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Volkswagen Jetta Maintenance and Repair

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Comments

  • hkgjameshkgjames Member Posts: 1
    I'm somewhat glad I read these postings and somewhat dissapointed because I really want one. Do Jetta's really have that many problems or is just just the few who are voicing out their anger? For a car that is so popular, I can't believe there are so many complaints. Anyways...

    I'm looking to buy a car and the Jetta is one of my top choices but after reading the postings, I really have to wonder if it's a good choice or not. VW only has a 2yr bumper to bumper warranty compared to most other cars. I don't think any other car manufacturers offer only a 2 yr warr.

    Anyways, I'm looking at the GLS models. Any horror stories on that particular car? The Jetta's are made in Mexico right? anyone have a website on their plant?
  • pat455pat455 Member Posts: 603
    Hello hkgjames, welcome to Town Hall!

    Keep in mind that this is the Maintenance and Repair Conference -- this is where folks come to discuss problems they are having with their vehicles.

    So don't take the problems reported here as the whole picture.

    I suggest you key Jetta in to the Topic Search feature on the left side of the page. This will give you a list of other topics in Town Hall to check out.

    The topics in our Sedans conference are where you will find recent purchasers and others considering purchasing this vehicle, and the topics in Smart Shoppers may be able to help you with pricing.

    Good luck, and again, welcome!

    Pat
    Community Leader/Maintenance & Repair Conference
  • saileanusaileanu Member Posts: 5
    First, I love Volkswagons - nice looking and fun to drive.

    Second, I love it when my friend owns one because I have had enough of repairing them. I have owned 3 VWs and have spent more time and money fixing them than one entire lifetime.

    For anyone considering (!!) first, look for adds -don't pay full price (I have seen them advertised for a lot less than MSRP) - and get the most extensive extended warranty (like from Edmunds sponsors which I have used in the past) because YOU WILL NEED IT !!!!

    Here is a list of my repairs (from memory)
    1. Oxygen sensors (ON EVERY CAR SEVERAL TIMES)
    2. CV joints (ON EVERY CAR)
    3. Fuel pumps (ON EVERY CAR)
    4. Fuel injection problems (ON EVERY CAR)
    5. One engine due to shot rings
    6. Struts (On TWO OF THREE CARS)
    7. Door locks (ON EVERY CAR)

    There were a lot more, but these are just from memory....
    later
  • irocvairocva Member Posts: 1
    Does anyone know why I would be loosing coolant from my resevoir bottle (1998 Jetta-GLX). It only happens when the car is at running temp. And it's not leaking from my hoses. Oh, and it's not being forced out of the cap. But it is being forced out while driving during operating temp/conditions.

    Thanks
  • railtoskirailtoski Member Posts: 1
    I have purchased a 90 Jetta, a 91 Jetta, and a 92 Jetta for my new teenager. She has had some very bad luck. I would recommend buying the 91 or 92 over a 90. I had many mechanical problems with the 90, Fuel Pump, Electrical problem, CV Joints,
    leaking from real main seal. The 91 had electrical problems as well. So far the 92 has been problem free......4 months since purchase.
    For what it is worth.
  • wsommarivawsommariva Member Posts: 157
    Go to www.vwvortex.com. This topic was covered there.
  • tonewheeltonewheel Member Posts: 47
    1. vwlemon dude, get a life. You made your point. What's the deal, you need to drive traffic to your pathetic website for your sponsors??

    2. Don't buy the dealer-installed CD player, unless you enjoy throwing money away. Our dealer had window stickers indicating a price of $795. $795 for a CD player!!!!!!!!!! I bought a top of the line 10 disk Sony changer from Crutchfield and installed it in my daughter's 2000 GLS VR6. The unit cost me $295, and their installation procedures made it child's play.

