2001 Volkswagen Jetta GLS TDI review from North America

The car overall had been performing well until 110000 miles. At this point the automatic transmission failed on the car. The dealer advised me that this repair would be $4957 to fix. I then had the car taken to a transmission shop which replaced the transmission for just over $2000.

I have also had the window failures that have followed this car. Three total failures, but now all of the new parts are in place and after admitting the problem I have received a refund from VW of America.

The center latch has also failed in my car.

The rubber has worn off of both door handles.

The rear brakes went out on the car at about 50000 miles while the front brakes looked new. I had asked the dealer about this since when I cleaned the car the brake dust was always heavier on the rear wheels. They always would say we checked the brakes and they are fine.

I will admit that I drive more than the average person and it will take time to see these problems in more cars. The Jetta is a nice car to drive when things are good, but problems can be costly.

The transmission being the biggest headache. I had asked the dealer what I needed to do for the transmission and they would respond nothing needs to be done to the unit. It will now go the the private shop that replaced the unit.

The car is good on fuel, but as the miles have increased the fuel mileage has decreased. I started by getting 45-47mpg, but an down to 40-42mpg.