99 Volkwagen Jetta Shifting Question
 

I own a 99 VW Jetta and noticed as its been getting colder out that when I shift from reverse to drive (trying to straiten my car out in a park spot for example) it takes a couple of seconds for it to engage drive. If I go from being in park to revere or drive the shift just about instant but going from reverse to drive or drive to revers seems to carry a 1 to 2 second delay with it. Is that normal? I've had no issues otherwise, no grinding sounds when shifting as described, no problems accelerating which usually indicates a transmission issue. Some other forums I've read people have mentioned that they also have had issues with this on their cars but it appears thats how the car is designed. Just wondering if anyone else out there has experienced this and can say for sure this is normal or not.

I should also mention that this is an automatic transmission. I figured that I'd be better off posting here and finding out if others might have noticed this behavior before than freaking out worrying something major is wrong with the car :)

Are you up to date on you transmission oil changes? This is important for the VW automatic transmissions.

I'm at about 71k miles and haven't had one to my knowledge before. You mentioned oil in there but I'm sure you must mean transmission fluid changes :)

I asked my mechanic about getting the trans fluid changed just recently and he said that with my mileage its pushing it with if thats a good idea or not. He said that over time the metal that ends up in the fluid is broken down to the point that it runs smoothly with it and that changing it out you have the potential to mess up the transmission.

I'm taking the car in this upcoming week to have the power window serviced so I think I am going to bring this up to him again.

It sounds normal to me. Both my old '95 Civic and the car I now drive - my '08 Jetta - both do this. Like where I'll shift from drive into reverse and vice versa and it takes a second for it to go into gear. If it really bothers you, you could try changing the transmission fluid. But personally, I think it's just the cold. Cars don't run as well in the winter time as they do in the summer. I am planning on getting my transmission fluid changed soon. I have had the same fluid for all 38k miles that I've driven since I bought the car new. But I guess my transmission is sealed off and you have to take it to a dealer to have it done. Bet it costs a lot. So as long as it isn't shifting rough, I don't worry about it.