Two problems related to transmission gear slipping have been reported for the 2001 Volkswagen Jetta. The most recently reported issues are listed below. Please also check out the statistics and reliability analysis of the 2001 Volkswagen Jetta based on all problems reported for the 2001 Jetta.
Beware of this used car - it needs serious mechanical work. I test drove it and realized that the transmission slips, the timing chain rattles, and the a/c did not work.
2001 vw Jetta vr6 for years my automatic transmission has occasionally slipped while shifting between 2nd and 3rd gears. Also, my gear selector slips between "d" and "3" without an resistance. A couple of days ago, with my car being regularly maintained, this problem became persistent. Now, every time the car shifts from 2nd to 3rd the car shifts/bucks very hard. Also, the gear selector easily moves from "d" to "3" and while in "3" the dash still shows the car to be in "d". I'm afraid this is going to drop my transmission while driving. I've asked two different dealers and one said nothing can be done, while the other said that is very common with this car because vw put poor automatic transmissions in these cars. I also have the crayon smell in my car that does make me and my passengers somewhat ill feeling. However, I'm more concerned with my transmission.