1997 Volkswagen Jetta GLX review from North America

When I bought the car there was a lot wrong. Little stuff, but a lot.

1 out of 4 power windows worked.

Moonroof didn't work.

Control arm bushings were shot.

Tie rods were bad.

Wheel bearings shattered.

Driver side door panel missing.

Rear door panel broke.

Ugly tan leather interior.

No CD player or speakers.

Crank/speed sensor went. Car wouldn't crank over.

Rubber floor plugs rusted out and fell through.

Since then all has been fixed.

I have a 96 Jetta donor car and swapped the whole interior to Black. Dashboard, carpet, the whole nine yards.

Even swapped moonroof tracks.

Car now has manual windows (crank), and I like it a lot more.

Control arms were not fun to replace since on the driver's side you need to lift the motor.

Cars handling isn't so good right now as the shocks are worn out, and so are the strut mounts.

I also owned a '96 Jetta Trek. Same color with a 2.0L 8v. This VR6 blows it out of the water. If I launch it hard, I can get to 60MPH in 6.9 seconds. The power in all gears is just awesome. It will pull from 30 mph in 5th gear. I also removed the resonator and the car sounds awesome. Best sounding motor I have owned.

The car'ss performance is just great. The car's very comfortable and roomy, but I'm only 5'8 so taller people may not think so.

The only thing I dislike is ordering parts. It's like ordering parts for a sports car. Autozone, Advance and Nappa can hardly order anything for it. And don't think about going to the dealer.

But when they can order something, it takes 3-7 days to get it.

SO! I have been ordering parts online and getting them in 3 days, and it's a lot cheaper and they're real German parts.

"Example" Strut mounts at Auto Zone. $100. Online I ordered German Heavy duty as used on the R32 for $40. Got it in 3 days.