For perspective, I am mechanically inclined and do light mechanical work on my vehicles such as oil changes, brakes, tire rotations, belts, water pumps, alternators, fuel pumps, etc. This is my wife's car. I had been buying American cars all of my life but when my wife totaled her Pontiac Trans-Am she wanted to pick out something different with 4 doors and a European look and feel but not as expensive as a Mercedes. She picked the 2001 Volkswagen Jetta GLS VR6 loaded with everything except power seats.
At 15,000 miles, the transmission had a problem that caused a whining noise and problems with shifting. Volkswagen repaired the transmission under warranty and we have had no trouble since.
At 24,000 miles the Rear Brake Pads wore out at 24,000 miles and the caliper/rotors were metal to metal. I replaced the rear brakes with quality pads and found that the front brakes still had 75% on them. I accused my wife of driving with the emergency brake on. Later I found that there was a technical bulletin mentioning something about soft rear break pads and that Volkswagen might have replaced them. Next time I'll check first!
At 26,000 miles, my wife had a flat that ripped the rear tire and shredded it before she was able to stop. When I opened the trunk I was surprised to find a matching full size spare.
At 28,000 miles, my wife accidentally drove the car up on a parking curb (that was a little excessively tall I might add). When she backed off of the parking curb the entire front bumper fascia came off. I could not believe the damage she described over the phone but when I arrived there it was, the front bumper fascia, grille, fastener clips, all laying on the ground with blinker lights and fender wells dangling from the car. I gathered up all of the parts and drove the car home to look at that night after work. When I started looking at everything, I noticed that nothing was broken and everything could be snapped back into place. One by one I snapped everything back into place and it was as good as new. No damages what-so-ever. After this we call the car “MR. Potato Head”.
At 31,000 miles, the car would not start and my wife was stranded in a supermarket parking lot. I contacted the dealer and asked for a tow. The dealer mentioned that there was a recall on the brake switch which could cause the car not to start. He told me to tell my wife to repeatedly stomp on the brake pedal until it started. That worked. I brought the car in for a new brake switch under the recall. A couple of weeks later I received a recall notification from Volkswagen. Timing was a little off but that fixed it.
At 34,000 miles, the center console clip broke. The dealer had it in stock for $4.99 and mentioned that they keep a lot of them. This took about 1 minute to snap the new one in place.
At 35,000 miles, I was notified by Volkswagen of an emergency switch recall and brought the car in for a new emergency switch. Never had used the existing emergency switch so not exactly sure what the trouble with it is.
Lastly is my most recent update and the reason I am posting this. All along while owning this car my wife mentioned a strange odor like a rubbery, leathery, waxy or crayons (that’s it!) smell but could not identify were it was coming from. Several times we questioned the dealership about it and they said that’s the way Theys smell. The smell got worse and worse over the years and seemed to be even stronger on really hot days.
Over the years we started leaving the windows down in the garage to let it air out. Finally I had the entire car detailed inside and out to try to get rid of the smell and it was still there. I have been very happy with this car despite the things mentioned above but it seemed a real shame that a car that was in such good shape and so much fun to drive was had such an unpleasant and irritating smell.
Finally, when I asked about it, the dealer said that there was a technical bulletin that described this but that mine would not be covered since it was a 2001 with only a 24 month warranty. I was really upset about this since I had mentioned it over the years each time we were in the dealership. The service advisor said that there was nothing he could do and that it would cost about $600.00 to replace the sound proofing material that was causing the odor.
Very frustrated with this I contacted Volkswagen USA and described all of this. The assistant was very helpful and courteous but I was on hold several times. I was asked several questions including whether I was the original owner and if this was my first Volkswagon which the answer was yes to both. The assistant said that I would need to contact the dealership and leave the car with them for a technical evaluation and after the evaluation Volkswagen would let me know what assistance (if any) they would provide. I did this. A few days later I contacted Volkswagen USA and asked for a status, again I was on hold for 10-25 minutes as they reviewed the case and contacted the dealer. Finally they said they had everything they needed and would let me know in 24-48 hours what the assistance they would provide.
Two days later after not hearing from Volkswagen USA I called again, again I was on hold for 10-15 minutes as the reviewed the case and they said they did not have an update but that I should have one if I call the next day.
Finally on the next day which was a Friday, Volkswagen said that the assistance was approved and that it would be 100% parts and labor. Of course the dealership had not been notified and that they would not be able to start on it until Monday. The dealership replaced the parts which evidently were under the front dash and carpet which required the entire dash to be removed to get to them. This took 4 days to complete the work so in all I was out of a vehicle for 9 days. After picking up the car there is a noticeable improvement but still a faint smell is still there that I hope goes away with time. At least now we can drive the car without the irritating odor.
The car drives and handles very nicely and has lots of power for its size.
That crayon smell IS normal. Many newer Volkswagens smell like it. There isn't really a tried and true way to get rid of it, unless you start smoking in your car, or use hardcore air freshener that overpowers the scent of everything in your car. It's your call, but the service manager was right - it's normal.
I have had the exact same problems with my '01 Jetta. The smell is the most irritating. I did find out though that when you have the a/c on or the heater on... driving with the recirculated air button on under the temp. knob causes the smell to be worse. So I quit using that button and just let it come from the outside air instead. The smell is much much lighter now! Thank goodness. But none the less, the smell is still there.
Yes I completely agree with what you say, I went to the dealership and they charged me 5,000 to get the smell to go away.. I paid the sum and now my car smells like brand new.
