2002 Volkswagen Jetta: stuck in gear or won't shift

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 Dec 4, 2011 · Transmission · 139,110 miles · GA

My 2002 vw jetta glx (automatic) has severe transmission problems. When accelerating, it hesitates and then pops into gear jerking the car. This is very alarming and dangerous, especially when I am on the road with other vehicles around me. I almost had several accidents due to trying to pull out in traffic but the transmission is so unreliable and slips thereby causing me to stall in oncoming traffic. Then, today the car would not go into reverse or neutral at all. I've seen so many transmission complaints about this year's model and it is so unfair for the consumer to be responsible for this expensive repair.

Filed Sep 3, 2010 · Transmission · 124,600 miles · CO

We have a 2002 volkswagen jetta with the 1.8t engine and the transmission is failing. At times it has gotten stuck in first gear while on the highway. It also slips between second and third gear causing the car to lose all power. In general, it has been a danger to drive on the highway and you cannot get out of the righthand lane because you need to be able to pull quickly to the side in case of a rapid downshift or loss of power while it can't find the gear. Vw repair shop says it is a known problem with this transmission (09a) and that volkswagen has refused to deal with it. The repair cost for a new transmission is $5k!

Filed May 26, 2009 · Transmission · 65,000 miles · IL

At about 65,000 miles my car would sometimes get stuck in park. It felt like I was trying to drive with the parking brake on. Then it stopped going in reverse. The shops in my area don't work on vw's due to their complicated trans. The dealer told me they don't repair any transmissions, that they can only replace it at a cost of $4500. I took a loan from my 401k, paid it thinking it would last, and sure enough this one is going too! It only had a warranty of 12000 miles... Seems fishy since it's new. Never will I buy a vw again.

Filed Oct 28, 2008 · Transmission · 95,000 miles · PA

I bought this car a little over 1 month ago on sept 18, 2008 and 1 week after buying it, I started experiencing issues w/ it not wanting to shift out of park and shifting hard while driving, it was taken to a transmission shop and they rebuilt the transmission for me. I have had no further issues w/ the transmission since then, however today, I was driving home from work and when I was slowing down for a red light, it downshifted extremely hard and now is stuck in first gear.

Filed Oct 22, 2007 · Transmission · 75,000 miles · MI

I have a 2002 vw jetta gl 2.0. It only has 83,000 miles on it and the transmission is acting up on it already. When I took it to the dealership the only suggestion they could give me is to replace the transmission($3k - $6k) I have read that there have been multiple problems with the 2002 model years pertaining to the transmission. Mine won't shift from park into reverse, I have to go from park to drive, let it shift, then from drive to reverse, and that sometimes takes three or four tries. While driving if I am at a stop light, when I begin to accelerate, there is a pause between when I press the accelerator and the giant lunge forward the car makes as it shifts into gear. It also shifts very hard between all gears while driving.

Filed Aug 18, 2006 · Transmission · 97,347 miles · MD

Dt*: the contact stated while shifting gears, the shifter became stuck in park. The dealer replaced the lock shift twice in the last two years and the problem reoccurred.

Filed Dec 29, 2004 · Engine, Steering · 50,000 miles · MA

The torque arm sheared off. As a result, axle transmission was not bolted to the frame. *ak the consumer stated that the vehicle was parked. The vehicle was put in reverse and it started bucking and making a lot of noise. The vehicle would not shift from gear to gear without bucking. The steering wheel was not steering correctly. Exhaust became loud.

Filed Dec 23, 2003 · Transmission · 22,000 miles · MI

My vehicle was repurchased by vwoa (volkswagen of america) from the first owner for a recall problem. When I purchased this vehicle it came with an all inclusive 12 month/12,000 mile warranty and then the rest of the 4 year/50,000 mile warranty. At 11,700 miles the clutch starting sticking and wouldn't shift, the car also would go to high rpms when accelerating, even if only a little. The next day, I got out to get gas and I smelled burning. I looked under the hood and I could tell something was burnt. I called vw first thing monday morning and had it towed to them. They told me that the car "may be" under warranty. I have a document that clearly states that it is. They contacted their service rep, fred hingle, and was told that if it was not "wear and tear" that it would be covered. Well vw tore the car apart, and affirmed that it must be wear and tear, do to the burnt clutch and flywheel. After this I did some research and found that many people at myvwlemon.com have had problems with the clutch going out at 9,000 to 26,000 miles, including car and driver guide, who test drove the jetta and had the clutch go out at 26,000 miles, and these are professional drivers! They told me the repairs would total 1551.00 dollars almost 10% of what I paid for the car. Mr. Hingle the corporate rep refuses to speak with me. I believe the clutch used in this model and year is indeed defective and vwoa refuses to disclose it.