Automatic Transmission Gear Indicator problems of the 2006 Volkswagen Jetta

My Volkswagen Jetta tdi 2006 got the prnds flash of death, and I found out it was the mechatronic unit when I took it to the shop. I was driving on the highway going 75mph when the flashes started to occur. I couldn't give my engine any power and I started to decelerate at a quick pace, and the vehicle behind me almost hit me. This is a major saftey issue for me and for all other occupants on the highway, because my faulty car could have caused a major accident, that could have resulted in many injuries. I want to bring this attention to the NHTSA to, provide me with more information as to why the vehicle is faulty, and the amount of trouble I would be in if I didn't manage this situation like I did to protect myself and everyone else.

At highway speed, car suddenly went into neutral with a flashing prnds on the instrument cluster and "press brake pedal" indicator. Once pulled over on the road, car would lock in park and was unable to move the vehicle. Car has been diagnosed as having a faulty mechatronic unit. Previous recalls have been isssued for 2009-2010 mechatronics for the same issue, but not this 2006. Nhtsa action number is pe09035 and recall number is 09v333000 for the 2009-2010 cars. Volkswagen needs to realize the scope is far broader than just 2009-2010 cars. This vehicle also suffers from the driver's door wiring harness failure like many others (unable to lock doors, operate windows, etc).

While traveling on interstate 4 at 65 mph the automatic transmission went from drive to second gear by itself even though the gear selector was in drive, nearly putting me through the windshield had I not had my seat belt on. I managed to get onto the burm of the highway and stop. At this point transmission fluid was dumping all over the road and the car would no longer move and the digital gear selection light was flashing on and off continuous(prnd). Had it towed to my vw mechanic and they found that the electronic valve assembly had quit working and that the mech tronic clutch assembly was destroyed by it going from drive to 2nd . After researching on the internet, I found that vw has known about this problem and has sent out letters to customers that have 2007-2010 vehicles with this same transmission that they would replace their defective transmissions under an extended warranty or re-imburse them for repairs if done prior to this letter up to 100000 miles. I contacted vw USA and asked about my car and was told because my car was a 2006 it wasn't covered even though I got them to admit that it was the same transmission that was used for 2005. 5 through 2010.

I was sitting in traffic in minneapolis mn. The light turned green, traffic moved and when I pressed on the accelerator, the engine sped up as if it was in neutral. The shift selector was in d for drive. The prndl indicator on the dash flashed red with all five letters illuminated. I tried turning off the ignition and turning it back on with the same results. No movement with engine accelerating. After being pushed into a parking lot by passersby, I tried again and the transmission worked as it was supposed to. After researching the problem on the internet, I find that it is a common vw problem and the NHTSA action number is pe09035 opened July 17, 2009 covering 2008 and 2009 models. My tdi is a 2006 model purchased in may 2007 because vw kept selling 2006 tdis in 2007. There were no 2007 vw Jetta tdis.

The car looses power/ acceleration while im driving, the prnds light and others start going on and flashing on dash. Its in the dealership as of March 12, 2012 and they are charging me for changing the metatronic unit in the transmission. Vw had a recall done on the 2008-2010 vw's with the dsg transmissions but not the earlier ones like mine 2006. I am experiencing the same thing as the others have and am wondering why is my car/ year is not included in the recall. I have the same bad transmission in my car that they produced in the later years. I need to get my car fixed, this is a big safety issue to me and my family.

Driving home on country road in the pouring down rain when at about 50 mph the engine rpm revved, dash warning lights lit, flashed and rang. The prnd was flashing. Luckily a driveway was nearby to get out of traffic. Knew at this point what had happened because we had the very same thing happen in October of 2009. Megatronics unit had failed and was replaced at a cost of $1900. Called dealership for appointment on June 8th. Happened again 5 times on way to dealership. Told from diagnostic test that it had a bad steering angle sensor and gateway module. No parts were available. Had to take car 70+ miles back home. The car malfunctioned on the way home in a construction zone. Felt it was unsafe to drive any further. Stopped at a different dealership. Left car for them to diagnose. Found a second bad megatronics unit. Replaced under warranty from the first replacement. I feel that this car needs to be recalled for the safety concern that the vehicle loses power at any given time, in any road situation you can think of. You cannot always be prepared to react to this. You have no power to get out of harms way. The only way to correct this is to shut the car off and restart and hope it works. Previous odi #10286197.

While driving a 2006 vw Jetta diesel, all power was lost to the drive wheels with the prnds display on the dashboard flashing. Car has 46,000 miles on it. This has been referred to as a false neutral. I was able to coast to the road side, turn off the car and restart it with normal function of 300 yards then problem repeated requiring a tow to the dealer. A failure of the mechatronix unit in the dsg was discovered and part replaced. A similar issue had occurred at around 10, 000 miles , was looked at by the dealer with no issue found.

