NHTSA Complaint #10839081 — 2005 VOLKSWAGEN BEETLE

I BOUGHT A USED 2005 VW NEW BEETLE WITH TRIPTONIC TRANSMISSION WITH 82,000 MILES A FEW WEEKS AGO. VERY QUICKLY THE CAR STARTED HAVING TRANSMISSION ISSUES WHICH APPEAR WHEN THE CAR HAS WARMED UP AFTER ~10/15 MINS. THE PROBLEM I'M EXPERIENCING IS THAT THE CAR WILL NOT SHIFT SMOOTHLY WHEN RUNNING BETWEEN THE 3 AND 4TH GEAR AND OFTEN REVS UP TO 5000 RPM BEFORE IT "CLUNKS" INTO HIGHER GEAR. IT'S ALSO HARD SHIFTING VERY ABRUPTLY SOMETIMES WHICH GIVES ME VERY LITTLE CONFIDENCE IN DRIVING THE CAR. IT SEEMS UNSAFE TO DRIVE AS IT SUDDENLY LUNGES FORWARD OR GETS STUCK IN GEAR AND DOESN'T ACCELERATE. ONE OF THE WORST INCIDENT FOR ME WAS WHILE IN TRAFFIC GOING SLIGHTLY UPHILL THE CAR GOT STUCK IN THIRD AND STARTED REVVING UP WITHOUT ACCELERATING AND I ALMOST GOT HIT BY A CAR BEHIND WHO DIDN'T EXPECT MY CAR TO MOVE SO SLOWLY. I TOOK THE CAR TO A VOLKSWAGEN DEALERSHIP AND THEY DIDN'T FIND ANYTHING WEIRD THE FIRST TIME WHEN I TOOK IT FOR THE 80.000 MILES REVISION. AFTER REPEATEDLY EXPERIENCING THE ISSUE I TOOK IT AGAIN TO THE DEALERSHIP TO EXPLICITLY CHECK THE TRANSMISSION AND THEY RECOMMENDED TO CHANGE THE VALVE BODY OF THE TRANSMISSION. I HAVE NOW READ A LOT OF INFORMATION ON THE INTERNET AND THIS IS A VERY WELL KNOWN ISSUE BY VW AS WELL AS BY MANY PEOPLE WHO OWN BEETLES WITH TRIPTRONIC TRANSMISSION. VW EXTENDED THE WARRANTY OF THE VALVE BODY OF THE TRANSMISSION TO 7 YEARS OR 100.000 MILES WHICHEVER HAPPENS FIRST. UNFORTUNATELY THEY DIDN'T WANT TO COVER THE REPLACEMENT FOR MY CAR SINCE IT'S 2016 AND THE 7 YEARS WARRANTY EXPIRED IN 2012 FOR THIS CASE. THIS IS EXTREMELY DISAPPOINTING AND I FEEL SCAMMED BY VW NOT WANTING TO COVER FOR AN ISSUE THAT'S VERY WELL KNOWN BY THEM. THEY SOLD DEFECTIVE CARS AND KNOW PERFECTLY WELL THAT THE TRANSMISSION IS FAILING WAY FASTER THAN IT SHOULD YET THEY NOW DISMISS THIS BECAUSE OF THE AGE OF THE CAR.