There was a recall on the mechatronic unit in this car. I never had a problem with it until upon recommendation of my local dealer, I had the recall unit replaced during a tuneup. After this "fix" I began to slowly detest and loathe this car I once loved. I had the recall fixed at about 45,000 miles. Within a week, I was entering the interstate, and the person in front of me slammed on brakes. I slammed on mine as well to prevent hitting them, and my problems began. My dash lights (the ones that say what gear you're in P,R,N,D,S) began flashing and the car would barely accelerate, even with me flooring the gas pedal. The RPM's would redline. Again, I was on I-85 with tons of people behind me very angry. I pulled on the shoulder, turned the car off and back on and it ran fine. I immediately called my local dealer (Vic Bailey VW) who said they had never heard of the problem. I took the car to them, and of course my computer showed nothing (after all, I was still under warranty where they would have to fix it free of charge) and I was told to take it back to the dealer where I bought the car who had fixed the recall (2 hrs away). No record was made of this visit by me or VIc bailey VW. I continued to have this problem off and on since July of 2010. Every time I took my vehicle for it's recommended service, I told them I was having a problem. The only time anything was ever documented was when I finally got sick of asking about "an imaginary problem" and just asked them to turn off my check engine light. I finally went back 1/16/13 (I think) because the car started shuddering and lights blinking upon acceleration without previous hard braking. At this point I was at 107,000 miles or so (out of warranty) They did the computer diagnostic (which cost me ~$100) and said I had a bad coil in my engine. I paid to have that fixed and requested to test drive the car with a technician in the car to make sure the problem was fixed. Again, I took it to the interstate, hit the brakes and all the lights started flashing , but no acceleration problems this time. The tech said he had never seen anything like it but would ask some of the older guys that may know what was going on and get back to me. I went back and paid my bill (a couple hundred dollars) and left the dealer. Less than 1/4 mile after I left, my check engine light came back on. I u turned and had them run diagnostic computer again which was when they told me there was a problem with the mechatronic unit that could cause issues shifting when accelerating! I told them that since I had been complaining about this for years and over 60,000 miles beginning while I was still under warranty, that I wanted it fixed immediately. They referred me to VW care CS line and refused to do anything. The service manager Scott went as far as to call me a liar when I told him I had been reporting this problem since ~ 46,000-47,000 miles. He pulled my records, which I also had, that showed no record of me reporting this problem since they never recorded my complaints. I was then told they would be happy to diagnose the problem (which according to them didn't exist), and let me know what it would cost to fix.

Because there was no record, VW cares was unable to do anything about the problem either. I was going to trade this car in on any other type of car since I paid $35,000 for it used in 2010, only to find out that it is now valued at only about 8-11000 trade in value. I guess I'm not the only one with problems.

This is a car that I absolutely loved when I first purchased it. They way I have been treated by this VW, ESPECIALLY Vic Bailey VW ensures I will never purchase a VW again, nor will I ever recommend one to anyone for any reason. I work in customer service and talk to hundreds of people a day, I sincerely hope that VW is happy with their customer service (or lack thereof) because I have no problem relaying my experience to anyone who comments on my car.