2001 Volkswagen Jetta TDI from North America - Comments

I bought the car in July of 04' and had very few problems with it. I bought the extended warranty so the few problems I did have were covered, one of them being a $1500 repair, but have had no similar problems since. What I have had is the check engine light coming on about every 1.5 months. It's on again as a matter of fact!

Of course this happens after the warranty has expired, over 100k, so I'm paying out of pocket since March of 06'.

Took it to the dealer and they tell me is a glow plug harness, but they have to order it. Three months later it's finally in so I have them replace it along with other maintenance things, rotors, headlight, oil change, tire rotation, etc. The harness alone cost me $380. Get the car back, and three days later, the engine light is back on. Take it back and they said a glow plug has gone bad and that replacing that one glow plug should fix it. $108. Get it back and again, three days later, the engine light is back on. Take it back and they said, "oh, well you should always replace all 4 glow plugs, not just one", even though it was their mechanic that suggested replacing the one glow plug. Idiots! And this is the dealer, Hallmark VW of Cool Springs in Franklin, TN... yes, I'm rating them out! So I have the replace all 4 but I'm only paying for 3 since they failed to tell me I should have done that to begin with. As they take the plugs out, the mechanic accidentally breaks one of the off on the head and they end up having to replace the entire head. Of course they play it off as they did me a favor (had it out with their service manager over and over) but if it wasn't their fault, they made no effort to show me why it wasn't their mistake! $312!

So here it is, 6 weeks after the last repair and the light is on again. Of course I call them back and immediately they tell me, it can't be the glow plugs! Yeah, right. I'm just sick and tired of having to take it back for the same problem over and over. This dealer keeps claiming the computer gives them a different diagnosis, but of course, they can tell me anything. But this time, if it is something else, I'm going to refuse service and take it to another shop, not another dealer! I've spent over $800 to try and get this light to not come on anymore and feel like it's ridiculous to have to keep taking it back over and over in such a short period of time. My feeling is they are not diagnosing the problem correctly, they are just curing the symptom, not the disease.

If these kinds of problems continue, I will NOT buy another VW. As much as I like their cars and features, Toyota and Honda are quickly catching up and my wife's 94 Civic has been in the shop less times in the last 4 years than my VW has in the last 8 months. And she is hitting 200k miles!

Sounds like you own my Jetta. A word of advise. First, buy a code reader for your car, it will save you a fortune. And if it is possible do some of the work yourself. I gave up on my dealer, same thing, the cel light was on more than it was off. These cars are a high maintenance vehicle and need a lot of care.

I almost bought a used VW Jetta, but heard from many other VW owners even the (newer) ones, things go wrong and costs a lot to fix. My insurance lady even said she has had many problems with her 2002 VW. Crazy, b/c these are not cheap cars, and even used are fairly expensive. I'm sticking with Honda and Toyota.

You could get a set of 4 plugs and the glowplug harness for around $100 from tdiparts. com Glowplugs are very easy to replace, requiring little more than a deep 10mm socket. The harness is easy to replace if youve ever spiced wires before. A competent mechanic should be able to replace all of the glowplugs and the harness in less than an hour.

I have a bit of a pet peeve about nearly all the surveys being negative with such minor problems. I'm not saying the turbo going out was minor, but these engines are remarkably dependable. But why do people think that things should never break? Do people simply ignore the laws of physics?

I have been driving a Jetta TDI for 4 years, have 135,000 miles on it and had very few problems of any size or expense. In fact two of my brothers also bought Jetta TDI’s and love them as well.

As for the dealers… I don’t doubt you at all. Many VW dealers don’t do a lot of TDI (only about 10% of the cars they even sell are TDI) work and thus are not very good at it. Here is a great site for reference www.cincitdi.com and these people know VW TDI’s! Those of us in this club could have saved you hundreds. In fact, let me help now.

1) Take the glow plug harness off the glow plugs

2) Blow air in them to remove dirt (canned air for computer keyboard will work)

3) Spray an electrical cleaner in them

4) Blow more air in them to completely dry them

5) Replace harness

6) Go to Autozone and have the codes cleared

7) I bet your CEL light stays off.

Also for parts check out www.tdiparts.com, www.worldimpex.com, www.kermatdi.com.

I have a 2000 Jetta TDI with just under 200,000 miles on it. It has been a fantastic car and runs as well today as it did when purchased new in 2000.

I did have some initial problems, and finally determined my problems were associated with bringing the car back to the dealer. I caught them after they drained my power steering fluid then identified a $700 repair to replace a leaky power steering pump. That was five years ago, my last trip to the dealer, and that original power steering pump is still leak free.

I have averaged slightly over 50 miles per gallon, the car starts immediately, and other than normal maintenance items my only complaint has been a power window failure that VW eventually paid to replace.

Bottom line--I would buy another in a minute except that my 2000 looks so good and runs like new so I'll just keep driving it. What has really surprised me is that it feels as tight and solid as the day it was new, and yet I have over 196,000 miles on it. Following my last dealer experience I purchased a good repair manual and try to do most maintenance myself.

Bill.