I purchased my 2001 Jetta new. With the amount of problems I have had I figured my car was either made on a Friday afternoon or a Monday morning.
The first problem I encountered was the first summer I owned the car. After the horrible smell of dog poo coming from my vents, I took it in to the dealership. To my dismay there was a flap of some sort that was broken which caused an abundance of mold to grow on the my ac filter. Great I was breathing mold into my lungs!
The next problem I faced was the costly replacement of rear rotors in the third year and then front rotors the next year. Can I just say the front ones are supposed to go before the back rotors. Not normal and very costly.
Then last year my transmission was acting up. The service center hooked it up to the computer and the computer said there was nothing wrong. Um…..the car was not shifting properly, but what the computer says must be right. I demanded a mechanic, a living human, look at the car. I am a female college student so I may come across as ignorant, but I know when something is wrong with the car I drive everyday. So I made the dealership keep the car until they figured out what was wrong with it. A week later, they called back to say that after driving the car for an hour they experienced what I was talking about and with that they replace the whole transmission. Hot damn! What would I know, I am only a girl? I do know that replacing the transmission in the first four years screams major problems.
And then there is today. My window has fallen into the door. Apparently the plastic clips that hold the window have broken in a lot of the cars. Volkswagen has extended this to a seven year warranty and replaces the clips with mental ones. But where am I when they do not have time to get my car in? Oh yes, I get to drive around with a bag on my window. Thanks VW.
These were the major problems I faced. On top of these problems, I do have the crayon smell, which I did not notice at first because of the smell of dog. Then when that was fixed I figured since I baby sit that one of the kids crayons may have fallen into the floor vents. After reading these comments I now know it is the car. After five years I too have the problem of the oozing goo from the door, which gets on my clothes when I get out of the car. The plastic is pealing off the doors, my back cup holder is broken, and everything sticks to the cloth seats.
I am selling my jetta. If anyone is looking for a nice looking car with lots of expensive problems…I have the car for you!
Huh, funny to hear you say that. I have had major problems with my 2001 Jetta as well. While all my problems have been different, I too have the crayon smell let me know if you figure it out.
SPC LaDuron, Richard
US ARMY
Dragonmedic22@yahoo.com.
I have always liked the look of a 2001 jetta, so as I just turned 18, I decided hey, maybe I will go test drive one. I left the dealership feeling like a queen. I noticed on my way home that the car kinda smelled like a crayon. I thought it was just the freshener they used to clean the car. I drove around town for about a half an hour and then stalled in the middle of an intersection. I got help and let the car sit for 15 minutes. A few friends looked at the battery and couldn't find anything wrong. Suddenly out of nowhere the car starts. I start to drive it right home and it does the same thing, I lose all steering and battery lights and check engine lights were flashing like crazy. Again, I get friends to help me and no one knows what is going on. About an hour of sitting and waiting in the cold. The car just out of nowhere starts again. I got it to my house and now I am writing this. I am going to call the dealer tomorrow and tell them to come get their car. This is ridiculous, first of all you do not let someone test drive a car when there are things wrong with it, and second of all, jettas are not very good cars.
Did you buy it?
Otherwise bring a mechanic or someone who knows cars with you next time instead of going on which on looks the best.
I have had many problems with my 2001 Jetta as well. Most include oxygen sensors over and over, also all 4 windows getting stuck down numerous times... this I was told was because I lived in Florida and the plastic pieces melted. I have gone through several sets of brakes and tires. Now, I need a mass air flow sensor and my car will not go in reverse, yet the dealership is telling me nothing is wrong! And yes, my car too smells like crayons, and the outer surface is peeling off my doors on the inside and everything sticks to the seats... even with static guard on them!
I got my Jetta used last year. I loved it until it stopped wanting to go into reverse. Then it started to shake like it was going to stall and I have an automatic. I had to go to the dealer five times (literally) to get it fixed. Then a couple of months later (present) my car won't go into reverse AGAIN. It is so annoying because there should be a switch to release the ABS (anti brake system). It acts like I don't have the brake on. Then out of nowhere it will go into gear. Then I'm stranded at some random place when it decides not to go into reverse again. My car also smells like crayons. I thought it was from my daughter having crayons in the car until I found this site. That is a trip. I would definitely not buy a jetta. I'm sad to say that to because they look so nice. On the outside. The paint or whatever is peeling off the doors on the inside as well. Also everything stick to the seats. I want to get rid of it more than ever after seeing this site. Great I still owe two years on it.
