1991 Volkswagen Jetta from North America - Comments

Dash board rattled.

After driving two hours or more, the engine wouldn't start back up if stopped. You had to wait until it cooled down. The Volkswagen dealers could not fix this problem the entire time I owned the car. Each time I took it to them they told me they had fixed it. It turns out it was a faulty design, the starter was built too close to the engine and would get hot, and not start until cooled off.

Rubber muffler brackets became loose every three months, causing the muffler to rattle with acceleration, and had to be replaced every three months until car was sold.

Shifter handle came off.

Radio knob came off.

Antenna broke when a truck passed me going the opposite direction on the highway.

Drivers mirror adjuster knob broke off.

Two of the four doors, the locks broke, on the inside of car.

Tires were rotated regularly, but tires developed flat spots on them, causing rough ride.

The lights in the rear melted holes in both taillights.

This is a horrible car, with a faulty design that caused the car to not start after two hours of driving. Volkswagen never recalled the car. Because it would only drive for a few hours at a time, it was not a car to take on vacation.

I will never in my life, and I hope you won't either, buy a Volkswagen again.

I currently own a 1991 Volkswagen Jetta turbo diesel with 261,000 kilometers and I agree with most others that it is a pile of junk. Volkswagen should be embarrassed to put their name on it.

My vehicle is a nightmare to start in winter, it burns and leaks oil in large quantities, the transmission jumps out of first and reverse gear, the horn has gone off by itself, the air conditioning is another source of despair, the cooling fan will not always come on, the ignition switch has failed causing the rear defroster (another useless item), window wipers and heater fan all to fail to come on as well as not being able to start the car once you shut if off, I was fortunate to be near a hill and bum started it. I cannot wait until I finish college so I can get rid of this thing.

I will never as long as I live purchase another Volkswagen vehicle again!!!.

I must say that all these symptoms you have described are all due to neglect. If you don't do regular tune up on a car it will develop problems and if you don't fix them you will develop more problems for yourself its like a domino effect. I have had multiple VW's and none had problems like you have described. One should not let it go that far, you should fix a problem when it develops. The manufacturer cannot be held responsible for poor maintenance, its as simple as that.

I agree with the above comments. How much knowlgede can you have about a car with 260,000 + KMs in regards to the maintenance it has received in the past?

At this age, parts do wear out, and If you do not replace them, you collect many of them, making for a less enjoyable experience.

A good repair manual, and a few hours reading, and some patience and you would have avoided your problems.

There is always the easier road...New!

I have a 1991 with 330,000 kms and I have never been more impressed with a car than this one.

You must have a little time and patience with these high KM cars, but with a little effort, they can be revitalized to run like new (at minimal costs!)

I will buy another! (same year) after I am finished with this one!

I fully agree that the 1991 jetta is junk, read my post "beast of burden" for details, i advised against purchasing any volkswagen as I this is my sixth and they have all been quite problematic even the ones in the best shape, i had a mint condition 1987 jetta, fully original, not a scratch on it, the engine bay was impeccable as was everything else, it quickly developed various troubles.