2007 Volkswagen Gti

I DRIVE A 2007 VW GTI WITH AN AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION AND THE "MECHATRONIC" UNIT LOCATED WITHIN THE TRANSMISSION IS BAD AND WILL COST UPWARDS OF $2000.00 TO HAVE IT REPLACED. THE CAR HAS 122,000 MILES ON IT. NOTHING LAST FOREVER AND I EXPECT CERTAIN FAILURES OVER TIME. HOWEVER, THE NATURE OF THE FAILURE IS A CONCERN WITH THIS UNIT AS, AT LEAST IN MY CASE, THE TRANSMISSION DOWNSHIFTED TO FIRST GEAR ON ITS OWN WITHOUT WARNING. FORTUNATELY I WAS IN TOWN IN SLOW TRAFFIC AND WAS ABLE TO HANDLE THE SUDDEN DECELERATION. IT COULD HAVE BEEN VERY DIFFERENT AT HIGHWAY SPEEDS. THERE IS NO WARNING OR INDICATION OF AN IMPENDING UNIT FAILURE. THE ONLY INDICATION I HAD SPANNED SEVERAL MONTHS IN A VERY INTERMITTENT MANNER: 1)A SLIGHT "SHUDDERING" WHEN ACCELERATING WHICH I THOUGHT WAS FUEL RELATED. 2) THE "PRNDS" DISPLAY WOULD FLASH REPEATEDLY EVEN THOUGH THE TRANSMISSION WOULD OPERATE JUST FINE. I COULD RESET THE DISPLAY BY TURNING OFF THE CAR AND RESTARTING IT. THIS PHENOMENON WAS VERY INTERMITTENT. I COULD FIND NO INFO ABOUT ANY OF THIS IN THE OWNERS MANUALS (I'VE HAD THE CAR SINCE NEW) OR ON LINE. *TR

WHEN THE CAR WAS COLD, UPON PLACING IT INTO DRIVE TO DEPART FOR THE DAY, THE TRANSMISSION WAS VERY INDECISIVE ABOUT RELEASING THE CLUTCH AND CAUSED A SEVERE BUCKING SENSATION AND MADE IT DANGEROUS TO ENTER TRAFFIC. FORTUNATELY THERE IS VERY LITTLE TRAFFIC ON MY STREET. A SOFTWARE UPDATE MADE IT BETTER, BUT IT STILL WAS DANGEROUS FROM TIME TO TIME. SOFTWARE UPDATE ALSO REDUCED AVERAGE FUEL ECONOMY 2.5 MPG TO WHICH VW WILL NOT ADMIT FAULT. GOT A MECHATRONICS REPLACEMENT UNDER CAMPAIGN AND NEW MECHATRONICS IS LESS LIKELY TO BE BAD WHEN COLD BUT NEW MECHATRONICS BUCKS MUCH WORSE AND IS MUCH WORSE THAN ORIGINAL MECHATRONICS WHEN IT IS BEING BAD. NEW SOFTWARE HAS IMPROVED FUEL ECONOMY 2 MPG FROM THE LOW. NEW MECHATRONICS IS EXTREMELY DANGEROUS WHEN BACKING OUT OF A DRIVEWAY IN REVERSE ONTO A MODERATELY BUSY STREET AND THEN TRYING TO PULL AWAY UP A HILL ON THE BUSY STREET. IT IS VERY LIKELY TO BUCK AND BEHAVE UNPREDICTABLY AFTER THE EXTREMELY LONG DELAY FOR THE MECHATRONICS TO DECIDE TO GO AT ALL (HIT THE GAS, PRAY AND MAYBE WAIT, MAYBE GET WHIPLASH). IT WAS SCARY AND CAUSED A VEHICLE TO SLAM ON BRAKES TO AVOID HITTING ME BECAUSE MY CAR WOULD NOT GO. IT APPEARS THAT THE NEW MECHATRONIC UNIT HAS BROKEN THE CLUTCH AND VW NEEDS TO REPLACE MY ENTIRE DSG WITH A COMPLETELY BRAND NEW ONE WITH A NON-DEFECTIVE MECHATRONIC UNIT. THE ORIGINAL MECHATRONICS APPEARED TO ONLY HAVE ONE FLAW, THE COMPONENT THAT CONTROLLED THE RELEASE OF THE 1, 3, AND 5 CLUTCH, WHICH CAUSED THAT CLUTCH TO WEAR OUT. THE NEW MECHATRONIC UNIT HAS OTHER FLAWS IN ADDITION TO THIS ONE AND SOUNDS AS IF IT IS BREAKING THE ENTIRE TRANSMISSION (NOT SAFETY RELATED HOWEVER). *TR

