1998 Volkswagen Jetta GT from North America - Comments

Well, I have a 99 Wolf and love it. The two rear windows don't work, the passenger side one has a bad connection I guess, because it doesn't respond to button presses, but stays up, and the driver rear window had a large "bang" noise and has been held up with tape for the last few months.

I have 87000 on it, and the thermostat went out, it needed new belts, and really nothing too bad has happened. I will be fixing the TStat today, and be putting new plug wires on it today (the ones on there are the factory ones! Yikes! 8 year old wires!)

She starts up EVERY DAY no problem and is a great, safe car.

However, my volume knob for the radio is annoying; if I turn the volume down slowly, it actually goes up quickly. I have to crank the volume quickly to turn it down slowly... its odd.. all the speakers rattle, but sound good. It must be the mounts that rattle.

Passenger front door molding has fallen off, but I completely cleaned the molding and the door, and it has been on there for 2 years now with no problems :) if you do it, do a good job and it will last longer than the factory job ever would, and use good, 3M tape.

The brake rotors lasted 80K miles, which I laugh at every time I say it. It was driven by my grandma for the first 35K of its life, then my dad until about 74K. By comparison, I beat the crap out of the car.

Typical 20 year old driver "with nothing to lose" attitude, LOL! But really, this is a great car and it holds its value pretty well. The body panels in the rear and front, the bumpers, have begun sagging a while back, and that makes it look pretty ghetto. Also, the trim that runs under the doors along the bottom is getting "bubbly" and is very costly to repair.

2 years of winter driving have done a number on this car, and that is a shame. The 5 other years of winter driving didn't even affect it, but now its catching up with it. It is a very nice car and is a pleasure to drive, but I am really looking forward to an 08 Jetta sometime later this year when I have some money.

Thank you for reading.

Well I just bought a 98 Jetta. You all are freaking me out it has less than 80,000 miles. I just took it on a 200 mile round trip and I burnt up almost a full tank of gas. The rpm's were running about 3200 rpm's and this car should get about 29 miles per gallon and so around 420 miles to the tank. Am I incorrect, but I should be able to get 200 miles and still have at least 1/2 a tank left. Then is there any solution for the exhaust rattle under the back of the car?

I have a 1998 Jetta K2 5speed I got it in September 2007 I love the car. I got into an accident like 2-3 months ago and they wanted 5800 to fix it. So instead I did it myself slowly, but surely I did. Now I have a problem when it rains my car chokes when I give it gas sometimes and feels like its gonna die. It has before stall out on me. I waited a bit and then it started right up and I brought it home. You guys think its the ignition coil. I also have a contunies long tone of a high pitch beep noise after the car has been running and its really annoying its by the air intake. Now when I drive my car by my stick there is something that rattles really loud and vibrates the floor. and my reverse gear has a loud clicking noise when I back up I think I need a new one or something. my car has 136000 miles. If you guys know the answers to my problems I would love I because I don't want to get rid of my car.

I have a early version 1999 VW Jetta GL (2.0L 4cyl) - (Which is the same as the 98 style)... And like everyone else the problems are pretty much the same (which is the bad news) :

1) Exterior trim falling off, and other cosmetic problems.

2) Glove box handle broken

3) Rear Window fell off the track (Guide wire).

4) Engine Light always on.

5) Stalls or won't start in the rain.

6) etc...

However! In my attempt to get my moneys worth out of this car and try and learn how a car actually works, I purchased a scan tool, the haynes repair manual and the bentley (or chiltons - I forget) manual and took it upon myself to figure out some of these problems.

I now have 158,000 miles on the car and going strong. My Jetta "stock" is rising. The car dying in the rain - changed the plugs, wires, dist cap, rotor. Big thing was I 'gooped' up the distributor cap to keep moisture from getting in. That seemed to do the trick.

Engine Light problems - scan tool help diagnose my charcoal cannister leak problem, secondary air pump/egr valve problem, MAF failure, and O-2 Sensor (diff time frames). Having the garage do this work would have cost me arm/leg... going to junk yard, or buying parts on-line and doing most of the work myself makes it worth it.

Moral: If you want to learn how a car works (or how to become a mechanic, get a volkswagen), else buy another car...

I've had a '98 Jetta since August '07. The car runs good (engine wise) but it's currently in the shop. It needs an entirely new transmission, and my car is automatic. It's a painful $2,500. The car won't go into second, and winds out back into first. It has absolutely no pick up after being stopped at a red light or parked for a few. It's a shame because I love the car.

I've had pretty much the same problems as everyone else:

-tape deck

-sound system

-blinkers only work when they want to no matter how many times the bulbs are changed

-transmission.

My car has no problems in the rain at all.

After my car hit 90k miles it spiraled down hill. I've taken excellent care of the car, it's just very touchy and needs a lot of maintenance. It's a great car if you have the time and patience (and money!).

