As per the title I had one of these as a hire car for the last couple of days and here's the story. I ordered an auto as normally the car hire company don't have many available so you can end up with an upgrade. I don't have any choice as to what car they deliver from the group I booked, so I ordered the top level of 'preferred' car I'm allowed to order without supplying any justification as to why I need something better. Anyway it came reasonably spec'd as an 'Expression' with a fecent colour screen on the info disply and air con but the auto gearbox was awful. It accelerates before cutting the power then slowly changing gear only to surge again after so any poor old lady who buys one thinking it will be easy to drive is in for a surprise. The point at which it cuts power and then reapplies it is so defined its uncomfortable and I can see anyone who happens to misjudge pulling out at an island will have it cut the power just when they don't want it to. The steering was a bit wooden too but on the up side it was quiet for such a small car on the motorway. It even had a colour reversing camera which I thought was bizarre for such a small car. It averaged 48 mpg over the 2 days most of which was spent on motorways. Using the manual paddle shifts didn't make the changes any smoother, so all in all anyone considering one would be better off choosing the manual IMO.

The auto box sounds exactly the same as the one in the VW Up! courtesy car I had recently.

 

If you keep your foot planted on the accelerator you get the neck jerking reaction you describe, however after a few hundred miles of practice I soon learnt the technique, lifting off the accelerator for the changes. You soon learn when the car will change gear and after you've mastered it I found it worked pretty well. It was almost fun!

 

http://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/322826-vw-up-automatic/