Clutch problems on Jetta 2000. Clutch failed on me why driving on the fl turnpike on Saturday 14, 2006. I was at the toll plaza and when I left my car went into gear as normal, when I put it in 4th gear I heard the engine rev high but my car began to slow down. I coasted off the first exit I saw and luckily, kept coasting right into an apartment complex. I called the dealership I bought the car from and they sent out a tow company to pick my car up. On Monday, May 15, 2006 I received a phone call from esserman international and I was told by the service dept that I had somehow activated the anti-theft on my car and they had disabled it and it was fixed. When I went to pick up my car, I was told that my car was not safe to drive because when they took my car to get washed the clutch failed again. I was told it was either the transmission or the clutch. Turns out they are charging me 1800 dollars because the clutch needs to replaced, which is not covered under their warranty.

- Miami, FL, USA

2000 Volkswagen Jetta VR6 was in the shop for new tires around 12/7 - an alignment test was performed. The car had about 65000 miles. It was purchased as a certified used vehicle at about 20000 from Volkswagen and was recently out of warranty. Nothing unusual arose during this work. The car behaved normally driving home, as it had for years prior. One day later, the clutch on the vehicle failed suddenly. Fortunately, the failure was first noticed backing out of a driveway and there was no hazard. The car was just barely drivable, and limped to the shop. I was told by the mechanic that the part should have lasted for at least 100K miles, and that the clutch parts "fell apart in pieces" on opening the clutch. He described it as a dangerous, potentially catastrophic, failure. Cost to repair was $900. Did not take the car to VW because of the very high cost of post-warranty repairs. My wife and I (sole drivers) both have long experience driving stick shift vehicles and have never experienced clutch failures on prior stick shift vehicles. I have previously had the clutch go out about the same time on a '95 Jetta III gls. I suspect the part is of poor quality.

- Spring, TX, USA

I have a 2000 VW Jetta tdi that I purchased new. The clutch started slipping and had to be replaced at 51,203 miles. According to tom sapelak, the service manager at the VW dealer, there is a rubber piece (mass dampener?) between the two plates of the flywheel. On my flywheel, this piece had 2.5" of movement, but the specs indicated that it should only move.1 mm. Even though the owners manual indicates that the 100,000 mile powertrain warranty for this vehicle was supposed to cover the flywheel, I was told that this failure was not covered under warranty. I had to pay $1381.08 for a new clutch kit (clutch, flywheel, clutch release bearing) and the labor to replace it. I do not belive that this failure could have been caused by driving habits. I had a 1985 VW golf diesel that had over 130,000 miles when I sold it, and I never had any problems with the clutch in that vehicle. My husband had a 1996 VW Jetta turbodiesel that had over 238,000 miles on it when we sold it, and we never had any problems with the clutch in that vehicle either. My husband and I are the only people that drive my car and we are not "hard" on clutches.

- Whitehouse, OH, USA

The entire clutch assembly in my 2000 Jetta 2.0L needed to be replaced after 2 years of owning the new vehicle at 17,000 miles. It was replaced but I had to pay the dealer $1,700 was not covered under warranty because dealer said it was abuse and it was aware item. Today at 24,000 miles the clutch assembly blew out again and I still have not herd from the dealer.

- King Of Prussia, PA, USA

After a 60 mile highway trip, the clutch went to the floor and had to be manually returned to home position. I was able to get the car out of gear, but unable to put it in gear. I noticed the clutch pedal height was lower than the brake so I pulled the clutch pedal back out with my foot. After that, the clutch behaved relatively normally though a little soft. The problem happened again on my return trip 9/3/01. The clutch performs acceptably during normal city driving.

- Lexington, KY, USA