Manual Transmission Problems of Volkswagen New Beetle

02m transmission 6 speed; shift fork in 1st and 2nd gear fail, a small rivet is used to secure this fork (brass fork and steel shaft) together. My 1st and 2nd gear were hard to get into and progressively got worse over time; until the shift fork failed and 1st, 2nd gear are nonexistent; all other gears work fine. This is a known issue and widely reported problem on websites such as vwvortex. This particular car; 2002 New Beetle turbo s; only has about 70k which is low for a catastrophic failure such as this.

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The contact owns a 2004 Volkswagen New Beetle. The contact was traveling 45 mph uphill when the vehicle exhibited an unusual increase in engine rpms. The vehicle was taken to a local mechanic where the fly wheel and clutch were replaced. The current and failure mileage was 37,000. Updated 12/15/10. Updated 12/27/10.

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I bought a 2006 New Beetle convertible. It is a 5 speed. At approx. 10,000 miles it jerked, wouldn't shift and then was disabled in the fast lane of traffic. It was pushed onto the shoulder, towed back to dealer. I was then given instructions on how to drive a 5 speed (after approx. 35 year of it). I was also told that you cannot drive this 5 speed in traffic - you cannot let it get hot. I was also told I must be "driving my clutch". All in all - it was my fault it became a bucking bronco out there. Thank god I'm a driver. Vw has a wonderful 100,000 warranty on their drive train but they do not consider the clutch a part of the drive train. I have always said "go ahead - drive your car without your clutch fellas". At any rate - I have been painfully loyal to vw all my life. This was and is my first dog. I was told to give them $3,500 to fix my faulty flywheel assembly. I said no. Took it to 3 other places and they said "drive it". I did. I totally changed my driving habits to accommodate the car. No hills - no traffic. God forbid I was in traffic. Got off the road - on the shoulder. Stopped the car. Mind you - this is right from the beginning of my ownership. Everyone is all owner the consumer websites about this problem. I am so insulted by what vw did to us. In the meantime they quietly stopped making 5 speeds. Oh no kidding? why do you think that was?? so - no traffic, no hills - no hot days. It finally took it's last breath last week. And that $3000 is now due plus the $150 to tow it from where I was stranded. Little did I know everyone also had the headlight issues - sometimes yes. Sometimes no. The car is a death trap. For someone as ethnocentric as me the car is quite a disappointment. But far more disappointing is the way vw treated me. It had a manufacturing defect. Thousands have had it. I don't have the money for this. It is disgraceful. There should have been a recall. They knew all about it.

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I was driving and the clutch seemed to be different. It is hard to explain how but when you are the driver 99% of the time you kind of know. On Wednesday April 22 I depressed to clutch coming to a stop and heard a definite noise. Then as I was pulling off from the stop in 1st gear the car did not want to move easy. There was another noise as I was releasing the clutch, as well. There is just over 29000 miles on the 2006 vw New Beetle. I was able to continue without causing an incident. I thank god for helping me to recognize a problem and make slow easy moves. I hope there does not need to be an accident, death, fire to suspect a continuing problem with a car to lodge a complaint to review the cause.

Car was in for a recall on September 13, 2006 for the egr cooler. The dealer informed me that the flywheel was going bad. I told them that I thought it might be the master cylinder. They said that it was the flywheel and not the master cylinder. A month later the flywheel went bad causing the clutch to go bad. This was in the middle of traffic and made the car impossible to drive. Dealer was aware the flywheel was going bad but did not offer to repair it for me or inform me it was a warranty item. When the car was repaired the flywheel and the clutch were replaced. The dealer said they would cover the cost of the flywheel (parts only) because they had noticed it was going bad before this incident. But they did not cover the labor. In order to get to the flywheel, you have to get to the clutch. They should have been responsible for the labor and the flywheel. I have seen numerous complaints online in regards to this flywheel problem. I don't know if the old part is available. The dealer would probably know this.