2001 Volkswagen Jetta VR6 from North America - Comments

Hi, I just bought a 2001 New Beetle and I have the same crayon smell! It's so disappointing and too big of a purchase to just dismiss.

I contacted the dealership from where it was purchased and they said it could be the ventilation system or the carpet, costing $300-600 respectively.

I have contacted VW USA hoping that they will replace the carpet, etc. If not, I am going to contact a lawyer to file a complaint or begin a class action suite. I do not know how else to get this resolved. I have read comment after comment, web page after web page, and feel that they need to have some accountability for this. I am also reporting this to the Better Business Bureau at http://www.bbb.org/. I suggest you do the same.

If I find out any more information I will post it here.

I bought a used 2000 Jetta GLS a couple of years ago. I guess I have been relatively lucky: The bumpers seem to stay on and the windows still work properly.

There have been a couple of small items. First, the car has always used a quart of oil every 1,000 - 2,000 miles. I'm told I'm lucky--some Jettas use twice that much. It is just a pain that I have to check it all the time. The oil cap was leaking oil for a while. A $15 replacement cap fixed the problem.

The hazard/turn signal flasher (it is actually built into the hazard button in the middle of the dash) needed to be replaced. The temperature sensor also failed, but the VW dealership replaced this under the emissions warranty.

The item that really upset me was the awful smell coming from the vents when you used the air conditioner. No crayons, here, but more like a pair of sweaty socks that have been in the hamper too long. When I complained to the VW dealer, they offered a full air conditioning service - for $300. I even asked the service rep to just have them check it out to see if the evaporator drain was clogged or something. (He was really kind of an aggravating jerk the way he insisted on the full air conditioning service.) In any case, I decided instead to take it to an independent mechanic. He charged me $50 to replace the cabin air filter. He showed me the old one. It was positively green and slimy. That fixed the problem. The worst part is that this item is supposed to be replaced during regular service, and the dealer had either forgotten or simply not done it. Really awful, considering that VW service is really expensive. Needless to say, I don't take my car to the dealer for service any more.

Wow! I just purchased a 2001 Jetta GLS and tomorrow I am picking it up. I was excited, but after reading everyones comments I'm a bit worried. I did notice the crayon smell when I test drove it today, but it wasn't enough to put me over the edge or nauseate me. I love the look and feel of it though. The design is purely timeless. From what I've heard Audis/VWs have always had electrical problems, so I'm sure I'll encounter that sometime. Otherwise I am excited to be driving this car. Being a college student and 22 I hope I made the right choice with my first major auto purchase???

I have a 2001 VW Jetta also. The car is a nice, fun and cute car. Yet, the problems are expensive to fix and the dealership is very pricey. My car's battery went out and it cost a total of $400 dollars to reset the computer and put in a battery. Then they informed me that my radio *from Best Buy* caused the confusion in the computer. I have never heard anything like this. This just happened last night so I will have to check on it. If that is the case I will have to get a VW made Cd player, because the come standard with tape players.

My 2001 Jetta smells like crayons, too!! Although I am totally annoyed by the smell, I am so relieved to read that others have this problem, too. I have tried everything, even when the smell seems to be gone for a day or two, it comes back.

The Jetta has also spent a lot of time in the shop. One time I had to leave it at the dealer for an entire month because they kept getting "the wrong part in". The did not provide a loaner either! Then, the thermostat went out, the check engine light comes on all the time--then goes off for a few weeks--the dealer can't find anything wrong. Other warning lights have also come on. I hate the fact that I have to schedule an appointment to have my car looked at (at the dealer), and the appointment is often a week or two in the future.

I will NEVER purchase another Jetta!!!

2000 Jetta

~The back floor fills up like a pool when it rains!!

(does anyone else have that??)

~Glove compartment~broken

~Arm rest latch~broken.

~Vanity mirror latch~broken

~Window dropped in passenger side

~Cup holder~broken

~Mirror adjuster~broken

does anyone else have these problems or am i going crazy!!?!?! helpp!!!!

2001 jetta gls vr6.

Man, reading these comments was as if I had written every comment, because I have had the majority of these problems in my car. Granted, the only major problem I had with my car was that a hose broke over the summer and I lost all of my radiator fluid. Luckily, I was close enough to my house that I made it home without the car overheating, and I had it towed to the corner gas station so the repair was cheap. I am the first and only owner of the car, and I must say that overall, I love my jetta. It is amazing in the snow, and the vr6 engine gives me power as soon as I hit the gas. So much so, that when I first started driving the car, I would peel out accidentally whenever I started from a dead stop (even with the traction control on).

