Two problems related to transmission not engage have been reported for the 2019 Volkswagen Jetta. The most recently reported issues are listed below. Please also check out the statistics and reliability analysis of the 2019 Volkswagen Jetta based on all problems reported for the 2019 Jetta.
Jetta s manual transmission. Clutch is burned after 10k miles/14 months of usage. Has shown problems for a while, dealer claims not able to reproduce. The issue is that clutch gets stuck after starting to move, and a strong burn smell comes from engine. This time car stalled while entering highway (1st gear, 2nd gear fails to engage, car goes in neutral and loses speed). Dealer says clutch is burned due to wear issue, assumes driver has been riding the clutch (false, I've driven manual cars for over 30 years), and wants authorization to verify fly wheel but warns it will be at least $2,200 to fix, unless some specific problem is found. Dealer says theere are no issues reported by vw.
I purchased this car in early may 2018. Early on, I experienced increasing rpm when the gas was released and the clutch engaged. A slight burning smell could be detected from the clutch some of the time. However, on 3 occasions, this malfunction was extraordinary, where the engine rpm soared very high and the clutch did not seem to fully disengage. On all three incidents, the burning smell was significant. With only 5800 miles, the dealership discovered that the clutch was worn to the rivets. Vw of America's response; �operator error� � not a warranty concern. Point of reference: I have owned / operated 8 cars with manual transmission over the past 43 years for a total of over 700,000 miles of driving. I have never needed to service a clutch under 100,000 miles of service. The dealership service department was not able to replicate this malfunction, as it only occurred a few times each month. Vw of America agrees it is very unusual to have a clutch wear so quickly, but also believes it is due to the way I drive the car and not covered by their warranty. 90% of my driving is on a 30 mile (interstate) segment between my home and o�hare airport (I am an airline pilot). I cannot imagine the deliberate effort it would take, or the pain in sitting through the kind of �normal� clutch action it would require to wear my clutch down to nothing in just 5800 miles. Vw of America gave me 30 days to accept their final offer: a reduced cost to me for the repair of my worn clutch. Vw is not acknowledging that there is anything mechanically wrong with my car or the operation of the manual clutch system. There is no concern for the ongoing issue once the clutch has been restored.