2002 Volkswagen Jetta GLX review from North America

Both front windows have fallen down inside the doors. The lift arm assembly was "improved" to be cheaper by the Tier-One supplier to VW by changing the metal clips to plastic. On a hot day in Arizona, you can literally hear windows fall into the doors on VW car lots. This was fixed free of charge.

The center arm rest assembly fell apart and VW issued a Technical Bulletin because they don't have recalls. This was fixed free of charge.

The automatic shifter knob split in two. VW said it was cosmetic and would not fix it although still in the warranty period.

The treble knob on the stereo split and fell off. I am not even going to try this one with VW.

The remote control will only work from 1 foot away from the door and not at all on the trunk despite new batteries.

The windshield wiper fluid dispensor on the driver's side keeps falling apart so I have to take the hood apart and reconnect the hoses and tubes every 3,000 miles.

The heated mirrors stopped working at 20,000 miles.

The transmission started to fail around 38,000 miles. The VW dealership checked this about every 10,000 miles and was never able to duplicate the problem until the car was out of warranty. Now they are willing to pay 10% towards a new transmission. The car would rev up between 3rd and 4th gear and slam into the next gear. Probably the oil accumulator, but it damaged the transmission so now I have to wait up to 30 seconds to get the reverse gear to engage.

The passenger side side-impact airbags deployed while my wife was driving down a flat road. VW said they had never seen anything like it before. They kept the car for 30 days and replaced the air bags, sensors, wiring harness, and air bag "brain". They then said that the sensor registered an impact and would have to be turned into our insurance company. Total cost, almost $4,000. If it was an impact, then why did they have to replace everything as if they had no idea why it went off. We decided option number 2 and filed a lawsuit against VW of North America. After 9 months of our car in their possession, they returned all payments made during that period for non-usage of the vehicle, paid attorney's fees, rental car fees, and inconvenience money. Dan Rather came on the CBS Sunday night news with a story about 114 VW's with exploding air bags. VW still contends it is not their fault.

The coil (s) had to be replaced about 95,000 miles.

The oxygen sensor had to be replaced about 98,000 miles.

The right front wheel speed sensor had to be replaced about 99,000 miles.

The spark plug wires and plugs had to be replaced about 104,000 miles.

The alternator workshop light and battery light are on right now and my brand new battery was drained in 20 minutes of driving.

When I got this car it drove like it was possessed. I outdrove the 3-Series BWM it test drove, as well as, the larger Passat. I have become so disappointed and broke due to this car, I can only pray that I can afford to fix the problems so I can dump it at Carmax.

On a side note, if you have to change a tire, keep a hammer or breaker bar in your trunk because the VW supplied 6 inch torque wrench isn't going to get the job done unless you jump on it with both feet.