2004 Volkswagen Beetle

I OWN A 2004 VW NEW BEETLE AND THE TRANSMISSION SEEMS TO BE GOING BAD. IT IS A SEALED SYSTEM SO NO ONE HAS TAMPERED WITH IT. AT TIMES, THE VEHICLE WILL JERK VERY HARD WHEN TRYING TO DOWNSHIFT FROM A HIGHER SPEED TO A LOWER SPEED (ESPECIALLY WHEN TRYING TO STOP). AT TIMES, IT WILL NOT SHIFT UP WHEN TRYING TO GO FROM A LOWER SPEED TO A HIGHER SPEED, THEREBY CAUSING A JERKING IN THE VEHICLE. THE PEOPLE RIDING IN THE VEHICLE ARE ALSO BEING JERKED FORWARD AND BACKWARD AS IN A WHIPLASH MOTION. THERE HAVE BEEN SEVERAL PEOPLE WITH A VOLKSWAGEN NEW BEETLE THAT CLAIM TO HAVE THE SAME PROBLEM. THERE IS A WEBSITE WHERE PEOPLE HAVE COMPLAINED/BLOGGED ABOUT THEIR PROBLEMS AND VW IS CLAIMING NO LINKAGE TO ANY OF THE EFFECTED VEHICLES. CAN YOU ASSIST IN THIS MATTER OR TELL ME WHERE I CAN GO TO OBTAIN ASSISTANCE? *TR

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2004 VOLKSWAGEN BEETLE GLS. THE CONTACT STATED WHILE ATTEMPTING TO ACCELERATE, THE VEHICLE BEGAN ABNORMALLY JERKING WHILE SWITCHING GEARS. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO THE DEALER WHERE THE ENGINE WAS REPAIRED. THE FAILURE RECURRED WITHIN ONE MONTH. THE DEALER THEN REPLACED THE TRANSMISSION GEAR BOX. SHORTLY AFTER, THE HEADLIGHTS AND TAIL LIGHTS FAILED WHICH WERE ALSO REPAIRED BY THE DEALER. ON A SEPARATE OCCASION, THE VEHICLE STALLED WITHOUT WARNING. THE CONTACT WAS ABLE TO IMMEDIATELY RESTART THE VEHICLE. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT TAKEN TO THE DEALER. THE FAILURE RECURRED TWICE. THE VEHICLE WAS THEN TOWED TO THE DEALER WHERE THE CONTACT WAS AWAITING A DIAGNOSIS OF THE FAILURE. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOT CONTACTED. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS APPROXIMATELY 56,000 AND THE CURRENT MILEAGE WAS 64,000.

