Volkswagen Jetta 2005 and earlier

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Comments

  • mdaffronmdaffron Member Posts: 4,421
    http://www.auto.com/art/2002/nov/26/ragbeetle.jpg


    Supposed to be here just after the beginning of the New Year. Think they've ironed out the "bugs?"


    ;-)


    Meade

  • fish8fish8 Member Posts: 2,282
    I do think it is interesting to go to a VW dealer and explain to them that you are having "X" experience (e.g. dash rattle or window problems) and they react like they had never heard of such problems. I actually asked my dealer if they get many conplaints about rattles in Jetta's and they looked at me like I was crazy. The Service Advisor I am currently dealing with actually brought me aside and stated I did need to realize that ALL cars make noises and I basically just needed to accept that. He was being nice, but........
  • mdaffronmdaffron Member Posts: 4,421
    Wouldn't you guys just LOVE to get him in here and "bring him aside?"

    :D

    Meade
  • fish8fish8 Member Posts: 2,282
    Do you really think that anyone at VW or their dealership network actually follow boards like this? I think it would be a mind opener!!
  • mdaffronmdaffron Member Posts: 4,421
    like a lot of folks, they live, breathe, eat, sleep and you-know-what their job (VW) all day long ... and the last thing they want to do at the end of the day is come home and listen to a bunch of disgruntled owners ...

    Meade
  • fish8fish8 Member Posts: 2,282
    very true...I can't blame them either
  • newcar31newcar31 Member Posts: 3,711
    Here's something I stumbled across while reading Car and Driver. I thought it would be timely and relevant to this discussion.....

    "Smith's first move was to bring over Ignacio López, a purchasing expert who had successfully cut GM's parts costs in Europe. López proceeded to tear up contracts and unilaterally force price cuts on GM suppliers across the board, promptly driving the best of them into the hands of Ford and Chrysler. Within a year, López left Smith in the lurch, defecting to Volkswagen with countless confidential GM internal documents, an action for which he was later indicted by the U.S. government."
  • vocusvocus Member Posts: 7,777
    Undetermined amount of time again. Last time it was 5 weeks. If it's not done within a month, they can keep the damn car.
  • anonymous02anonymous02 Member Posts: 1,538
    Hey, I'll take the Kia gladly...
    ...
    ...
    as long as it is the Sorento SUV!
  • anonymous02anonymous02 Member Posts: 1,538
    That is PRECISELY why my dad and everyone else warns me about not buying any European cars. Parts are expensive and hard to get. This applies double for Italian or French cars.

    Don't you people read?
  • anonymous02anonymous02 Member Posts: 1,538
    Why would dealers care about this board? They sell cars, period. They then move on and sell other cars. Many sales people come and go.

    It doesn't matter to them.
  • anonymous02anonymous02 Member Posts: 1,538
    Planning any big trips? (Thanksgiving, Xmas, vacations, ...)
    Moving?
    Landscaping?

    Use the rental for all you can while you have it.
  • target3target3 Member Posts: 155
    "That is PRECISELY why my dad and everyone else warns me about not buying any European cars. Parts are expensive and hard to get. This applies double for Italian or French cars.

    Don't you people read?"

    Parts may be expensive, but at least they are not needed as much as with an American car. I won't even get into Japanese reliability, as those vehicles are too boring to warrant consideration.
  • anonymous02anonymous02 Member Posts: 1,538
    MY KIND OF BORING!

    LOL!
  • vocusvocus Member Posts: 7,777
    I know what you mean about using a rental car. I have put 200 miles on the rental I have now, and I got it yesterday around 2pm. Also, it's good not having to worry about carrying stuff in the car, or smoking/eating/drinking in it either.
  • blueguydotcomblueguydotcom Member Posts: 6,249
    MY KIND OF BORING!

    Yeah reliability is nice. It's a tough trade off. I knew going in that my Jetta would be trouble (that's why I got the extended warranty). I'm still trying to reconcile my fun with the car vis-a-vis the car's problems. Right now, predictable with a little spice appears to win over unpredictable with lots of flavor.
  • newcar31newcar31 Member Posts: 3,711
    "I won't even get into Japanese reliability, as those vehicles are too boring to warrant consideration."

    Somebody has really brainwashed you folks into believing that in order to have a car that is not boring, you must put up with less than satisfactory reliability. There are cars out there that aren't boring and are reliable. I know it may seem unbelievable to you VW folks, but it's true.

    edit:

    "Yeah reliability is nice. It's a tough trade off."

