My girlfriend has a 98 beetle with an erratic speedometer. At highway speeds, the needle bounces back and forth about 5mph. That means she cant use the cruise. Very annoying. The bastard dealer said that they would need to pull the tranny to replace the slipping speedo gear. They want $700 to change a $20 part. I dont have a bentley for this car. Can this be done without pulling the tranny? I would rather do this myself because the dealer has taken her to the cleaners more than once. Personally I keep telling her to unload this car and get a cheap late 90's GM car. They are not as cute, but at least they arent shit. And you dont have to depend on a damb dealer.
The "bastard dealer" is correct in telling you what is needed to fix the car. Some of us bastard dealer techs can fix it by removing the subframe, axles, and differential cover plate. Once that's all done then the bastard dealer tech must remove the ring gear to get to the $20 speedo gear.
what is with you guys. You seem sensitive as hell when it comes to negative opinions towards vw. I own an 82 vw pickup and deal with its pains, but I do think that this 98 beetle has been much too much trouble for what it cost. And her vw dealer is a bastard. I have seen and dealt with the people there. I know. You people dont. The dealer her and I deal with is bastardly. Give me this: yes, or no. Is it necessary to pull the tranny to replace this gear? And what is the technical name for it?
I have come to the conclusion that vw has significant problems now. I dont like the heavy marketing and I really disapprove of the Phaeton. This car is contradictory of vw heritage. The company name says it all. I do appreciate the very aesthetic body styles out now. And I am a huge proponent of vw diesel. If vw could really get on top if its quality control, I would have no significant complaints.
That's a GREAT idea! because you're SUCH a nice guy and SO smart - we should DEFINITELY stay away from being sarcastic with you or FLAMING you AND your REALLY EDUCATED OPINIONS on what a VW dealer and his techs need to do to fix your girlfriend's bug!!
Well, it does seem like you do have a bad dealer, and I know how you feel because I'm been there, too. Fortunately, our VW dealer is excellent (Quality VW of Tuscaloosa AL).
Along with mild to moderate quality control problems, I think VW's greatest problem in the US is bad dealers. But this, to some extent, comes from the top down with VWOA's "screw the cutomer attitude." (the power window issue comes to mind, amomg other things). But VW is not alone, as most auto manufacturers have a similar attitude (like Mazda), and at least VW has greatly improved in this respect. And it does seem like the early Beetles have more than their share of problems, typical for a new design (the pioneers get the arrows).
So in my opinion you are justified in what you said about the dealer and the car. However, I think everyone assumed you were referring to all dealers in your post, which carefully re-reading indicates that you were not. Woodchuck, an exceptionally helpful VW mechanic who works for a great dealer, has given you the answer which sounds like it ain't gonna be an easy job. I suspect a Bentley manual will be essential for this job. $80 retail, $50 from Amazon.
By the way, is the trans manual or auto? Refilling the auto trans is a tricky proposition ordinarily requiring VAG-COM software and a computer. However, I saw a well illustrated web page about a year ago detailing a "manual" technique for refilling the auto trans in a Beetle. Well, it just occurred to me that someone may have posted instructions for replacing the gear in a Beetle. Check
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And another thing occurred to me, too: is this gear covered by the 100K powertrain warrranty? It might be worth calling VWOA.
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