NHTSA Complaint #10761149 — 2005 VOLKSWAGEN BEETLE

PROBLEMS WITH SHIFTING BETWEEN 3RD & 4TH GEARS, LURCHING, AND LAGGING. I CALLED THE DEALER, GAVE THE SYMPTOMS AND ASKED WHAT THEY THOUGHT THE PROBLEM COULD BE, THEY INSISTED THEY HADN'T HEARD OF VW'S DOING THAT. MY CAR CONTINUED TO DECLINE, BECOMING STUCK IN A GEAR, VIOLENTLY LURCHING, STALLING, AND ALL GEARS LIT UP(BRACKETED) ON THE DASH. WHEN I TOOK CAR TO VW NOV 2011, 80,000 MILES, FIRST THEY SAID THEY COULDN'T DUPLICATE, BUT I PERSISTED EXPLAINING MY HORRIBLE, LURCHING DRIVE INTO WORK, WHERE I STALLED SEVERAL TIMES ALMOST GETTING HIT, AND HOW I COULDN'T PUT THE CHILDREN I CARE FOR IN MY CAR FOR FEAR OF SOMEONE HITTING MY STALLED VEHICLE. THE VW MECHANIC TALKED ME INTO FLUSHING OUT THE TRANS AND CHECKING THE MAGNET($560). HE SAID 80% CHANCE IT WAS MY TRANS(QUOTED $6,000), EVEN AFTER THERE WERE NO METAL SHAVINGS IN THE PAN, OR SAID IT COULD BE THE VALVE BODY(QUOTED $1,600), BUT THEY WOULDN'T KNOW UNTIL AFTER THE REPAIR. I HAVE DRIVEN OTHER CARS WELL BEYOND 200,000 MILES WITHOUT HAVING A TRANS ISSUE, SO WAS SHOCKED THE TRANS COULD BE BAD AT 80,000 MILES! I TOOK GOOD CARE OF MY CAR, AND DROVE HER KINDLY. THE MECHANIC DENIED TRANS ISSUES BEING COMMON FOR BEETLES. I PAID THE $560, AND THERE WASN'T AN IMPROVEMENT. I FOUND OUT ABOUT THE EXTENDED WARRANTY ON THE VALVE BODY TOO LATE(EVEN THOUGH IT WAS IN EFFECT WHEN I TOOK MY CAR IN FOR SERVICE!) I WAS SCARED EVERY TIME I DROVE, AND IRATE ONCE I LEARNED THROUGH ONLINE SEARCH THAT FAULTY TRANSMISSIONS ARE A HUGELY KNOWN PROBLEM AND VW WON'T FESS UP AND FIX THEIR PROBLEM!! AFTER THE TRANS BLEW ON THE INTERSTATE(THAT WAS TERRIFYING HAVING A TRANS GO AT 70MPH AND I AM SO THANKFUL I WAS ABLE TO GUIDE MY CAR TO THE SHOULDER OF THE ROAD BEFORE I WAS HIT!!), THE BEETLE SAT IN MY DRIVEWAY WHILE I STILL MADE PAYMENTS ON IT FOR SEVERAL MONTHS. PLEASE INVESTIGATE AND FORCE VOLKSWAGEN TO RECALL THESE DANGEROUS TRANSMISSIONS!!