2000 Volkswagen Jetta GLS from North America - Comments

90,000km, interior console latch broke

92,000km, timing belt

100,000km, gearbox problems started during cold weather

112,000km, the rear bushings had to be changed

115,000km, one front bearing

118,000km, the brake sensor

118,000km, brake pads AND disks

119,000km, interior console latch broke AGAIN

122,000km, a windshield wiper flew away

125,000km, a spark plug unscrewed out of its socket and BLEW OUT of the motor

130,000km, steering problems started

Drive train problems started to get really big at 135,000km

140,000, the check engine lit up, Mass Airflow Sensor.

I will elaborate a little bit with my own general experience with modern Volkswagen.

I am a college student, and have always preferred the Volkswagen brand for numerous reasons. Notably its German heritage, which differentiates it from boring American sedans, and also from mass produced Japanese cars all my buddies had.

So what appealed to me was the brand image (important to note).

I first bought a 1997 Jetta GL, which was already 8 years old. I was convinced Volkswagen cars were of superior quality and reliable. I sold this car after a year of using it. Many things broke during that year, and I ended up quite a loser on the final sale price.

Having a bigger budget to purchase a nicer car, I decided replace the '97 Jetta with the "new" Jetta, which at the time was the '00-'05 series. I ended up choosing the Jetta versus the Accord. I tried both, but finally chose the Jetta because the Accords were more expensive for the same year/mileage.

I found this 2000 Jetta GLS, previously owned by a respectable looking old man. This inspired confidence. The car was 4 years old, and freshly out of warranty. I thought I had made a good bargain, it only had 80,000km.

Right away, I noticed the plastic interior was peeling off every piece it was coated on.

At 90,000km, the latch that slides to hide the 12volt lighter and the ashtray broke. Had this repaired at a cost of $30.

92,000km, I changed the timing belt because of everyone telling me I had to change it before 100,000km. So I did as I was told. This cost $360.

At 100,000km, winter was starting, and the cold weather seemed to have totally ruined my driving pleasure forever. The gearbox was now very hard to up shift into 2nd gear. I had to "warm up" the car and gearbox for at least 10 minutes to be able to shift the manual shifter. This problem was never resolved, although I did pay for labor time to look into it, but only got inconclusive answers and/or contradictory from one garage to another, so I decided to leave and not change anything. Cost $35.

At 112,000km the rear bushings had to be changed. Noticeable thumping noises would be heard at every street bump or imperfection. Very annoying. Cost $740.

At 115,000km I was told from a regular inspection that one front bearing would need to be replaced. Cost $180.

At 118,000km the brake sensor lit up after I hit a really deep road bump. The garage told me the brake sensor broke and had to be replaced. This cost $65. He also told me I had replace my brake pads and disks on both front wheels. Cost $350, done with brake sensor.

By this time, I started to realize this car was quite expensive in maintenance costs.

Having entirely paid for the car, I thought the costs would be low to keep it running. WRONG.

At 119,000km the latch that slides to hide the 12volt lighter and the ashtray broke AGAIN. Didn't bother to repair.

At 122,000km a windshield wiper flew away on the highway. Replaced both by new Bosch ones. Cost $60.

At 125,000km a spark plug unscrewed out of its socket, and BLEW OUT of the motor while I was driving on my way to work. This caused my to lose half a day's work and cost $60 to put in brand new spark plugs. Very weird.

At 130,000km steering problems started. Eventually the car started to leak big amounts of its power steering liquid. I had to urgently go to the garage and have a big repair done. It cost $950, as they had to change an important piece concerning the steering.

Drive train problems started to get really big at 135,000km. Grinding when shifting into third started to be frequent, and grinding when shifting into reverse gear. I had to change the clutch. This was a crushing blow to my budget. Cost $760 (and I had a good price of the repair).

At 140,000 the check engine lit up. The garage told me it was the Mass Airflow Sensor and it would probably cost in the near $350 (not including the labor). I did not have this repaired. He erased the check engine and I didn't repair this problem.

After all this, I re-sold the car 2 years later, and lost well-over £3000 on the car price, which I consider normal. However the $3000 in repairs, isn't.

After finding this website and noticing everyone with the same problems I was having, I'm just real glad I sold that beautiful piece of thrash.

Long live boring American sedans and mass produced Japanese cars if they're anything better than German crapwagons.

I'm also noticing Passat and Golf owners are having the same problems.

Can we draw conclusions here..???

I will stick with my 92 GTI. new (er) VW's are too complicated and not much fun anyway. The A2's are the last of a spunky, distinctive, roomy, well thought out, nice road manner, simple to keep up, and yet comfortable and communicative car. 93 on, I would completely avoid.

That's good that you changed car. I recently have a 2000 jetta vr6, and we had to replace the tranny. well the silly car we have to change and reset the ecm. and for some reason is still not working any help here?

