Edmunds dealer partner, Bayway Leasing, is now offering transparent lease deals via these forums. Click here to see the latest vehicles!
Popular New Cars
Popular Used Sedans
Popular Used SUVs
Popular Used Pickup Trucks
Popular Used Hatchbacks
Popular Used Minivans
Popular Used Coupes
Popular Used Wagons
Comments
Is this a common problem with Jettas? The dealer has no idea what to do next, and VW wants the car shipped to MI to replace all the wiring in the car. This seems like they really don't know how to fix the problem. It doesn't give much confidence in the company if they can't repair their own cars.
Well, I currently have 8,500 miles on my Jetta. And guess what? It's flawless. Nothing wrong, nothing to report, no rattles.
Guess how much oil it used in it's first 5,000 miles. About 3 ounces, I'd say. And in the 3,500 miles since its first oil change, I haven't even seen a slight drop in oil level.
This VR6 5spd gives me 32 mpg on the highway at 75 mph. It gave me 29 mpg doing 85-95 on a recent trip (with a 10 mph tail wind!). My combined city/highway averages no lower than 24 mpg every time.
I took my car to Colorado and up the 7,500 climb to the top of Pikes Peak before it had 1,200 miles on it. I love my car. It's been better than my girlfriend's Honda Civic.
All this said, I'd still probably avoid the 2.0L engine, and maybe the automatics.
But my late 2000 Jetta has several fixes to earlier models' problems. They redesigned the window regulators (I don't know if I have the new ones). I have the new cup holders, and the redesigned rear center seatbelt.
So I decided to check back in here and report the result of my plunge. Maybe I'm lucky. Or maybe I'm one of very few people who bother to post anything here if they have a good car.
One person mentioned the sealent coming out from the doors on hot days. This is mentioned in the owners manual as a possibility.
The only problem i have had is the power window safe-guard seems to be a little tempermental, but that is not worth worrying about till it goes in for it's big service.
So far, the engine has not put out any smoke, has started the first time since i got the car and has used no oil even when used over a couple long fast runs..
Of course, saying this will guarantee that something will go wrong later today..
This IS the Maintenance and Repair Conference and this is a VW Jetta problems topic - so that is to be expected here! :-)
Pat
Community Leader/Maintenance & Repair Conference
Whoever thinks that German VW's are better than Mexican ones are wrong. German VW's are far worse, don't waste your money on a VW, I did but never again.
VIBRATION HAS BECOME MORE FREQUENT SINCE THEY REPLACED THE VALVE. ANY IDEAS ON WHAT IT MIGHT BE? OR ANYONE HAVING SIMILAR PROBLEM?
THANKS
DJL
Sites to look at are:
http://www.lemonlawamerica.com/
http://www.newyork.bbb.org/ (for New Yorkers out there)
http://dir.yahoo.com/Business_and_Economy/Organizations/Better_Business_Bureau/Regional_Bureaus/United_States/ (for rest of nation)
My case with VW is still pending and will update everyone of its progress. I will post more info that comes along my way.
Jetta fun car, however very unreliable. Will spend at the least $1000 per year for maintenance alone (repairing all defects in shop - NYC prices of course!!!)
I have a Honda Civic (which has been trouble free), and I was looking at the new Jettas. They are really nice cars, and the interior is beautiful. I love the features too.
However, due to the apparent list of problems, I have decided to stick with Honda -- either an Accord Coupe or New 2001 Integra (Prelude replacement). I am just too scared to get a Jetta after all of the problems I've read about. It's a shame too for such a nice car.
One thing that really swayed my opinion was that of the guy in Dallas who purchased from Rusty Wallace. I am from Dallas too and certainly don't want that kind of service of something goes wrong. My Honda Dealer (Lute Riley) has a great service department (although they do try to get you on the initial price).
I saw an article today that Honda was named "Best Enginemaker" by a panel of engine experts and designers.
VW has decided to reimburse me for the work done on the Rear-Braking system (Pads & Rotors). This is almost a $500 job in NYC (labor rates and parts are outrageously over-priced - along with everthing else in NYC!!!).
Reason it was valid: Rear braking system was worn out however, front braking system was OK. According VW, they have had numerous complaints with the same issue - apparantly VW replaced the rear braking system parts with non-VW parts and that maybe the reason Rear-Braking system is wearing down faster than the front.
