2003 Volkswagen Jetta review from North America

Drive shaft broken.

Transmission Blew.

We recently purchased a 2003 Jetta 1.8T, 6 weeks ago to be exact. We decided to drive the car for a weekend vacation which was 450 miles away from home. We started to notice problems with the car approx. 100 miles into the trip. When we would give the car some gas, the steering wheel would vibrate as if there was a wheel out of balance. When the gas was released, the vibration would stop. We called the dealer and told them the problem that we were having and the dealer set up a service date for us and ended the conversation with the car will be fine and it won't break down on you. Approximately 85 miles from our final destination, the car made a large crack and it sounded like there were just parts dragging underneath the vehicle. We finally got the diagnosis of the vehicle and we were told that the drive shaft bolts came loose and sheared off and that when the drive shaft came loose, it tore a big hole in the side of our transmission.

The car is now 450 miles away from us and we are required to drive back the shop that it is sitting at to pick the vehicle up when the car is ready. We had to pay for a rental out of our own pocket, hoping to one day be reimbursed from VW.

This car is an absolute piece of junk and we will never ever buy another VW!! We are actually contacting a lawyer today and plan on doing a "dealer buy back" and hopefully walk away from this mess.