1994 Volkswagen Jetta GL from North America - Comments

Th only problem I have had is a really weird power window issue where the windows only go up or down 2 inches at a time. I also have had a problem when it is really cold and you first start it, it kind of idles really rich for about 30 seconds and then clears right up.

Unlike other reviews I have seen on here about deadbeat VW owners who really don't know what they are talking about, VW is by far the best car I have ever owned or worked on. I have owned Japanese in the past and will never make that mistake twice. I am on my fourth VW and I must say that they are the least expensive, most reliable vehicle on the market today. They are incredibly easy to work on, and basically genius design. I have worked in the automotive industry for a long time and have had a chance to see how expensive other vehicles can be to maintain compared to my VW's. I currently work for Nissan and my gosh I have never seen so many recalls and problems. People think that VW had electrical issues, try owning a Nissan. The cost of parts on the Japanese stuff compared to the VW is crazy too. People always say VW''s are so expensive to work on, I am not sure where your buying your parts, but you should check again. Just call around sometime to different dealers especially American dealers and ask for the price of a generic part that almost every vehicle has, you will be surprised how much more you will pay for the other companies stuff. I have a 1982 VW Caddy 1.9l diesel with 350,000 km on it and runs mint and is in nearly perfect condition. I have a 1990 VW Jetta with just shy of 600,000 km on a 1.8l gas. It is super clean on the outside and tiny spots of surface rust on the outside. I also have a 1994 VW Golf that I race and it is street worthy with 450,000 km on the body and original engine and it looks new and runs like new. I recently purchased a 1994 VW Jetta GL and the thing has 250,000 km on it and looks and drives like a new car. It makes me mad when I hear people bad mouth VW when they only have like 60,000 km on it or barely over 100,00 km. They expect a 5,6 or 7 year old car to be perfect. I see more 45,000 Nissans at work with 10 times the problems before they even hit 10,000 km. Ya the Japanese cars have good engines, but that doesn't do you much good after about 6 or seven years when you can see right through the car because of all the rust. VW have rock solid engines and rock solid bodies. The only body problem I have had is door mouldings coming loose, or a trunk lock seizing up on both my jettas and my golf. If that's all I have to worry about then big deal. The problem with most people is they get hooked on power this and power that. I have news for you its electronic and its going to break no matter what car you have. 99% of the Nissans I see broke down or towed in are due to power something or some kind of fancy electronic gadget. Quit being so lazy people, save your money and buy what you need what what you think you want or need. You probably don't even know what half the buttons on your car even do. My dad drive VW for 20 years and just this year bought a 2006 civic. I must say it is a really nice car to look at, but what a piece of scrap on the inside. Just like most Japanese vehicles cheap junky plastic that's harder than a dollar store toy and tons of buttons all over the place. The gearbox shifts like crap and there is no feeling in your shifts. I back of the seat fell off the other day and the junky plastic door panel cracked in the cold when they closed the door. My VW's even the base model had ten times the interior and the dash and controls were nice and soft or felt like quality. Every vehicle has its flaws even VW's, I mean lets face it there is thousands of parts working together for thousands of KM's in all kinds of conditions. For the few little problems I have had in over 1.5 million KM's combined in my four VW's I will never drive anything different. I always tell people who bad mouth VW when you Honda, or Toyota, GM or Ford have as many KM's on it with the minimal number of dollars I have spent on my VW's and it still looks as good as my cars do then they might have a argument. German engineering is by far the best in the world. Even my 12 year old Jetta drives, feels and rides better than most cars I have driven 10 years newer.

I've owned 10 Volkswagens & am a VW enthusiast, but I must say that VW's do have their share of problems, and that reliability has suffered as of late.

Volkswagen customer service isn't very good nowadays either.

However the older models certainly were great little cars, and I do hope that VW gets its act together & starts building great little cars once again.

My last VW (which I just reluctantly sold last August) was a 1993 Cabriolet. It was one of the best cars I've ever owned. If not for an injury which prevented me from driving it (it was a manual transmission model) I would've kept it until I could no longer drive.

Happy motoring!!!

The new vw's are crap build and the prices they want for service is a joke, I had two and both had problems, that's why I got honda now and it has been perfect, not even a rattle.

And as for nissan, maybe its all the renault parts in it that are going bad, try a decent japanese honda/toyota.

1993 VW jetta GL III.

I am the original owner of a 1993 VW jetta GL automatic. It has 195000mi (312000Km). In its lifetime, it has only gone back to the shop once for something that went wrong outside of normal maintenance. Outside of that the only other problem it had was the sunroof drive cable broke. I was able to fix that myself. I have never seen the check engine light in this car illuminate. I don't know if it itself is broken. The car has the original exhaust, O2 sensor, starter, alternator, etc!

I am so satisfied with my jetta that I started performing online research on the newer jettas. Based on the horror stories that I have read about the 2000-2006 VW jetta problems, I would not buy one.

Currently, I am one step away from buying a 2005/2006 Nissan Altima.

Would appreciate any comments from the Nissan employee/VW enthusist that commented earlier about the Nissan problems.

I've owned several VW's, my current being an 87 16v Scirocco. I work on cars for a living and it never surprises me to an American or Japanese car roll in with quite a few major issues under the 100K mark. Regardless of what you are driving reliability depends largly on how well a vehicle is treated and the small aspect of quality. Without even a small amount of quality, maintenance will be of no use. I credit VW with being among the most well built autos in the world.

I have had nothing, but problems with my 96 VW Jetta GL. When I first got the car it cost me about $1300 to get new head light and tail lights and a new muffler. I don't think that the muffler was new when I looked at it tho. Then the transmission went out. that cost me $1800 for a rebuilt one. then $700 to get one 02 sensor. My light bulbs always blow out. I have replace the front about 6 times in the past year. the back bulbs have blown out more than the front. The place you put your key in on both sides has came out so I can't lock my car or I won't be able to get back in it. The trunk always breaks and I have to fix it. there are many other problems I have had with that car that I can't think of right now. they say that the parts don't cost much that may be the case for some people, but even if they don't cost much these things still add up. Out of all the cars I have had I know that I will never ever in my life ever I mean ever buy another VW. If I had the money to get a different car I would, but the VW breaking all the time keeps me from that.

I used to own a 1993 VW jetta gl and in the 4 months I owned it I spent almost $3000 in repairing it. a day after I bought it it needed a new alternator and battery because the alternator overcharged the battery. after getting that fixed it took 2 days until the next thing happened as I was driving the engine tried to start itself turns out I needed a new starter. then I needed a new exhaust, then a new oil dispenser unit. my tranny was about ready to fall out. if I backed up you could hear the gear grinding. it needed a new water pump and a new O2 sensor and crank sensor. I changed my brake lights probably every week because they would literally explode into tiny shards also the cable to open my hood snapped. all in all not a good experience.