Problems · by component

2007 Volkswagen Gti power train problems

40 owner complaints to NHTSA about the 2007 Volkswagen Gti cite power train, 52% of all 77 complaints for this model year.

Complaints
40
52% of all complaints
Crashes
0
Reported by owners
Fires
0
Reported by owners
Injuries
0
Reported by owners
01 —Owner reports

What owners say about the power train

Verbatim from NHTSA complaints, newest first
“THE TRANSMISSION SHIFTER AUTOMATICALLY PUTS THE CAR IN NEUTRAL AND WONT LET THE CAR MOVE FOWARD, ITS AN ELECTRONIC COMPONENT THAT TELLS THE TRANSMISSION WHAT GEAR THE CAR IS ON.”
Owner complaint to NHTSAFiled Apr 23, 2020Power trainODI 11321979
“WHILE DRIVING MY WAY TO WORK I PARKED THE CAR AND CAME OUT TO GO GRAB SOMETHING TO EAT. THE CAR WOULD NOT MOVE TILL I NOTICED MY GEARS WERE FLASHING ON AND OFF (P,R,N,D,S). I COULDNT GET INTO ANY GEARS AT ALL AND SO I CALLED A TOW TRUCK. THEY CAME OUT AND I GAVE THEM THE KEY TO TRY AND MOVE THE CAR. THEY WERE ABLE TO GET INTO GEARS BUT I TOLD THEM I DIDNT FEEL SAFE DRIVING IT SO I HAD THEM TOW IT HOME. THE NEXT DAY THE SAME THING HAPPENED INDEFINITELY. I DID NOT WANT TO PAY THE DEALER 5600 BUCKS TO FIX IT AS OTHER PEOPLE ARE HAVING THE SAME ISSUE. IM WAITING ON VW TO EITHER DO A RECALL OR SOME KIND OF RESEARCH TO FIX THIS PROBLEM. I ALSO CALLED VW AND THEY SAID THEY REPLACED THE MECHATRONIC UNIT FOR MY CAR ALREADY. BUT HOW WOULD IT FAIL AGAIN ALREADY? THERE WAS NO EXPLINATION THEREFORE I AM WAITING FOR A RESPONSE FROM VW OR GET A LETTER IN THE MAIL FOR A TOTAL RECALL.”
Owner complaint to NHTSAFiled Oct 28, 2015Power trainODI 10786789
“2007 VW GTI. DIRECT SHIFT GEAR (DSG) FAILURE AT 43,000 MILES. TRANSMISSION FAILURE OCCURRED WHILE SHIFTING INTO REVERSE. TRANSMISSION LOCKS IN EITHER "DRIVE" OR "NEUTRAL". "PARK" AND "REVERSE" ARE LOCKED OUT OF USE. CAR MUST BE LEFT IN "NEUTRAL" TO PARK AND DRIVER MUST UTILIZE EMERGENCY BRAKE SINCE "PARK" IS INOPERATIVE CREATING DANGEROUS CONDITION TO PARK VEHICLE. KEY CAN ONLY BE REMOVED BY DISCONNECTING THE BATTERY DUE TO TRANSMISSION INTERLOCK. VW EXCLUDED MY VIN RANGE FOR REPAIR / EXTENDED WARRANTY COVERAGE UNDER OTHER RECALLS OR NHTSA ACTIONS REGARDING THE DSG TRANSMISSION. VW DEALER ESTIMATES REPAIR TO COST $5,600. VOLKSWAGEN OF AMERICA CUSTOMER SERVICE DOES NOT BELIEVE THIS IS A SAFETY ISSUE AND WILL NOT EXTEND WARRANTY TO COVER REPAIR COST.”
Owner complaint to NHTSAFiled Oct 15, 2015Power trainODI 10782590
