05/19/2010
by Tom and Ray Magliozzi
Click & Clack
Dear Tom and Ray:
We are Americans living in England, and have a 2000 VW Beetle automatic that I named Betty. I hope you can settle a domestic argument for us (preferably by siding with me). The VW is my "baby," and until I started living with Matt, the car was aging, but otherwise the transmission was fine. In the year since Matt started driving her, Betty's transmission has seriously deteriorated. I think it's because Matt changes gears without pressing in the little button on the shifter. My understanding was that if you don't press the little button before moving the shifter (like from R to D, or D to 2), you can strip the gears and ruin the transmission. Matt says it doesn't matter, and he changes gears in the automatic like it's a stick shift. So, is he hurting the transmission by failing to press the little button?
-- Elaine...
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