While driving in slow road repair traffic on I90 near kirtland/mentor Ohio, my clutch system failed. Was driving just fine keeping car in 1st gear and at a stop in stop and go traffic when suddenly the car was staying in gear even when removing foot from clutch pedal. Clutch pedal was stuck in full down position. -- could not easily shift gears or get car out of gear once this problem occurred, and was forced to keep starting and shutting off the engine for approx. 2 miles until I could exit. My car had to be towed to classic VW on tyler blvd in mentor. Have been told it is the clutch master and slave cylinders must be replaced and then the brake lines must be bled and refilled. Repair costs will be between $700 and $1000.

- Painesville, OH, USA

The clutch of my 2001 Jetta (1.8 liter turbo manual 5-speed) started going out last July, when the car was not even 4 years old and had only 30K miles. (I am the original owner.) it is getting worse. Twice now I've taken it to my VW service dealer only to be met by baffled stares. The VW mechanics there keep saying that the clutches on these cars are fine, and that nothing is wrong with the car. But tonight I did an internet search and found that there is a terrible pattern of bad clutches on the Jettas, especially the 2001 1.8 turbos, with exactly these same symptoms! how about a recall" in the meantime, can you please help me get them to do something about my car" my child and I I could have been killed when the clutch failed this morning on a crowded, fast-moving freeway! thank you, celeste wiser, M.D.

- Napa, CA, USA

(1) normal driving, regular scheduled dealer maintainance before the failure of the clutch. The manual transmission became difficult to put into gear and noise started to come from the engine compartment. (2) clutch failed and it became very difficult to engage transmission. Dealer service advisor recommended looking at transmission and then discovered that the clutch had failed. Immediate diagnosis was that it was driver error. Later that day, after examining the parts that were removed from the car it was revealed that the springs of the clutch plate had come out of the metal brackets of the clutch. Dealer claimed they had only seen that as a result of misuse but decided to partially warranty the parts after determining that I had taken excellent care of the car and had exhibited no abuse of the vehicle. This first incident took place when the car had 23K miles on the odometer and I had owned the vehicle since it was new. The second failure was at 73 K miles in March of 2005. The same parts failed and the same diagnosis was made by a different VW dealership. The clutch failed in the springs but showed no outward signs of abuse or excessive wear. The clutch had approximately 50 K miles of use but still had significant material left on the clutch pads. The failure of the clutch springs damaged the flywheel. As result I had to pay for a new flywhelel, throwout bearing and clutch plate. An appeal to VW was rejected and they said that the decision was the dealership's and that they would stand by that. I consider thiese failures to be caused by weak parts provided by VW of America. This second failure cost me $1600 in repair costs.

- San Diego, CA, USA

The clutch on my 2001 VW Jetta has to be replaced after only 50,000 miles. After doin G research on the internet I realized that I am not the only victim of this problem. The cost for this repair is over $1000(for a clutch).

- Largo, FL, USA

Clutch mechanism suddenly began engaging only at the upper end of the clutch pedal travel while driving in stop and go traffic. The vehicle had approx. 39,000 miles on it at the time. The result was that the vehicle was difficult to control while starting from a dead stop, either rolling backwards on an incline, lurching ahead or stalling. All of these conditions could contribute to an accident, particularly in an intersection or in crowded stop and go conditions. Inclement weather would compound the safety risks. The car was taken to an authorized dealer and the dealer reported a clutch failure, that the clutch is a wear item and that no warranty is offered. As I have never had a clutch wear out in 30 years of driving, I researched via the internet and found the problem was common amongst similar VW vehicles with the 1.8T engine and that many similar failures have occurred at even much lower mileage. I contacted VW of America customer care and VW denies there are any inherent design problems, cite driver error and confirmed with a return call that no financial assistance is available. Other sources, including a VW mechanic have independently acknowledged that VW have selected the same flywheel, pressure plate and clutch components as are used on the base non-turbocharged engine, and this arrangement is under designed for the more powerful 1.8T. I was also advised the reported failure is more consistent with a pressure plate failure than clutch wear. One dealership informed me they are replacing at least one of these clutch assemblies per week, often on low mileage vehicles. So far I have not repaired the vehicle and it sits idle while I investigate the applicability of aftermarket, heavier duty components.

- Highlands Ranch, CO, USA

VW Jetta 2001 1.8T 5-spd had a clutch failure while driving. The engine started revving up to 6000 RPM but the car slowed down dramatically. Luckily there were no other cars in the lane. The mechanic diagnosed the car with a clutch plate failure and had to replace the clutch assembly ($1200). Inspite of the extended warranty purchase, VW does not cover this as it relates it to "wear and tear". the car only has 68K miles on it, and most of it is highway driving (80%). after some research, it looks like VW uses inferior parts that cause clutch failure in most of their Jettas. This is a big concern. VW puts the blame on the driver, but refuses to acknowledge faulty parts. Check out www.myvwlemon.com.

