The rear brakes wear out rapidly. The front brakes never show any wear. This is curious.
The interior plastic peels off like sunburned skin.
The windshield developed a crack without visible or known impact damage.
The "VW" emblems fall off the hubcaps.
The engine wiring harness has been replaced twice: once at 25,000 miles and again at 30,000 miles.
At 35,000 miles, the driver's side window regulator broke and the window fell into the door.
One of the integrated remote/keys quit working at 40,000 miles. It is not the battery. I tried that.
At about 50,000 miles, there was a loud bang from the passenger seat, and a huge spring came flying out from under the seat.
Also at about 50,000 miles, the Mass Airflow Sensor failed.
I was very happy with this car for the first year. And it is still delightful to drive. The acceleration is excellent, the handling is crisp, and the road feel is quintessentially European. I have owned many fine European marques, and I should know. But it has been a troubled relationship since the first year.
Knock on wood, the car has been trouble free for a while now. But I feel like the other shoe is about to fall.
The final blow for me was the $968.00 repair bill to replace the timing belt. This is a standard maintenance item every 40,000 miles. The cost exploded for this scheduled event because, I was told, all the rollers must be replaced for the second scheduled timing belt exchange. The $500.00 charge for first this service the first time was bad enough. The delayed disclosure of this type information is the modus operandi of my dealer. Or, I should say, my former dealer.
Say goodnight, Volkswagen. Later this week, my lovely and talented wife gets a new mini-van. And you get a transporter ride back to Mexico.
As per the service schedule laid out owners manual the timing belt and idler pulley are not to be replaced until 80,000!! Looks like you definitely got took -
The service schedule for the timing belt depends on the year of the vehicle. they have gone to an 80k belt, but it was previously 60 I think (not 40)
40k for auto.
I can't resist adding my experience with my 01 Jetta TDI (manual). It's a very nice car and I was extremely happy overall for 3 years or so, even though the cup holder and every headlight and taillight had failed. Not to mention that the chemicals in the interior were making me somewhat ill for the first 2 years. Now, the pattern is clear. Add to the above an expensive failed trunk release mechanism followed by the brakes locking up on a trip in downtown Seattle on memorial day weekend. Fortunately, the Better World Club found me a Midas dealer to redo the brakes on Saturday of a holiday weekend for $700+ dollars. Now I'm having problems with fuses and my glow plug system is out and the car won't start. I also just noticed that the rear ashtray mechanism has fallen apart, though never used. and the trim on the arm rest mechanism is falling apart. I'm still planning to keep the car because it gets such great fuel economy (53 mpg) and is nice on the highway, but disillusionment is setting in. Since my previous two cars were Toyotas, the contrast is striking. My 96 RAV had zero repairs in 9 years. I just replaced it with a Subaru Forester, only because a reckless driver totaled the RAV4 in a head on collision. Please, VW, work on the reliability and recoup your reputation. I also knew better, as a Consumer Reports subscriber, but decided to gamble. I was pleasantly surprised, for a while.
Hello
I have now owned my car for 1.5 Years. It is a 2001 Jetta TDI, with now 120,000 kms. I have to say I really enjoy the gas mileage, but like the previous person my rear ashtray has fallen apart and has never been used, my interior is peeling in some places, it is also very hard to keep clean, because of the material they have used. But my biggest beef is the electrical problems. At 80,000 kms, I had to replace the mass airflow sensor and at 100,000 kms I had problems with my remote car opener and then out of the blue it started working on its own. It also wasn't the battery. Now at 120,000 km my engine light has come on and the interior light keeps coming on randomly and the only way I can get it turned off is hitting the lock/unlock button. I enjoy the gas mileage, but not all the tedious little problems. I have a Honda Accord with 300,000+ and I have never had this many problems. You might get good gas mileage, but you end up spending all your fuel savings on fixing problems. Jake.
I was a true believer in the VW Jetta until now. Previously owned a 1989 Jetta Flair diesel, awesome car, only replaced normal wear and tear parts and retired it at over 300,000 kms. Now I own a 2001 VW Jetta TDI, bought new. Currently has 129,000 kms on it and regularly dealer maintained. As I type this my car is in the VW dealer's shop with a faulty engine cooling temperature sensor. During removal of sensor, the housing broke adding additional cost and extra time in the shop. The cost of this repair is now CDN$315.00 plus tax! I am tired of replacing items that shouldn't need replacing. Since new I have replaced:
Windshield wiper transmission @ 78,169 kms, sway bar bushings @ 94,498 kms, Blower motor for heater, Cup holder (front) and is broken again, frequent headlights and tail lights, timing belt (regular maintenance), Glow plug bus bar & replace mass airflow sensor @ 100,024 kms, Rear brake disc & lining @ 103,941 kms, front brakes & rotors @ 129,000 kms.
Things that need replacing are: interior light switch, rattle in left rear door interior, no rear cup holder, rear ashtray broken & not used, poor radio reception-no AM stations, A/C musty odour.