2001 Jetta.
Purchased in January with a 40,000km warranty and have had mostly transmission shifting problems. Dealer replaced ECM and dashboard. Still problem persists, that of erratic shifting: if slowing down, suddenly, at times, a major down shift occurs without reason, as if the brakes were being applied. I have replaced four different light bulbs since owning the car for eight months. New rotors and brakes were replaced one week after I bought the car and now there is the occasional squeak, which I don't think is moisture related, as there has been no rain or any sprinklers nearby. It handles beautifully, but I am concerned about the transmission. A mechanic once told me that the newer cars come with transmissions good to 100,000km, chuck and replace variety. I wonder about the Jetta transmission. Anyway, I hope the car will serve me well.
I am a dealer and I sell VW Jettas. I have seen everything go wrong with them. They are good sellers. They all have the same problems. I think they are still better than Chrysler or GM. Just Stay away from the VW automatic transmissions.
Art--
To the commenter above: Are you serious? VW's are reknown for their ability to empty ones pocket for expensive repairs.
Here is an example. My friend has a 1998 Volkswagen Passat. When it came time to replace the sparkplug wiring harness he had to pay $300 canadian. When I did the same on my Pontiac, the cost was $49.99 at a local parts store. The interiors on VW's are very nice, but the power and reliability is marginal at best.
I just bought a 2001 VW Jetta GLX with a VR6 motor and an automatic transmission, which has 63,000 miles on it. After having it a week, the transmission will sometimes shift hard when going from 2nd to 3rd gear. I read another posting on here that stated the exact same problem. I wasn't too worried about it since the car was supposed to have a 10 year / 100,000 mile power-train warranty. I took it to the dealership today and they were proud to inform me that the duration of the warranty is only for the original owner and any subsequent owners only get a 60,000 power-train warranty. I personally have NEVER heard of a warranty duration change based on the number of owners nor have I found any other website state this claim. Does anyone know if this is correct?
Please email me - james_m_potter@yahoo.com.
Thanks!
I have also never heard of a duration change like that, but I can say that it's too bad you didn't have our VW dealer experience - they bent over backwards to make us happy, even going so far as sneaking in a temporary odometer rollback once after the warranty mileage had been exceeded to get work done under warranty (they re-set to original mileage after work was done).
If anybody is lucky enough to live near Stevens Creek VW in San Jose, CA, this is the experience you get there and I couldn't recommend them more.
PS, we have also had the window clip problem on my Mom's New Beetle, that's a notorious VW problem (and trust me, they have many). Freaked us out at first, but Stevens Creek's service department had us out with a fixed window the very same day.
I own a 2001 vw jetta. First thing I changed the tires a few times already also problems with ac leaking. After awile youll need to change spark plugs and get a tune up. Another thing they will tell you is a tune up is not recomended untill 120 miles wich is BS. YOU SHOULD tune up after 60 thousand miles. So now my cars check engine light is on I don't Know the problem, but I went with a tune up anyway. Its better to fix minor problems before any major ones occur. Just yesterday my car died out unbelievable I take such good care of it. Then when I went to get the manual book in glove box the handle broke right off. Whats going on with my car I wish all the problems would go away...
I own a 2001 Jetta, I have had it for 5 years. I have had nothing, but problems from when I drove it of the lot I bought it from. The first 3 months the Jetta was in the shop for a high pitch ringing nose out of the speaker. They thought it was the alternator. I should of gave that car back to the dealer. Now 5 years later the check engine light comes on all the time, it down shifts when I am driving, and dies out of no where after shaking and like everyone it smell like crayons I just thought that it was suppose to smell that way. My sensor val in stuck and now just Tuesday I was go reverse up my drive way and the reverse just stop working. The dealership that works on my Jette said it was going to be 4-5 thousands dollars to fix. If anyone knows what happen or what went wrong or if this has happen to you let me know. I am getting it fix and tradeing it in.
Tried of the JETTA PROBLEMS!!!
I own a 2001 Jetta VR6 5speed and it has had its share of issues including spark plug wires that failed and funny smells from the AC and once a issue with the motor, but all of this was before the warranty expired. One thing I want to tell people is that you should learn to drive manual cars. i am not being mean, but automatics have issues in almost every car out there. Manuals don't have reverse issues and are much easier to fix if anything else breaks down. I work on my car as a hobby and hopefully your Jetta will rule as mine does. C you on the race track. Rob.
I bought my car 8 months ago. The 1st month or 2 it was in the shop once a week. ALl with the check engine being on. They replaced all the oxygen sensors and the cat until the thing went off. Also the mid muffler and starter were replaced.
Now I need tires, front rotors, and the whole timing belt assembly needs to be replaced all at a whoppin $1500. Does anyone have any reccomendations on the issue with my timing belt. How easy is it for a normal owner to change. The had told me it is 800 dollars to fix and you also need to replace other things while doing the belt.
Selling it at this point is worthless because it has 106000 miles on it.