2000 Volkswagen Jetta GLS review from North America

Oh, my, where do I start? The first problem I noticed was that the radio volume would modulate itself. It turns itself up and down at will, not in great amounts, but gradually. I like my music loud so now I drive with one hand on the wheel and one on the volume control. Talked to the dealer about it and they said they couldn't duplicate the problem.

There is a creak that comes from the left AC vent that the dealer supposedly fixed. This vent still creaks 2 years later.

The doors needed adjustment to stop the creaks 2 months after I picked up the car.

When it is damp out the car occasionally won't start and when it does it runs rough. The dealer told me that this was due the wiring not being happy when there is too much moisture. I told him that I had a Nissan Pathfinder with 180000 KMs on it and it started no problem.

At some point in 2001 the driver's seat heater stopped working. One of the mechanics at the dealership had a quick look, but could not find the problem.

The "Check Engine Light" goes on and off when it feels like it. The dealer told me that the possible cause is a temperature sensor in the cooling system. He's not sure, but figures if I spend around $200 to fix it, it might go away.

The latch for the center console broke off in my hand a few days ago.

The rear brakes and rotors need replacing at 41000 KMs as the pads disappeared and partially chewed through the rotors. Be aware that the braking power with this car is completely opposite to most other cars. 70% of your braking power is in the rear of the car instead of the front. Not realizing this, when my back brakes started to squeak I didn't worry too much. Big mistake.

The A/C has a wonderful musty wet dog kind of smell. Interesting how that hasn't happened with my 10 year Nissan.

I thought I did all the right things when I was looking at purchasing this car. I read reviews, did comparisons, checked Consumer Reports. I new that the car was slightly overpriced compared to the competition, but performance wise it was much better. Boy, did I make a mistake.

The car itself was fantastic to drive for the first 6 months. The early problems I had, I just dismissed as being odd occurrences. The car handled fantastic and went like stink. But as time passed, more and more problems started popping up.

I should have known I would have problems when the first car they tried to deliver to me had to have the entire sunroof replaced because it would not close properly.

At this point, with 2 months left on my lease, and 1 more payment to go, I want to return the car to the dealer just so I don't have any other problems that I have to fix.