Problems with 2008 Volkswagen R32 POWER TRAIN

On four separate occasions, vehicle spontaneously shifted into neutral. this occurred on both highway and city streets, both while in motion and while braking (downshifting). the lever selector position flashed on the dashboard and the "depress brake" indicator light came on. vehicle required shifting to park and turning engine on/off (sometimes several times) before becoming drive-able again. repair facility reports transmission temperature fault, as described in the following recall for other volkswagen/audi vehicles with the same dsg transmission: nhtsa campaign id 09v333000 volkswagen is recalling certain model year 2009 and 2010 passenger cars manufactured between september 2008 and august 2009. the wiring harness of a temperature sensor in the direct shift gearbox (dsg) may have connector wires that were insufficiently crimped. with insufficiently crimped connector wires, a temperature sensor has the potential to falsely detect a high gearbox oil temperature, causing the transmission to abruptly shift to neutral. if this happens, the selector lever position indicator within the instrument panel will flash. in addition, the "depress brake pedal" indicator light will be illuminated, alerting the driver to apply the brakes. repair facility recommends remedy of replacing transmission temperature sensor and transmission fluid. safety risk caused by inability to accelerate when car spontaneously shifts into neutral and driver is unable to safely pull over to shoulder/safe area and/or avoid other vehicles.

Vehicle false nuetraled on a busy interstate. i was almost rear ended by a 18-wheeler solenoid failure in the transmission. no power on vehicle until fix. this could cause and probably has caused death or injury

Dsg transmission failed @ 57,000 miles

Tl* the contact owns a 2008 volkswagen r32. while driving at approximately 20 mph, the accelerator pedal was depressed but the vehicle did not accelerate. the vehicle was taken to a dealer where it was diagnosed that the mechatronic unit failed and needed to be replaced. the vehicle was repaired but the failure recurred. the manufacturer was made aware of the failure. the failure mileage was unknown.

Shifts very hard at slow speeds. going into reverse sometimes hestates for a couple seconds. sarting from a stop will not go for a second or 2. *tr

2008 volkswagen r 32 is having issues with dsg transmission operation vehicle is extremely rough shifting into first from neutral and engaging into reverse from a stop. vehicle also shift extremely rough in sport mode. the car jerks into and out of each gear at any speed. been to vw 3 times and complained! they said that's normal. i look it up and went back and told the service rep. why didn't he know our told me about the recall. he said that he didn't know! he has been a service rep for over 10 years?? finally the said that the going to fix the problem! not a new transmission. but its recommended... *tr

The car has very rough slow speed lurching and jerking when moving in reverse and also in slow forward. its worse on cold start moving. *tr

Hesitating and jerking from transmission when in reverse or drive when accelerating from a stop. *ln

My car begin making a low whistle noise a week ago whenever i accelerated from stand still and a week later it begin skipping gears and then the car became inoperable. *tr

Loss of power when downshifting. this has happened more than a few times. fortunately, it has never happened in a situation where a crash could have occurred. nothing has been done. my vw service adviser told me a recall for the dsg transmission is imminent. that was in august. so far, i've heard nothing. *tr

After the car gets to it's warm temps (roughly 30 mins of driving), it starts to jerk through low gears, harsh downshifting when slowing down to stop. taking my foot off the brake from a stop the car will lurch/sputter forward rather than slowly roll forward, at times (very inconsistent, roughly 2-3 in an hours drive) the car will surge then slam into gear before i'm able to press on the gas to drive, it feels almost as though it's about to stall. *tr

Dsg transmission drops into then out of then back into 1st gear. also engine revs and the car jerks in reverse. *tr

While driving up a steep hill (about 30mph) and approaching an intersection, the vehicle in front of me made a last minute decision to brake hard and make a right hand turn without signaling. i slowed to a stop behind the vehicle while they turned. once the vehicle completed it's turn, i proceeded to pass through the intersection. i mashed the throttle (the light had just turned yellow) to clear the intersection, but the engine did not respond. finally, after about 2 seconds, the dsg went into gear and i was able to proceed. however, my vehicle remained in the middle of the intersection for about a second before the dsg began to work. additionally, the dsg in the vehicle routinely takes a moment to engage. the above incident was the first time the dsg's failure to work left me vulnerable. *tr

My 2008 golf r32 equipped with a dsg transmission is having rough shifting, rough clutch engagement, choppy reverse and power loss at highway speeds under hard acceleration. please push vw of america to have a recall campaign done. how long do owners have to wait for this? i guess vw and nhtsa want someone to die before any action is taken. thank you. *tr