I HAVE BEEN EXPERIENCING NUMEROUS PROBLEMS WITH MY TRANSMISSION SLIPPING AND JERKING ON HI WAYS AND STOP AND GO TRAFFIC. MY VEHICLE MILEAGE WAS APPROX 68,000 MILES AT THE TIME. I HAVE HAD A FEW INCIDENTS WHERE THE CAR DID NOT MOVE ON THE FREEWAY SINCE THE TRANSMISSION WAS SLIPPING. THIS PROBLEMS OCCURS EVERYDAY AFTER THE CAR IS RAN FOR AROUND 5 MILES. MY VW IS A 2004 VW BEETLE. I TOOK THE VEHICLE INTO VW THINKING IT WAS DUE FOR AN ADJUSTMENT OR AN OIL CHANGE. I WAS GIVEN RECOMMENDATIONS THAT THE OIL MAY NEEDED TO BE TOPPED OFF OR THE COMPUTER MAY NEEDED TO BE CHECKED. I WAS TOLD THAT FOR 120.00 I COULD HAVE THE CAR DIAGNOSED. I TOOK THE CAR INTO THE DEALER AND WAS TOLD TO COME BACK IN A FEW HOURS. AFTER CALLING BACK I WAS TOLD THAT THE CAR WAS COOLING OFF AND THAT THE DEALER WAS GOING TO TOP OFF THE OIL FOR 40 DOLLARS MORE. I PAID A TOTAL OF 160.00 AND THAN WAS TOLD THAT I WOULD POSSIBLY NEED TO BUY A NEW TRANSMISSION FOR 7,000 DOLLARS. THE SERVICE REP SAID I COULD PURCHASE A PART FOR 2,000 DOLLARS AND SEE IF THAT WOULD FIX THE PROBLEM BUT HE ALREADY HAS 5 TRANSMISSIONS HE IS CURRENTLY WORKING ON THAT NEED TO BE REPLACED. I FELT THAT THE SERVICE DEPARTMENT NEW THIS WAS NOT GOING TO HELP BUT SAW THE OPPORTUNITY TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF ME SINCE I WAS NOT FAMILIAR WITH THIS ISSUE. I THAN CHECKED THE BLOGS FOR VW TRANSMISSION AND TO MY SURPRISE FOUND 240+ REASONS WHY I WAS NOT ALONE ON THIS ISSUE. PLEASE READ THE COMPLAINTS OF OTHER CONSUMERS THAT ARE HAVING THE SAME PROBLEMS. THESE PEOPLE ARE OUR NEIGHBORS AND FRIENDS WHO CAN NOT AFFORD TO SPEND THEIR MONEY ON THIS KIND OF PROBLEM. HTTP://TOWNHALL-TALK.EDMUNDS.COM/WEBX?14@@.F124D77/0 PLEASE HELP US IN RESOLVING THIS ISSUE. AS ON BLOGGER SAID, WE DIDN'T BUY A VW SO WE COULD PAY EXPENSIVE MAINTENANCE COST. THANKS FOR YOUR TIME. GOD BLESS HTTP://TOWNHALL-TALK.EDMUNDS.COM/WEBX?14@@.F124D77/0. *TR

I STRONGLY FEEL THAT WE OWNERS SHOULD NOT HAVE TO PAY FOR REPLACING AN EXPENSIVE TRANSMISSION WHICH OBVIOUSLY HAS A RECOGNIZABLE "PRE-EXISTING CONDITION" THAT COULD VERY WELL CAUSE A SERIOUS ACCIDENT. MY 2004 BEETLE CONVERTIBLE 6-SPEED AUTOMATIC TURBO BEGAN SHIFTING GEARS ROUGHLY, JERKING AND SLIPPING ON UPSHIFTING AND DOWNSHIFTING A FEW MONTHS AGO AT 52K MILES. ONLY AFTER WARMING UP. SOUND FAMILIAR? YES, MY TRANSMISSION IS GOING OUT AND NEEDS TO BE REPLACED FOR $6000, ACCORDING TO THE DEALER AND A PRIVATE AUTO TRANS SHOP. I'M THE ORIGINAL OWNER AND THE CAR HAS ALWAYS BEEN SERVICED ON TIME BY THE SAME DEALER. NEVER ABUSED. SINCE MANY PEOPLE ARE REPORTING THESE EXACT SAME SYMPTOMS, AND SINCE IT MIGHT LEAD TO AN ABRUPT GEAR FAILURE WHILE DRIVING, I STRONGLY RECOMMEND THE NHTSA INVESTIGATE. WEB SEARCHES REVEAL THE PROBLEM TO BE ACROSS MODEL YEARS. WEAR & TEAR? NO, I LIVE IN A SMALL TOWN IN NO.CAL. AND DRIVE MOSTLY FREEWAY MILES IN LIGHT TRAFFIC WITH FEW GEAR CHANGES. PLEASE INVESTIGATE. *TR