For what I have saved on fuel and add in the price of the repairs, there are no savings, only extra costs. I am not impressed and considering selling and purchasing anything, but a VW.
Ontario Canada.
I have the 2000 VW Jetta TDI. While I too love the fuel economy, if I could go back I would RUN not walk from my VW dealer. At 35,000 miles the mass air flow sensor went. The button to adjust the mirrors fell off shortly there after. The radio will not turn on for hours if you accidentally turn it off. The radio front fell off, the cup holders (POSITIONED OVER THE RADIO!!!) broke, the glove box fell out, the tail lights do not work everyday, the headlights go out every six months or so, the light inside the AC knob burns out constantly. The rear passenger window will not go down, the sunroof opens and closes only when it feels like it. Shall I continue... the glow plug harness needs replacing, the timing belt has been replaced, the mass air flow sensor has been replaced TWO more times, it burns 2 quarts of oil a week, the turbo just went out (to the tune of $1500.00) I had to repaint the hood at 47,000 miles, the paint is now chipping everywhere else. The trim under the headlights fall out so much that my neighbors have started bringing them home to me, the back door handles trim is about to fall off. The check engine light has been on since 40,000 miles (I am at 160,000 now). The dash is impossible to clean!! The doors lock only if I am wearing purple and it is a Thursday! :) Lets see... the trunk latch doesn't work the right way anymore and the metal plate in the trunk just rides in the trunk now, it doesn't actually protect anything, and the cup holders in the rear are useless. Last, but not least the ashtray, though never used is BROKEN! But I get great fuel economy and the air works. My own mechanic actually said that my car was made on a Friday afternoon after someone started drinking or on Monday morning after the hangover. He loves me, he comes and picks my car up and brings it back to me. He loves knowing that I make his car payments every year!! The thing that really gets me is that I have a 1995 Ford F150 Lightning, yes I know my vehicles could not be more different fuel economy wise, but here's the kicker, that truck has 260,000 miles on it (100,000 more than the Jetta) and I have put more money into the Jetta than I ever did in the truck. I have had the truck 10 years, the Jetta only 6!!! All that has ever been done to the truck is brakes, oil changes, tires, a thermostat, and various lubes. I have really not saved any money by paying for the Jetta and all of its problems. I have saved fuel and air pollution, but money... HA HA! I do love the look of my Jetta and the sportiness and how it drives, when its not at the shop, but I will take a bus before I buy another Volkswagen.
I've been laughing for about 30 minutes after reading all of your comments. I knew that I wasn't the only one out there having these incredible experiences with the Volkswagen.
My headlights burned out so often that I always carried an extra in the trunk. I finally soldered the gound connection on the headlight unit which fixed the problem. I went through at least a dozen headlights in the first 65,000 miles and since the fix not even one has burned out so it was a faulty design. (now 141,000 miles.)
I drove without power for about 15,000 miles because the dealer fixed all kinds of stuff for $1500 but didn't seem to know that the problem I was having was with the mass flow air sensor needing replacement. Engine was just dead over 3000 rpm. Finally went to another dealer and spend hundreds more getting the sensor replaced.
Cup holders are broken due to age only. Plastic peels like sunburn on most parts. The electric window switches fall on the floor all of the time.
The only reliable light bulb in the car is the check engine light. It has been on for 40,000+ miles and I'm tired of paying $200 to have them tell me what minor thing it is that causes it to go on.
I've spent near $2000 on the A/C over the years. It keeps failing. Dealer told me that I hit something which caused damage. Brought it to an A/C shop and they told me that it was impossible since the part that I was suppose to have hit is about 18 inches above a sealed cover that has no signs of damage. By the way, my car has never been hit.
The locking gas cap has been stuck for years. Finally took the car apart to find that the cable was frozen by corrosion.
Cassette player didn't work from the factory. Took 4 months to get a replacement.
Don't even get me started with the cost of replacing the timing belt every 40,000 miles as is required on TDI.
With all of the money I have wasted repairs, A/C, and timing belts I could have been driving around in a car that gets 5mpg and still saved money. Now, I'm going to drive it into the ground and let them tow it away when it dies. Probably will happen sooner rather than later by the way things are going.
At least it has allowed me to laugh with the rest of you. Sad laugh, but still a laugh.
I own a 2001 jetta (it as well has 50,000 miles). I have taken it back for all the recalls... now more problems than ever; replaced mass air flow sensor at 40,000; replaced 2 Oxygen sensors; and a full tune up on the car because of fuel injector miss-fires. car did not work in the rain or during high humidity days, despite $700 in repairs. The cat is faulty, good thing this is covered under warranty. now the car is flashing lights all over the dash and will not start anyone know what this is or how much it is going to cost me?