My 2006 vw Jetta tdi stopped moving while driving to work on Jan 4th, 2010. There were no signs of issues prior to the break down. The engine was running fine, the prnds light on the dash were flashing and the car's transmission would not respond. After having the car towed to our local vw dealer we found that the transmission went in to fail safe mode due to a dsg system failure. Per our service rep the mechatronic unit failed due to over heating. Our vehicle is in-operable and the repair part needed will take 2 weeks or more to receive as there is a recall on the same part for the same failure for 2007-2009 vw's and Audi's. Our vehicle is out of warranty, vw denied that this issue is apart of the recall as our VIN does not fit the recall list. They agreed to allow the repair under warranty pricing and pay half for the repair; this will cost me $1254 to repair their known issue.

2006. 5 Volkswagen Jetta tdi experiencing slow gear changes from park to reverse or park to first gear taking over 30 seconds to select gear electronically. Shifting from lower gear to higher gear results in engine revving high before shift is actually made resulting in jerking vehicle motion or a stalled motor condition. Slow speed maneuvering such as slow turns and partial stops results in the vehicle losing forward power for several seconds before the engine revs high again and shifts into gear. At 30 mph vehicle has dropped out of gear resulting in vehicle needing to be guided to the shoulder and powered off and back on before forward motion can be resumed. Vehicle also will display flashing prnds display on dashboard on resuming forward motion resulting in the transmission to disengage and requires the vehicle to be stopped, shut off, and then powered back on. Vehicle is exhibiting no mechanical noise, smell, or error codes in the computer. Dealer has confirmed there is a malfunctioning mechatronic unit and vwoa has confirmed they will not cover under their recall campaign despite these symptoms leading to the campaign in question. Volkswagen customer service has denied a further inquiry into the manufacturing dates of the mechatronics units and their technical revisions, only going off vehicle model years and build dates despite other 2006 owners reporting identical circumstances with their vehicles. Technicians advised against further driving of the vehicle as there was significant risk of failure that may leave the vehicle immobile in traffic. Technicians were also able to readily reconstruct the issue on their own proving this is not caused by driving style. Repair cost of over $4000 to replace faulty part will need to be covered by the owner in order to resume normal operation on this vehicle.

1st complaint odi #10278262 filed on 7/24/09 for 2006 Jetta tdi: "prior to the event listed below, we noticed that the car was not performing as it normally would. We were stopped at a traffic signal in a construction zone, light turned green proceeded to accelerate, car moved 10 feet, rpm went high and it was as if the car was in neutral. Had enough momentum to reach the side of the road. Prnd was lit up and flashing and the power steering system symbol had erratic flashing. Tried park, neutral, reverse nothing happened. Put the car in park and shut off engine. Restarted engine and it allowed us to drive off. Went approximately 10 miles driving at about 55 mph, thought we seen an animal and let off the accelerator. Upon trying to accelerate, incident described above happened again, this time a check engine light appeared. Before calling the dealer we did a search and came across this site. Our vehicle had a dsg transmission service (for a cost of $286. 75) at 43,703 miles and the car now has 71,491 miles. This vehicle also has a problem at times, that was reported to the dealer on June 5, 2007 and nothing was done about it, on cold start up, putting it in gear and having a very severe jerking, almost to the point that it might stall the engine. " update 10-3- for fear of having another occurrence, the car was towed (70+ miles) to dealer in late August, diagnosis was it needed a new mechatronics unit. Delivery time for part was over a month. Talked to mechanic at vw, he recommended to not drive the car for safety reasons. Late September was notified part was in, towed car a second time (70+ miles) to dealer where mechatron unit was replaced, at a cost to me of $1,826. 10. Some repair cost was picked up by vw. So far 100+ miles since repair - seems to be fine. This has not been a very pleasant experience. It is a serious safety issue and we just hope this resolved the issue.

The car jumps into gear and lurches because of a hydraulic brake switch in the master cylinder that appears to tick or be delayed in transmitting the on /ff signal to the accelerator circuit which during the delay appears unresponsive as it is designed not to alow accellerating in gear while the brake is on. When the brake switch turns off , delayed up to 5 seconds, the car lurches forward as the driver expects that the accelerator is not working and keeps preassing on the gas. This lurch is very unsagfe and caused by a sticky or delayed brake switch. I have had the switch replaced once already but all of the switches appear to behave in the same unsafe, delayed manner. To reproduce the delay, put an automatic transmission 2006 Jetta tdi into drive and watch the "foot on brake" indicator on the dashborad turn off 1-5 seconds after the foot is taken off the brake.