2002 Volkswagen Jetta 1.8T from North America - Comments

I bought my 02 1.8T Jetta in July of 2006 with 72000 miles on it. I didn't even have it for 3 weeks before the the transmission started having problems. Whenever it would try to shift from 2nd to 3rd. It would jerk violently as if it was trying to go into reverse. I took it back to the dealership because they had a 30 day warranty on it. At first they told me it was the tiptronic shifting so they replaced that. Nope! Then they kept saying it was a piddly this or that. They took it to another dealership--a VW dealership and they said it needed a whole new trani! By this time my car was already in the shop for longer than I had got to drive it. So I pitched a fit and demanded that they take it back. They reluctantly agreed on the condition that I got the replacement from them. While I was looking for something comparable in power and style, the 4th mechanic finally figured out it was the computer's transmission module that went out. They fixed it. It was in the shop for 6 weeks. Ran great after that. Now, a little over a year later, the blinkers on shorting out. YEESH. The price you pay for a sexy car. Never again. I think I'll go back to Toyotas. : (

I've been experiencing many of the same mechanical problems as everyone else with my '01 1.8T wolfs-berg, coils, water pump, belts, O2 sensor, MAF sensor, wiring. I am also now noticing that the clear coat on my side view mirrors and hood is pealing! I am told by the dealership that because I bought it used that the warranty is no good and I would have to pay for a new paint job out of pocket. Has anyone else had this happen?

DOES ANY ONE KNOW IF THERE IS ANY KIND OF A RECALL FOR THESE

COIL. I've JUST ONE PAID $165 DOLLAR AFTER 3 TO 4 HOURS IT HAPPEND AGAIN PERHAPS THE OTHER COILTHE GUY JUST CHANGED ONE COIL

SO IF SOME ONE KNOWS FOR SURE PLEASE EMAIL ME AT

leehockey4@hotmail.com

thanks

guys.

I've had the following problems on Jetta 2004 1.8t GLS. I am the first owner and got it in Feb 2004.

Replaced one coil pack and after 8 months, I noticed that the engine is hesitating again. Finally replaced all the other 3 coil packs so as I don't encounter this problem again (since it's really dangerous when you are on a highway and could get you into an accident).

I have 53000 miles on it now and is using fully synthetic oil every time and I am changing it every 10000 miles with oil analysis, just to make sure. And from time to time an engine flush using amsoil filter and oil.

I have changed the brake fluid too at.

I have changed the automatic transmission oil at 40000 miles and when I removed the old oil, it has burning smell; lucky I changed it. Note that I have only replaced 60% of the oil on it and will again replace the oil at 60k miles. cost around $35 per quart, oil used by VW.

I have replaced the rear brake pads and calipers, since I'm having trouble retracting the caliber to put in the new pads.

I have replaced the spark plugs at 40K miles and added coolant from time to time since the coolant indicator lights up on a very cold morning. I used the coolant from VW so I don't mix other brands.

Replaced 1 headlight bulb, and another bulb in the rear. replaced a fuse as well.

I've done all this by myself since bringing it to the service dealer would cost me so much. I have probably saved a lot of money doing it myself.

I am hoping I could get this car up to more than 200K miles. If you need to know more details as to how to fix it, go to alldatadiy.com and sign up or buy yourself a repair manual so you could research it first. the service technician sometimes will not be able to find the problem if it doesn't appear while on their service department. you could probably fix it and troubleshoot it by yourself.

2002 VW Jetta 2.0L (COIL PROBLEM). It is clear that the coil on this went. I had the same thing, engine light, missing, etc. At first I felt it was the wires so I replaces the plugs. That did not fix the problem so I then did the wires. After that I startes it up and looked at the coil pack and could see (because it was dark) that the two bolts on (the ones with alan key heads were) arking a purple sparky thing shorting out the coil and making the car run like crap. NOTE: You can check the coil yourself by simply looking at it in the dark. Anyway, I am now waiting to get the part (although I will not be getting the coil from VW at $360). It is not too bad to do this job although it is time consuming and requires the right tools for the job. I lost a bolt for the intake in the process of doing the tune up however being as I have to redo the job anyway I am sure I will find it when I get the old coil out.

MY SUGGESTION: check the coil before you assume you need new ignition wires!

Joel Carcone call me if you need help (google the name)

I am yet another victim. I have 2002 Jetta 1.8T GLS and had numourous problems with it. Coil problem finally got on board with VW recall and they replaced the coil. Well if I count the number of problems it could go on and on. But here are few I can remember.

- Heated seat wiring short circuit which burned the seat from inside and leather seat cover stiching came off.

- Bad coil which was replaced as a recall.

- Monsoon sound system issue and dealer replaced it with new one.

- Window glass just fell down becz of bad plastic part originally used which was also a recall and was replaced ONLY if it happened.

- Tiptronic transmission shifter had to be replaced. cost $1700.

- Fuel injection had to be replaced due to some contemination in the fuel injuction. (fortunately under warranty). Have always put super gas in it.

- Oil leaked into catalyic converter and had to replace few parts and cleaning of cc. cost 1500+

These are the few issues I can remember. I have paid more than 3500 in repairs (not including scheduled maintenances) within 100k miles.

Now I hate this car as much as I was used to love when I bought it!! I would say lemon car would have less problems than this new 2002 Jetta.

Just like most of the people that posted on here, I never thought I'd have any problems with my 02 1.8t Jetta. I just got back from the shop after having another coil replaced. Luckily these aren't too expensive to replace at a private shop but I don't feel good about driving my Jetta long distances anymore. I've had way too many problems for only having 80,000 on it. These will be my last miles in a VW, I'm getting rid of this lemon and getting something reliable. IF YOU ARE LOOKING TO BUY A VW... LOOK FOR SOMETHING ELSE. I'm very disappointed with this car. It's fun to drive but not worth being in the shop all the time.

