Time for a fluid change?

[GeauxVeeDub]

I have a 2001 Beetle with about 78k miles on it, automatic transmission. I've noticed this past weekend that when my car shifts into second gear, sometimes a clunking sound will happen and my car will lurch forward as it's shifting. This only seems to happen when I accelerate a bit faster, as when I accelerate slower than usual it normally doesn't happen or just the clunking sound will happen. The sound isn't particularly loud (it's much more obvious with the windows down), but still enough for me to be a little concerned considering the amount of problems I've had with the car in the past.

A month or so ago, I had some overheating problems and had to bring my car to a mechanic I've never been to before. The mechanic had mentioned that I might want to get my transmission's fluid changed. However, when I got the car two years ago, I had to get the transmission replaced. I've only put about 10k miles on the car since then, and I know they usually suggest to get your fluid changed about every 25-30k. Also, I sort of took the mechanic's word with a grain of salt because he and the others working at the shop had been trying to take advantage of my age/gender/situation and gave me three completely different reasons for my car's problems when I was there, so of course I was a bit wary of anything they said about my car.

So would a fluid/filter change possibly fix this clunking and occasional lurch? If so, how much does VW normally charge for this service? And if not, what could possibly be causing this? I'm getting ready to take a long trip (about 1.1k miles), so I'd really like to try and get an idea of what's going on so I can bring it to the dealership and get what I need done before I leave so no further damage can be done.

Sorry if this seems like a slightly dumb question. It's just that I've already had transmission problems before, and I know if there's any more serious/expensive problems with my car's tranny, it means saying goodbye to my Beetle, which I really don't want to do. I just want to make sure I have some solid information before I go to my usually trustful dealership for this.

Thanks!

[beej]

Curious, where did you get your new tranny, and what was the warranty on it?

[Cameron_Talley]

I had a similar issue with Tommy-I would put him into reverse and you would have to wait several seconds for the tranny to engage. If you hit the gas before you felt the reverse gear engage, the engine would rev and then you would lurch backwards, almost exactly as described.

The local shop told me the tranny fluid was low, and they topped it off. After that, I did not have any of the same problems.

So it does sound as if you need a fluid change.

[GeauxVeeDub]

Originally Posted by beej

Curious, where did you get your new tranny, and what was the warranty on it?

Well, we had bought the car from a used/non-VW dealership without a warranty in a different state from where I go to school. When I got to school (not even two weeks after we bought the car), we noticed the shifting was off and brought it to a VW dealership, who told us the tranny needed to be replaced because it was badly damaged. We basically had to beg the dealership we bought the car from to cover part of the costs of replacing the tranny because they basically sold us the car without telling us there was tranny problems (the car tested fine when we looked at it originally). So the tranny was replaced at a VW, but it came from whatever warranty company the place we bought the car from uses. If that makes sense.

I guess I'll be making a trip to VW soon, then. Thanks!