Q: Car accelerates and then completely stop accelerating at 25 or 40 mph.
My car has been doing this for quit a long time. When I take off from a stop light/sign or even when it's just in stop and go traffic, and I start to accelerate my car will just stop going at 25 or 40 mph. Sometimes it will stop at 25, and I do some slowing down and gassing to try and get it going it will stop at 40 mph too. I watch on the dash where it shows what gear I'm in and notice the car is struggling to shift gears. When I finally accelerate past that 25 or 40 mph mark, it changes gears. There's even a lot of times where the car is accelerating fine but shifts gears real hard. Hard enough to jerk the whole car. Sometimes it does this when downshifting but not as much. The car is automatic.
My car has 97800 miles.
My car has an automatic transmission.
Recommended Services
| Car is hard to shift Inspection | $94.99 - $114.99 | Get a Quote |
Hi Joel. What you are describing is typically an indication that your Jetta has entered what’s called a "limp mode". This happens when the ECU detects a problem with the transmission. It activates a fail safe mode to restrict the speed of the vehicle, so you can safely drive to a dealership (the intended purpose) to have it repaired or inspected. You can have a professional mobile mechanic come to your location to complete a car is hard to shift inspection first, to determine if this is the limp mode issue or if there are other problems that need to be repaired.
Get an instant quote for your car
Our certified mechanics come to you ・Backed by 12-month, 12,000-mile guarantee・Fair and transparent pricing