2003 Volkswagen Jetta GL review from North America
"If you treat it well it is very reliable"
What things have gone wrong with the car?
The car developed a coolant leak almost right away. Apparently it was a pinhole leak in one of the hoses. I was very frustrated by this although everything but my time was covered under warranty including a rental. Unfortunately it took the dealership 3 times to finally fix the problem.
The car had the instrument cluster go out once so that all of the instruments "died" but then came back on. I tried to get the cluster changed but the dealership couldn't get the new cluster to work so they reinstalled the old one since it was working and they couldn't find anything wrong with it. The cluster has been fine ever since.
A rear break light bulb burnt out after the wear and tear period on the warranty. This was the first thing for which I incurred costs.
The brake light switch began to malfunction. Amazingly this happened right as VW issued a recall on that part. In either case it was under warranty.
I had the belly pan break off. This was a rather pricey $100 dollar fix which I should have done myself. I'm pretty sure I caused this when I got stuck in the snow.
General comments?
The car is great and capable of much better fuel economy than the EPA estimates. I regularly get 33 mpg average when the car was rated at 24 city and 31 highway so I should be averaging 28 at best.
The car has very good performance. It picks up quickly and the little turbo spools up with little throttle.
The hub caps are unfortunately not held on the wheels by bolts and mine got stolen so I have aftermarket hubcaps as a replacement.
Parts for this car are expensive.
The car requires Premium gas (but you can get away with using regular so long as you don't push the throttle all the way).
The car requires synthetic oil and it needs to be changed along with the filter every 5K miles. This is very important.
The car uses lifetime power, transmission and coolant fluid so that is a few less things to change. It has several other "lifetime" componenets such as the oil filter. Some people believe that these parts should still be replaced/flushed regardless.
Recommended reviews
| Great looking car on the road, but I don't know |
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| I really like this car, but I need an answer for the engine light |
| Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? | Yes |
| Model year | 2003 |
| Year of manufacture | 2003 |
| First year of ownership | 2003 |
| Most recent year of ownership | 2008 |
| Engine and transmission | 1.8T Manual |
| Performance marks | 9 / 10 |
| Reliability marks | 9 / 10 |
| Comfort marks | 9 / 10 |
| Dealer Service marks | 7 / 10 |
| Running Costs (higher is cheaper) | 7 / 10 |
| Overall marks (average of all marks) | |
| Distance when acquired | 189 miles |
| Most recent distance | 52500 miles |
| Previous car | Volkswagen Fox |
| Date of Entry | 30th May, 2008 |