Automatic Transmission problems of the 1999 Volkswagen Eurovan

1999 vw Eurovan camper transmission problem. The transmission has up to 5 seconds or more delay once in drive before the transmission engages & very hard downshifts from 4th gear to 3rd (automatic). Of note were the delays & hoops that the dealer forced me through. Had to pay hundreds of dollars for transmission service & a number of trips before they said they could pursue any warranty. Note - had taken car to a vw transmission company that rebuilds transmissions for vw across the nation. He drove the car & wouldn't service it because he said there was definitely a transmission problem including 1st to 2nd up-shifting as well. Vw service didn't help or care about transmission dealer's input. I forced dealer to escalate it to regional level that took more than 3 months to get any answer (with my nagging & checking a number of time). His decision was the long delay from park to drive was normal. Many more weeks later I had no answer to my original service complaint on the down-shift problem. When my warranty was almost up, I contacted vw America who said they had to respect dealers decision, and maybe see another dealer. We only have one dealer & the closest other dealership is 3. 5 hours away over a mountain pass. I then purchased $700 worth of extended warranty (2 years or 24,000 miles approx. Dec 2002) via a separate company with some hassles. The service manager, after I signed the paperwork, indicated that I should bring in the car in a few months (winking) & they'll see what they can do for me. Of course, I will never use this dealership to service my car. The question is, who is forcing them to ignore warranty & potentially dangerous service work in the apparent pursued of bottom line profit? the dealer is carrera motors of bend, oregon. Phone 541-382-1711. I have another year or 17,000 miles left on the warranty. I now have approximately 57,000 miles on the odometer. Let me know if there are similar situations out there. Thanks.