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Comments
My great Jetta VR6!
When my warranty was up on the 96, one of the coils went, I was able to drive it on 4 cylinders (there is one coil for every 2 cyl.) It cost close to $500 to repair.
Aside from this, my check engine light comes on often. I had the oxygen sensor replaced (that was supposed to be the problem) and it still comes on, only now it is supposed to be the knock sensor. I think the computer is screwed up and is overly sensitive. This has been quite frustrating, but it is still a great car to drive and the power is fantastic.
As far as country of origin, my gli was from Wolfsburg Germany and my glx is from Mexico. I would say they are of equal quality.
Mexico got a bad rap early on due to poor build quality but I think (after firing management there) VW got the quality control in order.
I have noticed after 1500 miles that my gas mileage to and from work has gotten better. I finally figured out how to change my temp reading from Celsius to Fahrenheit. Just push your ECON and AUTO buttons at the same time on your climate control. Also, if you push your reset button on your right arm control once it will switch your readings on your dash to show total hours and minutes driven since you got the car. One problem that happend a week after I got it was that the rear speaker started to rattle. This only happens when ever there is certain type of bass in a song. I have yet to take it in and get it fixed. I was told from VW maintenance it is a loose rivit and not a blown speaker.
To reply to the country codes....3 is Mexico.
Georgetown, Kentucky, starts with 4T...
So, 4 is US also?
On the other hand, My A4 starts with WAUD...
So I think Germany is W.
About a month after we gave up, a friend of mine said hey, since your not using the dealer installed Cell phone why dont you take that whistling Cell antenna off you car.
Yes that's right, after all that, it was just a cell antenna.
See he was sitting in the back, a place no one ever sat before, and he could not only hear it but he could see it.
Just a good story and a caution to look for something simple before going through a bunch of heartache.
By the way it too was most obvious at around
40 - 45 MPH.
Other than that I have no problems with the car (yet-only 2500 miles) and am looking forward to many years of driving it.
Did you find any sign of leaks? Why not check where you park for fluid spots and check the engine compartment.
Since you have the TDI I have an interesting story. I was in Ireland a few years ago for a wedding. We borrowed someone's Passat. After driving it all day we stoped for gas - and we did indeed put a full tank of gas---------into the diesel car. We realized our mistake before we drove away. The car drove so well we had no idea it was diesel. Power, quiet, and no black or smelly smoke. VW diesels have come a long way. Good luck with it and enjoy it.
Thanks in advance,
Paddy
Anyone, agree with me on this one?
http://www.myvwlemon.com
- broken cam chain tensioner (16k,covered)
-broken engine mount and bracket
-both front wheel bearings
-clutch throwout bearing (15k,covered)
-broken cv joint (50k,covered)
-water pump (50k,covered)
-random misfires, check engine light on and off
-ignition coil (45k)
If it wasnt so much fun and so fast,it would be an easy decision...any headaches from new owners? Please advise! Debating in Chicago
My favorite car ever ownen - 87 SAAB. Most expensive to maintain car I've ever owner - 87 SAAB.
Most posts I've read on this car - the 99/00 are very favorable. Keeping in mind that they have low mileage.
What you experienced I believe is unaccepable. when you look at the new ones, see if the dealer will give you retail trade allowance. VW is trying hard to be good to customers. See if they put the $$ where the mouth is. If they give you retail trade in, buy a new one -as you said it's fun to drive. Won't find that in a Toyota.
Good luck - to you and all of us VW owners.
thanks in advance
lars
There have been a number of posts in this topic about breaking in this car. There are a couple of ways you can go about looking for them. If you click on the "see all responses" choice at the top of the page under the topic name, all of the posts will load into your browser. This can take a few minutes, but then will allow you to read through all that has been discussed in this topic.
Another option is to click on the Search button at the bottom of the page. This will open a new window from which you can choose some search options. If you choose (from the left drop down box) "Responses in Current Topic", you can then enter any key word or phrase you want in the right box. I suggest you do two searches, one for "break-in" and one for "break in" (without the quotes). This will give you a list of specific post numbers in which the phrase is mentioned.
You can also find other recent purchasers of this car in our Sedans conference. You can easily find the Jetta topics in that conference by using the Topic Search feature on the left side of the page. Just key in Jetta and click Go.
