Four problems related to automatic transmission have been reported for the 2009 Volkswagen GTI. The most recently reported issues are listed below.
I purchased the car in the beginning of July 2009, noticed weird shifting but figured it was part of car break in process. Now I notice it happen almost daily. The car shifts harshly during acceleration and deceleration. It jerks forward a lot during bumper to bumper traffic. Lately the car will hesitate when going from complete stop to forward then "buck" forward.
The car had been driven for ~20 minutes, then sat for ~45 minutes, and then was driven for an additional 20 minutes before the event occurred, leading me to believe that the engine and transmission were both up to normal operating temperature. The vehicle was exiting a right hand turn and accelerating when the engine rev's shot up to redline and there was no power going to the wheels, only forward momentum kept the car going. It was as if the car was suddenly put into neutral. The indicator on the display was still indicating that the car was in drive. The car was then pulled over to the side of the road, and while still in drive, when the gas pedal was pressed only the rev's shot up with no power to the wheels, exactly as it would in neutral. The ignition was switched off and back on, and the car then operated normally. This was a brand new car with less than 200 miles on it. It has only happened one time. We are currently not driving the vehicle. I'm not sure if this is considered a automatic or manual transmission, but it was a dsg transmission. I will submit it as automatic.
The dsg transmission randomly goes into neutral. Happened to me on the highway, had to stop the car, and turn it off to put the car back in gear. Luckily I was next to the shoulder already since I was taking the car in to the dealership for this problem.
Purchased 2009 vw Gti with dsg transmission in October 2008. Transmission seemed fine until about 7000 miles. Dsg started to have jerky/hard shifts in lower gears 1/2/3 and below 10mph would have surging during light acceleration or coasting to stop. From stopped position would also jerk forward with only a slight throttle input. Problems seems to be only after the car has been driven15-20 minutes and gets hot. When the car is cold it drives normal. Symptoms also seem worse during bumper to bumper traffic when more demand on lower gears and more heat. There is sometimes a noticeable clunking sound when dsg is down shifting from 2-1 and sometimes after the car has come to a stop and need to creep forward (still in 1st gear) will get the clunking sound and like the car almost stalls. All these symptoms happen in either d/s/m mode but reverse gear has no problems. Have asked the vw dealer where I bought the car about this problem and they say they can not reproduce the symptoms.