2003 Volkswagen Gti

HARD DOWNSHIFTS FROM 4TH GEAR TO 2ND GEAR TO 1ST GEAR CAUSE VEHICLE TO SLOW ABRUPTLY AND WITHOUT WARNING. WHEN APPROACHING A RED LIGHT OR STOP SIGN, TRANSMISSION SHIFTS UNEXPECTEDLY FROM FOURTH TO SECOND GEAR AND THEN TO FIRST GEAR WITH NO WARNING TO VEHICLE BEHIND (NOT BREAKING HEAVILY) CAUSING NEAR COLLISIONS. FIVE SPEED AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION WITH TIPTRONIC FEATURE CAUSES SUDDEN DECELERATION ENDANGERING OCCUPANTS WITH POSSIBLE COLLISION WITH TRAILING VEHICLE. *TR

I HAD A TOTAL LOSS OF CLUTCH HYDRAULIC PRESSURE ON 6 SPEED MANUAL TRANSMISSION. THE PEDAL WAS STUCK TO THE FLOOR AND I HAD TO MOVE IT BACK UP WITH MY HAND. I THEN DEPRESSED IT AGAIN WITH MY FOOT AND THE SAME RESULTS. I'VE DONE SOME RESEARCH ON VW ENTHUSIAST WEB SITES SEEING IT''S A COMMON PROBLEM AMONGST 6 SPEED MANUAL TRANSMISSION .FROM THAT CONCLUSION I FIGURED IT WAS EITHER THE MASTER CYLINDER OR SLAVE CYLINDER. I HAD THE CAR TOWED TO THE DEALER, AND IT WAS DISCOVER A BAD SLAVE CYLINDER. OBVIOUSLY IT IS A TREND AND A COSTLY ONE AT THAT. SINCE THE SLAVE CYLINDER IS LOCATED IN THE BELL HOUSING, IT LEAKED HYDRAULIC FLUID ALL OVER MY CLUTCH. SO NOW I HAVE TO REPLACE A PERFECTLY GOOD CLUTCH. *AK

I HAVE TAKEN MY '03 GTI VR6 TO THE DEALER 3 TIMES FOR THE SAME COMPLAINT. WHEN IT IS RAINING, THERE IS A SQUEALING NOISE COMING FROM THE PASSENGER SIDE OF THE CAR. DEALER COULD NOT REPLICATE THE PROBLEM EACH TIME I BROUGHT THE CAR TO THEM. THEY SAID THAT IT COULD BE THE BELT BUT IT WOULD NOT BE COVERED UNDER WARRANTY. I REPLACED THE BELT MYSELF AND I STILL GET THE SQUEALING NOISE, EVEN WITH BELT DRESSING. I HAVE ALSO NOTICED A DECREASE IN ENGINE POWER WHEN THE SQUEALING NOISE IS OCCURRING. MY MOST RECENT PROBLEM NOW IS MY SPEEDOMETER AND FUEL GAUGE STOP WORKING INTERMITTENTLY. THE SPEEDO WILL BE READING MY CURRENT SPEED AND THEN DROP TO ZERO, BOUNCE BACK UP AND BACK DOWN TO ZERO, UP A LITTLE BIT MORE AND THEN STAY AT ZERO UNTIL THE NEXT TIME I DRIVE THE CAR. SEEMS TO DO THIS ONLY ON TRIPS GREATER THAN 20 MINUTES. *NM

JUST BEFORE 8,000 MILES, THE CLUTCH OF MY 2003 VW GTI SLIPPED AND WENT BAD. AS IT WAS STILL UNDER WARRENTY, THE DEALERSHIP REPLACED THE CLUTCH AND FLYWHEEL AT NO COST TO ME. WHEN ASKED WHY THE FAILURE OF THE CLUTCH OCCURED, I WAS TOLD THAT IT WAS DUE TO WEAR. NOW AT 35,000 MILES, THE CLUTCH HAS FAILED AGAIN, UNFORTUNATELY THIS TIME, NOT UNDER WARRANTY. THIS IS THE SECOND TIME IN TWO YEARS THIS HAS HAPPENED, AND WITH A $2000 REPAIR BILL BY VW, I WILL HAVE PAID FOR THE CAR TWICE IN TEN YEARS. I REFUSE TO BELIEVE THAT VW BUILDS A CLUTCH THAT WILL FAIL DUE TO LIGHT TO MODERATE WEAR AS THEY CLAIM. *NM

THE CLUTCH SLOWLY STARTED TO SLIP WHEN TRYING TO MOVE FORWARD EVENTUALLY THE ENGINE WOULD REV AT VERY HIGH RPMS WITH VERY LITTLE FORWARD MOVEMENT IN THE CAR. AFTER MUCH READING, THIS SEEMS TO BE A VERY COMMON PROBLEM. MY CAR ONLY HAD 26,000 MILES ON IT. IT IS A DAILY COMMUTER DRIVEN MOSTLY ON THE FREEWAY WHICH SHOULD MEAN VERY LITTLE CLUTCH WEAR. I TOOK IT TO A SHOP TO REPLACE IT WITH A MORE "STURDY" CLUTCH MADE OF CERAMIC SINCE IT WAS OUT OF WARRANTY ALREADY. APPROXIMATELY 8 MONTHS AFTER THE CLUTCH WAS REPLACED THE SUDDENLY STUCK IN FIRST GEAR AND WOULD NOT SHIFT OUT. AFTER TAKING IT TO THE DEALER AGAIN, THEY DETERMINED IT WAS MOST LIKELY THE TRANSMISSION, ONCE THEY PULLED IT APART THEY SAID THE CLUTCH WAS BAD AGAIN. THIS LEADS ME TO BELIEVE THE DESIGN OF THE CAR IS CAUSING THESE PROBLEMS, NOT MY DRIVING OR NORMAL "WEAR AND TEAR". *NM

THIS IS THE SECOND TIME MY CLUTCH ASSEMBLY FAILED. FIRST TIME AT 4500 MILES IN DECEMBER 2003. VW DEALERSHIP REPLACED CLUTCH. CLUTCH ASSEMPLY AGAIN BECAME SPONGY AND RPMS INCREASED TO DANGEROUS LEVELS. VOLKSWAGEN AMERICA REFUSED TO REPAIR MALFUNCTUION IN EQUIPMENT. MANY SPECIALTY REPAIR SHOPS ARE SAYING THIS IS CAUSED BY THE DUAL MASS FLY WHEEL STICKING OPEN. *AK