I disagree that the service manager (who said there was noting he could do) was right. I have no way to know that all Volkswagons smell that way (this is the only one I've ever owned) but all I know is that the sound insulation material and some gaskets were replaced in the dash and the odor is gone.
As for the comments relating to the a/c in recycle mode causing the problem to be worse, I would agree with you since we had noticed that as well. But it would be very difficult to run without recycle in Texas during the summer when temperatures average 99/100 degrees. I do know that when the dealer corrected the problem they also replaced seals and gaskets in the dash connected to the a/c ducts.
It is most definitely, positively, NOT a normal smell. Some days I drive for 10 minutes and the smell is on my skin, in my hair, on my jacket, in my clothing. I go to use a kleenex from my car and the kleenex is drenched in the smell so strongly I could almost vomit. My CD case smells like the smell. I can drive 5 minutes and my hands smell like the smell. It's positively disgusting, probably unhealthy, and it makes a person STINK. I go to the market and the smell wafts with me as I walk down the aisle!!! Not only is that disgusting for ME to deal with, but people behind me must wonder what the hell is wrong with me! It smells like a mix of crayons and mildew.
It's "normal" huh. Well, VW also tries to tell us that the dripping wax on the sides of our doors is "normal". Yeah, ooookay. Idiots.
From what I've read on these vehicles, the crayon smell is in fact wax. The wax is sprayed on the interior of the door panels and other metal surfaces in order to prevent rusting. I have noticed, especially in the summer, the wax dripping from the base of my doors. All the VWs I've seen smell like this and we have four in my household. Notably, not all ooze wax. But hey, at least its not oil.
There was a technical bulletin about the smell. It would cost about $600.00 to replace the sound proofing material that causes the odor.
I recently bought a used 2001 Jetta TDI and I love the way it drives, but I too am suffering from the Crayon Smell of the interior. I'm normally not very sensitive to smells, but this one gives me a headache within 10 minutes of getting in the car (I've heard the TDI has extra insulation because of the diesel engine, so maybe I have an especially bad case).
Regardless, I spend 2hrs a day in this car and I can't deal with the smell. I spoke to a VW dealer about getting it fixed, but he doesn't believe it is caused by the sound insulation or soundproofing material. Can anyone point me to a PDF of the Technical Bulletin or at the very least give me a reference number to the Bulletin so I can enlighten my dealer?
Thanks in advance.
I too suffer from the curse of the crayons! I just bought a 2001 Jetta TDI and thought I could get rid of the smell with a good cleaning! Wrong! I'm very disappointed that this is not an easy fix. Sometimes it's so bad my eyes get watery! I wonder if there are any long term health effects? I'd be very concerned if I were Volkswagen!
Headaches? Health effects? You guys are ridiculous. The smell is not that bad. Honestly. I think if one person reads negative reviews about the smell, other people chime in, until they are convinced that the crayon smell alone is killing them and Volkswagen should be ashamed of itself. Please. Go buy a boring Corolla and stop whining.
By all means, go buy a Corolla: It'll be plain boring, since windows will function as they should, "check engine" light won't be constantly on, interior plastics won't peel off, it won't have that crayon smell, yellow goo will not leak out of its doors, transmission won't whine, ignition coils won't pack up... All that boring "character" stuff actually.
Come on people, is is that hard to admit that VW really messed up with this generation of Jetta/Golf IV?
VW did make some mistakes with the Golf/Jetta IV, but some of them are not the huge, "the-sky-is-falling" mistakes that people make them out to be. It seems that when people read about small, niggling problems on boards like this(such as a crayon-like odor) they put them on a par with major problems, and then go on to say that they will never buy a VW again because "it smells like crayons and it affects my health." Misery loves company.
From what I have seen VWs 'little' troubles include clutches (1.8t), power window motors, Mass Air sensors, transmissions, brake light switches, turbos, intake manifolds, instrument clusters, comfort & alarm modules, batteries, oil changes, engines, etc... And a bulb here and there.
I think if you can spend $5,000 to get rid of the Crayon smell, you probably have enough money that you could have just bought a different car. Anyhow, my car has the smell, too, and every person who gets in my car points it out in the form of a question: "Hey, you know what your car smells like?" The thing is, it smells like Crayons, not rotting meat. It's not a bad smell. To me it smells much better than awful chemical artificial air fresheners or just general funk. I think maybe people are a little too sensitive. I have never noticed wax dripping from the doors. That seems a bit nasty. I have had a lot of real problems with the VW in the past, like the fact that it wouldn't start. So now that it starts every time I put the key in the ignition, I stopped worrying about things that didn't matter, like the Crayon smell.
Just because YOUR car doesn't REEK like some of ours do, don't belittle us or discount the nastiness that we have had to deal with. I finally sold my car and got a whole new make and model, and as I sorted through the things I took out of my car a week later I found that I had to throw out MANY things because they completely absorbed the smell! I had to toss out maps because they reeked. The stink adheared to a tin of mints! I swear some days I could feel a slight slimy film on my skin when the smell was out of control, and the fact that a TIN absorbed the smell pretty much verifies this to my satisfaction. It's not just a "crayon smell".. it's much more than that.. plus mildew perhaps? Who knows.
The fact that you don't acknoweldge or have the wax oozing out of your door sides proves to me that you may be either one of the lucky few or perhaps somebody trying to belittle us poor saps that put up with this garbage from VW.
I am out of that car, and good riddance. I now breathe fresh, clean A/C air and it's a JOY to be in my own car once again!