There is also a general topic on vehicle break in here in Maintenance & Repair (#28), but I think this topic and possibly the ones in Sedans may be better references for you.
Of course, a very important reference will always be your owner's manual. :-)
Pat
Community Leader/Maintenance & Repair Conference
Another important note: The first oil change is at 5,000 miles. NO LESS. You must keep the factory fill oil in for this period. This oil has special additives to help the engine break in correctly. In the olden days you changed the oil at 500 or 1,000 miles. NOT TODAY.
Enjoy the car. The first 1,000 miles is not fun - can't drive the car until you hit 1,001.
Wait and see what the problem is. Many problems are fixed by simply reprogramming a computer.
If it is the Turbo, I would think that they can easily put a new one in.
If it is a major problem, you have a good chance of getting a new car.
The sticker on this car stated $22625, with all the bells an whistles I desired (leather, sunroof, etc.). We got to the bargaining table, and the salesman threw an additional $1995 into the mix, by stating that this was " market adjustment". I went to the VW web site, and it says I can buy this car for $22625.
Is he trying to screw me, or is there a true shortage of these vehicles to allow for a Market adjustment on these vehicles? I could understand this on a Limited production vehicle, like a Vette, Porsche, or Jag( which could mean a lot higher mark-up),
but a Jetta?
Looks like additional dealer profit to me, in addition to the BS dealer prep/delivery charges that the dealerships are already reimbursed for, by the manufacturer. He could not explain to me what the Market Adjustment was for, even after he showed me 9 1.8T's on his lot! He told me it was based on the average of the last 10 sales in the area. So, I said, 10 people didn't do their homework, so that justifies the adjustment? Maybe I was harsh, but come on !
Any advice? I walked away, for now. I was willing to pay MSRP, but he, or the sales manager, wouldn't budge. Even MSRP would give them a $2000 profit, and that is not including any discounts/perks they already received. Are sales on VW's that bad?
My first choice is Jetta but i do not know whether to get the GLS 2.0 or 1.8T Anyone could advice will be appreciated.
That said, I wouldn't want the turbo. Maybe it's just past stories I've heard working on me much in the same way as we have always been told to change oil at 3000 miles yet we don't really need to, but I've always heard turbos develop problems more often than normally-aspirated engines because of their nature. I guess it does get a little better mileage than my VR6, but the 6 is an older engine that should have the bugs worked out by now (I hope) whereas the T is still fairly new. I drove an Altima for a day while a part for my Jetta was being put on and it drove like a '70's Ford. The Honda is just too plain and common (not that plain and common is a bad thing, I'm just not going to pay $20K+ for those attributes in a car!) That's my 2 cents worth.
VW turbo engines need oil changes every 5,000 vs 10,000 for no turbo models, VW will cover all services for the first 24,000 miles. The turbo engine is the one to go for if you really want the Jetta. Turbos are reliable especially LPT models.
From my experience of VW's they used to make a good reliable product, now they just make good profit. My 99.5 will be the last VW ever, the car is trash, customer service sucks and warrany items are only honored until VW feels that they have spent enough on the car.
I am getting nowhere with the dealer or VW to resolve a long list of problems with the car.
By the way every time I visit the dealer (that's a lot) I always see a jetta with a window held in with tape. From my experience the window will fall out and you will wait 3 weeks for parts to arrive from Germany. Then the car will progressively get more and more problems, until you are so frustrated, you will just trade the car to get rid of it.
peice of junk: It's unfortunate that it happened. But if I were to just get a new car for a coupla weeks, a problem like that would really piss me off too.
Also for "millersms1", my dealer was pretty tight on price - I had to pay a little under list, but they threw in the six disc changer. there were other 1.8's on the lot, but they were all white, which I didn't want. personally i feel that any dealer that marks a car up over list is really trying to put it to you. just my opinion...
So you think this information came from a bad dealer, yes they told me this , but it was confirmed by a senior customer service person in Auburn Hills, MI.
Now, if a car goes wrong once that could be considered unlucky, twice is getting annoying but by the tenth time this is a crap car, but again VW have the answer just ignore it, after all everyone else is having the same problem so it must be normal.
New air leaks from sunroof.
www.myvwlemon.com