1996 Volkswagen Jetta GLS review from North America
"I love this car and definitely love the Jetta"
What things have gone wrong with the car?
Transmission blew at 52000. The dealer wouldn't warranty it. It was the usual reverse gear problem that is typical in VW's.
Ignition coil fried at about 80,000 miles along with the ECU because the strip at the bottom of the windshield was cracking and water leaked in and cost about $1500 to fix.
Rear struts were really bad, and had to replace because every little bump I went over I bottomed out.
I went through window regulators and motors on two different windows, one was covered on warrany because it happened about a month after I had the car.
Those were my only real large problems. Everything else that happened was generally wear and tear things. Timing blet and tensioner, cap and rotor, brakes all around and front rotors at about 85,000 miles.
General comments?
I love this car. I did a lot of performance things to it. I installed a p-chip, cams and cam gear, cat-back Brospeed exhaust, 17" rims, Eibach Sportline kit which lowered the car 1.9", interior excessories, and a $2,000 stereo system.
Also did the Vento conversion with the badges, headlights, tail lights, and the LED fast blinkers.
Added a front and rear spoiler as well as a German license plate to the front for looks.
Under the hood had a Neuspeed P-Flow intake and Neuspeed strut bar, and Neuspeed spark plug wires.
Going to be adding Wings West body kit and saving for Neuspeed supercharger.
I get some looks with this car. Its quick for a 4 cyl, and with the modifications I have done to the car, I do pretty well.
Recommended reviews
| Comfortable, Cute, Mechanical Money Pit |
| Economical for a 6 cylinder, fast and fun, but not cheap, and almost unreliable sometimes |
| Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? | Yes |
| Year of manufacture | 1996 |
| First year of ownership | 1999 |
| Most recent year of ownership | 2002 |
| Engine and transmission | 2.0 8 V Manual |
| Performance marks | 7 / 10 |
| Reliability marks | 9 / 10 |
| Comfort marks | 9 / 10 |
| Dealer Service marks | 6 / 10 |
| Running Costs (higher is cheaper) | 6 / 10 |
| Overall marks (average of all marks) | |
| Distance when acquired | 50000 miles |
| Most recent distance | 92000 miles |
| Previous car | Dodge Neon |
| Date of Entry | 23rd May, 2002 |