A FEW MONTHS AGO, MY 2004 VW BEETLE CONV STARTED EXPERIENCING ERRATIC TRANSMISSION SHIFTING-IT WOULD "CLUNK" INTO 1ST/2ND/3RD GEARS, SOMETIMES TO THE POINT OF "SCREECHING" OFF AND ALMOST LAYING RUBBER. THIS HAPPENS AFTER ENGINE IS WARM--AFTER GETTING OFF A FREEWAY OR DRIVING FOR A FEW MILES. AFTER SEVERAL TRIPS TO MY MECHANIC, AND HUNDREDS OF DOLLARS TRYING TO FIX PROBLEM, I HAVE BEEN TOLD THAT THIS IS A RECURRING PROBLEM WITH THE VW NEW BEETLE AFTER 60,000 MILES AND THAT THE ONLY FIX IS A NEW VALVE AND ELECTRONIC TRANSMISSION COSTING FROM $4000 TO $7000. THIS INFO IS FROM MY TRUSTED MECHANIC OF OVER 30 YEARS. VW WILL NOT ADMIT TO ANY ENGINEERING FLAWS AND WILL NOT PAY TO FIX VEHICLE. IT DOES THIS IN HEAVY TRAFFIC, AT STOPLIGHTS AND INTERSECTIONS AND HAS NEARLY CAUSED ACCIDENTS. PLEASE ADVISE IF I HAVE ANY RECOURSE WITH VW TO GET THIS FIXED AT THEIR EXPENSE. *TR

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2004 VOLKSWAGEN NEW BEETLE CONVERTIBLE. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE VEHICLE JERKED SHE DROVE AND ESPECIALLY WHEN SHE WAS SLOWING DOWN. THE VEHICLE HAD PREVIOUSLY BEEN TAKEN TO AN AUTHORIZED DEALERSHIP FOR A TRANSMISSION RECALL REMEDY IN APRIL 2007 FOR THIS FAILURE. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO THE DEALERSHIP AGAIN AND WAS ADVISED THE TRANSMISSION HAD FAILED. THE CONTACT CALLED THE MANUFACTURER AND THEY ADVISED SINCE THE RECALL REMEDY WAS ALREADY PERFORMED, THERE WAS NOTHING THEY COULD DO. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS APPROXIMATELY 82,000. THE CURRENT MILEAGE WAS APPROXIMATELY 83,000.

I BOUGHT MY DAUGHTER A 2004 BEETLE IT HAS BEGUN SHIFTING HARD 1ST THRU 3RD BOTH UP AND DOWN SHIFTING. I'VE HAD IT AT THE DEALER 3 TIMES AND AM GETTING THE SAME RUN AROUND. THERE'S NO WAY VW ISN'T AWARE OF THIS ISSUE, I CALLED VW AMERICA TO COMPLAIN ABOUT THE DEALERSHIP BUT GOT NOWHERE. I'M FED UP AND TIRED OF BEING SCREWED, THE CAR ONLY HAD 65K MILES AND I FIRST TOOK IT IN WITH 58K MILES ON IT. TODAY THEY SAY I NEEDED A NEW TRANSMISSION AT A COST OF $6500.00 AND IS NOT COVERED BY THE WARRANTY SO I 'D HAVE TO FORK OVER OUT OF MY POCKET. LOOKING ON THE INTERNET THERE ARE OVER 100 PEOPLE POSTING THE SAME PROBLEM. *TR

THE TRANSMISSION IN MY 2004 VOLKSWAGEN BEETLE CONVERTIBLE IS DEFECTIVE. IT SLAMS INTO GEAR FROM 2 TO 3 AND I HAVE BEEN TOLD TO FIX THE PROBLEM WILL COST APPROXIMATELY $6000. ALSO THE REAR WINDOW WILL NOT ROLL UP AND THE TAIL LIGHT ON THE DRIVER'S SIDE HAS GONE OUT THEREFORE CREATING TURN SIGNAL PROBLEMS. I HAVE CHECKED ON LINE AND THESE PROBLEMS SEEM TO BE AN ISSUE FOR OTHER OWNERS OF THIS VEHICLE AND OTHER YEARS. I ALSO HAVE HAD THE WATERPUMP GO OUT WHICH ALSO SEEMS TO BE AN ISSUE. *TR