2003 Volkswagen New Beetle power train problems

“. GETS STUCK RANDOMLY IN 1ST GEAR ... SOME OF THE TIME IT SHIFTS BUT IF I LEAVE IT RUNNING IN PARK FOR A FEW MINUTES (ESPECIALLY THEN) OR WHEN IT WARMS UP NICELY AND I THEN HAVE TO SLOW DOWN INTO 1ST LIKE AT A LIGHT AFTER I EXIT THE HIGHWAY AND THEN TRY TO DRIVE AGAIN IT WON'T SHIFT OUT OF FIRST . AND. I KNOW WHEN IT'S ABOUT TO START THIS BECAUSE IT STARTS SHIFTING SO HARD THE CAR LURCHES (SOMETIMES SO ROUGHLY THAT IF I HADN'T MADE SURE TO BE EXTRA FAR AWAY FROM ANY VEHICLES IN FRONT OF ME THEN MY CAR WOULD HAVE LEAPED RIGHT INTO THEIRS - EVEN IF I AM BRAKING) VERY SCARY:( AND I FEEL UNSAFE ESPECIALLY WHEN IT LURCHES BADLY AND ALSO WHEN THE CAR STOPS GAINING SPEED BECAUSE IT GOT STUCK IN 1ST AND THE CARS BEHIND ME ALMOST RUN RIGHT OVER ME ) FROM WHAT I'VE READ WHILE RESEARCHING THIS, THIS ISSUE IS A WELL KNOWN DEFECT. V W MADE A MINUSCULE EFFORT TO ADDRESS IT ... AN EXTENDED WARRANTY WHICH IS USELESS BECAUSE IT DOESN'T COVER FIXING THE DAMAGE TO THE TRANSMISSION THAT THIS DEFECT CAUSES, LEAVING US OWNERS TO HAVE BUY A NEW TRANSMISSION BASICALLY BECAUSE OF THIS KNOWN DEFECT. VW SHOULD FIX IT SINCE THEY CLEARLY KNOW ABOUT THIS AS A DEFECT. IT EFFECTS NEW BEETLES…”

“TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2003 VOLKSWAGEN BEETLE. WHILE THE VEHICLE WAS AT A STOP LIGHT, THE BRAKE PEDAL WAS APPLIED; HOWEVER, THE VEHICLE FAILED TO STOP AND ROLLED BACK. IN ADDITION, WHILE DRIVING AT UNKNOWN SPEEDS, THE ACCELERATOR PEDAL WAS APPLIED; HOWEVER, THE VEHICLE FAILED TO RESPOND AND THE SAFE MODE ENGAGED. THERE WERE NO WARNING INDICATORS ILLUMINATED. THE LOCAL DEALER WAS NOT CONTACTED. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT DIAGNOSED OR REPAIRED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOT CONTACTED. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 133,437.”

“ON 11/3/2018 AT AROUND 11:00PM, I WAS DRIVING MY 2003 VOLKSWAGEN BEETLE ON THE HIGHWAY (90E TOWARDS CLEVELAND) GOING 65MPH. SUDDENLY, MY AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION POPPED OUT OF GEAR AND HARD DOWNSHIFTED. THIS CAUSED A DRASTIC REDUCTION IN SPEED, AND I WAS ALMOST HIT BY A SEMI-TRUCK WHICH WAS BEHIND ME . LUCKILY, THE DRIVER OF THE SEMI WAS ALERT AND SWERVED OUT OF THE WAY JUST IN TIME. THIS ISN'T THE FIRST TIME THAT THIS AUTO TRANS HAS ACTED UP EITHER. HOWEVER, THIS IS THE FIRST TIME WHERE I REALLY COULD HAVE BEEN SERIOUSLY HURT OR KILLED AS A RESULT OF IT. THIS TRANSMISSION IS FAULTY, THE SYMPTOMS POINT TO A MALFUNCTIONING VALVE BODY UNIT, AND THERE NEEDS TO BE AN INVESTIGATION OR A RECALL. HOW MANY PEOPLE HAVE GOTTEN INTO ACCIDENTS,HURT, OR EVEN KILLED BECAUSE OF THIS BAD AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION (JERKING/POPPING OUT OF GEAR AT RANDOM) NOT SHIFTING PROPERLY? ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!”

“THE CAR RUNS FINE WHILE IT IS COLD BUT WHEN IT WARMS UP THEN IT BEGINS TO "JERK", SHIFT UP AND DOWN "HARD". WE WERE TOLD IT WAS A TIPTRONIC SWITCH WAS BAD SO WE REPLACED IT AND NOW WE ARE TOLD THAT THE VALVE BODY TRANSMISSION IS BAD. THE CAR HAS LESS THEN 100K MILES ON IT. THIS IS A SAFETY CONCERN AS WE HAVE ALMOST BEEN REAR-ENDED WHEN THE CAR BEGAN JERKING.”

“ONCE THE CAR WARMS UP, THE TRANSMISSION BEGINS TO SHIFT VERY ERRATICALLY. THIS INCLUDES WHILE UPSHIFTING - THE TRANSMISSION SLIPS CAUSING THE ENGINE TO REV UP AND SUDDENLY SHIFT INTO THE NEXT HIGHER GEAR WITHOUT WARNING. SOMETIMES THE UPSHIFT IS SO SUDDEN THAT IT CAUSES THE TIRES TO BREAK FREE. IT ALSO OCCURS WHEN SLOWING DOWN TO COME TO A STOP - THE TRANSMISSION DOWNSHIFTS INTO LOW GEAR UNEXPECTEDLY AT TOO HIGH OF A SPEED CAUSING EVERYTHING IN THE VEHICLE (INCLUDING OCCUPANTS) TO LURCH FORWARD. THE SUDDEN DECELERATION COULD CAUSE REAR END COLLISIONS FROM FOLLOWING VEHICLES. EDMUNDS.COM HAS A FORUM FULL OF THIS EXACT PROBLEM - HTTP://FORUMS.EDMUNDS.COM/DISCUSSION/7375/VOLKSWAGEN/NEW-BEETLE/VOLKSWAGEN-BEETLE-TRANSMISSION-PROBLEMS/P2”

“MY DAUGHTER WAS DRIVING HER 2003 VW BEETLE ON THE HIGHWAY AND NOTICED THAT SHE WAS HAVING AN ISSUES WITH HER RPM'S REVVING VERY HIGH. SHE PULLED OFF THE HIGHWAY AND SHUT THE CAR OFF AND RESTARTED IT AFTER AWHILE. SHE GOT BACK ON THE HIGHWAY AND CONTINUED TO DRIVE HOME, HER SPEED WAS ROUGHLY 65. ALL OF A SUDDEN HER VEHICLE DROPPED HER SPEED DOWN TO 50 CAUSING HER TO ALMOST BE REAR ENDED ON THE HIGHWAY. THIS HAS HAPPENED AT LEAST 3 TIMES. AS SHE IS AWAY AT COLLEGE SO HER CAR IS NOT DRIVEN MUCH, SO WE ARE UNSURE IF THIS IS A CONSTANT ISSUES. THIS IS A SAFETY ISSUE WITH THE VEHICLE AND WAS TAKEN TO A CAR REPAIR SHOP AND WE WHERE TOLD THE TRANSMISSION IS HAVING ISSUES. *TR”