NHTSA Complaint #10536653 — 2005 VOLKSWAGEN BEETLE

UPON INCREASING SPEED VEHICLE SHIFTS EXTREMELY HARD ESPECIALLY IN LOW GEARS. A DECREASE IN SPEED ALSO RESULTS IN EXTREMELY HARD DOWNSHIFTING. SOMETIMES CAR WILL NOT SHIFT. UPON SLOWING DOWN AT SAME RED LIGHT TWO DAYS IN A ROW CAR APPEARS TO DROP INTO FIRST GEAR, BUT THEN BEGINS TO TRY TO ROLL BACK UPON RELEASING THE BREAK. THIS PARTICULAR LIGHT IS ON A HILL WITH 3 LANES OF TRAFFIC. I HAD TO SWITCH THE CAR OFF, SHIFT INTO PARK, AND THEN CRANK THE CAR AGAIN FOR IT TO CATCH FIRST TO BE ABLE TO MOVE FORWARD. I CALLED VW DEALERSHIPS WITH NO RETURN CALL. FINALLY GOT A SVC MGR. COULD NOT TELL ME ANYTHING. GAVE ME AN 800 PHONE # TO CALL. I WAS TOLD THE EXTENDED WARRANTY HAD RUN OUT IN NOV OF 2012 EVEN THOUGH MY CAR WAS STILL UNDER THE 100,000 MILES. I WAS ALSO INFORMED THAT I SHOULD HAVE CALLED THAT NUMBER WHEN I BOUGHT THE CAR TO "REGISTER" IT IN MY NAME WITH VW. I RECEIVED NO INFORMATION AT PURCHASE, AND WITH THIS BEING MY 8TH VEHICLE IT WAS THE FIRST I WAS TOLD I HAD TO CALL THE MAKER TO REGISTER IT WITH. I AM SCARED WHEN I HAVE TO DRIVE MY CAR TO WORK EVERY DAY. *TR