2005 Volkswagen Jetta: harsh or hard shifting

Filed Dec 15, 2015 · Transmission · 110,000 miles · NY

We have a 2005.5 vw jetta and have been experiencing hard shifting while driving for about a year and half . More recently the gears are stalling to shift we were driving in a local street when our car would not shift into 4th gear the engine would rev but would not shift. It is very unsafe for this to happen when you are on busy roads or merging on to highways etc. We have not used our car since and our mechanic told us it was u safe to drive. I can't believe vw has not taken ownership for there mistake and make a recall. Our car just passed 100,000k and should not be having this problem . To fix the problem we were told its the valve body and the part itself is $1,200 not including labor cost.

Filed Dec 22, 2013 · Transmission · 62,000 miles · DC

I have a vw jetta 2005 that has the 2.5 engine. For the last three months, the automatic transmission has started shifting gears by itself in hard shifts, mostly from 1st to 2nd at odd times. I was told this was a known problem in the vws and required a transmission rebuild. (I've heard that a number of time). I had to have the transmission rebuilt at a cost of $4,000 to end the problem.

Filed Aug 6, 2013 · Acceleration, Electrical · 118,000 miles · AZ

2005.5 jetta--vehicle has rough shifting between 2nd and 3rd gears. As well as downshifting. While driving on a mountainside, going 65 MPH, the car suddenly downshifted to 3rd gear and would not accelerate. I had to pull over on the side of a mountain, with cars flying by me. The car would not shift gears until turned off and on again. This is now happening during regular acceleration at low speeds. This is a huge safety concern, as I could have been rear ended by another vehicle due to loss of power/speed.

Filed Dec 5, 2012 · Transmission · 125,000 miles · CA

Transmission fails to engage into third gear, then engine revs up, then slams into gear. Transmission stays in third gear regardless of speed. Transmission stays in fifth gear regardless of speed.

Filed May 19, 2011 · Transmission · 102,000 miles · NM

Hard shifting, it hard shifts and it keeps getting worse. I was told it was the valve body but volkswagen does not want to pay for it because it is a few miles over the 100,000 mile warranty when I have read many things saying that volkswagen was having problems with the valve body.

Filed Apr 7, 2011 · Transmission · 92,000 miles · CA

Jetta 2005.5 sedan (automatic) hard shifted between 2nd & 3th gears, displaying shuddering and hesitation during acceleration in traffic. Since october 2010 hard shifting has continued daily and frequency of shifting hesitation issue has worsened. Hard shifting with hesitation up between 3th and 4th, and also hard shuddering downshift between 3rd and 2nd. Dealer hooked vehicle to computer on feb 14, 2011 and stated transmission has no errors. Dealer would not test drive for longer than 4 miles, dealer stated hard shift did not occur in that 4 mile period, test was not at freeway speeds, owner was not in the vehicle. Dealer states vehicle is not eligible for valve fix. Vehicle shifting failure is hazardous and dangerous highway condition.

Filed Dec 22, 2010 · Transmission · 160,000 miles · OH

Hard shift from 2nd to 3rd gear and from 1st to 2nd gear. Problem causes car to violently jerk and poses a potential safety issue when attempting to accelerate or stop.

Filed Jul 7, 2010 · Brakes, Engine · AL

Shortly after I bought car I noticed a noise coming from (sounded like) engine. I also noticed car not changing gears smoothly. Felt as if it was having a hard time shifting especially up hill, I took the car in and was told this is just how a vw shifts and sounds. I told them I did not notice it when I initially owned the car. They ran a diagnostic since now the engine light is on the windshield wipers come on at their own will, the clock looses time constantly, and the noise has got a lot worse and so has the gear shifting. The diagnostic they say showed the dual fans are both burned out. If they are burned out why are they still making a loud noise several seconds after I turn the car off? They have also told me no transmission problem exists but another dealer told me they cannot know that because the diagnostic will not pick up on a bad transmission only a totally failed one. Which the car will be out of warranty then. These cars have obvious transmission problems and electronic problems that are being ignored. After having all this problem I looked on internet and was astonished at the number of people with all the same problems as me. Slow and hard shifts, wipers, car acting as if it is stalling, clock losing time, battery going bad too quick. Brakes constantly bad. This car is just a lemon. Why will the government not do a total recall. There is tooooooo much wrong with tooooo many of them.

Filed Feb 18, 2009 · Transmission · 64,381 miles · MN

On february 16th while running errands I pulled through a drive through for lunch, car was running and sounded just fine, after pulling away I heard a loud "shrieking" noise and then a clunk, the car lost power and made a grinding noise, I immediately pulled into the adjacent parking lot and shut the car off, I waited a few minutes then restarted the car it started just fine but seemed to be idling a little rough, I shifted car into drive and lightly pressed the accelerator the grinding noise was present so I put the car back in park and shut off the engine, called aaa and had the car towed to the dealership. The dealership then called me later that afternoon and informed me that the dual mass flywheel had separated and would need to be replaced, they quoted me $1800 for the repair. I was informed that they had the part in stock and I approved the repair. The car just had 64,381 miles and I though it was odd that this failure occurred, I did some research on the internet and discovered that this is a "known" failure. Since the warranty "just" expired I had to pay for the repair. I contacted vw0fa and they took the information but did state the warranty expired, I understand that but it appears that this issue has been reported numerous times and this needs to be investigated! I had just exited the interstate before this happened, what would have been the outcome if I stayed on the freeway at 60mph and this component failed?