1996 Volkswagen Jetta GL review from North America

Oh boy, you might want to get comfortable!

Approximately one year after purchasing this car, I have had nothing but problems.

My spark plugs had to be replaced around 15,000 miles. The mechanic told me spark plugs lasted around 30,000 miles.

Around 45,000 miles, the timing belts had to be replaced due to partial tears. New one's were put in the car during the 40,000 mile service.

Around 50,000 miles, I started to notice that I was having difficulties with the brakes. When I use them, the car does not stop quickly. There have been numerous times when I literally had the brake pedal to the floor and hoped I would not rear-end the car in front of me. I have taken my car to numerous mechanics, including the dealer's, and no one can find a problem with them.

All of the hoses and seals to the coolant system had to be replaced at around 55,000 miles.

Since purchasing this car, I have put 20,000 miles on it and had two oil leaks. All the seals had to be replaced twice.

I left for work one morning and the first thing I noticed about my car was the trim on the front driver-side door and the trim on the passenger-side door were on the ground. They literally fell off the car overnight.

Around 60,000 miles, one of the struts literally broke in half. I took the car to a mechanic only to find out that the struts and bolts were completely stripped. He couldn't believe the shape they were in considering the mileage.

Overall, when the car is working, everything is fine. There is a lot of power when you need it and the car handles bumpy surfaces very well.

However, those are the only two good things about this car. When one thing goes wrong, many problems will be soon to follow.

I could understand these problems if I mistreated the car, but I don't. Braking is usually a nightmare and the longest span of time my car was not at the dealer's or a shop has been three months.

This car does not seem to like car parts because it goes through them extremely fast.

I really thought I did a lot of research on the Jetta, but I have learned the hard way that I was very wrong.

I would recommend purchasing this type of car if you like visiting the service department of the dealership or your local Volkswagen mechanic plus you like spending money on your car.

As for my car, I will be purchasing another one soon. It will not be a Jetta. The problems with this type of car are extremely frequent and most honest mechanics will tell you this is not a very reliable car. Of course, I found this out later.