    3. The car (2000 GLS VR6) is new, runs great, and an exceptional value for the money. One problem, however. When the car is started cold, there is a noise present from the muffler like it had a hold in it...sputtering and noisy. After about 15 seconds, it goes away, like the engine found it's stride and readjusted itself. Anyone else experiencing this? Any thoughts? I'll let everyone know what kind of service I get from my dealers service dept. (The sale was great...$450 above cost, calculated from Edmunds pricing.)
  • hookrxhookrx Member Posts: 1
    I have 1999 jetta gls vr6. I like it and have only had two problems. One with AC switch not completely engaging/disengaging(messing around with it seems to work) and occasionally when using turn signals high beam indicator lights up(no i am not pushing stalk into high beam position)at same time wipers wipe slowly across windshield and flashers on dash light up(external flashers not flashing) anyone else had this. I was hit 4 wks after buying car in passengers side door and front fender could be from that. I bought mine for 350 over dealer invoice and the dealer only had two, buy the time I got there one was sold and while waiting for salesman to bring plate another customer tried to buy mine. It is a 5 spd no leather it is a great deal. The 5 speed doesn't shift worth a crap though. I had 80 rabbit diesel got 140,000 with that until hit from behind. I had 90 fox got 185,000 with that until hit from behind while parked. I have had problems with all cars I have owned other than these two VW's.
    I am looking for Passat 4 motion now.
  • gregj777gregj777 Member Posts: 67
    Yeah my VR6 has the sputtering from the tailpipe too when you start it up, then goes away like you described. It's always done that, had it for 4 months. Love the car.
  • rblohowiakrblohowiak Member Posts: 1
    New to site...

    I've heard the arguments regarding 1.8t vs VR6, but I want to see if anyone has the same issue with the VR6...

    after approx 1,200 miles my VR6 starting making a constant humming noise at 40-45 mph...very annoying in rush hour traffic..

    I took it in to the dealer and they had 3 VR6's come in with the same problem and they are having a hard time getting one of the parts because VW is claiming that they are having a bunch of requests for the parts because something was messed up in production. It is supposed to be only in the VR6's and they said it had to do with the ring and pinion (spelling??). Anyone have any comments regarding similar issues...
  • melechmelech Member Posts: 27
    Haven't written for awhile, but avidly "lurk". I'm concerned that people will hesitate to buy a great car because of exaggerated fears about problems.
    To put issues of reliability in perspective: I've had my '99 V6 GLX (not 99.5 model) for 20 months. Put 16,000 miles on it, desert and suburban driving.
    Came with absolutely zero defects.
    Zero problems to date.

    As an old VW owner,('75 Rabbit; '80 Rabbit; '87 Quantum, etc.)I was very leery of problems and checked it out thoroughly before driving out of the dealer. I'm very impressed by the over-all quality of the car. The handling is wonderful; makes me drive like a 50 year old again (I'm 63). It's not a bargain priced car, but if you can swing the extra $$, it outclasses the competition.
    I believe VW has finally turned the corner on quality control.
  • mtownsendmtownsend Member Posts: 26
    Glad to hear your car is defect free.
    I do have to say that to recommend a Jetta is a brave decision. From my experience it will be a total nightmare, the car sucks and the dealer are worse than the cars.
    My car is far from defect free, in fact the list of problems is very long.
    The dealers basic problem is with their need to have a job sheet that is clean at the end of the visit. This way the customer will say what a wonderful experience it has been, this gives them big points with VWoA.
    They are so busy denying that a problem exists, they forget to look at the car and fix it. Or is it that they are just incompetent and don't know how to, either way I strongly suggest that you don't ever dare to complain on the customer follow up. I did, you would think that this would make the dealer listen to your problems, oh no, what actually happens is that the service manager is now angry for a bad follow up, so he takes it out on you. He will lie initially and tell you that you are wrong, when that falls apart he will just swear at you, this is quickly followed by don't ever come back you are just not wanted here!!!.
    So you think call VWoA, they will make things better, now the real shock THEY DON'T CARE. Worse still they take no action against the dealer and suggest that you might like to drive 40 miles further to an alternative dealer.
    Recommend a Jetta if you must, personally I wanted a VW because I used to love VW's (and I have had a lot) but if you ask me now I have to say BUY SOMETHING ELSE.
  • tonewheeltonewheel Member Posts: 47
    Since you "have had a lot" of VW's, perhaps it stands to reason that this is your first bad experience with one? How were your other VW's? Great, I assume, since you kept on buying them. Sorry you ran into a substandard dealer, but I can't imagine that they're all like yours. Hope not, anyway. Good luck with your repairs.
  • gregj777gregj777 Member Posts: 67
    My dealer in Winston-Salem is wonderful. They're friendly and responsive, I even took my euro front plate by to get them to drill the holes in the front bumper knowing I'd have to pay for a full hour of work probably, and they did it for free, even used their own nuts and bolts. I said "how much is the bill" - "nothing!" was the reply.
  • toml34232toml34232 Member Posts: 4
    I bought my 2000 Jetta GLS TDI two months ago and now have over 12,000 miles on it. I have had one problem which was a slowly leaking hose in the power steering system that the dealer has ordered and simply will replace when it comes in. Other than that I am very satisfied with my car. I have owned two 1992 Jettas in the past and never had any problems with those either. I would suggest VW's to perspective buyers and I would like to point out that if you look up other makes and models of cars on this web site you will see that there are lots of people that have problems with their cars too.
  • austinjettaguyaustinjettaguy Member Posts: 1
    My 2000 glx jetta (12000miles) is HOT! and the A/C is not helping. Is anyone else having problems with the A/C not blowing cold air in the Texas heat (and we haven't even hit 100's yet). Otherwise my vehicle is perfect, but I will have to sell it if I can't cool it down. Thx - jp
  • ttroublettrouble Member Posts: 5
    Anybody out there have a problem with the oxygen sensor on the front of their cat convertor on the '99 or '00 Jetta GLX? Mine went bad after 6 days and 200 miles on the road out of the dealers lot. Has been in the shop since (2 weeks). Apparently this part is on world-wide back order, and needs to be re-designed. Dealership, nor VWOA, has any idea when the part might come in. My guess is that VW is waiting to stock-pile enough oxygen sensors to send out a general recall of at least '00 GLX's. Anybody have any info on this, or have had similar problem? My dealership (Tynans VW in CO) says that if my car is not ready Monday, I MIGHT be able to exchange it for a new one. Great...Any help/advice would be appreciated.

