Comments: 1-15, 16-19
Drive shaft broken.
Transmission Blew.
We recently purchased a 2003 Jetta 1.8T, 6 weeks ago to be exact. We decided to drive the car for a weekend vacation which was 450 miles away from home. We started to notice problems with the car approx. 100 miles into the trip. When we would give the car some gas, the steering wheel would vibrate as if there was a wheel out of balance. When the gas was released, the vibration would stop. We called the dealer and told them the problem that we were having and the dealer set up a service date for us and ended the conversation with the car will be fine and it won't break down on you. Approximately 85 miles from our final destination, the car made a large crack and it sounded like there were just parts dragging underneath the vehicle. We finally got the diagnosis of the vehicle and we were told that the drive shaft bolts came loose and sheared off and that when the drive shaft came loose, it tore a big hole in the side of our transmission.
The car is now 450 miles away from us and we are required to drive back the shop that it is sitting at to pick the vehicle up when the car is ready. We had to pay for a rental out of our own pocket, hoping to one day be reimbursed from VW.
This car is an absolute piece of junk and we will never ever buy another VW!! We are actually contacting a lawyer today and plan on doing a "dealer buy back" and hopefully walk away from this mess.
Hi.
We have Jetta 2003 1.8T and recently, we have a problem where the car is hard to go forward or backward.
We hear clunking noise while shifting from P to R or d.
Not sure what is wrong. car has 23000 miles.
I have a 2003 Jetta GL automatic. I am also having transmission problems. The car has been to the VW dealership twice and all they do is reset the computer (unplug the battery) But the car does not shift properly- It sounds as though the transmission is going to fall out. If you have ever driven a standard vehicle and dropped the clutch- that's how my Jetta drives. Also when going from P to D there is about a 30 second delay where the car without my foot on the break would roll down the road!!! VW says "don't know what to tell you" I say LEMON!!! I also called Vw direct and asked if once my warranty expires and the transmission falls to the ground if they are gonna warranty that since it was an ongoing problem... he words exactly were probably not!!!
HELP.
I have a GLS 2.0L Jetta with a manual transmission. I have have had the transmission replaced twice already, and I only have 30,000 miles on the car. The first time no one at the dealer could provide an explanation as to why the car was grinding when I turned, but after 3 weeks of "diagnosis" by the dealer and the regional Volkswagen quality technician, they replaced the original transmission. Most recently, the second transmission failed while I was visiting relatives in another city for Christmas and had to be towed to the dealer on Christmas Day. This time a bearing failed while I was driving down the freeway. All of this is under warranty, but how much can I be expected to put up with? It has been another 3 weeks and I am expected to return to the dealer out of town to pick up my car. I have been told I am to submit my rental car receipt to Volkswagen for reimbursement, but the customer service representative could not confirm whether they would reimburse the entire amount.
Hello, I have a 2003 Jetta 1.8T 5 speed. One week after buying the car I started having problems starting the car in morning. Three days later it died. I took the car in and they told me it was a turbo pack problem. It seemed like every 10,000 miles for the first 40K, I had the same problem over and over again. So far, I've had 6 turbo packs go bad, the starter, various other electrical problems including 4 stereo's and various lights. The worst problem was when the heated seats caught my suit on fire one morning when I was driving to work. When I took my car into the dealer, all they did was replace the seat... I never got a sorry your suit is ruined nothing... when I called VW, I got the same run around. I won't let my wife drive the car because I'm afraid the car might blow up and kill her.
I have a 2003 Jetta and never had such problems, 85000 kms and agency services, beautiful car, sorry for you.
I have a 2003 1.8t Jetta and have experienced some problems, although nothing to do with the engine or transmission. The cruise control switch stopped working; the stereo and 1 speaker were replaced; the battery died one day; the driver's side door "thought" it was always closed, so the alarm wouldn't work - they had to replace the door latch or something to that effect; and finally, there is an intermittent noise, which sounds like one of the belts, but I have not figured out yet; and the dealer mechanics haven't noticed it, because, as it's usually the case, the car never does it when it's at the dealer.
I must say however, that my driving experience of the car is superb. I have taken it almost to the limit in some windy roads close to home (with a nice set of Michelins Pilot Exalto A/S of course), and have been more than satisfied. I also like the responsiveness and nimbleness of the turbo. I guess this has made me overlook somewhat the aforementioned problems. Good luck to all of you.
