Two problems related to transmission not go into gear have been reported for the 2003 Volkswagen New Beetle Convertible. The most recently reported issues are listed below.
2003 new vw beetle transmission issues. Please look into this. . . . Look on the vw forums and edmunds- there are 100s of complaints on this cars issues. I have a 2003 vw beetle convertible and it hard shifts downwards from 3rd to 2nd. I am told by the service advisor off the record that this is a problem with beetles in general, and he has seen over 100 in his one year with the company that need to be replaced. Mine has what many people have reported- brackets around all the drives (p,r,n,d,s) so the transmission does not know what gear it is in, it gets stuck in 3rd sometimes and I have to pull over to shut it off and restart it, and when it downshifts, the car jerks and pushes my head forward (this is an automatic, and does not downshift properly). Please investigate and recall. . . . Please please please. It is a very common problem, and we as consumers should not have to purchase new transmissions when there is obvious faults with these cars.
2003 vw New Beetle Convertible has a transmission flaw which results in jerky shifting between 2nd and 3rd gear causing whiplash to the driver as well as a hesitation (and high engine revving) shifting into 5th gear. This is an automatic transmission with some kind of shifting control problem. The transmission works fine when it is cool (first start driving) but gets worse as the car warms up. After 15 miles the transmission shifting is very jerky and unsettling. There is a hesitation and then a very hard clanking sound when shifting from park to reverse and neutral to drive. Highway driving is very dangerous due to hesitation between gears 4 and 5 at around 60 miles per hour. City street driving is dangerous due to the jerky shift into 3rd gear at around 20 miles per hour. This is happening 1 day after having the car in the vw shop for 4 days having the tiptronic gear shift control module replaced to address the problem. This condition has been happening to a lesser degree for several years. The car has had the transmission checked 4 times in 5 years to address the rough shifting condition. The vw dealers\service people report the transmission is operating as designed. The automatic transmission is not designed to jerk roughly between gears nor to hesitate between upper gears. Any hesitation at 55 to 60 mphs shifting from 4th to 5th gear (similar to pushing in the clutch but not shifting gears in a manual tranny) can result in someone running into teh rear end of the car. In a small vehicle like the beetle, a rear end collision at 60 mph can result is flipping the car and deaths. Please take action against vw America to address and resolve this unsafe condition. Thank you.