    Tom
  • teoteo Member Posts: 2,508
    Tom:

    Are you going to exchange the "defective" Jetta for another one with the same re-design sensor problem? May be you should consider to step up to a Passat or a different car make altogether.

    In my humble opinion, I think it is unacceptable that a car such as the Jetta is beign sold with 2 major "Red Flags":

    1) Poor parts availability for essential components. It seems to be the norm with the new 2000 Jettas. (Worldwide back order?????? Oh My!!)

    2) To top it all off.....the Part has a design flaw!!! Thrilling news to hear right after you take delivery of your brand new spanking car. It looks like Volkswagen's motto "Driver's Wanted" seems to be more like "Sucker's Wanted" "Or Beta Driver testers wanted".

    Word of warning: Get out of that Jetta lease as fast as you can.

    Good luck!
  • ttroublettrouble Member Posts: 5
    I know...I am very pissed off right now. Actually, my dealership says the part has an availability listing of day-to-day on this part, but it is also listed as world-wide back order. So, I guess the dealership or VWOA is covering their a$%. The dealership says I need to wait a few more days before they will talk about exchanging cars, as the part MIGHT show up at anytime. I think I am going to try and get out of the VW lease all-together. If that does not work, I will try and get the Passat. And if that does not work, who knows....

    So much for fine German engineering.....
  • ttroublettrouble Member Posts: 5
    Well, just as an update on my situation. I have been told by my salesperson that if the part (oxygen sensor) for my '00 Jetta GLX is not here by Monday, I can get out of current lease, or at least exchange current car for a Passat. I would like to ask you folks if you think a Passat 1.8t, or the VR6 Passat. Either way, I would get the car with monsoon audio, CD/changer and luxury package. Any advice would be appreciated.
  • pat455pat455 Member Posts: 603
    ttrouble, you might also want to check out current Passat topics in our Sedans and Smart Shoppers conferences. You can find them easily by keying Passat in to the Topic Search feature on the left side of the page.

    Hope everything works out for you.

