1999 Volkswagen Jetta GL review from North America
"Do not buy a Jetta, unless you want to spend a lot money!!!"
What things have gone wrong with the car?
My problems started at 20,000 miles: with a slight hesitation when accelerating from a stop. It occurred once every 2 weeks.
At the ($500) 30,000 mile service had the dealership look into the hesitation. Which has begun to occur more often (once a week). They could not replicate it, so they said it does not exist. The hesitation feels like the engine is being robbed of gas flow for about 0.5-1 seconds and it launches out (unpredictable at best) from a stop.
At 34,000 miles I brought the car in again, to find out why there is the hesitation. Had the service manager reprogram the computer to factory defaults and purchased the redesigned RELAYBOX (I was told that the old relay box could rub against the engine bay when the engine torques causing a short, which in turn may cause the hesitation).
At 34,000+ had the engine shut off completely while driving downhill in 5th gear, ENGINE LIGHT comes on to say something is wrong!!! Car was hard to control when the engine got jump-started- remember I'm going downhill and in gear!!!) Made an appointment for the dealership to try and fix it...
At 40,000 miles, had the service manager take the car home to try and replicate the problem... He couldn't replicate it, but ended replacing the MASS AIR FLOW SENSOR (under warranty). Problem still there, so still not fixed... (in for 6 days).
At 41,000 miles brought it to the dealership, in for an oil change & again to try to find out why the car STILL hesitates. Again they say "We cannot replicate the problem, so the problem does not exist"... (in for 4 days).
Present day, 47,000 miles, still having hesitation problems along with others... Taking VW of America to court under Song Beverly Act (Lemon Law), I no longer want this car: it is unsafe to drive, these problems are affecting the value & SAFETY of the car, and I fear for others on the road next to me when the car becomes " unpredictable"!!!
Beyond that, the car is almost OK, wait!!! NO, it's not OKAY!!! A 2 year old car should not act like this!!!
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| Purchasing this Jetta was the most unfortunate mistake I've ever made |
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| A Major Disgrace to VW |
| Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? | No |
| Year of manufacture | 1999 |
| First year of ownership | 1999 |
| Most recent year of ownership | 2001 |
| Engine and transmission | 2.0 4 cylinder Manual |
| Performance marks | 6 / 10 |
| Reliability marks | 5 / 10 |
| Comfort marks | 6 / 10 |
| Dealer Service marks | 2 / 10 |
| Running Costs (higher is cheaper) | 7 / 10 |
| Overall marks (average of all marks) | |
| Distance when acquired | 8 miles |
| Most recent distance | 47000 miles |
| Previous car | Volkswagen Scirocco |
| Date of Entry | 8th June, 2001 |