After coming to a complete stop and letting off the brake pedal, while the car is still in drive, it will lurch or jump forward - almost as though i've pressed the accelerator pedal. this seems to get worse as the outside ambient temps increase. in stop and go traffic the car is a nightmare to drive, as it will lurch and jerk heavily. i've actually had my starbucks coffee shoot out of the cup and spill on me because of this - yes, it lurches that much. i've almost rear-ended a few cars and hit my garage wall. all of this is actually our second go around as we've had the mechatronics unit replaced by vw with 17646 miles on the car. the car now has 21500 miles on it and the symptoms are back again. i'm not sure what to do? the first time our vw dealer had the car for about a month to get it fixed but their fix only seemed to work for a short time as we're starting to have the same problems again. the car is jerky and clunky when shifting at low speed driving. i've had the dealer tell me this is normal dsg behavior but we own (2) 2008 vw r32 - my wife and i each have our own. the other car drives much smoother and does not exhibit the behavior that these car does; however, i'm nervous that our other too will soon start having problems. i'm holding off bringing the car back to the dealer until they come up with a proper fix. vw please remedy this problem. our family has been a loyal vw/audi customer our entire lives. *tr

Lurching motion of car as transmission engages and disengages. this happens mainly when pulling off from a complete stop. loss of power/forward momentum. this happens when down shifting manually and pressing gas to gain speed quickly to merge into traffic (highway/interstate traffic). this also happens when allowing the dsg transmission to shift automatically when pressing the gas (harder that normal acceleration to merge with highway/interstate traffic). *tr

My 2008 volkswagen golf r32 has dsg issues. the transmission is not smooth when going from a stop (brake applied) to go (gas pedal). sometimes the dsg gearbox goes into neutral as well while having the gas pedal pressed and in motion. i know there is a current voluntary recall for some mkv vw vehicles, but r32 golf's should be looked at as well. please help! *tr

I have had several issues with some corrected but the hesitation of power and shifting issues with dsg continue to persist. several times i have tried to accelerate and the car does not respond immediately, this has happened on the expressway several times. there is also some jerking in the car as it tries to go through gears. it also feels like it is going to stall before it actually gets going. finally, the car has rumble feel through the pedal and feels like it is fighting itself and when you turn the wheel to the left it starts an on and off rumble. other problems that have occurred were a loud knocking which was eventually fixed by replacing the entire engine. they first replaced the flywheel thinking that was the issue. *tr

Have a 2008 vw golf r32 dsg. shifting is extremely rough and appears to have a mind of its own. in fact sometimes it does not respond to my shifts and all and "coasts" until engaging. i have been told this problem can be fixed by replacing the mechatronic unit, but vw denies the issue. this is ridiculous. i have searched issues with it on the internet forums and i am for sure not alone. i think this issue should be a recall for both safety and reliability reasons. *tr

When attempting to accelerate to execute a lane change, the car became non- responsive by hesitating (apx 2 sec) after shifting from "d" to "s" (sport mode). also, the car hesitates and "jerks" often when shifting from p to r or n to d. *tr

Sudden loss of power and mobility for a few seconds when taking off from a stand still .... this has happened a few times a week in the month i've had the car . it seems especially dangerous when making a left turn in front of on coming traffic ..!! also when backing/reverse slowly into my garage , the car is very jerky ...? *tr

2008 r32 on occasion does not shift smoothly when in d mode. in addition, when starting from a standstill it is not uncommon for the car to jerk when the accelerator is applied. *tr

Intermittent problems with a vw r32 dsg transmission. most significant was a case where i was attempting to accelerate from a stop. the engine revved, but the car did not move forward. all of a sudden, the car lurched forward very hard as the transmission engaged at ~3000 rpm. i had to immediately hit the brakes to avoid colliding with the slower-moving traffic in front of me. my initial reaction was that i had been involved in a rear-end collision due to the magnitude of the impact. however, it was just the transmission engaging spontaneously. *tr

Yesterday i changed lanes in order to pass. i stomped it, and although the rpms shot up, nothing happened -- no power. i thought i had somehow bumped the gear shift into neutral. it was not in neutral, it was in "s". i took my foot off the accelerator, shifted to "d", and then reapplied the accelerator. all was back to normal. because all of this happened so quickly, and because i may be confused, i'm giving the transmission the benefit of the doubt -- but i'm paying close attention now. it's no fun to need power, expect to get it, and instead just get noise from revved rpms. *tr

Tl*the contact owns a 2008 volkswagen r32. the contact was driving approximately 55 mph on normal road conditions. there was pressure applied to the accelerator pedal followed by no power response. the engine began to rev excessively high. after a few seconds the transmission shifted into gear and resumed to normal operation. there were no warning lights indicator illuminated on the instrument panel. in addition, there was a hard shifting from "reverse" to "drive" and "park" to "reverse" position. the vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer for inspection. the technician was unable to locate the failure. the vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer on five separate occasions for identical failures. the technician replaced the fly wheel. the failures continued and there was no resolutions. the failure mileage was 26,000 and the current mileage was 33,000. the vin was unavailable. bl

