2001 Volkswagen Jetta GLS review from North America

Problem 1: Our ABS light came on and we took the car in for service. Dealer had the car for 3 days, turned the light off via computer and said they couldn't find a problem, they told us it might be a dirty sensor. We picked the car up and the light came back on the very next day. Took the car into the dealer and again they said they could not duplicate the issue. Well, on the 8 mile drive home the ABS light came on again. This time we demanded that they fix the problem (warranty). The dealership finally admitted that there was a problem and they were ordering parts. Our car sat at the dealership for 18 days while they waited for the replacement ABS Module. The dealer never did tell us there was a national recall on the ABS module.

Problem 2: The automatic transmission would not come out of park. We called Volkswagen assistance and the agent was able to walk us through a series of steps that would allow us to get the car out of park and in for service. Obviously this problem had happened too many other Jetta owners, because the agent said he "knew what the problem was" and was able to help immediately. Dealer said they replaced a faulty brake light switch.

Problem 3. Very little air flow from the driver and passenger dash side vents. All the air seems to blow out the dash center vents. Doesn't matter if the fan is on high or low. Dealer says that is normal. However we demonstrated to them, with another car on their lot, that the air flow should be more uniform. No resolution yet.

Problem 4: Rear brake shoes wore out at 36,000 miles. Front brake shoes are still about 80%. Everyone knows this is a chronic design problem with these cars.

Problem 5: After putting the car in reverse, it would not move or would hesitate and then slam into gear.

This happened intermittently, but began to occur more frequently. We took the car into the dealer and after having the car 12 days, they replaced the automatic transmission control module (TCM).

The Jetta TDI gets fairly good mileage and for the most part is a solid car.

However, a new car should not have all these problems. We own 4 other vehicles ranging in age from 12 to 5 years and none of them has ever been in the shop for other than scheduled maintenance.

Avoid Volkswagens.

I will never buy another.