    Trade off? VW must love you guys.
  • justinjustin Member Posts: 1,918
    there are cars that are reliable, and FUN too. they happen to be ugly on the outside and inside. that counts for a lot to me. a celica/rsx/wrx are probably pretty reliable to most people. and some people say they are fun to drive. but my god, outside of the RSX which is just boring and too tall, the rest of them might as well be Pontiac Sunfires on the outside!! :)
  • newcar31newcar31 Member Posts: 3,711
    if you don't like the way something looks, then you don't buy it. I agree with you on the celica/rsx/wrx looks, although Subaru has facelifted the wrx. It looks a little better. Styling (among other things) kept me out of a Sentra. This whole "reliability or fun" thing isn't right though. I know it isn't in the same class, but isn't the Miata fun to drive AND reliable?
  • target3target3 Member Posts: 155
    when I say boring, I definitely mean looks.

    With respect to reliability, my VWs have been EXTREMELY RELIABLE (my experience only).
  • newcar31newcar31 Member Posts: 3,711
    IMO, the IS300, G35, Mazda6, Altima, don't LOOK boring. They also aren't boring to drive. They have their tradeoffs, but don't all cars?
  • vocusvocus Member Posts: 7,777
    There are alot of people in the MD/DC/VA area that I have met and talked to through VWVortex.com, and not alot of them seem to have trouble with their cars. There is one regional get-together weekly around my area, with about 20 or so people, all either Jettas or Golfs. Only 2 or 3 of them have had their cars in the shop for anything. The years range from 1997 to 2002.5. So on the whole, it seems that VWs are pretty reliable.

    Also, as everyone says, most people will come to a forum and complain more than people will write something positive. I personally do both. I think it's unacceptable for VW not to recall their cals for faulty ignition coil packs on 1.8Ts (I am literally the 30th or so person I know with a 1.8T with bad coils, and have even been told by a VW tech that they know about it). They should have also recalled the cars for the window regulator problems instead of telling owners that they will replace the part WHEN something happens to it.

    I like my car alot, despite the problems I have had with it. Am I going to keep it until 100K+ miles? Probably not, due to the experience with this particular car. I drive an average of 25-30K miles per year, and am not willing to take the chance of having a car that's in the shop with stuff that I have to pay for to be repaired. If I would have not had any problems with the car to date (1 year, 25.5K miles), I would definitely keep it.

    Now the TDIs seem to be extremely reliable, although I don't know about taking another gamble on a VW, with the probability of getting a crappy one.
  • hoodornamenthoodornament Member Posts: 114
    I look at this fun vs. reliability like I look at my girlfriend. Its/shes not always perfect (I have had 0 problems so far BTW, but know something is gonna crop up eventually), I still get a great deal of enjoyment just seeing my Passat parked in my parking lot and enjoying the comfort and style I drive every day. I have owned a Ford Explorer, Pontiac Grand Prix, Buick Regal, and Chevy Cavalier and can not say this about any of them after 18 months after purchase. They were just cars after a few months.
  • vocusvocus Member Posts: 7,777
    I know what you mean. I have owned a Dodge Aries (first car), 2 Pontiac Bonnevilles, a Chevy Cavalier, and 2 Mazda Proteges. I prefer the Jetta to all of them. The brunt of issues with my own car have been rattles, which have all been fixed, so they are no longer issues.

    Now if I don't have any major problems before the 50K warranty expires, then I will gladly keep the car until something major goes wrong, or I get something else. I guess we will have to see.
  • teri12teri12 Member Posts: 8
    My car is hot. In manual it goes 0-60 in 6.2 seconds. It has instint power with no lag and I surpass all the crappy Minivans, SUV's and race car wanna be's. I also installed the Super White Xenon lights. Awesome response. This car has all the gadets that James Bond would kill for. If you get a car get the Titanium Platinum look, put on low mudflaps and 6 disc CD changer, warm up the heated seats, open the sunroof. Now your enjoying the "People's Car"

    Teri
  • mdaffronmdaffron Member Posts: 4,421
    It took me almost 15 years to get over my love affair with my old Saab. I owned that car for one year from September 1985 to September 1986. Great car, extremely comfortable, extremely well-handling, a driver's car.

    Except for the blown rear main seal (twice), the faulty fuel injectors (Bosch K-Jetronic), the brake pads that FELL OFF the front left wheel during a mountain trip on the Blue Ridge Parkway which, by the time I made it down the mountains, had eaten up my rotors beyond repair and caused a $500 repair bill, the timing chain that stretched and wore into my engine block causing another $1,200 damage, and last but not least, the manual tranny that lost a needle bearing at 70,000 miles and caused the main tranny shaft to go pretzeling inside the tranny -- 3 weeks in a rental and another $1,200. Great car. Very safe. Yep.

    Gotta love those little "surprises."

    After reading some of your stories here, it seems Europe still has a way of making very fun-to-drive, safe, comfortable cars. But the reliability factor still seems to be a problem.

