2002 VW golf 4 speed automatic tranny problem

[keithhvac]

my transmission bangs hard into first sometimes when I take off and slips in and out for a few seconds but once I get going it shifts fine and this doesn't happen all the time. If I just ease the gas when it is doing this it will go and not bang into first. I have about 170,000 miles on it. Could this be low on fluid or the filter in the tranny dirty? I just don't know I hope someone can point me in the right direction

Thanks
Keith

[CoolAirVw]

yes, it could be low fluid.

It could also be a pressure loss to the forward clutch which usually requires rebuild. If it doesn't do this in reverse it may or may not still be low fluid.

Check the fluid.