    Pat
    Community Leader/Maintenance & Repair Conference
  • mtownsendmtownsend Member Posts: 26
    To answer your question tonewheel, this car and the last one were both lemons. Unfortunately for me I was stupid enough to buy another VW after my 98 Passat 1.8t was repurchased by VWoA. So again I say VW used to make a great car but not any more.
    Just for the record it is now 2 weeks since I sent a fax to VW requesting a route forward to resolve the issues with the dealer and the car, guess what, I am still waiting for a response. I am absolutely sure that they will never respond, after all, out of 5 letter to VWoA and 4 to the dealer I have had one reply from VWoA and none from the dealer. That one reply was 2 months after the letter was sent, and one month after a follow up letter. All it said was my case had been referred to someone else!!!!
    My how VWoA look after their loyal customers.
  • bnormannbnormann Member Posts: 335
    Please tone down the exclamations !!

    I know some of you are upset, but try not to use "street" language in your posts. Not everyone wants to hear what passes for the current vernacular.


    Thanks.

    Your host, Bruce
  • ramonramon Member Posts: 825
    I was at a friend's place and his mom started her Jetta up to go somewhere and I heard this awful truck like noise followed by this bad bad stench! The noise of the engine sounded like some old truck I use to see in WWII pictures! And the smell is defintely diesel smell! Are all TDIs like that? man that really suck as the car lookquite clean and sleek. The noise really made me jump in sheer shock! It's new too.
  • gregj777gregj777 Member Posts: 67
    WHat year was the Jetta? I have read that the old ones do have that charecteristic. And I had a diesel Rabbit (1982) for a while a few years ago that shaked rattled and rolled but would start right up even on a very cold morning. That car had been through the ringer but the leather seats were still in great shape. Son't remember a lot of smell from the engine either.
  • rafikki1rafikki1 Member Posts: 1
    Everyone,
    I am considering buying the 2000 Jetta GLX and would like to hear comments on the overall reliability of the car. I have been reading through the posts on the maintenance issues and needless to say I am a little leery about the car. This will be my first Jetta, and the car I drive now is a 1996 Nissan Maxima SE (Which for the record is a terrific automobile).

    My wife drives about 60 miles one-way to the office each day and we are hoping the new Jetta will be able to take the steady pounding of constant highway driving in sweltering North Texas heat. Any and all comments will be greatly appreciated... Thanks in advance!

    Kevin
  • pat455pat455 Member Posts: 603
    Hi Kevin, welcome to Town Hall!

    For buying advice, you can find lots of discussion about this vehicle in our Sedans and also our Smart Shoppers Conferences.

    Just key Jetta in to the Topic Search feature on the left side of the page. You'll get a list of topics to choose from. Look particularly at the ones that show up under "Sedans" and "Smart Shoppers".

    If after purchase you have any specific maintenance or repair questions, come on back here and talk to us about them!

    Good luck.

    Pat
    Community Leader/Maintenance & Repair Conference
  • katrina555katrina555 Member Posts: 1
    Hi Pat and Kevin

    I am also looking for a reliable, sporty car that has solid gas mileage but after reading all these posts of owners having mechanical problems, I am more than leery, I am terrified! Is VW addressing all these mechanical problems and/or does VW USA plan on extending the warranty for their 2001 vehicles to 3/36,000. Another question, why are Jetta's getting such great reviews from all the car magazines and all I read on this list (about 75% of the posts) is how much this car sucks.

    Is the truth here or in the auto magazines??

    Dazed and Confused in SC

    Katrina555
  • pat455pat455 Member Posts: 603
    Hi Katrina,

    I don't know the answers to your questions, but don't lose sight of the fact that this conference is specifically for folks to discuss maintenance and repair issues. The people who are not having problems with their vehicles generally are not here participating.

    If you will go back and read my response to Kevin and follow my suggestions for him, you will find other discussions on the Jetta that are not solely focused on things that might have gone wrong with them.

    You also might want to visit edmunds.com home page, if you haven't already, to check out reviews of all sorts of new cars. You can get there from here by clicking on the edmunds.com logo in the top left corner of this page.

    Good luck!

    Pat
    Community Leader/Maintenance & Repair Conference
  • pat455pat455 Member Posts: 603
    Katrina, I just had one more thought - you might also want to pay a visit to Town Hall's Women's Conference. We have a new co-host over there, md_tech, who may or may not have an opinion to offer you on a Jetta 1.8T.

