2002 Volkswagen Jetta LS review from North America

In August of 2003, the front passenger side window failed. Ironically, less than one week after I received a postcard encouraging a class-action lawsuit concerning that very problem.

In January of 2004 the driver's seat warmer malfunctioned, burning a hole through the padding and seat cover and effectively ruining my pants.

February 2004, the radio failed due to a "software issue."

While all issues were covered under the warranty, and none caused any major inconvenience, that they've all occurred within less than 2 years of owning this car and within 6 months of each other, is a bit disturbing. That being said, this car is incredibly fun to drive, once you get adjusted to the timing during shifting gears. I have experienced none of the mechanical problems pointed out by other posters. In fact, the first 18 months of my ownership was in North Dakota. During the winter, this baby fired up every morning without any difficulty and without the need for a block heater.

Also, I'm 5'10" and about 190 lbs. The seats are accommodating for me, but barely. I might consider working out now, just so I don't outgrow my car.

My major motive for posting has to do with the radio. When mine failed I assumed it was a fuse issue, but could find no clearing marking of which fuse was involved (neither in the car nor on the internet), so wound up driving 45 miles one way to have the dealer spend 30 seconds reseting the radio. For the record, if any of you are looking, the process is pulling fuse #42 (the clear 25 watt fuse, 3rd one up from the bottom right), waiting 10 seconds, and putting it back in. Following the necessary safety precautions, of course. I'm a little bitter about this because I could've been told how to do this over the phone rather than wasting 2 hours of my day to have someone else do it. They will be replacing the radio anyway, however.