2002 Volkswagen NEW Beetle Transmission and drivetrain Problems

“Vw 2002 turbo beetle suddenly started to lose power, cut out in traffic a couple of times. Took it into the dealership as an emergency. Was told the clutch was bad at less than 25k on the speedometer? Part not covered by powertrain warranty - hidden warranty, so they wanted $1800 to fix. I have been driving manual transmissions for 30-years, never had a transmission or clutch problem even on cars with over 200k on clock. They charged me $300 to tear down clutch, vw maintained driver outside influences. …”

“The clutch on 2002 beetle 1.8 turbo went out on my wife on I-40 in amarillo. The car would not accelerate and she was going 30 miles per hour in heavy traffic on the interstate. She was able to move across two lanes and exit the interstate without incident. The vw clutches in the 1.8 turbos seem to be having very early failure. The clutch was replaced for $1450.00 and not covered by warranty. I have requested to see the old parts. I have read that the new clutch and flywheel have different part numbers than original.”

“The transmission in my 2002 New Beetle fails to engage for a second or two after the car has been sitting for a while. Doesn't do it at other times, only when the car has been sitting an hour or more. Dealership replaced transmission module twice (two different dealerships) and the third and fourth time I brought it in with the same complaint, they said it was normal for the transmission to behave this way. Inherent to the design of the transmission was this small delay for emissions reasons. I am not buying it, not with all the other issues I have had with this car. …”

“Vw 2002 turbo beetle had an epc light come on. The car was loosing power and would cut off at times (in traffic). I took it in and they said that it a problem with the vacuum on the turbo. The receipt shows that they replaced a switch. About a few weeks later, the car started loosing power again. I called the dealership and brought it in. I was told that the car's clutch was out and that I needed a new clutch & flywheel. The estimate was $1800 to repair. The car has about 27,000 miles (probably less). The powertrain warranty does not cover the clutch even at 27,000 miles. …”

“Car downshifts extremely hard when coming to a stop, causing driver and passengers to be lunged forward in their seat.. Dealer states that this is a characteristic of the car. Problem is intermittent and increases when vehicle is warmed up. On occasion downshift occurred so hard that I thought I was just rear -ended by another car. I bought the car for my wife and now she is afraid to drive it.”