Hey guys, just picked up an 04 A4 3.0 cabrio with just under 50k miles and loving it, except for one issue. Going from 1st to 2nd from a stop, the transmission seems to shudder or jerk noticeably. It only happens then, and the transmission is super smooth at all other times.

Its an automatic FWD and I have the option to shift manually by tipping up and down. I did some observing and I'm not sure the jerking is coming from the transmission shifting. When I put the car in 1st gear and drive off slowly, at approx 1200 rpm the car jerks even when i don't manually shift into 2nd. Every time it passes this 1200 rpm mark, i feel a very noticeable jerk.

Is this a common issue with these cars? I was concerned that there was something wrong with my auto transmission, but I did some searching on this forum and saw that a transmission reflash can fix this? If so, what is the procedure for this and cost for a reprogram?

Thanks in advance to any and all information. I love the car but hopefully I didn't just buy one with a worn transmission. The car looks and drives absolutely mint otherwise! I would love to hear from those who know of this issue or has had personal experience with this. Thanks.

 

Well, FWD + Auto = CVT. Most people here will tell you that's not a good thing, and generally recommend against buying one. Failures and problems are common with that transmission, and quattro and/or manual transmissions are preferred. (Note that I'm being gentle with my choice of words here.)