2002 Volkswagen Jetta GLS wagon from North America - Comments

Our 2002 Volkswagen Jetta suddenly developed a major water leak last week. A few hours of heavy rain one day while the car was parked in the driveway and the whole driver’s side (front and back) filled with almost an inch of water. The water was visibly dripping from under the dashboard down onto the floor.

This is a car with 60,000 miles on it that has been fully maintained since new and is usually garaged.

The Volkswagen dealership has informed me as of this afternoon that the problem is a drain tube, running from the sunroof down through the frame above the driver’s door, that has separated. They have to pull out the head liner and fix it. As part of all that, the seats have to come out (front and back) so the carpet and underlay can be dried and treated with an anti-fungal agent, then all reinstalled.

By the time they are finished, the bill is going to be about $1,500. I am absolutely furious that a car with this low mileage can have a problem such as this. I also had to have the piston rings replaced two years ago (2.0 litre engine) due to excessive oil consumption (another well identified problem that Volkswagen pretends doesn’t exist unless you pressure them), but at least that was under warranty. That took me almost six months of fighting to have fixed.

This car is being sold as soon as I get it back. I have owned a lot of cars over the years, from the exotic (Jaguar, Audi TT, Triumph, etc.) to the mundane (minivans, etc.) and used to tinker around a lot with cars, so I have some sense of poor workmanship and flawed design when I see it. This is absolutely the last Volkswagen I will ever buy, even if they’re practically giving them away.

This may help a few vw owners with leaking problems. I have a '98 Jetta. My problem was with the a/c drain. Symptoms were substantial leaking onto the passenger side floor, and slight leaking on drivers side. Water vapour would pour out of the vents with both the a/c and heat on. If you weren't careful, you could condense enough moisture on the windshield in a matter of seconds to completely blind yourself. Water would accumulate in the vent/duct system when you ran the a/c for any lenghth of time. There were other posts on this and other sites saying to use compressed air to blow out the drain. That may be right for other years, but for my car, all I had to do was peel up the flexible heat shield on the left (passenger) side of the firewall, and there was a small rubber grommet with a flap on it. The flap was sealed shut on mine from accumulated dirt, etc. Water started pouring out the second I pulled on the flap. Just clean out the gunk, and that's it. No tools and only about two minutes. Hope it helps someone.

I own a 2002 Jetta Wagon and we have been pretty happy with it. Like everyone else on this site, we have had a problem with leaking for years. I am just wondering if anyone has gotten anywhere with a class action law suit, as I feel very strongly that this is a design malfunction and should not be passed on as the health hazard (mold) that it is! Does anyone have any words on this?

I have owned our 2003 Jetta Wagon TDI for the last 2 years. We live on the North end of Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada. Lots of rain, all the time. Over the last 6 months it has been in the shop twice and needing to go in a third time. The car has around 100000kms on it and has been amazing for its lack of fuel consumption and comfort. The water issue is what may be the end of it. I too have had the standard interior condensation issues, mildew smell, every time.

Our problem is the drivers side, backseat footwell. It is the only place where water has pooled. Every time we have taken it back to the dealership where it was purchased for repair. The first 'fix' was done while the vehicle was still on warranty. Initially they blamed me for leaving the sunroof open, or the windows cracked, but they figured it was the sunroof drains. The fix was to clip the narrow openings off the rubber nipples inside the front doors to allow better flow. This didn't fix the problem. They removed the seats, carpet, underlay and determined that the problem was a ventilation system junction box under the wiper assembly that had inadequate sealant. They resealed the junction box, treated everything with an anti-mildew agent, reinstalled everything and said it was good to go. One month later same issue. This time they blamed a rear sunroof drain that was disconnected. Odd since there was absolutely no evidence of water on the headliner or sides of the interior of the vehicle, just the same spot in the drivers side rear seat footwell.

Once again we will be making the trip to the VW dealer that we bought it from 400kms away. They responded to my phone call with 'maybe we missed something'. Since we live so far away from the dealership, we have left the car with them for a total of 6 weeks now with no change in this leak problem.

I too am at my wits end and am looking for some other direction. We have paid over $1000 in total for this problem to be dealt with, not including travel/fuel costs.

I FIXED MINE!!!

So a while ago I posted about a 2000 jetta without a sunroof. I was getting a leak into the drivers footwell from under the leftside of the dash.

Basically, I investigated the "well" beneath the wipers and that was not it. I sealed that up good (trust me) and still got the leak.

So, I tracked it a little more an concluded that the water was coming down by the hinge to the hood and dripping/flowing down the top of the shock mount. There is a little channel that the hood release cable runs in. Water would flow through there and then down around the top of the shock mount and down the firewall. The trick is that the transition from vertical to horizontal (underneath the wiper well) is rounded. Meaning the water can travel underneath and along the bottom of the well. From here the water was dripping down the firewall and making it's way in there somehow.

In the firewall, one large cable bundle makes its way in via a rubber coupling. In addition, a metal plate is bolted to the firewall and "sealed". I tightened the plate to no avail, but sealed the hell out the area (silicone). Also, I diverted the water flow starting with the channel mentioned above, and then beaded up the rounded lip to prevent water from following the "ceiling". So I addressed it in three ways.

To get to the firewall, carefully remove the air filter, and work your way in under the wire bundle.

There are literally hundreds upon hundreds of people with this problem and it affects practically the entire VW line, and some Audi. I own a 2001 Passat that had incurred 4,800 in damage... ( (BECAUSE IT RAINED) ).