- Westminster, CO, USA

2001 Jetta 1.8T clutch began slipping at 34,600 miles. The dealer said that the friction material was almost completely worn off of the clutch disc, most likely due to the way that it has been driven. We have driven over 80K miles in another manual vehicle with no problems, so I do not believe this rationale. The car went in for service at 16,000 miles for a sticking clutch. The dealer did not replace any parts at that time. The clutch may not have fully engaged even when the pedal finally released due to faulty hydraulics, so the clutch plate was likely worn prematurely because it wasn't properly engaging with the flywheel. The dealer's repair estimate was $2100, including $1200 for a replacement clutch kit plus 10 hours of labor. I then called a second local dealer and was quoted a price of $753.94 for the same clutch kit. When I declined the dealer's repair, I was charged an $83 diagnostic fee just to get my car back. I then spoke with the dealer service manager and a VW of America rep about the cylinder problem and the apparently high rate of 1.8T clutch failures. Both claimed that too many miles had passed since that first repair and reiterated that 1) the clutch is a wear item only covered to 12,000 miles by the warranty and 2) I am responsible for the repair costs. An independent mechanic fixed the vehicle for $1038 with a non-oem clutch kit. This price also included new master and slave cylinders, which he felt were likely the cause the original clutch failure. Incidentally, he said that VW's own service documentation provided to mechanics indicated that a clutch overhaul should take 4-5 hours (as opposed to the 10 hours quoted by my dealer).

- Sterling, VA, USA

The clutch on my 2001 VW Jetta 1.8T went out sll of a sudden. The car was driving completely fine (gears weren't sticky or clutch loose) and then all of a sudden the car would not go into gear. I had it towed to the local dealership where they quoted $1600 for repair (new clutch kit and flywheel). I had it towed again to a VW specialist and he said the clutches on the new VW's should last at least 100,000 (and that is for someone who even rides the clutch, he said it should last even longer). VW refused to pay for the repairs (even though I have a warrantty until 48,000 miles) saying it was due to normal wear and tear. My Jetta only has 32,000 miles. So, we had to cover the repairs out of pocket.

- Boise, ID, USA

My clutch on my 1.8T failed at 30K miles. Local dealer & voa stated that problem was wear & tear I was responsible for payment to replace the entire clutch assembly including the flywheel. I had the car towed to my local mechanic who confirmed the problem was a mechanical failure, and that there was plenty of wear left on the clutch. We were forced to use VW replacement parts as well.

- King Of Prussia, PA, USA

The clutch in my 2001 Jetta 1.8T died at only 28,000 miles. Dealer told me it was "wear and tear" - service manager whispered that the dmf clutch is defective on these models. VW was unresponsive after repeated letters and calls. Had loaner for 40 days. Dealer agreed to pay labor - I paid for the part.

- Savannah, GA, USA

Premature failure of clutch in VW 1.8T (Jetta).

- Mableton, GA, USA

While driving, the clutch died. After being told the repairs would not be covered under warranty, the consumer did some research and discovered there were many complaints of faulty pressure plates.

- Savannah, GA, USA

I was told today by the VW dealership that I need a new clutch, pressure plate, and flywheel for my 2001 VW Jetta 1.8T it only has 33,249 miles on it. I have been driving cars and P/U trucks with clutches since 1972. I believe this is a defect in workmanship by the VW manufacturer. I was told it will cost $1,555 in parts and labor.

- Mableton, GA, USA

I am complaining about the cluth on my 2001 Jetta 1.8T. At approximately 5100 miles (May 2003) I had the clutch burn out. VW replaced it under warranty. Less than 100 miles later (June 2003) that replacement clutch burnt out. VW again replaced it but said that they would not cover any other problems related to the clutch. I was told that this happened because my daughter didn't know how to drive a manual transmission. She learned to drive in 1996 on an omni with manual transmission and has been driving manual transmissions for all but two years since that time. Since we got the VW Jetta out of the shop last June I have been the driver of the vehicle and had the clutch burn out again on 15 March 2004. I have been driving numerous vehicles in the last 35 years and have never burnt up a clutch. The Jetta still has less that 12,000 miles on it. This makes for replacement of the clutch 3 times since I bought the vehicle new in August 2001.

- Fort Belvoir, VA, USA

Jetta suffered a failure where the clutch plate shattered and the pressure plate failed. The clutch plate did not show drastic wear, the wear line on the clutch plate were still visibale. VW considered this normal wear and tear. I believe that the part was defective.

- Kent, OH, USA

Clutch went bad very early in life of auto. Experienced manual driver. Clutch seemed to go bad in one day from nothing wrong to car not driveable. VW replaced flywheel with upgraded part proving that old part was unreliable. Car had just been in for 40,000 mile complete check-up with passing colors.

- Irving, TX, USA

My 2001 VW Jetta 1.8T clutch failed after just 16,000 miles without any warning. I was told it was due to "driver error". however, after some research I have found many others that have had the same problem. The 1.8T clutches are a dual-mass flywheel (dmf) design which seems to be the cause of the issue. It seems they cannot handle the upped power/torque of the turbo. They are knowingly selling a defective product and charging us upwards of $1300 to repair it with the same faulty part!

- Florence, KY, USA