1999 Volkswagen Jetta GLS review from North America

After the first tire rotation the tires made a thumping noise and the steering wheel vibrated badly. The dealership said they just needed to "wear in", but then eventually admitted the tires were defective and ordered new ones. This took at least 6 months.

The car makes many squeaks, thumps and rattles, and handles much more sloppily now than when I got it, but the dealer says it's fine.

The exhaust rattles during the winter.

Several air and gas sensors went at about 23000 miles - lights on the dash, poor performance and fuel economy.

The cheap floor mat has already worn through on the driver's side.

Paint job is very poor quality and is chipping.

Metal strips along the rear windows are rusting badly already, despite extra rustproofing (VW will not honor their rust through warranty in NYS or anywhere they have winter basically and use road salt).

Burns a lot of oil.

There are probably numerous things I'm not thinking of...

I loved this car when I first got it - one of the best looking cars on the road, handled great and was loaded with thoughtful features. Unfortunately, it doesn't take long to start decomposing...

Handling has deteriorated dramatically both in terms of the suspension becoming sloppy and making clunky noises (the dealership says it's fine) and acceleration.

Fuel performance is pretty bad for a 4 cylinder.

Innumerable small things go wrong and the dealers are TERRIBLE. Any number of small rattles and squeaks (my old Ford Escort didn't do this and had more of a quality feel in terms of integrity at 3 times the miles for half the price). I have had WAY more problems with this car than any other I've owned. In fact, I seem to keep ending up driving my old 87 Bronco II with 170k miles on it while the VW is in the shop!

Dealers are pretty lousy about getting you in when there's a problem - you will ALWAYS have to leave it, and they will never happen to have a loaner available. If I didn't have two vehicles I'd be unemployed I guess.

Several of my friends got Jetta's at the same time I did, and if anything they have all had MORE problems than I have! They are all starting to rust, little things have fallen apart, handling has gotten sloppy, etc, etc, and the dealers don't want to hear about it.

I might try BMW or Mercedes next and see if there are ANY reliable German cars, otherwise I'll go Japanese or even back to American. Why pay more money for an inferior vehicle?

DON'T BUY THIS CAR!!!