1997 Volkswagen Jetta GLS review from North America

Body side trim (rubber molding) falls off.

Rear exhaust muffler rusted out around 70000 miles, I don't fault the car for that.

Starter motor failed at 75000 miles, seems a little soon.

Throttle body needed cleaning at 70000 miles, was throwing the check engine light. At same time, I replaced a crankcase breather hose that had split, very cheap from VW dealer!

AC drain is clogged, sometimes water drips into front passenger foot well, and car has a mildew-like stink when I've run the AC and then turn it off, but leave fan on. I have yet to tackle this problem.

Sounds like a ball joint is going, and clutch or 2nd synchro is wearing because some 1 - 2 shifts crunch if I shift too fast.

Has been excellent basic transportation, virtually trouble-free to this point. I do most all of the maintenance myself. It appears to have been kept in good shape by the previous owner.

Air conditioning is COLD, heat is HOT, enough to take off your eyebrows. Never had just hot heat in a car before (not complaining).

Spark plugs are a bit painful to replace, other things have been easy (brake rotors, pads, starter, bulbs, etc).

No problems with power windows or other electrics. Cruise control works fine, sunroof is great, trunk is big, fuel economy decent. The ride is a bit ox-cart compared to my larger family sedan.

Note that disconnecting the battery for some time may lose all the data in the car's computer, and your idle settings will be gone. Took me at least a week of driving to get back to where I had a steady, consistent idle. Mechanics can save and restore the settings with a tool, I found out later.