even though the gas pedal was pressed, the car would not accelerate. The mechanic says the transmission fluid is burnt out which indicates an internal transmission problem. Repair estimates between 3500 and 4000.

Filed Dec 30, 2011 · Transmission · 80,000 miles · CA

The transmission started slipping and shifting hard between 2nd and 3rd. This occurrence is due to a faulty transmission control unit and transmission solenoid. If not properly taken care of this might cause a transmission failure and ultimately a transmission crash. This means a new transmission and the cost can range from 3000-7000 dollars. This has happened to many vw owners. Especially volkswagens between 2001-2003.

Filed Feb 23, 2011 · Transmission · 70,000 miles · VA

Transmission slips, doesn't grab when you first put it into drive. Shifts hard, between 1st and 2nd gears. Have almost backed into cars when in drive. Then I have to give it gas to move forward and almost hit car parked in front of me, with parallel parking. Also jumps really bad when I give it a lil gas sometimes, like at stop lights.

Filed Aug 5, 2010 · Transmission · 108,000 miles · TX

Tl* the contact owns a 2002 volkswagen jetta gls tdi. The contact shifted into reverse and as he began to proceed, the transmission slipped out of gear. The vehicle was taken to a local repair facility where the mechanic advised that the reverse gear barring had failed. There were shards of metal from the barring found in the transmission screen, causing the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was 108,000 and the current mileage was 114,000.

Filed Apr 27, 2010 · Transmission · 69,500 miles · MD

I have always followed the recommended service schedule for my car. The owner manual doesn't mention replacing the transmission fluid for the life of the car. The car has 69500 miles. Three days ago while driving uphill I accelerated but the car did not pick up speed while the RPM went considerably higher (6000 RPM). I went to see my mechanic (a certified vw mechanic) who said that the transmission was slipping and not downgrading as it should and I should consider changing the transmission fluid as a possible remedy. He explained that a transmission fluid level could be the cause. He also said that since the transmission is "sealed" it was all he could do to try to remedy the problem. How can a "sealed" transmission that requires no maintenance be low in fluid ? He did change the transmission fluid and told me that the fluid was almost as dark as coffee, an indication that there was an issue inside the transmission. After changing the fluid the problem did not go away and gradually got worse. Three days later my transmission is extremely noisy and I can only run the car in "manual"mode in order to change the gears. I can no longer accelerate in 4th or 5th gear and just use them while cruising (at a maximum speed of 45 MPH. Vw has a 60000 miles warranty on the power train but a quick search on google revealed that a lot of 2002 jetta owners had their transmission go bad around 70000 to 85000 miles. Vw used to have 100000 miles warranty and reduced it to 60000, just below the mileage at which the transmission seem to break down. I suspect that they know their transmissions are defective and cut down the warranty in order not to have to bear the financial burden of a defective design. Considering the number of 2002 jetta owner that have had to replace their "sealed" transmission around 70000 it seems to indicate a trend or at least a known problem with the part. I am now left with changing the transmission at a cost of around $5000. Please investigate.

Filed Sep 5, 2009 · Transmission · 86,004 miles · NY

2000 to 2002 volkswagen tiptronic owners not provided correct information regarding the transmission servicing scheduling. Volkswagen states that the transmission is a "sealed" unit and therefore service is not need unless leaks are visible. Knowing this, I did not try to do transmission service on my car when it reached about 86,000 miles. - gears slip from 1st to 2nd at cold starts and jerks at 3rd gear. I have to warm the vehicle in 10 minutes to go back to normal operating mode. - today I was taking my wife and my 1-year old daughter to lake george ny from queens ny for a holiday weekend. The car suddenly slipped from 5th to 4th gear while we are driving 65 MPH. However, I did not find the problem until I noticed that our speed almost feels the same eventhough I depress the pedal a little lower. I placed it on manual mode and the car shifted fine. We pulled over at the rest area and found out that there is a transmission fluid leak. We could have had an accident if the gear would have slipped to 2nd; almost like slamming the breaks while doing 65 MPH. - tomorrow, I will have vw repair shop diagnose the problem. Most likely is the transmission control unit or the transmission solenoids. - similar issues in dsg transmission was reported at "good morning america" on august 28 2009. - please see similar tiptronic owner's complaints on this forum: vwvortex.com. This is a public web forum and no personal information is provided.

Filed Oct 13, 2005 · Transmission · 20,241 miles · CA

I have a 2002 volkswagen jetta 1.8l turbo. My first clutch started slipping at 17k miles, finally replaced at 20k. I fought with vw and they actually paid for it because I had brought it in on 3 different occasions and no one could find or admit to a problem. Now again at 39k it has started slipping and is now at 41k. I am due to change it any time. I am once again calling vw trying to arrange them to take care of the cost. I am hoping they will pay for it as the have quoted me $2200 to fix. I have been searching on the internet & found hundreds of people with the same problem. And replacing the clutch isn't a permanent fix and most people have had to pay for it. They have been blaming the drivers for poor driving skills. Meanwhile they are putting many people in danger because any kind of accident could occur when your clutch decides to pop/ fail. Especially on the freeway. Incredibly dangerous. Anyways, most people say that oil in the flywheel is leaking out saturating the clutch disk causing it to slip & even break up. Therefore very early breakdown and sometimes immediate/ unexpected clutch failure.

Filed May 26, 2004 · Brakes, Electrical · VA

1) transmission slips, and causes a thud. Have taken vehicle to dealership 3 times and nothing has been done to correct this problem. 2) LED display disappears. Have informed dealership of this problem twice and nothing has been done to correct this problem. 3) brakes are mushy. Have informed dealership once and nothing has been done to correct this problem. 4) vehicle is sluggish when accelerating. Have informed dealership once. 5) engine light has come on, and there is peculiar smell. Have informed dealership once.

Filed Jul 19, 2002 · Transmission · CA

Clutch kept slipping, dealer replaced clutch assembly.