I WAS MERGING ON TO THE HIGHWAY, THE CAR IN FRONT OF ME STOPPED TO LET CARS GO BY UNTIL IT WAS THERE TURN TO MERGE. THE CAR MERGED IT WAS MY TURN AND I HIT THE GAS AND MY CAR LURCHED FORWARD AND I HAD NO POWER, AND MY CAR HAD DRIFTED ENOUGH TO BE HIT BY ONCOMING TRAFFIC. I LOOKED DOWN AND SAW THAT MY PRNDL LIGHTS ON THE DASH WERE FLASHING. I THOUGHT THE CAR STALLED SO I SHUT THE CAR OFF AND TURNED IT BACK ON AGAIN AND HIT THE GAS, I HAD DRIVE POWER AGAIN. I CAME TO A STOP LIGHT AND THE PRNDL LIGHTS STARTED FLASHING AGAIN AND I HAD NO POWER, I SHUT THE ENGINE OFF, RESTARTED AND HAD POWER. THIS CONTINUED FOR THE REMAINDER OF MY TRIP. *TR

MY CAR, AN AUTOMATIC DSG TRANSMISSION FROM VW, GOT STUCK IN 6TH GEAR ON NORTHBOUND 1-15, ALMOST CAUSING SEVERAL ACCIDENTS. THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT APPEARED AND A CODE WAS "THROWN," BUT THE EVENT WAS DISMISSED AS A POTENTIAL ISSUE WITH THE MASS AIRFLOW SENSOR. SINCE THEN, I HAVE EXPERIENCED EXTREMELY HARD SHIFTS AND UNRELIABLE ACCELERATION WITH MY VEHICLE. ESPECIALLY ON HILLS. THE MECHATRONICS UNIT HAS BEEN REPLACED AND THE CAR WAS RETURNED TO ME AS "GOOD TO GO." I DROVE THE CAR ONE MILE, THE ISSUE PERSISTED, AND I RETURNED IT TO THE DEALER. THERE IS CLEARLY A PROBLEM WITH THE MECHATRONICS UNIT AND THE CLUTCHES, BUT THE DEALER WILL NOT REPLACE THEM CORRECTLY (UNDER WARRANTY). EACH TIME I AM TOLD MY CAR IS "FIXED," I PICK IT UP, DRIVE IT AND IT STILL HAS THE SHIFTING ISSUES. *TR

WHEN COMING TO A STOP, THE FINAL DOWNSHIFT FROM 2ND GEAR TO 1ST GEAR IS EXTREMELY VIOLENT. THE CAR RANDOMLY LUNGES FORWARD WHEN APPROACHING A FULL STOP. THIS HAS RESULTED IN A FEW NEAR-COLLISIONS. THE DEALERSHIP IS CURRENTLY TRYING TO DIAGNOSE ISSUE. THIS SEEMS TO BE A COMMON OCCURRENCE IN THIS PARTICULAR TRANSMISSION TYPE (DSG). *TR

INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6) I WAS DRIVING EAST ON INTERSTATE 95 WHEN THE ENGINE IN MY CAR (2007 VW GTI VIN: [XXX]) SUDDENLY LOST ALL POWER. I WAS IN THE THIRD LANE DRIVING AT APPROXIMATELY 70 MPH, TURNED THE AIR CONDITIONING ON AND A FEW SECONDS LATER, TURNED IT OFF. AT THAT INSTANT, THE CAR CEASED TO ACCELERATE. I PUT THE CAR IN NEUTRAL, TURNED ON MY HAZARD LIGHTS AND MANAGED TO SAFELY GLIDE OVER TO THE WARNING LANE, JUST BEYOND EXIT 22 OR JUST BEYOND THE OFF RAMP TO EXIT 21. I TRIED TO RESTART THE ENGINE TO NO AVAIL. THIS WAS A HIGHLY ALARMING INCIDENT SINCE THE CAR WAS JUST OVER THREE YEARS OLD AND HAD ONLY 64000 MILES ON IT AND WAS PROPERLY MAINTAINED SINCE I PURCHASED IT NEW IN 2007. I HAD SIMILAR PROBLEMS LAST YEAR BUT THE ACCELERATION OF THE CAR WOULD QUICKLY KICK BACK IN. THIS TIME HOWEVER, IT WENT COMPLETELY KAPUT. I REPORTED THE PREVIOUS INCIDENTS TO A VW DEALER AND THEY HAD A TERRIBLE TIME ASCERTAINING WHAT THE PROBLEM WAS. ULTIMATELY, THEY DETERMINED IT WAS A FUEL SENSOR ISSUE AND REPLACED THE FUEL SENSOR. AFTER THE APRIL 3RD INCIDENT, MY CAR WAS TOWED TO A VW DEALER WHERE IT WAS DETERMINED THAT MY TIMING BELT HAD BROKEN AND THAT AS A RESULT, THERE WAS DAMAGE DONE TO THE ENGINE TO THE TUNE OF APPROXIMATELY 6K. I WANT TO REPORT THIS SINCE THIS COULD EASILY HAVE OCCURRED IN THE HOLLAND TUNNEL FOR EXAMPLE OR ON A DARK ONE LANE ROAD. IT WAS A VERY SCARY EXPERIENCE AND I FEEL THAT THE MANUFACTURER SHOULD HAVE BEEN ABLE TO PREEMPT THIS FROM EVER HAPPENING. *TR

FREQUENTLY WHEN ACCELERATING FROM A STOP OR ACCELERATING AFTER SLOWING DOWN THE DSG TRANSMISSION SEEMS TO SELECT NEUTRAL FOR A SECOND OR TWO BEFORE SELECTING A GEAR. WHEN IT EVENTUALLY SELECTS A GEAR IT JERKS HARSHLY INDUCING WHEELSPIN. THIS HAPPENS IN ALL TYPES OF DRIVING CONDITIONS, BUT IS MORE LIKELY TO HAPPEN WHEN THE CAR IS COLD. MOSTLY, THIS IS JUST AN ANNOYANCE; HOWEVER, WHEN A TRUCK IS BEARING DOWN ON YOU WHILE YOU ARE MAKING A LEFT TURN IT CAN BE FRIGHTENING AND PERHAPS EVEN LIFE THREATENING. THE SERVICE MANAGER VW DEALER TELLS ME THIS IS NORMAL BEHAVIOR. HE IS WRONG. *TR

TL*THE CONTACT OWNS A 2007 VOLKSWAGEN GTI. THE CONTACT WAS DRIVING 75 MPH WHEN THE VEHICLE SHIFTED INTO NEUTRAL GEAR OWN ITS OWN. THE WARNING LIGHT ILLUMINATED ON THE DASHBOARD. THE VEHICLE LOST POWER AND BEGAN TO MOVE EXTREMELY SLOW WHICH COULD HAVE CAUSED A CRASH TO OCCUR. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOTIFIED ABOUT THE FAILURE. THE MANUFACTURER INFORMED THE CONTACT THAT HIS VEHICLE WAS PRODUCED 3 WEEKS BEFORE THE RECALL ON THE DSG TRANSMISSION AND THERE WAS NOTHING THAT THEY COULD DO. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 11,950 AND THE CURRENT MILEAGE WAS 12,100.