Cruise Control switch broke at 4,772 miles.
Power mirror switch snapped off at 22,600 miles.
Low coolant light came on at 23,500 miles; the water pump had to be replaced.
Water was leaking onto the passenger side floor at 30,000 miles. Problem was the pollen filter and cover was broken and had to be replaced.
Passenger side window fell into the door at 30,000 miles. Window regulator was replaced. Had to be replaced again at 40,000 miles.
Glove box lid broke at around 35,000 miles.
Temperature sensor stopped working at 40,000 miles.
Check engine light came on at 48,000 miles. Had to replace air valve and catalytic converter.
At 50,000 mile service it was determined that the main cooling fan was not working and had to be replaced as well as a cracked serpentine belt.
Center console lid latch snapped.
This car's performance is great and it is a ton of fun to drive. The V6 engine has great low-end torque, and even retains some acceleration power in 5th gear at 70 mph. Handling is great, although you do pay for it with a bumpy ride on a rough roads or when you go over speed bumps.
The interior of the car was very nice when the car was new, but is now starting to show some wear with peeling plastic, etc. I haven't had any troubles with rattles and squeaks, which I have been happy about.
The biggest complaint I have about this car is the maintenance and repair costs. I knew when I was purchasing it that it wouldn't be as reliable as a Japanese car, but I figured if I maintained it well, I could minimize any problems I had. It has been to the dealership every 10,000 miles for scheduled maintenance since I bought it, and had the oil changed every 5,000. Unfortunately, this has not paid off in fewer repair costs. Also, because it is a German car, it is difficult to have even simple maintenance done anywhere but the dealer. Even changing the oil requires an Audi-made in-pan oil filter, which requires me to call ahead to any oil change place in advance to verify they have my filter in stock, as they often do not. I understand this is unique to the VR6 engine.
My only advice if you are considering buying a Jetta, is to be aware of the high costs to fix anything. I love the way it drives, looks and feels, but the maintenance costs have really been adding up, and I am becoming doubtful that I will be able to afford to drive it for 10 years or put 150,000 miles on it, like I had hoped when I bought it new.
Interesting, I thought I was reading my own review here. I had similiar problems. Very true that many car repair places can't fix them, VW doesn't release the OEM codes to the public.
This sounds like my own vehicle as well. I own a 2000 VR6 and the repair costs are really adding up. I maintain my vehicle down to the car wash, with an oil change every 3500 miles. It has been in the shop constantly for coolant leaks, that never seem to be the same part leaking, so it has been quite pricey, and list of other problems would take far to long to write. I love to drive it, but am cautious about driving it to much longer for fear that it will break again. I never had any of these issues with my previous Asian made vehicles, and most likely will go back to them after this vehicle.
Sounds like we all should voice our comments and concerns to someone at Volkswagen of America to see if they can compensate us for the same 'defective parts' they have installed in their cars. I have a 2000 Jetta GLX and I've replaced the temperature gauge, the brake light switch - twice (it's an automatic and it won't shift out of park when the switch fails),the power mirror switch broke off, the center console latch release broke and the front passenger window fell inside the door (in the middle of winter!!!). The car currently has 46K and I'm waiting for the next 'mishap' to occur.
You can search the web for any recalls on any car for free. you find the recall that happend on your car you take it to the dealership and they HAVE to fix it for FREE!
I had a GLX VR6 Jetta with similar problems, many transmission issues, etc. The car looks great and drives great when it's not broken. Unfortunately, it's broken most of the time.
VW Had a plan with these cars. VW built them to break a lot so they could make a TON of profits and it worked. VW did a lot of market research and found that the type of yuppie customer who buys a VW tends to have a good job and good credit to pay for a lot of repairs so someone in marketing had this idea to make the car breakdown constantly to keep the profits rolling in for VW. It WORKS and VW is not the first car company to do this. Ferrari and Lamborghini are notorious for building high maintenance cars that are not very reliable, yet people continue to get on waiting list for the next model to come out. They KNOW the person who buys such a car expects expensive repairs and it's a sort of "Well if you can't afford the maintenance cost then you can't afford to drive it" attitude. Mercedes, BMW, etc. are built with similar ideas in mind.
The truth is these cars are nothing, but trouble. They have very complicated electronics systems with many sensors that fail causing the engine check light to constantly come on. The engine and transmission are built in such a way as to make them very very difficult to work on, so in many cases only the dealer can service the car. The back breaker is the fact that any repair is going to cost you 500-$1000 on average, and there are a LOT of repairs.
These cars simply cannot be trusted to last. Even if you pile a ton of money into repairs, you'll still have things breaking left and right. It's maddening to shell out $1200.00 then 2 weeks later have ANOTHER problem crop up.
I sold my Jetta a few years ago and it was the best move I ever made. Get out now before the Jetta leaves you completely broke. Get a Mini Cooper or a Toyota/Honda.
Note: A Comments RSS Feed 
is available. New comments appear in the Members Area before the main site