2002 Volkswagen Jetta 1.8T review from North America

Just bought a 2002 Jetta T1.8 at 65,000 miles and I think the electrical may be going out. The clock doesn't work on the Jetta, sometimes the CD player won't work and the driver mirror does what it wants, including making weird sounds. The care will stall when stopped in traffic, but other than that it is fun to drive and zippy. For the price, it's OK, but I've owned a Volkswagen (Golf) in the past and the dealership in town told me I had computer problems when the oil light wouldn't go off. I was told it would cost me $1500 dollars at the time, so I couldn't afford it and kept driving it that way. Every time I took it to the dealership to have them check something, a couple weeks later something else would go wrong, like the window not working, or the door handle. I was in college and could afford continued costs. One night I gave some drunks a ride home from the bar and somebody asked about the oil light/buzzer. I told them the story and they told me of an honest mechanic that could fix it. All this man did was crawl under the car and reset a button and the light went away. I went to the Volkswagen dealership and yelled at the manager in front of everybody that he should be ashamed of trying to tell me it was a computer problem. I told the story too many people and found they too would have problems with their vehicles a couple weeks after taking it in. I changed mechanics and the car quit having problems. I find that the big dealerships rip people off to pay for the overhead and the little shop guy works best :)

I'm hoping that my Jetta isn't having real problems that will cost a ton to fix, but I will take it to somebody trust-worthy, not the dealership to find out. I'm told by a friend of mine who owns a Honda dealership that Jettas are known for electrical problems. I will get rid of it before I pay serious money.