2000 Beetle manual shift not working

I just bought a used 2000 Beetle yesterday (5-speed tranny). It's my first one. I drove it home on the highway, only shifting to get on and off the highway. After that, the first time I drove it anywhere in-town, I only got about half a mile before the 5-speed transmission stopped working. You can push in the clutch and shift to first gear (or in fact any gear), but when you let off the clutch and press the gas nothing happens. It just revs as if you have it in neutral. It seems as if any gear acts just like neutral. Help!!! The place I bought it from (dealership but not a VW) isn't being very helpful. The car has 54,000 miles. Any thoughts or advice? I don't know how this could not be a pre-existing condition - I bought the car from them only HOURS before this happened and only actually shifted gears for maybe half a mile. ????

I had this same problem on my '99 Beetle, only it was a little different for me. thanks goodness I could still use 3rd and 4th gears, all other gears, including reverse in the up position acted like 3rd, and 2nd gear acted like 4th. This is because they WERE only 3rd and 4th gears. Turns out there is a rod that connects to the transmission that your gear selector will move to different positions. One for forward and backward and one for left and right. They're connected to the transmission via a PLASTIC linkage, which breaks off, rendering you helpless, so my left to right was not working, hence only being able to use 3rd and 4th gears. I don't know what the actual cost would be to fix it, as my step dad took it and repaired/reinforced the broken linkage. I was afraid to take it to a dealer and allow them to replace it with another potentially plastic one, and pay them to just have it break again. You may check there...those rods are fairly easy to get to, and very visable from the engine compartment. Hope this helps!!!

Jason

Thanks, Jason for the reply. What sucks is that I just bought the car yesterday! Who knows if they'll pay for this to be fixed or try to say it wasn't pre-existing. But it happened the SAME DAY I bought it!

Anyway, the guy who came to tow it said the same thing you said - that he thought it was a problem with linking and something about the gears being aligned properly.

I do have a question for you - you said that 3rd and 4th gears worked - are you saying you were able to actually DRIVE the car away from a standing, parked position in 3rd or 4th gear? My problem is I'm having to have the car towed because I can't move it at all, so I'm wondering if you were actually able to DRIVE it from 3rd gear????

Hi Shelley!

I just thought you could use the advice. Yes, I could drive the car from a standing point in 3rd gear, because only the linkage for moving the gears left and right broke on mine, so I was just stuck in the range of 3rd and 4th gear. It sounds to me that yours is the front to back linkage that broke, which renders you stuck in neutral, unfortately, because with that broken, even though you can move your selector side to select other gears, you can't get the gear you want when that rod won't actually move the selector up or down. To be honest, I'm not even sure if that one looks the same or not, but I would assume it does. I've had some other problems with my Beetle now, as well as well as the '98 Beetle I had in 2001, and I'll just rattle them off for you. In my '99, which is probably more closely related to your 2000, I've also had a problem with the front suspension being kind of loud and rattling. I have had a problem with an exhaust tube that my step dad says is loose, which causes a loud rattling on acceleration. I have a problem with my driver side door not wanting to lock with the remote, so I have to unlock it and then lock it, and it will always go down that way. With the key it always locks, but it doesn't always power lock that way or set the alarm, and it doesn't always roll the windows up or down with the key. I've also got a problem causing my Check Engine light to come on at times, which says it's something with the Fuel/air mixture being too rich. Don't know if that's any direct relation to that exhaust tube or what, but I replaced the #1 O2 sensor to no avail. I actually had this problem on both Beetles. I also had a problem with my fuel door button no opening the door, which is a known problem with the cable, and I fixed that myself by just trimming the cable down some under the fuel capartment. I had many other problems with my '98, and it only had 10,000 miles on it when I bought it, and it came with alot of its problems, unbeknownst to me.

Hope this helps more...

Jason

Ok first of all,
no need to panic, shift linkage not a big deal, hope you have money for the more serious stuff that goes wrong with this car.
Jason, im sorry to tell you but thats not a "loose pipe" in your exhaust, its your catalyc converter going into pieces inside itselft. Maybe you qualify for the recall/extended warranty, that goes for 99+ up to 120,000 miles. Jason, you might also want to get a new maf sensor to correct your fuel ratio problems.
The other things that BOTH of you will need to do if not already done,,,,
new water pump (old one has plastic impellars)
might as well change the timing belt, tensioner and plugs.
If your pump goes out before you fix it, you run the risk of cracking your thermostat housing assembly, busting your head gasket, and breaking other stuff....
i dont check these forms very often, as im always in vwvortex.com
but i'll try to check up on yall..
~mike