Food for thought: The entire process took me about 3-4 weeks - calling customer (CS) service and talking to the numerous CS specialists regarding this case. They first told me that VW has decided not to reimburse me, however persistence and asking to talk to the supervisor will get you somewhere. At first they will say it is normal wear and tear, however if you keep asking how the rear-braking system wears down faster than the front-system: that may actually spark something... (at this point ask for a supervisor) and be prepared to be on hold for 30min (this is where speaker-phone comes in handy).
Although I am happy that I got approval for reimbursement, I am still cautious regarding the car. If this happens so early in the life of the car, the thought of 2-3 years down scares me. Still thinking of getting rid of the thing. Money is not in the bank though. I still need to send the work receipt to VW, get it processed, draft a check to me and send it out. Looks like another 1 mos. process for me. I'll let everyone know how it goes regarding the actual reimbursement process.
Goodluck to all!!!
I'll keep you updated on what happens.
Thanks!
There are almost 600 posts in this Jetta forum alone, most of them with horror stories. The Accord Maintenance board only has about 50 posts, and about half of those posts are complimentary.
Sorry man, but after reading all of these posts here, it seems obvious to me that Jettas have some real problems that need to be dealt with. It seems to be a lot worse than the occasional minor defect.
And the engine article was referring to the entire engine family, not a specific model.
It is a mistake to use that as a yardstick for the expected reliability of any vehicle. First, you have to know how many of each model is sold to understand the percentages of problems. And you have to keep in mind that since this the "Maintenance and Repair" conference, it is an open invitation for discussion of issues as opposed to merits of any given vehicle.
All of that said, I think jschlitz has misinterpreted how "busy" this topic is vs. the Honda Accord Problems topic. This topic has 553 posts in just over 13 months.
The Accord Problems topic is in its second iteration. The first one began the end of December '99 and was a consolidation of multiple various Accord problem topics. When it reached 611 total posts in June of this year, it was frozen and redirected to "Part 2" which now has around 300 posts.
One reason it has so many posts is that there is an experienced Honda tech hanging out there who is willing to discuss members problems in detail, resulting in multiple posts over a single - sometimes minor, sometimes major - issue.
Again, I do not think you should judge either vehicle on the numbers of posts in these topics. Do your other research, check out the Sedans (or Coupes or whatever conference is appropriate) topics on the vehicles you are interested in, check Consumer Reports, and whatever other resources you can find.
And don't forget that if you are going to compare numbers of problems reported, you also have to know numbers of units sold to check out the percentage of problems per unit. Or locate that information on independent websites, it exists.
Sorry for the length of this, but I don't want anyone to be misled just based on the number of posts in any given topic.
Pat
Community Leader/Maintenance & Repair Conference
To change the oil, use an Allan wrench to remove the plug in the bottom of the cartridge housing. A regular strap wrench can be used to remove the housing. But purchase a large socket, which makes it easier. I think the size of the Allan wrench is 6 mm, and the socket is 36 mm. I purchased the socket at NAPA Auto Parts.
Honda has sold 273,518 Accords.
VW has sold 98,695 Jettas.
So, there are approx. 3-times the number of Accords sold so far this year as opposed to Jettas. Using oversimplified statistics, if we assume that the vehicles are of the "same" quality, then there should be 3-times as many Accord complaints as Jettas.
I'm having a hard time finding specific complaint statistics on the web. But I do know this much -- every auto and complaint forum I can find has a lot more angry people at their Jettas than their Accords. It doesn't take a statistician to figure out that the ratio of complaints is certainly not in the Jetta's favor.
Honda is repeatedly mentioned as the "benchmark for quality" in car magazines and web sites for a good reason.
The brakes could be due for pads or an adjustment depending on your mileage. Have your mechanic check them out. That distrib problem is new to me, hopefully not too expensive if you are out of warranty.
Thanks
Please remember that since this is the Maintenance and Repair Conference, it is quite natural to find any topic here focused almost solely on problems.
Have you looked at the other Jetta topics in Town Hall? You can use the Topic Search feature on the left side of the page for Jetta - take a look at the topics in our Sedans conference to see if there is a more positive perspective on this vehicle.
Good luck.
Pat
Community Leader/Maintenance & Repair Conference
2001 Jetta GLS 2.0 Automatic
Luxury package
Cold Weather Package
Monsoon Package
Born on Date: June 2000
Birthplace: Mexico
Color: Blue Lagoon (Blue on 10 cups of coffee)
We traded a 1991 Honda Accord LX for this little sweetheart. My wife wanted another Accord. Our Honda was an awesome car, but was beginning to show signs of its age so rather than put mega $$$ into expensive 10-11 year old maintenance we bought this Jetta.
