Faults:

Almost flawless performance, had the usual trouble with a faulty coil pack during an 800 km trip, but the dealership serviced the car in just 2 hours.

Also, it had bad spark plugs, should have been colder, specially after "chipped".

Typical VW noises and rattles from the doors and sunroof.

General Comments:

Incredible performance from such a small engine, excellent fuel economy when driven within the legal limits, great reliability.

Absolutely thrilled about the car, gorgeous exterior design and very functional and classy interior.

Will trade it until absolutely necessary, or if GTi Mk V prices aren't too steep!

Endless possibilities for tunning and customization.

It's a reliable car as long as you take well care of it (premium gas, correct spark plugs, cooling down the turbo before turnig it off, synthetic oil, etc)

I previously owned a Mk II, this feels a bit heavy and not so agile, but it's almost lag-free ability to accelerate makes it up for the car as a package.

Faults:

Back right window.

Fog lights don't and won't work.

Cruise control doesn't work.

Alarm remote (from factory) doesn't work.

General Comments:

The suspension on this car is great, also tha brake system is very good.

But is expensive to fix small things such like a tune up.

Is fast when an air intake its added.

Faults:

Nothing wrong, just cheap plastic parts, but easy to fix. I did all myself, so I spent a little money :D.

General Comments:

My last car was a highly recommended Mercury Villager (Nissan Quest), which was very nice Mini Van. I change to a 4cyl for the gas, but the van was wonderful, and easy to fix. Fun to drive and cheap to maintain, the problem is that I've got a business where I need to go often to work outside, and I need something cheaper on gas because the van was 6 cylinder.

Now I've got a wonderful Jetta GLS 99.5. The car had some minor stuff broken, but I already fixed all that by myself. I spent 30 dollars on everything, including antenna. The car is easy to fix and maintain.

I already know about the VW family, because in my family we've had 2 already; a Combi and a Golf, and both were very reliable cars. So that was reason is why I decide to buy the Jetta.

And my father has a Jetta 1998 too, and it's running very nice. He does a lot of traveling in it.

Faults:

When I got this car, it had 85k original miles, but its engine and all pumps and all belts seemed worse than those on my previous car, a TOYOTA Corolla with more than 120k miles.

In the first week, trying to get the humming noise away, I changed the alternator, power steering pump, drive belt tensioner and drive belt. All parts cost me more than 400 bucks. After this, it was driven in an acceptable state for about one week before it made a noise again. This time, it was the timing belt and water pump that needed to be changed.

I also found the 2.0 i4 engine with 115 hp is kind of under-powered for this car. When I drive on the highway at 80mph, the engine is always roaring at more than 3600 rpm. No wonder it gets so worn down at just 85k mileage.

The other problem that bothers me is the remote access and power lock system. Sometimes the remote doesn't work at all, even after I installed two new CR1606 batteries (9.98$ from the dealer). Sometimes one of the four doors can't be locked down, although the alarm system seems activated with the beep and flashing red light comes on.

The last bad thing is most of its parts need to be ordered from dealer, which usually means extra money. Parts, such as brake pads, coolant, power steering fluids etc., from auto parts stores are highly unlikely be able to installed properly.

General Comments:

Nice looking, good handling, bad quality, bad design for DIY-ers.