I have a 2002 vw passat which I bought second hand one year ago and it has been a nightmare since. 3 weeks after purchase the 1.8 turbo engines transmission went and 9 weeks later I finally got the car out of the garage on the way home a ABS sensor failed 3 weeks later a coil pack failed. Since then I have replaced timing belts and a few other parts and today another coil pack failed. Got to love German engernering my thought on all this is I should of kept my 1996 Honda van with 300,000 plus km on it.

Like everyone else, my 2002 2.0L Jetta is a total junker. I got it used in January 06 with just over 40,000 miles on it. Thought I was getting something great... yeah right. Things started going wrong almost immediately.

In the past two years I've replaced the ignition coil packs, O2 sensor, Catalytic converter, water pump, 2 sets of spark plugs, and a whole list of other things I can't even begin to remember right now... basically I've paid almost as much in repairs as I did for the original car. What a waste of money.

Engine light won't go away. The codes are for parts that have already been replaced. I needed this car to make it another 2 years till my husband pays off his Honda, but it doesn't look like that's going to happen as problems are starting up all over again.

Now the engine won't roll over when I start up (and no its not from a dead battery!). The husband is an ex-diagnostic Infiniti tech so he knows a thing or 2 about cars, and he is over fixing my car. We are just tired of dumping money into it.

Bottom line... advice I wish someone had given me two and a half years ago: do NOT buy Volkswagen... just go with a Honda or Toyota or their higher end counterparts Acura and Lexus.

It is like reading a history report on my car.

2004 VW Jetta 1.8T GLS. I bought it with 19k miles. Beautiful car. Nothing went wrong for the first 20k miles I owned it.

Since then, coolant temp sensor, coil pack, coolant, battery.

For some reason I have to replace the tail light, not the brake light, just the tail light every other month.

Now it has a random misfire, which I am guessing has something to do with another coil pack.

There is some kind of slippage in the transmission between 1st and 2nd that cracks me up, it is an automatic. Only happens in cool weather. Anything below 50 degrees (I live in MN), which is most of the year.

When you start it the coolant lite comes on.

Come on VW. Please somebody read this website, put 2% of your gross annual profit into keeping customers happy! That is all I ask, 2%. Like replace coils for free, or spark plugs.. Something.

Anyone wants to chat about this vwjetta04@yahoo.com

Help!! I have hada Jetta 2002 1.8L for almost two years.

When I purchased it, within a month the coils needed replaced, ran well for few more months and then the trouble started.

I have put into this Jetta over $3000.00 within the last year. It has been in the service garage about six months of this year. It looks great!! Has so many problems.

As soon as I get it serviced again, $300.00, I am definitely trading it in for something different!!

I have learned to hate my Jetta.

Hi, I have a 2002 1.8T Jetta I bought in August 2007 (because my family has had older VWs for years and they've been very reliable!)

Since then, it has had to have the following replaced: spark plugs, coil packs, thermostat (2x), ECM (had to be reprogrammed twice because they didn't do it right on installation), brakes all around, throttle position sensor (2x), catalytic converter, turbocharger, water pump.

It still has the Check Engine light on (for catalytic converter efficiency) and intermittently the EPC light comes on and it abruptly loses power. Sometimes it shifts rather roughly, and now it makes a strange noise from the driver's side under acceleration.

When it runs, it's the best-handling car I've ever driven, looks awesome, and is great to drive on my 90 minute commute. When it runs, that is.

I hate to say it, as it's a beautiful car, but I'll never buy another VW. V-Dub, heh, more like V-DUD!

I have a 2003 Jetta 1.8t, and had it in the shop multiple times in the past 15 months for numerous things. Ignition coils 3 times, brake light switch 2 times, and the list is too long to go on. I would not suggest on buying this car ever!!!

2002 Jetta 1.8T - WORST CAR I HAVE EVER OWNED. Nobody rebuilds the transmissions in these cars, so the bill was $5500. I have had every hose replaced twice, the electrical switches replaced twice (on recall) the windows dropped off of their hinges multiple times (all replaced by dealership)

I would suggest NOT buying a VW - particularly this year make. I have too much money in it to trade it or sell it, but I despise it every time I look at it.

OK, I bought my 02 Jetta 1.8 Turbo new with 14 miles on it. Within 4 months, it was back in the shop for the "coil issue", and they replaced only the ones that had blown, not all of the them... as they were rationing the part because there were a lot full of cars being dropped off for the same thing. It being my first VW, I kept it up and chalked it up to a fluke.

Since then... it has been in the shop at least 7 times for this issue and others... It was in the shop 4x's last summer for this issue, and it actually sits in the driveway tonite, for an appointment with the garage on Wednesday for the new round of coils. I recommend that you change them all at the same time, you never know when one is going to give out and if your cruising at 70 and suddenly find yourself trying to maintain 30 mph to get off the highway safely, it's an accident waiting to happen.

I've had the front seat heater wire burn a hole in the front seat and my pants...

The drivers side window fell down and is being held up by a 2x4, because I refuse to dump anymore money into this piece of junk. All this because of the cheap plastic clips they used.

The car sat for 2 months while I was away on business, I used it the first day back, ran like a charm, and now on the second day another coil gives out.

I had always thought that VW/Audi was a good car, in light of the above, I would not buy another. This car has been more of a headache than it has been a pleasure.

I've had many cars in my years of driving and have never seen a car literally fall apart around me.

Bummer...