You let your timing belt break... that's operator error... come on... a timing belt needs to be replaced every 60k miles.

My car is only 60000 miles and I have too many problems. This car is piece of trash. I will never buy Volkswagen again.

Hello I am writing in response to your experience with your 2000 VW Jetta. I'll admit that they do need routine maintenance, which can be costly, but if you know a good VW repair shop, they will inspect your car from head to toe and let you know what needs to be replaced and when.

I just had to pour 650 dollars into mine to fix a cylinder head. Replaced plugs and wires, intake gaskets and vac hoses. To be honest with you that was the first costly repair I've had to make to my 2000 Jetta GLS. Now it purrs like a kitten, and now I must save to replace the timing belt and water pump, which should be replaced every so often as well. Unfortunately with a foreign car, the parts and labor both are always going to be more expensive if you're having the repairs done by a certified VW mechanic.

I know that the VW's produced I believe from 1999.5 - 2004/5 were assembled in Mexico, so I feel the quality of production for these model years were compromised to an extent. What do you say?

I bought my wife a used 39,950KL 2000 Jetta GLS back in mid 2002. Nice car in the beginning but soon found out that it appears to be built with LOW bidder parts from the 4 corners of this planet.

Over time the oil consumption has gone up to 1 liter per 1000KMS, (1 Quart per 2 tanks of gas). Any one else have oil consumption problems? I've heard it's a common problem with these 2.o liter engines. And yes the glove box, cup holders, rear ashtray, power mirror knob, etc. etc are in need of replacing. My local dealer makes most of there money on the service end of things. Just think if they gave the cars away for free and made you sign an exclusive service contract with the dealer.

If you like Jettas, only get 1.8t or VR6! Everyone knows 2.0 have problems...

1.8t have the least problems.. especially if you have maintenance on time!

I'm of German descent, and thought it was ideal to buy a VW. I own a 2000 Jetta GLS and have had numerous problems with it as well. Brakes, timing belt, that all happens with age in any car -- but leave it to VW to put in the WRONG spark plugs, which caused my car to seize and shudder when coming to a complete stop, turning itself off or not starting at all.

The passenger side window clips broke, causing the window to fall through. After learning they had been recalled, without noticing myself, they broke again upon replacement. The passenger side window then began to lock itself in place, not going down when I would hit that magic button to make it go down -- their reasoning for it, the clips. NOW the driver side window is doing the same thing.

The catalytic convertor was also recalled and replaced.

The sway bar, struts and wheel bearings went.

The brake calipers, or whatever they're called, broke in half and needed to be replaced.

I have replaced all the senors in the vehicle, and the coils for the suspension.

The engine light has been on for 2+ years -- when it came on I took it to VW where they told me nothing was wrong with the car. The light was off, but after driving it for less than 3 hours the light came back on. BACK to VW I went, where they told me that "it's normal for the check engine light to come on in the vehicle, it just happens, nothing is wrong with it though"... what kind of B/S is that? SO the light is still on, and there is no problem that can be found by anyone -- VW specialists, the dealership, other mechanics.

Well, my VW won't start sometimes. I turn the key and it'll turn itself on, but then it quickly shuts down. I have taken it in for this problem on multiple occasions, apparently no one can find the problem -- they'd have to take the engine apart, which would cost an arm and a leg to do. SO I'm stuck with my POS VW. I used to love this car, but it's just problem after problem. The repairs are ridiculously expensive. Thinking of all the money I've put into this car makes me sick.

I will never buy another VW made in North America again, they're produced out of Mexico, and as far as I'm concerned, Mexicans cannot build a German vehicle. The only ones that last are those made in Germany. Stay away from VW's!

I have had problems with my 2000 Jetta and the immobilizer. My car will start but shut itself off immediately, which means I am stuck wherever it happens. After replacing the left backdoor lock which would not lock, and the VW people doing all kinds of costly repairs to fix that problem, it is still doing it. I have had it since 3 years now. I figured out a way to get it started though: Get out of the car, take keys out of ignition, unlock all the doors (not with the key!!!), open all the doors, and trunk, then close all of them, and it usually starts... fun thing! otherwise I really love how it drives...

I love my 2000 Jetta. It has a ton of aftermarket parts.

Most people find a certain problem with a car and get stuck on it, like when I hear "I won't buy a Dodge because the transmission sucks in them". Well if it goes out, don't put in a stock garbage part. All cars have some sort of imperfection. If you want your ride to be perfect, don't be cheap.

I have never had a costly repair to my car, and it because of something most people neglect to do; it's called maintenance.

If your car starts causing problems and you wait until you're stranded on the side of the road, well you can't blame your car for that.

My Jetta is great and I intend to keep it that way...