Hey guys. My father recently bought an 09 Jetta a few months ago. We work together, and every night I pull his car to the front and ive been noticing something. Everytime i start the car..it sounds like its idoling high. Higher than a normal car should being that its not very cold here in Arizona. So paying attention to it tonight, i notice that when started, the MPH gage (NOT the RPM) is at 20mph. Almost as if i was stepping on the gas in park. Then after a bit it goes down to zero. Restarting the car, it went to 10mph, then back down. It seems to do it when its been sitting for a while, but i also have my car there as well (2010 lancer) and it does not idle high at all when started. One thing that startled me was the first time i drove it, i didnt realize it was doing this, stuck it in reverse and the car nearly backed itself into a wall.

When i brought this to my dads attention he claims the car has always done this since hes gotten it. I told him to bring it in but hes being stubborn about it. So im curious to know..is this a Volkswagen/jetta thing? Normal for this car? Or should he be having it checked out?

Also forgot to mention..hes wondering if its because his car is an automatic..and mines a manual transmission. I dont see what that would have to do with it tho.

 

Does the car vibrate a lot while it's idling at the initial startup? Also are the rpms high? If you DON'T restart the car and just let it idle, does it eventually calm down?

I have an '03 Jetta and it started to idle rough when the car has been sitting for more than about 12-hours. It only started doing this about 1-year ago. So I just figured it's the car getting old. It takes about 20-seconds for the engine to warmup and settle down. It used to be worse but that's when I discovered I had a bad ignition coil. It was replaced and it helped.

Also, when I go into reverse, you can somewhat feel the car pushing in that direction but never to the extent of feeling like it's going to take off on its own. Err...is your foot all the way down on the brake pedal? Heh, heh, just kidding....sort of.

 

It doesnt really vibrate. The RPM gage is NOT high. Its on zero. Only the speedometer is on 20..as if i was pressing on the gas but im not. After about 25 seconds, yes it goes back down to normal. I just found that so strange because ive been thru several cars over the years (new and old) and ive never seen that before. RPM a little high..sure. But never the speedometer.

If i dont wait for it to go to zero, and release the break, it shoots back as if i WAS pressing the gas. It wont go if my foot is on the brake. I was just saying it shouldnt shoot back like that..its so strange.

He "claims" he took it in and they told him it was normal but i think hes lying. He doesnt seem to think anything is wrong with it.