2001 Volkswagen Jetta Wolfsburg review from North America

Check Engine Light: cause misfiring of cylinders.

Overall I have been quite please with the Wolfsburg; however, I have had the Check Engine Light come on 6 times in the 13 months that I have owned it. All of the problems deal with the cylinders misfiring. First they replaced the coil packs, then they replaced all of the fuel injectors. They told me that I need to use premium fuel (93 octane), even though it clearly says on the fuel door 89 octane. The problems stopped during the summer and then they came back again as winter approached. Now the dealership tells me that the problem is due to the fact that American fuel is different than German fuel and that American fuel does not have reliable properties during radical temperature shifts. So, they replaced the ECM. One day after getting it back the Engine Light came on again. Same problem, of course, and now they need to replace all 4 coil packs again. This time, however, I have been waiting over a week to get the car back and the dealership says that there are four other cars waiting for the same thing. The only saving grace is that I am still under warranty and also the lemon law.

The dealership also replaced the window regulators, which was a recent recall item.

Like some of the reviews on this site, I have had two issues to which the dealership says are "normal" for the car. First, the car pulls to the left and the dealership shot back that this was due to the fact that the transmission is off center to the left so all Jettas will have the same problem. The second issue was a rumbling on the driver's side dash that occurs during acceleration. I was told that this was the turbo fan kicking in. Since I am not automobile mechanically inclined, I am forced to accept these explanations.