1991 Volkswagen Jetta GL review from North America

The fuel injectors needed replacement only a few weeks after I bought the car.

The clutch was replaced about a year ago.

The computer module fried because of a loose electrical ground to the transmission. That was $1200 worth of work to even get the car running again, even though it only ran on 3 cylinders. I later noticed that the spark plug wires were arcing so I replaced the plugs, rotor, distributor cap, and wires. The car ran good until it warmed up. A vacuum tube to the valve cover was missing and the car began to buck and surge. That was fixed and the car ran good for a while.

Then the heater core blew which spilled antifreeze all over the carpet and rendered the car useless for another 3 weeks. Luckily the heater core was under recall so it only cost about $75 to replace. The car reeked of antifreeze for a a couple of weeks and the carpet was damp for 3 months despite all attempts to dry it.

A few months later, the car developed another annoying problem. It would drive fine and then all of a sudden it would start to bog down and surge. Then it would die. This happened probably five times in a few days. The worst was in the middle of Main Street in rush hour. I took it to the Volkswagen dealer and they said the knock sensor was bad. I bought the part from them and installed it myself. The old part on the car was so mutilated that I thought the dealer gave me the wrong part. Some moron had insulated the wire with Scotch tape. I replaced it and the car was fine.

The gas pedal developed a problem where the cable disconnects from the pedal under acceleration. The first time it happened was getting onto I-35 at 10:30 at night. I gradually learned how to drive it to where it would not break.

The radiator hose blew leaving me stranded along the I-35 service road.

It now has a problem where the after-run

cooling fan runs until the battery is dead which has left me stranded in parking lots twice now.

The engine makes a loud rattling sound under acceleration. I was informed that this is the way that the Digifant system runs. It has run for at least 16,000 miles like this, so it must not be hurting it even though it sounds like it is falling apart.

These are just the main problems. I make a trip to the local Auto Zone every single weekend for small items that fail weekly. I have to keep this lousy piece of crap running so I can get to work the next day.

I hate this car. It has broken down on me so many times. I have only owned it for a year and a half, but it seems like a lifetime. I don't blame Volkswagen for how totally worthless this crummy car is. It was just not maintained at all by its previous owners. I have become very skeptical of all used cars since this was the first car I ever used.

No one in the household wants to drive it in fear of it breaking down on them. Unfortunantly I am always the one who is stuck driving it.

What a totally worthless piece of junk.