However, I have had several other, small problems with the car. The latch to the armrest has broken twice now. The passenger side window dropped into the door, and the funny/interesting thing about that is it happened a few weeks after I got a notice in the mail about a recall for the same problem. I had a CO2 or CO or O2 or something sensor go out. I was driving around on no brake lights for a while, but that's the only time I had to replace any bulbs in the 5 years I have owned the car. My trunk latch broke, butt I just bought the part from the dealer and replaced it myself for $10. A few months ago, I was driving to work and I knocked the cruise control button off of the left steering column arm. The dealer just told me the other day that they would have to replace the entire lever, which costs around $150, and that requires removing the entire steering column, which is big man hours, and at $50 an hour, that is some major dough. Also, my center console at the back of the armrest has mysteriously pulled apart, making my arm rest randomly drop as I drive. This has been broken for a very long time now as the dealer told me all it needs is to be screwed back together, but that would be something like $300 in labor, because I guess they need to remove the front seats to get to it or something. I think a spring from the passenger seat came off, I have some random 12 or 14 inch long spring that I found on the floor one day, I don't even want to ask the dealer how much it would cost to get it put back on. And, I have had several friends tell me as soon as they get in to my car that it smells like crayons. which, I have not once even noticed. yes I know what crayons smell like, I just don't smell it, even if I haven't been in the car in a while.

To end my complaint rant, I'm going to say that my biggest pet peeve with my jetta is that the high beams only seem like glorified low beams. The do very little to light up the road ahead. I had the dealer inspect them at my very first oil change, and they told me that the lights were already at their highest angle. This used to bother me a lot when I used to live in the country with winding roads and only my headlights to see with.

All in all, I still love my jetta. I am planning on selling it soon so I can upgrade to a better german car, but I will always remember my little jetta and all of the college road trips I took it on up to Vermont, out to West Virginia, and down to Florida.

P.s. I just wanted to pass on a little tip that I learned when I was driving my honda accord. When you use the air conditioning, turn it off a minute or two before you turn your car off. The honda dealer told me that turning off the AC and leaving the vent on to run for a few minutes (or less) would help remove the moisture that collects behind the dash while running the AC. From that moment on, it has become second nature for me to turn off the AC when I know I am close to my destination, and I have never had a problem with the air smelling coming from my vents.

I have experienced many of the same issues the other owners have reported with their 2001 Jetta. I bought mine new about 5 years ago. Fortunately, it hasn't had any major issues, but I've had to repair a number of minor issues like the bumper, brakes, lights, shocks and most recently had a pump replaced. Of course, I also have the crayon smell issue. It's really a poorly constructed vehicle. It's no wonder that VW is having so many problems as a company. I know someone that works at VW in Mexico and was told recently that many of the problems with the Jetta are due to poor quality control at the plant in Mexico. I just need to last me another 12-18 months or so without any additional wacky issues. We shall see.

I finally traded in my car for a brand new one (different make and model and it smells FANTASTIC!!) and as I sorted through things I had emptied from my car I realized I have to throw many things away because they totally absorbed the STINK.

My maps stink so badly I threw them out and need to get new ones. Even a tin of mints stunk so badly like the foul odor I threw it out. A soft cloth I kept in my car to wipe bits of dust off the dash stinks so badly I kept it in a ziplock bag so that if there is ever a lawsuit I am READY with the evidence of the odor we are all talking about.

I have a 2002 VW Jetta TDI with leather interior, and it has the infamous "crayola smell". I want this problem fixed, but my dealer said it was something they treat the leather with, and can't be fixed. I'm not sure what to do next.

As far as other problems, I stopped taking the car to VW to have it serviced around 40,000 miles. To my surprise, the car STOPPED having problems at that time. My suggestion: Find an independent mechanic to service your car, and stick with him. My car has 85,000 miles on it, and it hasn't had any other problems since I did that. I guess I should consider myself lucky.

Read all you can here and on the internet = it's NOT the leather because most cars that have the stink don't even have leather. Dealerships lie.

On one of the other boards someone said that the crayon smell comes from the sound insulation that VW uses. Apparently it is made of some form of wax and when the car "heats up" the wax literally melts and smells like crayons.

I think the fix is something like ripping up the carpeting and removing all the wax insulation.

I have a 2001 VW Jetta and I can't figure out what the problem is. I have had the alternator replaced 2 times and the battery replaced three and a electrical short found in my outlet in my trunk and something to do with my heating system. My car still goes dead after a week or a couple of days. Is there any kind of recall on 2001 VW Jetta?? By the way there was a recall of the hazard lights, EPC light and the windows that fell down.

I was wondering what all the goo that looked like it was running out of the car was. It is some wax. Center console jammed upright how do I put it down?

I think the Jetta is better than my 1997 Hyundai Accent in performance. But by reading these reports I don't think it would last 300k miles like the Hyundai.