    Meade
  • fish8fish8 Member Posts: 2,282
    Well, I got my car back last night and all seems to be fixed. The metal rattle sound ended up being some sort of cover over my oil pan. It had worked its ay loose. My dash is now totally intact.
  • drmillhousdrmillhous Member Posts: 16
    Ok, time to put your minds to work. We'll take Daily Jetta Problem for $800 Alex ..... Today it is snowing here and when my jetta makes turns, it sounds like there is something shifting from one side of the engine compartment to the other. Like if you put something in a box and then tilted the box back and forth. It took my mind of the rattles at least.
  • vocusvocus Member Posts: 7,777
    I was looking through my issue of the 2003 Buyer's Guide from Consumer Reports last night at home. I realized that all but one European brand car (a BMW, but I can't rememeber which one) was rated average for predicted reliability. Even the 3-Series was rated worse than average. Oh, the Passat was rated average as well.

    And on top of that, there were only a handful of cars out there with much better than average predicted reliability. And one of them was a Buick Regal! I remember when they were one of the worst cars on the road. Now, they are one of the most reliable. So is the Impala. I was really surprised when I read that one.

    Everyone talks about the Americans having crappy cars, when in reality they are improving past some other makers out there.
  • target3target3 Member Posts: 155
    the Buick is rated so high because the ignorant Q-Tips driving them have no complaints, even though they are a crappy car.

    I wonder if Buick will be around in a few years, or if the younger generations will actually migrate to driving Buicks when they get blue hair.
  • vocusvocus Member Posts: 7,777
    Everyone used to say the same thing about Oldsmobile. Look how they turned themselves around in the past few years. And then the idiots at GM go and kill the brand off. Maybe they should have killed off Buick instead.

    I remember, about 2 years ago, sitting in the front seat of a Regal. The car was really big and roomy. But I didn't want a Buick (I was 23 at the time) because I always thought them to be frumpy.

    And that "Q-tip" comment was a bit politically incorrect, don't you think?
  • justinjustin Member Posts: 1,918
    The American cars haven't gotten any better. It is just that people that buy them don't expect anything out of them. I love that you can take most any Ford or GM, and stick your finger in the gaps between the hood and the front fenders. that is fun! :)
  • target3target3 Member Posts: 155
    Not one bit. Unfortunately, there are too many people promoting the idea that our behavior should be such that no individual can ever be offended. That is just plain wrong.

    Political correctness is ridiculous, and does nothing more than lead to a loss of all individuality (in thought, word, and deed).

    What is worst is that political correctness is utilized as a means of discrimination everywhere.

    I better quit now. Not a topic for this board.
  • blueguydotcomblueguydotcom Member Posts: 6,249
    I have to agree with the statement that american car buyers expect less and therefore rate their cars higher. When you press these people on their "reliable" cars they'll suddenly remember this or that and before you know it the list is quite long. When someone is used to getting Mcdonald's food everyday they begin to think all food is greasy, tasteless and akin to cardboard. same with cars.

    BTw, what mods did that guy do to his VR6 to get it to 6.2 in the 60? If it's stock, the only way it'd see 6.2 is on a steep incline with a tailwind. Sub-7 would be tough, let alone near 6.
  • fish8fish8 Member Posts: 2,282
    My wife drives a 2002 CHEVY Tahoe and in the 14,000 miles we have had it it has been flawless. I do believe that most people that buy american DO expect less. The only exception are american trucks. There is not a single Japanese truck made that I would consider over a Chevrolet Silverado. Tundra included!!!! Though American cars are getting much better.

    Someone that has driven Escorts or Cavaliers all their life knows no batter and expects no more that "Cavalier" quality. These people swear by these cars and are basically naive.

    Back on track: I just got gas in my Jetta this am and only got 27+ mpg. Not as good as the previous 30mpg. Maybe I drove her a little hard this tankful. ;-)
  • vocusvocus Member Posts: 7,777
    I have to disagree with you on your views about the Silverado. I heard they had alot of problems when they first came out. They had to replace a bunch of engines for some problem they were having with them.

    I agree, the Tahoe is a very nice truck as well. I drove one once, and I liked it except for its size (wayyyy too big for me!). I drove a Tundra, and I liked that better though. I don't know why, but I did.
  • vocusvocus Member Posts: 7,777
    My car is getting excellent mpg right now. I bet it's still got the same 1/2 tank of gas it had when it was taken away on Saturday. Just kidding. :)

    I have been driving this Impala since Monday, and it's not too bad a car actually. It's really big inside compared to the Jetta, so it's nice to have an expanse of room in the back (my first car was a Bonneville, and I missed that a little). The funny part came when I tried to make a U-turn. It took 2 times backing up. :) The economy is not dramatically worse than the Jetta's, but the power is a little less (it has a V6 though, so the power is more linear).

