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Comments
Hey VW GUILD ! What's your opinion on this ?
The dealer is charging $90 to run diagnostics and find what's causing that indicator to turn on.
I think they intentionally set these lights on so that we can make a trip to the dealer.
Previously i had a nissan car and same thing happened with that car?
But it's a good idea to monitor it and find out the exact consumption, so you have a record of that.
The solution, I'm told, is to re-install the original VW radio or buy one of the VW-compatible CD changers sold at dealerships. There's no real work-around to this problem, I was told. Anyone else heard of this, or heard of a more reasonable solution? I can't quite believe that simply removing the factory radio fouls things up to this extent. Thanks for any help.
-Jim
http://www.jettaownersclub.org
http://www.blue-guy.com
Driven by a different point of view
As for a list of other problems:
I had the Goodyear Tire Problem as well. I had a friend who has the same exact car and she received a complete new set of tires. I had a more miles than she did, and the same dealer told me that they weren't going to be covered and they didn't know anything about it. I just assumed that blowing through a set of tires at 30,000 miles wasn't that big of a deal and replaced them at my cost.
Dash Rattles. I assumed this was just an annoying part of this car. I noticed it after I had the light behind the HVAC Controls replaced. I have the monsoon sounds system on high most of the time anyway to really notice it.
Speaking of which, I have had some problems with the factory changer. I get feedback through the front speakers at various times.....only with the CD. I have had the connection checked twice, as of now (crossing my fingers), working fine. Also, the changer has a tendency to skip.....well not really skip, but cutout at the beginning parts of cds. The songs still play, you just here little bits and pieces of the songs. There is no rhyme or reason to the CD number, or what, it just always seems to be on the first like 7 songs on a CD. This problem is also can only be found when the weather is cold here in Ohio. Go figure.
If you are having some problems, call VW Customer Care and file a complaint. They have to look into it and you may get some recourse.
Good luck to you.
The second visit involved the suspension/lowering kit (Eibach springs actually). The lying thieves said it would take 5 hours to install the springs at $70 an hour. Helen Keller could install those springs on my car in under 2 hours. All the local pro-shops quoted me 1.5-2 hours for the install of the Eibach springs.
The last visit I brought in my car regarding the always deflating tires. Three times I've added air to the front wheels since I got my WE 5 weeks ago. They insisted it could not possibly be the mounting and had to be the Goodyears. When I asked why BOTH tires lost pressure constantly I was told, "well both tires must be bad." Right, nothing to do with the BBS rims. They then said, "Go to a goodyear distributor, cuz that ain't our problem." Good customer service. Even better, one of the tools tried to tell me the lower the pressure in the tire, the better your mileage...guess ole Mr. Goodwrench hasn't ever heard of rolling resistance.
So you tell me, after 3 trips and 3 dismissals with lies and laziness, why on earth would I take my car back to them a fourth time for a serious problem? And according to the people on VwVortex, this dealership is supposedly the good one in San Diego. I'd hate to meet the bad ones.
INKY
I have a 94 jetta that the door lock fell out of its place, does anyone know how much that will cost to fix.
Nope, but I'll bet your local VW dealer knows how much to replace that lock on your 8-year-old Jetta.
-Jim
Good luck..
INKY
After having the car all day, the dealer's service advisor called to tell me that the technician was having difficulty isolating the noises, and so now I have a Golf loaner for the weekend. Hopefully they can take care of the situation on Monday.
I really like my Jetta, but the rattles are quite disappointing for such a new car.
This would be my first time buying a VW, or any car in that case, so if anyone can give me advice and good/bad experiences, that would be great?
One more thing, when it comes to "wheeling and dealing" with VW, how stubborn do they seem? I know it varies by sales person but as a whole company, I was wondering.
Any advice on VW's would be helpful for this rookie! Thanks.
I do know that they are interested in my car which will be for sale in November or December and I will give them a chance to bid on it since I won't want much for it anyway. I will let you know how their service department is after I have my Jetta serviced there on the 10th of August. Good luck getting your Jetta.
-I own a 1999 Jetta GLS VR6 (bought Feb 1999)with approx 25,000 miles on it. Apart from the tires (separate issue), I have only had a few minor defects that were covered under warranty.
-The stock Goodyear tires are crap. I have rotated them, and used a separate set of snow tires in the winter, and there is still much uneven wear. Also, the car handles better with the snows!! I will be replacing them shortly.
-There were several posts about the PA-NJ-DE lemon list and the cars with the most reported problems, and I have a few comments to make. People wondered why the Golf was listed, but the Beetle and Jetta weren't, when they are essentially the same car underneath. My comment to this is that the Beetle and Jetta are made in Mexico, and the Golf (and Passat, as well, which is is also on the list) is made in Germany. Contrary to what has been posted here, I have heard that the quality coming out of Mexico is actually better than Germany- note too that the German-made Audi A6 is top of this list.
-Quality generally suffers when demand for a car is high and the plants have to run at or above their design capacity. This may be what is happening to VW/Audi as well.
-I would not use this list as an endorsement of whether or not to buy this or any car based on reliability. There are 1243 posts on this board since 1999, covering all models of Jettas. Many of the posts are long discussions between several users, and also from owners of other cars who wish to criticize VW (why they choose to waste valuable time is beyond me). VW probably sells over 50,000 Jettas a year (just a guess- does anyone know the actual figure?) in the US. From my understanding, the car has an average reliablity rating from groups like consumer reports, etc. Funny, though, that the Passat has a high reliablity rating- which brings up an interesting point: does one consider reliablity as the tendency for a car to be incapacitated when breaking down, or non-critical items such as the gas tank door actuator breaking? How does this relate to overall quality? GM cars are horribly built fit-and-finish-wise but can have engines and transmissions that last forever.
-There are many complaints about the dealers. Let me say that almost everyone I know, regardless of auto make, has had crappy service from car dealers. I think its the nature of the business and the labor pool.
Anyway, good luck to everyone with their cars, VW owners or not!
You may remember reading that my power window regulator failed and the window wouldn't roll up. This was after I put more than 24,000 miles on my 1999 Jetta GLS, so it wasn't covered by warranty. I paid $371 for the repair. I called Customer Service and they said they'd look into it ...
Well, today they called and said they'd mail me a check to reimburse me! I will post here and let you know if they actually do it. Pray they follow through!
-Jim
http://www.jettaownersclub.org
Tbe rattles are gone! The technician removed the instrument panel and insulated the window to fix one of the rattles. The other rattle was traced to the window regulator on the right front door; the technician insulated the wiring.
My 2001 1.8T is again a pleasure to drive
Do several accurate measurements of your fuel mileage before rushing to the dealer. A small miscalculation can really mess up your end numbers when figuring out mileage. Definitely don't guess by a gage reading.
-Jim
http://www.jettaownersclub.org
Also, the rear lid to my car stays locked at all times unless I use the remote or the switch in the car to unlock it. Is there a way I can keep it unlocked without having to use the remote all of the time?
Thanks,
Rich