My vehicle has stalled twice on me when it had 6647 miles. it occurred twice in a span of two hours. i was driving and the car started to "hiccup". it jumps between shifts, this occurs mostly when it is humid outside. the vehicle also emits a loud ticking sound from the gas tank, and in extremely cold weather the gas needle bounces. took it to the dealership 4 times and they found no problems, however they did take a joyride two of those times in the car. (found the radio station set and equalizer toyed with) in addition, the car sometimes smells like fuel. *tr

When i purchased my 2008 vw r32 it drove and shifted smoothly and without issue. after we put about 1500 miles on the car it started jerking forward roughly as if the clutch was engaged and then slams into gear when starting from a complete stop, this behavior is intermittent and seems to be related to the relative amount of time the car has been driven, the longer it's been the more likely it is to do it. i've had cases where the dsg would also simply jerk forward and back very harshly during a quick stop/start that didn't involve wot acceleration. i've taken this car into vw specifically for this problem and was told that it was default behavior of the dsg and required some finesse to avoid these issues, i just don't think that's true and they should be responsible for fixing this without someone dying because it's difficult to handle or mechanically unreliable. *tr

Random loss of power/torque coming out of dsg transmission when shifting into certain gears, jerky reverse, hesitation starting from stop, jerky downshift to first gear. hesitation has randomly occured multiple times including at an intersection. jerking (or pulsating power delivery) during reverse and when downshifting into first is always there. hesitation when starting from stop is also always present. i believe this probably as something to do with the mechatronics unit of the dsg. i am worried about saftey due to the abnormal behavior of this transmission. lossing power at an intersection or other critical locations can easily lead to an accident. also i am afraid that this abnormal behavior is going to lead to transmission problems including but not limited to abnormal clutch pack wear which might need to be replaced later down the line after the 60,000 mile warranty is up. *tr

My 2008 volkswagen r32 has constant transmission issues where the car bucks at low speeds and has a very choppy reverse. i've taken it for its alleged recall and the car still acts the same with bucking at low speeds. *tr

1. upon deceleration at any speed 2. jerky, harsh, jarring downshifting from 2nd to 1st gear whether in dsg manual or dsg auto mode. it occurs every time i drive the car. 3. nothing done to correct the failure. i was told that is the normal dsg behavior. *tr

After purchasing my 2008 vw r32 it was a very smooth vehicle. the dsg transmission was advertised as driving exactly like a conventional automatic transmission-equipped vehicle. after a year and 12,000 miles i have experienced several incidents where the transmission feels like it disengages. the engine revs up, but there is absolutely no motive power. this has happened both on the expressway as well as on the street. in all occurrences the vehicle regains motive power within 5-10 seconds. however, due to the nature of the public highways, losing motive power in a vehicle can be very dangerous, and has put my life at risk when this happened. it is my opinion that this issue is investigated, as i have heard from other 2008 vw r32 owners that the same thing has happened to them as well. *tr

When the car was new it was smooth and ride was great shifting was perfect, as time and miles pass the car got really jerky with the transmission, car now rides smooth but the sifting is terrible, and tranny is making alot of noises when backing up and turning the steering wheel i always hear a clunk, loud and you can feel it, every time i take it to my dealer it magically goes away for a week or two weeks or so then its back its really frustrating that no one at the dealer ship really cares they make it seem like i'm doing something wrong please help!! *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2008 volkswagen r32. when attempting to accelerate from a complete stop, the transmission hesitates and then shifts into gear. also the transmission hesitates to shift from fifth to sixth gear. the vehicle was taken to the dealer but they could not identify the cause of the failure. the failure mileage was 80. the current mileage was 24,000.

When i first bought my 2008 vw r32 it was a decently smooth riding car. after a few months it got really rough. when i start moving from a complete stop the car jerks back and fourth 1 or 2 times roughly. this happens 100% of the time. also, the car slams into first gear really hard when slowing down to a stop making all passenger's bodies shift forward from momentum. it feels like i slammed on the brake. also sometimes from a stop when i put my foot on the gas, the car hesitates before slamming into gear after 2 or 3 seconds of not responding to my throttle input. this has scared me in a couple instances because i almost got into a rear end collision from someone behind me not paying attention and almost slamming into the back of my car. luckily i knew that my car had this characteristic so i reacted quick enough to accelerate in time to get out of their way. from what i understand, this is a problem with the mechatronics unit. and many people have had success fixing the problem by getting a replacement mechatronics unit installed. almost everyone i have met with the same car has the same problem i do. something needs to be done to fix this or people are going to be going to the hospital for whiplash from rear end collisions or worse. *tr

Tl*the contact owns a 2008 volkswagen r32. the driver stated that his transmission malfunctioned while driving at a low speed. the driver stated that his vehicle began to lunge forward while he was driving in reverse. the driver also stated that if he applied pressure to the accelerator pedal to increase his speed, the vehicle shifted into neutral gear on its own. the failure has continued to occur since the vehicle was purchased. the dealer made several attempts to diagnose the failure and stated that there was nothing they could do to assist him. the failure mileage was 200. the current mileage was 20,000.