1998 Volkswagen Jetta GT review from North America

* Replaced an airbag.

* Replaced the front brakes (normal wear and tear at 46,000 miles).

* Replaced the right rear brake and rotor (brake bad, "broke" into 2 pieces while driving).

* Steering wheel clock spring.

* Distributor.

* Ignition.

* Air conditioning control panel in the dashboard (because the light burned out).

* Strut mounts (twice).

* Serpentine belt at 26,000 miles.

* Normal maintenance.

I love the way that this car handles and looks. Also, the configuration of the cabin and the huge truck are nice. It makes this car very practical as well very fun to drive.

However, the cost of ownership has been relatively high for this car. While fuel and insurance are reasonable, the maintenance is unbelievable.

While the powertrain warranty is 10 years/100,000 miles, the normal bumper-to-bumper is only 2 years/24,000 miles. I drove out of that period very quickly, which is when my problems began.

Some things, like brakes and belts, are parts that are going to wear out on any vehicle with time and that is normal. But I have never had to replace the strut mounts on any of my cars, and on the Jetta, I have replaced them twice as normal maintenance. I was told by 2 different VW repair experts that the strut mounts go every 25,000-30,000 miles. That is unacceptable in my opinion.

Also, lot's of little things have gone wrong since the car's normal warranty has expired. Most (but not all) are listed in the "What things have gone wrong with the car" section.

The scheduled maintenance is scheduled frequently, at least for someone who drives a lot like me and really depends on the availability of the car. Also, the scheduled maintenance is not cheap.

For example, the most recent two I have had are the 30,000 and 40,000 mile services. The 30,000 was approximately $350 and the 40,000 was approximately $750. That's a lot of change to spend in addition to everything that has gone wrong.

The dealer service, though, has been phenomenal. I have nothing but good comments about the dealer. But, since they are getting a lot of my money, I don't expect anything less.

Overall, I love this car, despite all that has gone wrong with it. But, it definitely has strained my budget planning, and for that reason, I can not emphatically recommend this car to someone. Perhaps VW has fixed many of these issues with the recent redesign.