4 months after buying the car, the alternator died around 145000km and was replaced with a $500 Bosch alternator with a 7 year warranty. This was odd because the previous owner had bought a new alternator two years earlier.
Original struts finally had the biscuit at 156000km and were replaced with German Boge gas struts for a lofty $700.
Other than that, no serious faults.
This Jetta is small, light, and well balanced; giving it excellent handling characteristics. With the Boge struts, it went from having a stock sporty suspension to more of a go-kart feel. I can take corners now at high speeds with little or no body roll at all.
The 1.8L 8v engine (Was only in the CL models of the MkIII Jetta/Golf) is a little underpowered if you're looking for performance, but it has enough power to get you around town and pass slower vehicles on the highway with ease.
This particular VW engine is also famous for its stellar reliability, and this car is no exception. I have had to make no major repairs to the engine and my mechanic tells me I won't need any work for quite some time either.
The gauge cluster and instruments are very easy to read and use, and are placed in a very logical way. German engineering at its best!
The seats are very comfortable for long trips, but the rear could use more legroom. It is also hard for taller people to exit the rear doors.
I wish you all would do us Metric-illiterate Americans a favor, and tell us your distances in MILES too.
1 Mile = 1.6km.
If you see something in km and you want to know what that is in miles, simply take whatever it is and multiply it by 0.6 and you'll get whatever it is in miles (Like 100km times 0.6 is 60 miles)
I am looking at a 94 Jetta CL that looks like it's in good shape. Just curious about buying it for a first car. For 3 grand Canadian I think it is a good investment.
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