    Pat
    Community Leader/Maintenance & Repair Conference
  • pogofxpogofx Member Posts: 6
    I've heard of several new Jetta's having problems
    with O2 sensors - is this a trend? My new 1.8T
    isn't accelerating as smooth as I think is should -
    especially when cold, but according to the dealer
    the O2 sensor would send a fault code to the
    computer if it was bad - and of course computers
    are ALWAYS right. So they won't do anything. I
    had a BMW 325 that had a similar problem and
    replacing the O2 sensor cleared it up - the dealer
    in that case said the sensor checked good (i.e.
    reported to the computer good), but I replaced it
    anyway and fixed it.

    Anyone else with a bad O2 sensor? Symptoms?
  • ttroublettrouble Member Posts: 5
    Pgofx,

    My brand new '00 GLX, with 250 miles on it had the O2 Sensor go bad...my computer even diagnosed it! At anyrate, good luck getting a replacement. It seems VW is redesigning the part, and no dealer in all of Colorado has one...I checked. VWOA says that thye have no idea when the part might be available again. It is on worldwide back-odfer! So I sit, ever less patiently, waiting nealry three weeks to drive a car that is sitting in my delear's lot since a week after I took delivery of it. In my opinion, VW is waiting to biuld up a big enough supply of the redesigned O2 Sensor before they issue a general recall of all cars with this part. Just my 2 cents worth.
  • jjpienaarjjpienaar Member Posts: 1
    Just thought I would add my 2 cents worth regarding my Jetta. Not many people who are happy owners of their cars will take the time to respond to discussion group unless they are passionate about their car. All in all, I consider my 2000 Jetta TDI GLS to be quite good value for money. During my travels around North America, I have driven a number of different makes and models of car, more than the average buyer would have the opportunity to, and I am still convinced it was the right choice. I do have the odd few mumbles like the cup holder spring is not working, and the driver door seal is causing more air noise than it should, and the seats have this amazing static affinity for fluff (not experienced in any other car I have driven), but the VW people will attend to all these problems. My fuel consumption (Diesel) has certainly been the most pleasing, averaging out at 50 mpg, with the worst only 46 mpg with me averaging around 4000 miles per month, this translates to being very economical compared to the gas version.
    PS. At the moment there isn't another sedan available in Diesel within the same price range!!
  • what5what5 Member Posts: 15
    Ok, is this guy serious? He comes on here bitching and moaning, and what about? LINT ON HIS SEATS ect. Give me a break, if you dont like it, go buy your bland Toyota or Honda. I will continue to buy My VW Audi products (hell nothing could possibly be as bad as my sisters Dodge POS).

    BTW, I have 2 99.5 Jetta GLS 2.0's one auto with lux pkg one stick, and guess what, i have had a few minor problems, but after 26k miles on the stick and 17k on the Auto i am very pleased. SO what if i hear a lil creak, or a lil rattle, I CAN LIVE WITH IT. THATS WHAT THE STEREO IS FOR (and redlining the eigine)

    As for driving experiance: Well, for those of you in california, the auto 2.0 will cruise nicely up the Tejon pass (grapevine on the 5) @95mph in 110degree heat with the air on =) (thought power was going to be a problem) And the Stick got an average of 33mpg on the way to Tempe AZ doing around 80-110mph (these cars will go around 120-125). Did i metion I LOVE THESE CARS (will prob trade the auto one in for a 2001 GLX V6 Passat wagon, or an A4 Avant) but, never the less, I LOVE MY JETTAS!¡!
  • boyplungerboyplunger Member Posts: 1
    I have a 1997 Jetta GLX. I wish I could say that the car has been great but it hasn't. Let me tell you why. We have had lots of minor problems like the turn signals going out twice, the wipers going out twice, alignment was bad when we bought it, the sunroof had to be adjusted because it was leaking, the oil light came on within 6000 miles and a leek had to be fixed. That's just to begin with. Right now we are having a problem with the overheating light coming on randomly! It has been doing this for the last 14000 miles. We have had the car in the shop 7 different times to 2 different dealers and one private repair shop. Yes you guessed it its still not fixed. The dealers say nothing is wrong but the private repair shop said that they see this problem often with these cars and that I should ignore it since it is just electrical. All three have checked the fan, looked for leeks when they pressurized the system, changed the sensor, and the coolant cap. Still it happens randomly. To top all this off our alarm went off in the middle of the night when nobody had broken into the car. (its the factory alarm system and is a passive alarm) When I shut off the alarm and locked the car the interior light didn't shut off. I had to manually disconnect it. After doing that and then reconnecting it they both seemed to work. Just a little more! Just last week another warning light went off (sorry I can't remember the name) and the car was loosing power when we tried to speed up. They couldn't figure out what that was caused by either. Yes this is all true and the car still has under 35000 miles. I have called the Customer Service Reps at VW and they just keep telling me to bring it in again and they will follow up. Well after 7 times and not really following up, the problem still exists. All I can say is that I will never buy another VW as long as I live (besides the fact I will tell everybody I know not to buy a VW). I am just glad that this is on a lease and I will be able to ditch it on VW instead of some other poor person.
  • tbunntbunn Member Posts: 3
    Pgofx and Tom (and anyone else),