I own a 2001 Wolfsburg Edition VW Jetta. It has been an expensive "joy" to drive. It now has roughly 87700 mainly freeway miles on it. Have had the aforementioned window issues, rear brake replacement at around 38K miles. Have had mass airflow sensor replaced as well as various other sensors and the check engine light is on and no one can seem to give me a permanent fix for this. Just paid over $1000 in parts alone (can someone tell me why a catalytic converter is $800??!), drove it out of the shop and within a mile the check engine light came on and stayed on again.
While it's been a zippy little car to drive and for the most part have enjoyed the Wolfsburg packaged ride, I've pretty much had it with the costly repairs on this car. Recently test drove an '06 GLI Jetta and am not impressed. Sad because I've grown up driving various VW products over the years and they definitely aren't as good as they once were. For the $, I'll be looking elsewhere for a new vehicle.
All the above comments are absolutely typical of the A4 VW platform. I have an 01 TDI and have had all the above go wrong. The biggest disappointment though has to be the inability of the dealer network to fix their own cars. my dealer is so useless I had to have an independent VW specialist (now my chosen garage) go to the dealer and show the techs how to program my new computer! More devastating is the case where they just keep throwing parts at the car until it works. A young man I work with took his car in and got soaked for $2700.00 in "repairs" before the dealer figured out the fault codes were false and it merely needed a mass air sensor. A friend who is a professional mechanic tells me VW tech treat the computer generated fault codes like gospel thus blinding themselves to logic. And then there's the depreciation! About 50% per year in my part of the world.
My neighbour's TDI had the heated seat catch fire. All A4 owners I know have had the wipers seize up.
My advice is to find a good technician away (far, far away!) from the dealer network and wait out the problems. At 270,000 km I have finally sorted out most of the trouble spots. Do the fuel savings justify the trouble? For me its just barely a yes. But the minute Toyota brings a diesel to North America I am leaving VW and never looking back. VW has done nothing to earn my patronage and in return I am telling anyone who will listen not to buy until VW gets their act together.
2000 Jetta TDI (Manual). I have owned this car since new. It now has 199,000 miles on it. I have had some of the minor problems others have spoke of i.e. the rear ashtray, cup holder, upholstery being hard to clean etc…. I must have lucked out and bought one of the best ones they put together, because other than a faulty airbag sensor, $120.00, I have not had a single major problem, it has never failed to start, even at -20 degrees. It still handles great. I have replaced the timing belt at 90k and 180K, I did not have the dealership do it and that cost about 450.00, the brake pads have been replaced, but all that is maintenance that you have to do on any car. Overall I am extremely impressed. I know for a fact that none of the “big 3” could produce a car of this quality, and with the MPGs over 50. Toyota and Honda are comparable, but you don't get the quality of ride and handling. I am now at the point where I want to see 300k out of this car and then it be retired, and I will be buying another one. Just my input. Sorry so many have had problems.
2001 Jetta TDI, with almost 60k miles thus far. I too must have lucked out as the only serious problem I have had is the mass air flow sensor (x3). But as VW has extended the warranty on this faulty part for seven years, it gets replaced for free. I know the symptoms now and when it starts acting up I just drive it in and say fix the MAS please. They look at me like I'm crazy, but then they call and say it was the MAS and there is no charge.
What is the deal with the timing belt though? They tried to push a new one on me along with a new water pump and a coolant flush all for the low low price of $1181. Is this standard? I have to check through my records, but I thought I had the t-belt replaced at the 40k mark. Thanks, and sorry so many have had lemons. All I hear from people is how bad VW's are and they're shocked mine is still running smoothly.
Hello owner of the 2001 TDI (posted comment on 11/10/06). I currently own a 2000 jetta gls and I had a question regarding your comment about the MAS. What exactly did you mean when you said that once the car starts "acting up" that it is the MAS? What exactly does the car do? I am curious because I think my car may be having this problem and no one has been able to figure it out. It is almost like the car lacks air, gets stuck, and then suddenly has a burst of energy (almost like an explosion). when you said that this MAS problem has an extended warranty and that it is covered, does that apply to all jettas? or only TDI?
Also would you happen to have any idea on how to change the a/c light bulb? the dealer told me it was a piece of cake to change it but I find that had to believe.
Any ideas? Thanks
I am also a proud owner of a 2003 Jetta diesel 1.9 mine has 103780 miles on it and has givin me little trouble since I bought it
the Mass Air Flow sensor did fail at 60 k, but it was warranted, I have none of the problems you guys are having and I absolutely love the car, I did the timing belt myself at 100k and it took me about 5 hours to do at a cost of 350 which included the special tools needed for the job. all of the older TDIs can be upgraded to the 100 k belt. I did just change the glow plugs a week or so ago and again not a problen at 55 dollars for aftermarket glow plugs on ebay, I did buy all my other parts there as well.
Let me give you all some advice
get the Ross-tech cable and software for your cars, all you need is a Laptop or desktop too see your error codes, this will save you and stop the dealers who don't really know from giving you bologna about whats really wrong which will give you an edge.