2002 Volkswagen Beetle Transmission and drivetrain Problems

“I have a 2002 vw new Beetle with an automatic transmission that has failed with 220,000 miles on it. It began to slip and not down shift properly at 170,000 miles. It is a diesel and I expect the engine will continue to perform for another 3 to 400 thousand miles. Has vw been honest with the consumer about its track history of transmission failures in the new Beetle? Please add my new Beetle to the list of automatic transmission complaints.”

“Clutch needs to be replaced in my 2002 vw new Beetle. I commute 200 miles a day.. All freeway.. And after purchasing the car used and using it for 5 months, the clutch needs replacing already. I have almost always owned manual transmission automobiles and have never had a clutch problem. I do not drive a lot using the clutch seeing as most of my driving is on the highway. I am glad I noticed this problem early and was only driving to the store instead of on the freeway.”

“I purchased this like new vw super Beetle on dec 31 04. It had only 17000 miles on it. Since that time I have had the transmission modulator on it changed, and in the shop 6 time for a transmission problem. When the car has been sitting for an hour or so it will hesitate then slam into 2nd gear. It causes me and passengers to lunge foward then back. I am told this is a charaturistic of vw and should just ignore it or get use to it.”

“Over the past two months, I have experienced problems shifting in between gears. The problem began on a road trip to houston, tx and was stuck on a back highway in low gear in the middle on nowhere. After bringing the car to a stop and restarting the vehicle it worked for some time but the issue progressively got worse over the last two months. I live in nacogdoches, tx where there are many hills throughout town, this past friday on my way home from school my car would not shift gears and I could not get over the hills. …”

“After driving the car for about 20 minutes, I stopped at a redlight. When the light turned green, my car acted like it did not have a lot of power and would not shift into 2nd and 3rd gears without over revving. Whenever I slowed back down, the car abruptly and severely downshifts. The shift is hard enough that it slings me forward. I fear that I will soon be rearended because of this. I do not feel safe to drive my car. This occurrence happens sporadically and I can't get it fixed until a mechanic witnesses it happening.”