    Hi. I am new to the site. I bought (didn't lease - stupid, I know) a 2000 GLS V6 6 months ago. My O2 Sensor failed after 300 miles this past December. They told me specifically that O2 Sensors haven't historically been a problem with VW's (which seems false based on this site).

    In any case, I now have 3,700 miles on the car and the engine light is on again. The computer didn't indicate the problem and they have now had the car for a week and still can't tell me what is wrong. Is it standard practice to hold a car like this and not give any clue as to what could be wrong? The dealer (Golden Gate VW in Daly City, CA) keeps telling me it's a "soft failure" as if I "didn't screw the gas cap on tightly enough". They told me that could turn the light on. Has anyone ever heard of this?

    I feel like I might be getting taken for a ride (especially since I mentioned the Lemon Law to them when I dropped the car off). Does anyone have any advice for what I can do to ensure that I get fair service or on anything else involving dealing with dealerships? I have no experience dealing with cars...Thanks!
  • ttroublettrouble Member Posts: 5
    Finally got my Jetta GLX back from the dealer yesterday (3 weeks after bringing it in) w/ the O2 sensor fixed..for now. At anyrate, VWoA, nor my dealership believes there will be a recall for this part, but the service rep at VWoA did say that she personally has handled a lot of O2 related calls lately...On another front, I just wanted to chime in and say that I love my Jetta..the way it drives, the features on it for the price, the look, etc...which is why I can barely put up with the LOUSY customer service by VWoA, and the really poor dealerships that I have dealt with in the past. Could I recommend the cars to friends? Sure, but with a lot of caveats. As my letter to Gerd Klauss, President of VWoA says, if VW hopes to become a more upscale brand they had better work extremely hard to fix customer service and dealership problems. Other than lack of information from either party when a problem occurs, my biggest pet-peeve is that I cannot find a VW dealer in Colorado that keeps its service department open on Saturdays. Even Honda does that....Anyway, that's it for ttrouble
  • myvwlemonmyvwlemon Member Posts: 14
    You forgot:
    My problems and complaints with my 1999 Jetta VR6 since 7/1999.

    1. Valve cover gasket leaked oil.
    2. Window malfunctions.
    3. Window leaks air and water.
    4. Engine noise, air intake cylinder is bad.
    5. Oil cooling housing leaked oil.
    6. Problems shifting in first and second gear, especially in cold weather.
    7. Power loss at times.
    8. Not as stiff as older Jettas
    9. Cloth seats collect extreme amounts of lint, impossible to keep clean.
    10. Creaks and squeaks in dash board and doors.
    11. Gas door continually will not shut.
    12. Sun roof jammed and will not open.
    13. What Volkswagen America customer service?
    14. Poor quality of workmanship and customer relations from Valenti Motors.
    +++++++ some new ones
  • myvwlemonmyvwlemon Member Posts: 14
    What5, go back and read the short story!
    www.myvwlemon.com
  • ramonramon Member Posts: 825
    It was a 2000 model. That was why I was so surprised! It's crazy! It sounded like an old truck lugging it's way.