Even if your comprehensive insurance paid for the repair help them get their money back from VW. Forward all of the info on the Internet to them. They lied to me and actually tried to convince me that if only I had taken my car in to the dealer for oil changes they would have cleaned all debris as part of their regular maintenance. Bovine fecal matter!!! The dealer told me that they don’t do this and “never heard of the problem.” SAVE YOUR RECEIPTS, there is a class action suite being organized. They don’t need any more people right now, just keep your ears to the ground.

This is my second VW. Never, ever again. They should change their ads to “suckerswanted.”

I have a VW 2002 TDI Beetle and I have the exact same problem. After a heavy rain I find water in the drivers side front and rear foot well. I would be interested in any solution. I heard that there is a class action suit. Please email me if you know any solutions. kevincherry@mail.com.

Maybe it just rains more in the Pacific Northwest.

I am following up to a post I did a couple of weeks ago. I again took my 2003 Jetta wagon into the dealership from where it came for another leak repair. The leak has always been underneath the driver seat, left rear passenger footwell.

I mentioned this website as well as all the others to them regarding water leaks and they did not seem any more concerned then before. They had it in their shop for another day, while we drove around a loaner, and determined it to be the junction box underneath the wiper assembly once again. After resealing they hoped they solved the problem.

It has rained for the last 9 days straight here and once again, the carpet behind the drivers seat is saturated. I have concluded that the problem is the drivers door seal. If the car is parked slightly uphill, water accumulates on top of the inner rubber seal where it connects to the plastic sill. With the car facing slightly uphill the water runs towards the back of the car, down the rubber seal, accumulates to the point where it flows up, over, through the rubber seal/plastic sill and down into the rear footwell.

I do not know why the passenger side does not do the same thing, but I have replicated the problem twice in the last 3 weeks. I am betting that it is related to the removal and reinstallation of the interior the 2 or 3 times it was in the shop before trying to get this problem dealt with.

I am going to try removing, cleaning reinstalling the inner door seal/sill to see if it cures the problem. I will keep you all posted.

I own a 2002 Volkswagen Jetta GLS. I bought the car new and have had all service done by the dealer. The vehicle has been either garaged or parked off the street the entire time. When it was not garaged it was covered. It has never been in an accident or mistreated in anyway. One day I got into my vehicle and noticed an inch or more water on the floor of the front and back of the drivers side. My dealer played dumb to it and quoted me a $1000 to fix the problem including the drying of the vehicle. When I brought it into another dealer they told me it was the drain tubes for the sunroof were clogged. I have owned many cars with sunroofs and never saw this before. As I did more research I found that this is happening across the country and Volkswagen is not doing anything about it. I am so shocked and disgusted with Volkswagen. I have never heard of such a thing in my entire life. Without question it is a design flaw and I will never buy another Volkswagen again. It is a terrible situation for us all because now we own vehicles that are impossible to sell or trade in due to the leaking and mildew smell. How is this fair? Why should we suffer financially while Volkswagen still brings in millions? If anything comes about on the possibilty of a law suit please email me at j_nelkin@hotmail.com. Something has to be done. Good luck everyone.

I have posted an earlier message regarding a soaked interior when it rains, with my 2001 Jetta. I am very interested in any information regarding progress or help needed to pursue a law suit. No one should have to pay to repair and obvious defect in design. Please email me with any progress on getting Volkwagen to pay for the repairs, ktdrav2005@yahoo.com.

I did a search on the internet about this problem thinking I would find absolutely nothing and am SHOCKED to find that so many people are having this problem. I have a 2001 Jetta and have been having this problem of water filling up on my passenger side for about 5 months. This morning my car decides it is not going to start. The odometer and time are halfway missing and I believe my car is going through some type of an electrical meltdown. This could not have happened at any worse of a time. After reading all of the posts I called the dealership and the guy immediately became defensive. The wheels in my head are spinning at the thought of what lies ahead of me with this issue. If anyone has any information on what to do--anything would be of a help to me. My e mail anc321@sbcglobal.net my number is 469-713-9941. My name is Ash.

I just discovered this water problem in my 04 jetta wagon. I have the wetness the smell and I don't know if its related, but my EPS warning light sometimes comes on while driving.

I am completely disheartened after reading these comments. I'm bringing the car to the dealership to see if they can fix it. (A bit optimistic I know) Anyway, I have been trying to arm myself with all information so I can hopefully direct them in the right direction. I don't want to have it "fixed" only to end up with another pond the next time it rains. I fiddled with the driver side sunroof drain nipple which was a bit clogged. I got it to run clear, but I have a hard time believing that this is the culprit. The passenger side was clear and its not like the water drips from the roof; It seems to come from dash as best I can tell. The water is on driver side foot-well and a bit at floor of backseat.

Any suggestions for dealing with the service dept. on this?

I am so glad I discovered this board! I have been experiencing water on the drivers' side for about 3 weeks now, after rain. This morning was the worst; a big puddle at my feet. I just called my dealer and the woman did not sound surprised at all. She told me it was clogged sunroof drains and they could fix it for $150. But, from reading everyone else's experiences, I'll be pleasantly surprised if that really fixes it.

I have a 2002 Jetta "Swamp." Mine has a sunroof, leaks from the interior lights and post rainfall, houses a small swimming pool on my passenger side door. I take excellent care of my car and am appalled at the lack of quality I have received from my "dream car." Count me in for any action taken...

Amyspece@hotmail.com.

I have a 2000 VW Passat that I have loved driving. Now, the puddle in the back passenger side is making me think I need a new car. I took my Passat to the dealership about two months ago and paid $800 to have the sunroof drains cleaned out and the carpet pulled back and dried. I thought my problems were over.

My car is constantly in my garage at home or parked in a parking garage so it doesn't get wet very often. After driving in a small rain shower two days ago I discovered the water had returned to the back passenger floor. I'm calling the dealership tomorrow. I hope they can resolve this problem rather than lose another VW driver.