I bought my 98 cabrio at a used car dealership almost 2 years ago with 89k miles and it has been nothing but problems and me cleaning up the messes of the previous owners. A few months ago it started to have problems shifting into the right gear. I went to my regular mechanic who said he could not check the fluid because the way VWs are made, so I took it to the dealership who told me it was giving a code that it needed a part and they would order it for me, but then very rudely did not call me back and when I called the day before my service appointment they told me the part isn't made anymore. I took it to Aamco from the advice of my dad, they checked the fluid and the fluid was burned but there was no metal in it so the car was fine. The problems seemed to go away but a month later they started again. I got a tune up at 100k miles as Aamco recommended and that seemed to help but soon after the problems came back. I took it back to Aamco today and they tell me it needs new fluid and a new filter which will be $285 so I left it there overnight because I need my car by Friday. If this does not fix it I don't know what I'm going to do. I have a Wheelz warranty I bought with the car and I'm hoping that if it's expensive it will be covered but I know warranty companies make money by denying claims. I am really doing everything I can and taking it for all the oil changes and maintenance services it needs but no one has been able to fix this problem or even tell me what it is.

 

I've had almost identical problems. I got a 98 Cabrio last April and the transmission was horrible at shifting. I took it to a generic mechanic and he bluntly told me he didn't want to touch my car. So I took it to Aamco and they said I basically needed a new transmission. I got it replaced by Aamco for $3,200. That was in November 2010. It was driving great until a couple days ago. When I was on the freeway the RPM shot up to about 6500 and scared the **** out of me. It's been shifting strange ever since and there's trans fluid leaking all over the place. I'm taking it back to Aamco tomorrow and hopefully it won't bee anything more serious than a trans fluid overflow..