One problem related to noises during shifting has been reported for the 2008 Volkswagen Jetta. The most recently reported issues are listed below. Please also check out the statistics and reliability analysis of the 2008 Volkswagen Jetta based on all problems reported for the 2008 Jetta.
I drive a 2008 vw Jetta wolfsburg edition equipped with the dsg (direct shift gearbox) transmission. After driving the car for about 1000 miles I started to noticed very harsh 2 to 1 downshifts and surging while in drive. By the harsh downshift I mean when slowing down coming to a stop when the gearbox would shift from 2nd gear down into 1st gear I would always experience a loud metallic "clunk" noise. In regards to the surging while in drive I mean when at a dead stop and you give even/slight pedal pressure on the accelerator the car would surge forward over and over again like you were stepping on the gas and then letting off. This characteristic was very prevalent on an incline. The vw dealership I work with diagnosed the problem as a faulty mechatronics unit which controls the functions of the complex dsg transmission. It was replaced at 5000 miles. After driving with the new mechatronics unit installed for roughly 6000 more miles I started to now experience the same surging issues but when the car was in reverse. I also noticed that the rpm's would always drop like the engine was going to stall everytime I would shift into drive from park. And lastly when starting from a stop, applying even accelerator pedal pressure, the car would always "jump" off the line. Brought it into the vw dealership again and they ended up replacing the whole transmission. After the new dsg transmission has been installed the car drives very smooth now with no surging and no harsh 2 to 1 downshifts. The new trans only has 300 miles on it currently but I hope the same issues do not occur again.