I own a 1994 Jetta III GL with 250,000 miles. Bought it with over 220,000 about two years ago. Gets 32mpg in the summer, but drops to 26 in the winter (I think it has to do with the fuel blend here in the Midwest). I too have the issue with stalling/hard starting when damp or humid. Pulled the distributor cap and no moisture so guess I will look into the coil. Only major problem I have had was just after purchasing the spider gears in the trans-axle seized and exploded taking out the case. $75 for used transmission and $150 for new clutch. Unfortunately transmission I got has bad synchro in 2nd gear. Oh well, still drives good as long as you double clutch 2nd gear.

Overall I have been very happy with this car.

I have a '98 Jetta and I don't have too much good to say about it. It has been to my mechanics and to the VW dealership numerous times for maintenance or I should say to repair issues. As of right now we have 1 operating window (front driver side). The units to make them move up and down continually breaks (plastic part). They have all been replace at least twice. I refuse to fix them anymore, they are taped shut for now.

Major electrical problems: Headlights are not working, so if I drive it at night I need to hold the high beam switch with one hand and drive with the other (good thing it is an automatic). If I want my dash lite up at night and I turn on the switch while holding the high beam lights the windshield wipers will start working. Also, AC worked for a week or two after it came out the dealership and has not worked since.

I have seemed to run into the opposite problem that everyone else is having as far as it starting when it is damp. We have problems when it is very hot outside. I turn the key and there is no response. It seems like I hear a clicking noise on the floor but it does not turn over.

I'm ready to trade it in and get a Honda ('89 Civic my other car) and I have not had any problems out of it and I'm working on 370k miles.

I have a VW Cabrio 2001. I have encountered EVERY ISSUE IMAGINABLE, but the most debilitating and intruding on my life for the past 5 months has been the stalling out/ rough/ jerky driving in the rain or humidity. I literally plan my life around the rain and whether or not I can do things. Luckily, I have access to a car to get to work on rainy days (or even when it has rained over night), but it is getting to a point where I have to sell the car by the end of the month.

No mechanic (I have gone to 3 and spent entirely too much money) can figure out why the car stalls in the rain. I have had a full tune up, the spark plugs replaced, the distributor cap checked, and any other possible cause of this issue investigated/ fixed. The last mechanic sprayed the engine with WD40, which did not work. NOTHING had fixed this problem!

I AM NEVER buying a VW again...

I have a 99 early model GL, and for the first time today experienced the starting problem. I went to get in the car and turned the key, and it goes to start but just doesn't seem to want to turn over. It turned over, then shut itself back off. I feel like I'm draining the battery. All lights in the dash work, as well as the head lights. Everything has power to it.

I can say like all the other people, I have had a lot of issues with the car:

All 4 windows got their window regulator replaced.

Transmission got fixed 4 times.

The shocks got replaced.

The muffler rattles when in reverse.

Rpms are high.

Speedometer was fixed.

The speakers sound horrible.

One head light is brighter than the other because the high beam light bulb kicks on, on the left but not on the right, and when using high beams the left high beam goes off and the right goes on.

I don't know what else to do with my car.

I have a 1998 Jetta GT. I love this car. I have had it for 5 years. Sure little things happen, but they are easy to fix and easy to get at. The glove box latch issue I read on an earlier post happened on mine. I had it fixed in no time with no expense. A pin popped out of position. Brakes, shocks, exhaust etc.. I have changed. Very simple to do, and parts are easily available. They are normal wear parts. My car has 265,000km on it now. I have put 135000 of them on. The engine runs great, uses no oil between changes at 5000km intervals, and has lots of pep. As for the stalling problem... I had a cracked coil, and a bad spark plug wire. Open the hood when wet and you will see the spark jumping through the leak. Again easy to change. Do get quality parts though. I thought I would save some and buy cheap spark plug wires. 10 months later these crappy wires had corroded off internally. I then bought lifetime warranty ones for $20 more and had no problem. This is a great driving, reliable car. The car is so easy to fix even if you are not a mechanic. Just buy a cheap Haynes manual for $20 bucks and you can probably rebuild the car if you have to. I am sure my Jetta will give me half a million kms and still be running strong as long as it is maintained half decently.

I have a 1998 Jetta GT. I love this car. I have had it for 5 years. Sure little things happen, but they are easy to fix and easy to get at. The glove box latch issue I read on an earlier post happened on mine. I had it fixed in no time with no expense. A pin popped out of position. Brakes, shocks, exhaust etc.. I have changed. Very simple to do, and parts are easily available. They are normal wear parts. My car has 265,000km on it now. I have put 135000 of them on. The engine runs great, uses no oil between changes at 5000km intervals, and has lots of pep. As for the stalling problem... I had a cracked coil, and a bad spark plug wire. Open the hood when wet and you will see the spark jumping through the leak. Again easy to change. Do get quality parts though. I thought I would save some and buy cheap spark plug wires. 10 months later these crappy wires had corroded off internally. I then bought lifetime warranty ones for $20 more and had no problem. This is a great driving, reliable car. The car is so easy to fix even if you are not a mechanic. Just buy a cheap Haynes manual for $20 bucks and you can probably rebuild the car if you have to. I am sure my Jetta will give me half a million kms and still be running strong as long as it is maintained half decently.