Oh, one final comment. I think it takes a little too long for the AC to cool the car down, longer than my backup 1990 Toyota! This is important for me, as I live in toasty Arizona. But oh well.
I have a 2003 jetta gls with automatic transmission and I have been having problems with the transmission. The car slows down dramatically when going up a hill and jerks when sifting gears. I have taken the car to the dealer many of times and they tell me it is working up to volkswagen standards.
I have a 2003 Jetta (automatic), which has the same / similar issues with the transmission. The Dealer gave me a Manufacturer Posting which explains why the car has a delay when first engaging the D from Park. OK, I can buy that, but my transmission jerks VERY HARD when going up or down a hill which causes the car to change gears. Has anyone had any luck with this issue?
I have the same problems like them.
I have a 2003 Jetta GL automatic. I am also having transmission problems. The car has been to the VW dealership twice and all they do is reset the computer (unplug the battery), but the car does not shift properly - It sounds as though the transmission is going to fall out.
If you have ever driven a standard vehicle and dropped the clutch - that's how my Jetta drives.
Also when going from P to D, there is about a 30 second delay where the car without my foot on the brake would roll down the road!!! VW says "don't know what to tell you" I say LEMON!!!
I also called VW direct and asked if once my warranty expires and the transmission falls to the ground, if they are gonna warranty that since it was an ongoing problem... the words exactly were probably not!!!
HELP.
"5th Sep 2007, 13:20
I have a 2003 Jetta (automatic), which has the same / similar issues with the transmission. The Dealer gave me a Manufacturer Posting which explains why the car has a delay when first engaging the D from Park. OK, I can buy that, but my transmission jerks VERY HARD when going up or down a hill which causes the car to change gears. Has anyone had any luck with this issue?"
REPLY
I had the same issue with my 2002 VW 1.8t Jetta. It's a faulty transmission (most often in the turbo charged models). Dealer replaced the transmission and the transmission module and not it's working fine. Take it to another VW dealer, and as long as it's under 5 years or 50,000 miles, they will replace the transmission for free.
I bought an '03 Jetta Wolfsburg 1.8T used. I'm not sure if anything is wrong, but it seems that the turbo does not always kick in. Sometimes the turbo works just fine, but other times its like its not even there. Can anyone help?
I have a 1999 jetta vr6 the transmission slips in first gear. at first the transmission works fine, but when it warms up the slippage starts and will get worse the more you drive. have had it back to the dealer numerous times, changed the throttle body, but did not fix the problem. any thoughts are appreciated.
I have a 2003 jetta and I have had nothing but trouble with it. My car will NOT start in the winter. Even when it is not even that cold out it takes several tries for it to finally get going. Also, when going from park to reverse or drive there is always a big jerk... does anyone know what I can do to get my car to start all of the time. I live in new england and with the cold winters, it never starts!
Same deal here in NH, I have a 2003 Jetta w/Automatic and when it's cold the transmission sometimes jerks hard from 2nd to 3rd, I swear to god it's going to explode. The VW Dealer said it's a valve in the transmission. Also Temperature gauge works when it wants to, CD Player quit, if I run the radio too loud/too long it starts cutting out (overheating) Frozen window - mechanism let go and window fell inside the door (nice huh) Can't wait til the timing belt goes!!
Jack.
I also have a 2003 Jetta, no turbo smallest engine. I got the car in the dead of winter and noticed a month later that when it would shift from 1st/2nd and 2nd/3rd that like others, it sounds like the transmission is falling out. I've had drinks spilled in my cup holders it is so violent. I took it into the place where I purchased it and was told to take it to the dealer they did not service transmissions. After replacing the entire computer module for the transmission (thank god for the extended warranty), it was spring time and warm and the problem went away. When it got cold again in December the problem started back up. I was waiting until more problems cropped up, when the check engine light came on. I took it into the dealership almost two weeks ago. They couldn't recreate the transmission issue, but found that the drive shaft was cracked and about half a dozen sensors were out/malfunctioning. I know it happens so what can I do other than throw my hands up with joy that I bought the extended warranty?
Also the other issue that I am having is that when they did the initial transmission work, when I got the car back and took it on the highway, after driving sustained over 70mph, the speedometer falls back to 65mph and stays there even though you can see the rpm's are increasing. The speed that it is reading only reflects 65 which is wrong. Don't know if that will be fixed this go around or not or how it is related to the transmission work being done.
I won't know until next winter if the drive shaft was the transmission issue or not. So far, I've been very disappointed in the car the first year and a half I've had it.