    GO check out JD Power survey recently for customer satisfaction in regards to VWs.
  • tonewheeltonewheel Member Posts: 47
    I posted previously about a startup noise in my daughter's new '00 GLS VR6. The tailpipe sputters, sounding like it has a hole in it, and idles rough for about 10-15 seconds until the engine seems to "find it's stride"...then it idles and runs fine. Is this a symptom of a bad or failing 02 sensor? I ask again, as no one responded to a possible cause. Thanks.
  • smcmullensmcmullen Member Posts: 4
    I was so proud of my '00 Jetta for making it to 3,000 miles with no problems... but now the little niggling things have started! I had driven Toyotas for years, and knew when I chose a VW this time that I was in for more trips to the service desk; I just didn't realize it would be quite so soon. The airbag light came on, and I took it in Monday last week. They promptly replace the spiral spring that carries the wiring from the steering column and the light went off. The service guy said it's not a question of IF you replace it, but WHEN. Well, I hadn't seen that one here on the boards yet, but whatever. The light came back on Thursday (three days later). I couldn't be bothered to take it right back in, until yesterday when a passenger put their window down and it wouldn't come back up! So back to the VW place again... la la la... I have to say they have been very good both times; last night then even got me a rental since they couldn't fix the car yesterday. Which is the right thing to do, and I'm happy they did it. I love driving the car so much that I'm willing to put up with these inconveniences - at least I knew the problems were possible when I bought the car and made a deliberate choice. The day may come when the troubles outweigh the fun, but not yet!
  • mtownsendmtownsend Member Posts: 26
    I think you should brace yourself, I fear that this is just the tip of the iceberg, I am at trip 13 to the dealer, and now my car is going back for another week, that will make a month so far driving a rental. The window problem is very common, I have warned about this many times before. They quoted me 3 weeks to get the parts for the window, so I insisted that they take them from a new one on the lot.
  • schmoozedschmoozed Member Posts: 1
    I really love my VW, the new look, the ride, etc., but am at a loss because it has failed with only 2200 miles on the odometer.

    It has been diagnosed first with a bad transmission, then a wiring harness and now a speed sensor. I really don't think they know what the problem is. Supposedly the engineers at VW has been working with them. (huh, who knows) The service department at the local dealership has been everything but helpful. Excuse after excuse on why it's not fixed yet. I finally made them give me a rental car. UGH....a GEO Metro...I'm ticked about that too. I would think they could provide their customers with something comparable.

    I find that I am treated as a second class citizen. I have had to call them to see how work was progressing. They never once called me. I bet if I had a problem with a Benz they'd have me in and out in no time at all.

    I see all the problems with the o2 sensors, they haven't even mentioned that it could be one of my problems, even though the engine warning light came on too...

    If I keep having problems..Lemon Law Time....

    From some of the responses I have read, it looks like most VW owners are treated unfairly by their local dealerships. Why? I always had good service at Honda..

    It has been in the shop since May 31st, going on 3 weeks now. My concern is that I don't think they really know what's wrong...they say the computer printout said one thing, and the VW engineers said another.
  • mliongmliong Member Posts: 231
    Funny thing happened to my wife's VW the first few days after she got her '97 Jetta - the O2 sensor failed. Turns out that the dealer's repair center knew that it was a common failure on all '97 Jetta's. Even funnier that VW KNEW about it and did nothing to retrofit the showroom models with the improved O2 sensors.

    Another funny thing that tends to happen is that the windows break down a lot! At least two per window at last count, and one broke down again as my wife was driving off of the repair lot!

    Needless to say, none of it is funny. VW KNOWS about the window issues, and apparently, hasn't cared to even address the O2 sensor problems after all these years. Add to it the electrical problems, now there's VW quality (at least it still beats out the Korean car makers!).

    What5 brought up an interesting observation (though Mr. Robinson did it in a very rude and condescending manner)- Boring but reliable cars vs Exciting but unreliable cars.

    Hondas and Toyotas have really bland styling - you can go to sleep just looking at them. On the other hand, you really can't beat their reliability. Those cars spend most of their time on the road where they were meant to.

    On the other hand, you have the exciting look and feel of the VWs. The slick interiors, and the "fun" factor of driving a Jetta. But how much fun is it to take it back to the shop for repairs all the time? What's the point of driving a car when it's mostly TO the shop for repairs? And we all know how "exciting" it can be to talk to a drone at VW customer service - when they won't do anything to address your problems!

    Bland but reliable vs Excitingly unreliable. That's a personal call every VW Jetta / Golf / Bettle owner will have to decide the next time they go hunting for a replacement vehicle. Go back to VW? Or go bland?

