23rd Jan 2007, 16:15

Wow, I always thought to myself "Maybe I am hard on my car!" But I have had 2 Acuras and 1 Honda before my 2000 Volkswagen Jetta and they never fell apart like mine has...

My Problems...

Both Drivers Side and Passenger Side Windows have broken... They fixed it the first time under the warranty, but my warranty expired in October and In November the second one fell and they refuse to help even after admitting they were faulty. Poor Customer Service.

Cup Holders Broken.

Break light still on since 50k miles and I now have 138k miles and have had Volkswagen pads put on and it still will not go off.

My check engine light comes on and off now for about 60k miles and there has been nothing wrong.

My mirror switch on the door has broken.

The rubber on the inside of the doors has worn out.

The leather in my back seat has completely exploded at the seams and pretty much has melted. Very interesting.

Grease leaks all over the bottom of the car from the doors.

What I do like...

Mechanically it is great. never broke down once.

Handles wonderfully.

Love the looks.

Just disappointed in VW Customer care!

13th Jan 2008, 18:15

I have had my 2000 VR6 for two and a half years, and love it. I was only worried I had made a mistake buying it, when the EPC light came on and lost all it's power the first day I brought it home. The problem source was the throttle relay harness. Would have been $800 to replace, buy my VW dealer bypassed the problem for $104. I have not had a major problem with the car since. I bought it with 170,000km, and now has 235,00km and still going strong.

My job requires me to rent vehicles for travel quite frequently. I have driven nearly every comparable car on the market. I wouldn't trade my 8 year old Jetta for brand new Honda in a million years. I too have a broken cup holder, and glove box hinge. I get over it pretty quickley on a country road, or in a big snow storm. The traction control system my Jetta has is second to none.

I'll be keeping my Jetta, until I buy my next one. My last car: '94 Jetta CL.

19th Feb 2008, 16:02

Funny Stuff!!!

I'm on the net here, trying to learn about the instrument panel cluster for my 2000 Jetta. I was told, by the shop, this could be replaced to the tune of $750. This, after I had it in for a laundry list of repairs that cost me 1k. My car has a little over 60,000 miles on it.

23rd Mar 2008, 06:23

Here is my Volkswagen Jetta story. My family has three of them. 1997, 2002 and 2005. The 1997 had the window problems and some minor electrical and cosmetic issues, nothing other than normal wear items (brakes and tires) on the others. Here is my comparison- I have owned three minivans (1 Chrysler and two ford) and between them had five bad transmissions (yes 5!) and one with bad ABS module. I had a firebird with two bad catalytic converters, and a whole series of ignition module and wire issues leading up to that. All cars will eventually have issues but I will take the cosmetic or small electrical problems any day. I will probably buy another Jetta someday.

17th May 2009, 20:34

I'm a little disappointed that most people complaining don't give any history such when they bought their car, whether used or not, etc.

As a 55 y.o, I've had 4 VW's and 2 Audi's between myself, wife and son. A 1985 Jetta bought new, 2003 and 2005 also new. 2 years ago I bought a 2000 used for my son.

Many of problems posted appear to common to all cars, a few are unique to the 2000-2005 VW's. Yes the plastic used on the door handles is covered with a thin coating that will wear, especially if not treated carefully when cleaning or with frequent use while wearing jewelry. I've always use a very mild soapy water to clean and after 90,000 miles wear is still minimal, a few light nicks.

Unexpected disappointing problems:

1985 - Heater core leaked at 60k, dealer fixed out of warranty.

2003 - Water pump that failed because of a plastic impeller after 55k miles, again out of warranty VW replaced at no cost. This also happened to me on a 1996 Ford Contour. Why do most manufacturers (including Japanese) use such cheap parts especially on harder to replace parts?

2000 - In dash cup holders and glove box door broken when purchased. I replaced the center console with 2003+ center console with cup holders at $150 and glove box hinge with later version for less than $50. Not bad as far as fixing a 8 y.o. car's interior to almost new (car was purchased used 2 years ago)

24th Jan 2010, 11:50

I know this is an old review, but it's tarnishing the VW name at the fault of the owner.

I have a 2001 GLX with 172,000 miles on it and it still runs great, I'm the 3rd owner.

You spent $100 to get a CEL cleared? Hahaha you know they do that for FREE at Autozone/Advance Auto/ O'Reilly's?

Also, why keep replacing the battery when obviously there is a drain and it isn't the battery at fault. There is a known drain from the Monsoon amp; I believe VW did a recall on it, fixed that, and that solves the dead battery problem.

The door regulator problem (window not going up) is also a recall, fixed free of charge.

If you keep up with scheduled maintenance (they give you a book for this even), then you shouldn't have any problems.

Take care of your vehicles and maybe they'll treat you right. Almost 200k on the original engine and tranny is pretty impressive, considering it isn't a Honda economy car.

25th Jan 2010, 10:55

Aftermarket parts!! COME ON.... what warranty on those parts do they offer? If you're willing to work with VW, they will work with you! Like was mentioned before.... regular maintenance!!!

We have a guy at the dealer here that pushes aftermarket junk... because it is half the price, and the quality, well it's also half that of VW. Sure you pay more, but you are also backed by a VW warranty across North America!!

And of course many cars have similar problems... all car companies have that! My wife has a Civic... and it's junk. Rides crappy, feels crappy, everything is breaking at 70,000km. OVERALL CRAPPY.. Nothing like a VW.

25th Jun 2010, 23:07

My parents recently purchased a 2000 Jetta for me (it was a graduation present), and although it was bought with the check engine light on, the problem was easily fixed. I know that a new motor head is a big deal, if you work with your dealer or even know them (like my parents did) you're set for all future problems. The guy ended up fixing the problem free of charge.

Unfortunately my glove box hinge is broken, but who is to say the person didn't slam it open? I understand the quality of the car is to blame, but so is the owner, you can't expect a car to work properly if you abuse it.

As of right now, I would definitely recommend a Jetta, because they're fun to drive, look nice, and overall are a quality car.

Also, my friend just bought a 2005 Saturn Ion, and has already had a pile of problems: her key is constantly stuck in her ignition, and just recently we went to the beach and her dash malfunctioned. It would just blank and "error" would show up on her dash.

So really all cars have problems.