Delivered by dealer defect-free on August 28, 2000 and remains so in its still short life of a mere 1500 miles.
Buying the car was painless and we got an awesome deal on the only Blue Lagoon Jetta in the area. People are honking and waving at us all the time (esp. other VW owners) and everyone is in awe of this beautiful color.
We took it in for its CarePoint spiffing and a half-dozen people came out of the showroom to see it. Dealer has been very accommodating. They are installing the CD changer next Tuesday.
It's almost kind of embarrassing! But, we sure love this car.
And then (after the fact) I stumble on this forum. Am I concerned? Sure, but then I would also be concerned buying a Honda these days.
My neighbor (long time Honda fan) absolutely HATES his 1999 Accord and would love to have his '91 back. Front brakes are grinding/squeaking and the airbag light is on. He says the car handles like a pig and he does not enjoy driving it at all.
When we went car shopping we never even considered another Honda due to his and other friend's problems with newer Hondas.
Anyway, we have no complaints about our Jetta so far. We stayed conservative with the GLS 2.0. I was not interested in the higher maintenance and super high fuel costs of maintaining a 1.8T or VR6. The only other consideration would be the TDI, but we fell in love with this blue!!!
Drivability vs. a Honda is no contest. The Jetta is much more of a driver's car. Today's Hondas have that sluggish, sloppy, wooshy feel of an American car.
Yes, the 2.0 doesn't have the legs that our Honda did, but the power band is different. Honda was much hotter off the line, but struggled in mid-band unless punching it pretty hard. The 2k-3k rev band for the (2.0) Jetta is awesome and nice for those country drives on the windy roads that this car just begs for.
Oh sure I'd love to have the turbo or the VR6 and put it through its paces, but I'd just wind up getting a ticket and I'm just more conservative these days, so I'll just read all the stories here. ;-)
In the meantime, I'll report in from time to time with a monthly report card and (hopefully) nothing negative to write about.
Okay...One negative thing: We have the black cloth seats. Love the seats and the cloth just looks awesome. Except that we also have 4 cats!!! You could have a 200hp vacuum and it still wouldn't suck off all the lint/hair. Cheap fix: Duct tape and 10 minutes of your time.
ago...my wife has a 2000 VR6 that has been a
dream...not the case with mine.
Off the lot, I noticed a stall between 1000 and
1500 RPM...it happened without fail, accelerating
or decelerating, in gear or out of gear. I was
told it may be the engine block and scheduled a
time to have it serviced.
Before I could bring it in for service, the
battery light came on and stayed on for an entire
day (I'm at about 500 miles at this point), at the
end of the day, returning from dinner, the car went
haywire...all of the internal warning lights were
flashing on and off, the car was revving and
decelerating on it's own and it eventually stalled
out and would not start back up, when I tried to
start it all of the warning lights, etc...flashed
on and off and all I heard was a clicking noise.
I had the car towed in a week and a half ago to
the dealership and was told that they were certain
(right) that it is a battery or, more likely,
alternator problem.
So now I'm at war...the dealership has had the car
for over a week (10 days) and continues to tell me
that the parts that they need are on order.
Has anyone heard of problems like this with the
2000 or 2001 Jettas? I
I know that it is common for the V6 to cough and sputter for a short while (on "cold mornings" most say), but is it A) common for the exhaust to also spit up a black, chalky residue at these times, or to continue this sputtering at stops within the first 1 hour of driving? Forgive my lack of true VW experience/knowledge, but this just doesn't seem right...
But, definitly have it adjusted and don't take no for an answer....
Your dealer should be able to fix the problem and return to you a flawless car. Don't look back and enjoy the car.
Thanks
Be sure to also check out the Jetta and Beetle topics in our Sedans and Hatchbacks conferences. Since this conference is focused on maintenance and repair issues, it's really a given that most of the posts in topics here will be about issues folks are having.
You can use the Topic Search feature on the left side of this page once for each model name to easily find them.
Good luck.
Pat
Community Leader/Maintenance & Repair Conference
Yer not likely to find a whole bunch of positives in the "complaint" department.
In addition to this very informative site, also check: http://www.vwvortex.com/forums.html