    I've seen it go both ways. It just depends on how much you value your time taking it back to the shop all the time.
  • mtownsendmtownsend Member Posts: 26
    Just thought you would like to know about the lack of progress with my very unreliable VW.
    After being insulted by the local dealer (12 attempts to repair, outcome, owner dosn't know how to drive the car and don't ever come back you #&@$!&% idiot)At VW suggestion took it to a different dealer (83 mile round trip and a day off work)Diagnosis you need a whole new transmission and steering rack, too bad to attempt to repair. Guess what?, now VW don't want to pay for it, so they want the area technical manager to drive it for a week to see if he agrees.

    My suggestion; if you like being insulted, having your time wasted and driving a $25 per day rental, while the dealer racks up hundreds of miles in you new car, then buy a VW anything. If not, buy something else.
  • sshepherdsshepherd Member Posts: 1
    I can't offer much better news either. I bought a fully loaded 99' VW Jetta GLX from my local dealer with little concessions on the price.

    First problem I had was at about 500miles with a oil leak (wasn't the engine though). Next nagging problem was the generic MFD? error indicator light were come on intermittantly, eventually to stay on forever. When I did take it in to have it fixed they claimed my gas cap wasn't tightened propery. It still had not been fixed and somewhere along my 2000th+ mile I was involved in an accident where someone pulled a right turn on red that totalled my Jetta and I walked away with light bruises and a totalled Jetta from the front-end collision.

    Other than small nagging problems and the poor dealership sales/service I was happy with my Jetta, and it was a great driving experience without taking the next step up to a $30,000 BMW 323 or Audi A4. Im just afraid as some other posters have alluded to that the success of VW with their Bettle and Jetta has dealers seeing greed and consumer demand as an excuse that they can do no wrong.

    Y2K just may spell the end of VW enthuisiam for the new breed of VW owners if they can't get their act together.

    If money wasn't an issue, I wouldn't think of buying another VW and would definately go to a real compact-sport luxury vehicle for the extra $5k+. All the new models coming out in late 2001, early 2002 are also very tempting like the Chevy Avalanche, Hummer H2, Lexus IS300... I think VW owners are just mostly people fed up with generic and boring cars.. I know I am.
  • bigglesworth2bigglesworth2 Member Posts: 1
    I've bought or leased 3 VW's now. My first was an excellent Golf III which was leased. I turned it in to buy a new Jetta IV in 1999 when they were released. My troubles with the Jetta started from day one when the car was improperly aligned. The dealer never could really get aligned. The airdam parts never would stay on and the radio had a "ghost" in it, it turned on and off on it's own. I thought the car rode rough too and a headlight burned out. This all within the first 7000 miles. That car was totaled last October when I was hit by an SUV. The police office said I was lucky to not have been seriously hurt, but the Jetta was totaled. I did some soul searching and decided to give the Jetta one more chance, I bought a 2000 Jetta IV GLS. This car has been excellent! I've had none of the problems which plagued my first Jetta and I have more miles on this car then the last one. So far, I would give VW thumbs up, the car is fun to drive and handles great. I had a Honda for a few years too, and there is no comparison between VW and Honda. I do agree with issues with the dealerships, they are less than helpful. Although, my last trip to my local dealer was an improvement over previous trips.
  • jayrusmanjayrusman Member Posts: 1
    Now I have 22,000 miles on my VR6 99.5 Jetta.
    What *is* that knock? Especially noticable when I press on the gas pedal.

    I also have the left-front "clunk", squeaky front
    suspension, sun-roof fail to close, and numerous rattles. The knock, clunk, squeak, and sunroof scare me though.
  • harryh10harryh10 Member Posts: 1
    hello everybody im new in here and i had to post my comments on this car all ive been reading in hear is aolt of negative things with the jetta i can tell you this that ive been looking for a car for some time now and went through alot of these car discussion groups on several cars honda acura toyota lexus bmw and i think that what i have noticed most was this is like the rest of them it is all negative i see that in here there 425 opprox posts and i read everyone of them and i think there was 3 or 4 that was positive after i did all the homework i had to do between al the cars that i have studied all fingers points back to this car hands down i would like to know with all you people that posted all the negative things about this car what or why did you send your hard earned money on this car in the first place ?
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