“I LIVE IN CT AND WAS VISITING COUSINS IN NJ ON SATURDAY OCTOBER 25, 2014. I TAKE THE EXIT OF THE NEW JERSEY TURNPIKE AND STOP AT THE FIRST LIGHT. I START TO GO AND THEN SEE THAT THE CAR WAS REVVING BUT NOT CHANGING GEARS. I SEE THE PRNDS LIGHTS ON THE DASH FLASH SIMULTANEOUSLY NON STOP. I JUST BARELY PULL OFF TO THE NEAREST PARKING LOT SINCE THERE WAS NO SHOULDER ON THE 50 MPH ROAD. I STOP THE CAR AND PUT IT IN PARK AND THE CAR DID NOT SHIFT OUT OF PARK AFTER THAT. THE NEAREST DEALER HAD JUST CLOSED AND THEY SAID TO WAIT UNTIL MONDAY! I CALLED MY COUSINS WHO STILL LIVED AN HOUR AWAY TO SEE IF THEY HAD AAA AND LUCKILY THEY DID. I THEN TOWED THE CAR HOME OVER 300 MILES! APPARENTLY THE MECHATRONICS UNIT DIED (THE BRAINS OF THE TRANSMISSION) WITHOUT ANY ERROR CODES OR WARNING. THERE SEEM TO BE QUITE A FEW COMPLAINTS ONLINE ABOUT THESE UNITS WITH SOME FAILING WHILE PEOPLE ARE DRIVING ON THE HIGHWAY!! I GUESS I SHOULD CONSIDER MYSELF 'LUCKY' THAT IT DIED WHEN IT DID?! VW DEALER CHARGED ME OVER $2400 TO REPLACE IT. WHAT'S EVEN WORSE IS THAT THEY ONLY WARRANT THE NEW PART FOR 12 MONTHS/12,000 MILES SO I GUESS I BETTER NOT TAKE ANY LONG TRIPS WITH THIS CAR. *TR”
Owner complaint to NHTSAFiled May 8, 2015Power trainODI 10715426
“I WAS DRIVING AS I DO 5 NIGHTS A WEEK TO WORK. TRAVELING ABOUT 55MPH WHEN SUDDENLY, MY GTI EQUIPPED WITH A DSG TRANSMISSION DOWNSHIFTED TO WHAT I BELIEVE WAS 1ST GEAR. THE REVS SUDDENLY WERE VERY HIGH. THE VEHICLES SPEED SEEMED TO DRASTICALLY LOWER TO 20MPH. I WAS ALMOST HIT BY MULTIPLE CARS BEHIND ME. LUCKILY I WAS ABLE TO LEAVE THE MIDDLE LANE AND GET ON THE SIDE OF THE HIGHWAY SAFELY. ONCE I PULLED TO THE SIDE OF THE HIGHWAY, MY PRNDS ON THE DASH WERE FLASHING. I TURNED THE CAR OVER AND STILL FLASHING. I CHECKED EVERY GEAR AND ON DRIVE I WAS ABLE TO MAKE IT HOME SLOWLY. IT SEEMED THAT THE TRANSMISSION ONLY RAN ON 1ST GEAR. REVERSE GEAR IS COMPLETELY GONE. I CAN'T EVEN PROPERLY PARALLEL PARK MY CAR ANY MORE. VW SEEMS TO BE COVERING SOME MODEL YEAR DSG CARS. I HAVE READ SOME PLACES THAT 2008-2010 YEARS ARE COVERED, AND SOME PLACES WHERE FEBRUARY 2007 - 2010 PRODUCTION YEARS ARE COVERED. MINE IS A PRODUCTION YEAR OF JANUARY 2007. THIS DSG ISSUE IS WELL KNOWN FOR ALL YEARS. IT IS KNOWS AS THE "FLASH OF DEATH" OR FLASHING PRNDS. GOOGLE DSG FLASH OF DEATH AND THERE WILL BE MANY LINKS LINKED TO THIS ISSUE. I AM A HUGE VW FAN. I OWN A 2006 GLI 6 SPEED MANUAL AND…”
Owner complaint to NHTSAFiled Jul 7, 2014Power trainODI 10608492
“WHILE TAKING AN ON-RAMP ONTO THE HIGHWAY MY CAR GOT STUCK IN 2ND GEAR AND WOULD NOT UPSHIFT. I TRIED SWITCHING TO MANUAL MODE BUT THAT DID NOT WORK EITHER. THE PRNDS WAS FLASHING AND I HAD TO PULL OVER AND SHUT THE VEHICLE OFF. IT WORKED NORMAL AFTER THAT FOR A FEW MILES. I FILLED UP AT A GAS STATION AND WHEN LEAVING THE CAR WENT INTO NEUTRAL AND THE PRNDS WAS FLASHING AGAIN. *TR”
Owner complaint to NHTSAFiled Sep 28, 2013Power train, Electrical systemODI 10546017

Showing 6 of 40 reports. Read every report on NHTSA.gov.

Data from NHTSA Complaints API (owner reports, unverified) · synced Nov 9, 2026NHTSA vehicle page

Complaints are unverified owner reports to NHTSA and are not normalized for sales volume. One complaint can cite several components.