    The Impala squeaks a little tiny bit over rough roads, but not alot. Ride is like you are on a big pillow or something. :) Can't wait to get my car back, or at least a VW loaner instead of a Chevy...
  • justinjustin Member Posts: 1,918
    hmmm, are you sure the U turn issue isn't a "driver" thing? it isn't a "stretch" Impala is it???? hahahahaha.

    i too like the Toyota Tundra. but I prefer a Ford truck over a GM truck. you couldn't pay me to drive any vehicle with a Vortec engine under the hood.

    i think VW is trying to improve their customer care. i emailed them yesterday just to complain, and they called me today. according to them, they have changed vendors for the coils, and they should be getting the backlog fixed up soon.

    we will see.....
  • vocusvocus Member Posts: 7,777
    The Impala is a full-size car, length of 200.0 inches. Jetta is a compact car, length of about 175 inches. An extra 25 inches definitely makes a difference. :) And this U-turn I was trying to make was at a city block's intersection. Jetta pulls it off all the time, Impala couldn't pry it off if it had to! :)

    I haven't heard anything in the last couple of days about my car. They can keep the thing as long as they want, as long as they are paying for a rental car. It's up to them.

    I hear Ford trucks are pretty good, but I still don't trust Ford products. My mother always said she would rather have pushed a Chevy than drove a Ford. And she helped build 2 race cars back in the 70s, so she definitely knew her cars.
  • fish8fish8 Member Posts: 2,282
    What exactly is wrong with the Vortec engine? Eventhough it is old technology and a pushrod, I think it's a great powerplant

    Vocus: The Silverado may of had engine problems but those issues were fixed. The new Silverado's are much better.
  • vocusvocus Member Posts: 7,777
    The Vortec is old technology, but at least it works for Chevy. Have you ever driven a Votec engine? I drove a 2000 Tahoe (a friend's mom's truck) and it was pretty nice. It's just a heck of alot bigger than I am used to.
  • fish8fish8 Member Posts: 2,282
    I agree about the Tahoe's size...it is way to big for me too. But if my wife likes it and is happy then I am happy. 285 hp and 320 (+/-) torque that thing can move.
  • justinjustin Member Posts: 1,918
    i have driven a Vortec engine equipped GMC truck. fine, okay, no biggie. it started and ran fine. however, two of my uncles, "GM truck men" if their ever were such things, have had to eat crow and switch. actually, most of my mid-western family are GM freaks (vettes and trucks/SUV's mostly), but outside of the Vettes, they are not happy. the Vortec engine has a rep for being durable. and perhaps it used to be compared to the crappy old Ford trucks, but times have changed. the Vortec reliability/durability thing is a myth. just going from my families perspective. these are broken men now you must understand :) nothing to live for since they can't brag about the "vortec plant under the hood"......
  • justinjustin Member Posts: 1,918
    that my Mom's 96 Grand Am V6 has almost 300k miles on it. it just had coils replaced she said. first real repair. and the automatic shifts smoother now then any of my new cars did, even when brand new. GM seems to know their auto transmissions pretty well....

    she often asks if i want to take her car home on the 4 hour drive through the hills instead of mine. pretty sad, huh?
  • vocusvocus Member Posts: 7,777
    So what did they replace their GM trucks with?

    I hear the Tundra can't really haul and tow like the GMs can, but I don't know. I have no use for a truck, just wasted space to me.
  • vocusvocus Member Posts: 7,777
    The Grand Ams are not really known for their reliability, but I recently saw an article in Auto World Weekly, saying they get a very high satisfaction rating.
  • justinjustin Member Posts: 1,918
    Dodge trucks. :( quite possibly the ugliest most obnoxious looking trucks on Earth. oh well. they still love the GM cars though. Grand Prix, Vette (numerous), and my Mom's Grand Am.

    okay, no more non-Jetta talk!

    have a happy holiday everyone.
  • vocusvocus Member Posts: 7,777
    I had a Dodge Ram Quad Cab 4x4 as a loaner once. Talk about 3 times the size of the Jetta! :) OMG, that thing was a riot to park on my one-way street with parking on both sides. I backed up, and thought I might be too close to my neighbor's Cavalier behind me. I got out to look, and the bumper was about 3 inches up over the hood (not touching though)! It took a half tank of gas (about 13 gallons) to travel 100 miles in that thing. Thank God I didn't have to pay for gas.

    Have a great holiday, everyone. :)
  • fish8fish8 Member Posts: 2,282
    Have a great Turkey day........Drive Safe
  • vocusvocus Member Posts: 7,777
    My car is definitely safe and sound.. locked up at the dealership until its parts come in. :(:(
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