I have a 2001 jetta gls 2.0 and it just started shifting kind of hard about a month ago. It even shutters going up hills sometimes. I called various Volkswagen dealerships and they tell me that it is a maintainence free item and if it is shifting hard then perhaps your transmission is about to be toast and would cost about $5000 to replace. I would like to know if this is true. Is the transmission on a jetta a maintainnence free item or do I need to take it in and get it serviced from time to time.Is it possible that my transmission is about to fail completely and there is nothing I can do about it.Has anyone else experienced bad luck with Volkswagen Transmissions
I have the same car and haven't had any problems with the transmission. The only thing that I have changed is the clutch. Go for the cheap stuff first before you change the transmission, although I dont think it is. Try refilling the transmission fluid, changing the shifting gears, and lubricating the gears. Approximately 300-500 dollars instead of 5000. Good luck!!
The people that have answered above me are on CRACK. I work at a Volkswagen Dealer, specializing in transmissions. VW transmissions are the weak link in the car. I remove 4 to 5 transmissions a week, sometimes a day. The JACK-A-MO above has a MANUAL TRANSMISSION. With a Clutch. You have an automatic. A new transmission IS about 5000 dollars installed. Its the reason most people sell their Volkswagens. Volkswagen DOES NOT suggest EVER replacing the fluid, or servicing the Transmission. If you have a leak, then your fluid gets low, and it starts shifting wierd. But NOT ruff consistently. The transmisson WILL fail completley. Shifting RUFF is the beginning of the transmission failing. Their are people with success rebuilding the transmission about 40% of the time, but it doesn't seem to last for very long. But it might last long enough for you to get RID of the car. A junkyard Transmisson is at the junkyard probably because it failed. I would not suggest wasting your time with a transmission that's USED. You have to Idle the car and warm the transmisson fluid to 35 degree's Celcius with a Factory Scanner to set the correct transmisson fluid level.
