2008 Volkswagen Jetta: harsh or hard shifting

Filed Feb 28, 2020 · Transmission · 140,000 miles · MN

Tl* the contact owns a 2008 volkswagen jetta. The contact stated that while driving approximately 30 MPH, there was an abnormal clunking sound coming from the transmission. The instrument panel display showed that the transmission independently switched from drive to neutral as the vehicle lost motive power. Upon inspection, it was discovered that the driveshaft bolts loosened and a hole was present which caused transmission fluid to leak from the vehicle. The vehicle was towed to the residence. The cause of the failure was not determined. The local dealer and manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 140,000.

Filed Oct 17, 2016 · Transmission · 10 miles · PA

At a stop, when accelerating, the car may jerk or hesitate. Hard shifting from 2 to 1 can cause the person behind to rear end or the car next to you to hit you when you suddenly stop moving.

Filed Jul 1, 2011 · Transmission · 38,000 miles · FL

In take off hard clutch kicking, during drive hard shifting, problems with reverse and gearbox not responding. The mechatronic unit was changed in my vehicle after it was working fine due to a recall and now the car has severe problems.

Filed Aug 17, 2009 · Transmission · 25,000 miles · AZ

I have had my 08 vw jetta wolfsburg with dsg transmission for a little over a year and have driven it 25000 miles. The transmission has never really been perfect but I put the various clunks, hesitations and hard shifts down to the transmission technology rather than a potential failure. However, as time has gone by I have noticed an increased tendency for the car to surge when attempting to slowly reverse. This causes repeated sudden accelerations much greater than anticipated with the small amount in throttle input. Given that I need to negotiate my child's daycare facility parking lot twice a day this situation has become a real safety concern for me. A similar problem occurs when very slowly starting forward from a complete stop. This situation is not quite as serious a concern for me but is at least very annoying. Primarily I am concerned about the ability to safely reverse my vehicle and maintain control of my speed in doing so.

Filed Jul 24, 2009 · Transmission · 14,155 miles · NJ

Purchased a 2008 vw jetta with dsg transmission. Have taken to dealer 3 times since purchasing for same problem. The transmission downshifts "clunks" hard in stop and go traffic primarily 2nd to 1st to neutral. This is worse the longer and hotter transmission gets. Also transmission jumps or surges forward or back after putting in drive or reverse. This primarily happens when putting into gear with foot on brake, then taking foot off brake and slightly pressing accelerator pedal. The vehicle jumps several feet forward or reverse. The dealer tells me that this is to be expected from a manual transmission that is operated by software. I like the car and have no problems with the transmission at highway speeds. They need to do something to"soften" the stop and go jerkiness of this supposedly cutting edge technology.

Filed Jul 23, 2009 · Driver assistance, Transmission · 10,000 miles · WA

While driving my 2008 volkswagen gli sedan equipped with a dsg transmission I have on numerous occasions either while accelerating or slowing had sudden, rough shifts, and at times have been literally bucked around in the vehicle while shifting from 1st to 2nd gear when leaving a stop light. This has been happening since february 2009...possibly before, and has been increasing in frequency. I have also had rough shifts downshifting at times causing the esp to become activated in my vehicle making it feel like I am losing traction. I understand there is an official investigation in to this and would like to have my stories added to the investigation. Pe09-035. I have taken my vehicle in for service on this before and they denied any problems with the vehicle.

Filed Jul 7, 2009 · Transmission · 5,000 miles · MN

I drive a 2008 vw jetta wolfsburg edition equipped with the dsg (direct shift gearbox) transmission. After driving the car for about 1000 miles I started to noticed very harsh 2 to 1 downshifts and surging while in drive. By the harsh downshift I mean when slowing down coming to a stop when the gearbox would shift from 2nd gear down into 1st gear I would always experience a loud metallic "clunk" noise. In regards to the surging while in drive I mean when at a dead stop and you give even/slight pedal pressure on the accelerator the car would surge forward over and over again like you were stepping on the gas and then letting off. This characteristic was very prevalent on an incline. The vw dealership I work with diagnosed the problem as a faulty mechatronics unit which controls the functions of the complex dsg transmission. It was replaced at 5000 miles. After driving with the new mechatronics unit installed for roughly 6000 more miles I started to now experience the same surging issues but when the car was in reverse. I also noticed that the RPM's would always drop like the engine was going to stall everytime I would shift into drive from park. And lastly when starting from a stop, applying even accelerator pedal pressure, the car would always "jump" off the line. Brought it into the vw dealership again and they ended up replacing the whole transmission. After the new dsg transmission has been installed the car drives very smooth now with no surging and no harsh 2 to 1 downshifts. The new trans only has 300 miles on it currently but I hope the same issues do not occur again.