2002 Volkswagen Jetta from North America - Comments

2003 Jetta GLI

Same problems as most of you. Radio quit, driver's side window dropped, and the grand finale; the transmission went at 108,000kms. It all adds up to serious money paid out. Like the car, dislike the ongoing problems.

I own a 2002 Jetta 1.8L Turbo. I totally love my car even with it's numerous quirks. The coil has gone out 4 times now (I keep a spare coil and plugs in my trunk), the radio went out and was replaced for free, the brake sensor went out while I was at a gas station (would not come out of park), the transmission went bad at 47,300 miles, the timing belt/water pump was changed at 110K, and now the door sensor has lost it's mind. While driving the sensor seems to think my door is open and all my interior lights illuminate which presents a problem while driving at night. From what I have read it will cost in the range of $400 not including labor??? I will live with the noise for now.

Hello, we have a 2002 Jetta 1.8 t and have had all the same problems... both windows fell in, coil blew, radio, major oil leak, water pump, sunroof drains plugged and filled the car with water after a rain storm.

Just lately the automatic shift lever is out of whack, it won't go into tiptronic mode and to get it in drive you have to go into 4th first. I did some research and found the fix for this problem. Hopefully posting it I can help someone else with their VW lemon. Bob, Vancouver Canada

http://forums.vwvortex.com/zerothread?id=3295650

Thanks for the FUSE 42 trick! It was a God send. I saved so much time and money! I Already had this happen in 2006 and they charged me $90 to fix it. But they also gave me the radio code, which wasn't written in my manual since I bought the car used from Carmax in 2006.

Not sure what happened to the person that owned it before I did. But ever since I've had it, here are the problems I've experienced...

The first night I picked up my car, the plastic knobs used for the radio (fade, balance, bass, etc.) kept fell off & couldn't be put back on, then a few months later I noticed the peeling doorhandles.

Also, I realized when I had my A/C on the air would blow out the strongest on the middle two panels, while the ones on the outer side would be open and you could barely feel any air! Also the turning knob used to control the air vents is messed up too! (if you want the heat on just the floor, it will come out of the top too)

I kept seeing these springs laying in my floor board! Weird! They fell off my passenger and driver's seat (Haven't had any problems with the seats and can't put them back on either so I just threw them away).

Another thing, I'm guessing my brake-light switch kept messing up because I couldn't crank my car and it would be locked in park... now most of the time the only way my car will crank is when the A/C is turned OFF!

My front bumper kept grabbing onto curbs and getting ripped off on one side! After 4 times of fixing it... Now I Leave a long space between the curb and my car! (it's worse when you have passengers with you to because of the extra weight!)

My cigarette lighter went out about 6 months ago, I read earlier that it's fuse 41.?? I'm going to replace that if it's correct fuse and see if it helps, I hate that I cannot charge my cell phone when I'm driving!

At one point my brake lights kept going out and I replaced them numerous times (I see why that is a recall).

My keyless remote stopped working recently, Hopefully that's just a battery issue, and hopefully I can figure out how to take it off to change it out!

Sometimes my lock and unlock button will not work on the backseat drivers door... I have to physically pull the handle from the inside to open that door.

I completely agree with the person who made the comment about the cup holders! Who's the idiot who put them over the CD player/Radio?? You can't even see what station your on! How irritating!! Not to mention every time you hit a bump, your drink would splatter! I always clean it off cuz I'm always afraid that it would get stuck inside there! He's a genius german, let me tell you! LOL. If I ever met him, I'd have a few choice words and would let him know what I think! Ha ha.

I am now freaked out about my heated seats catching on fire; I have leather seats, so I'm hoping maybe those were the cloth ones! Even after all of this car drama I still love Jettas! Hopefully these issues will be reported and be resolved in the newer models! Good luck to all of the Jetta owners, and thanks for making this a helpful site; I feel so much better being able to relate to the same problems other people have experienced!!

I also have had problems with my 02 Jetta. The door sensor went bad costing me $300. It was telling me that my door was open when it was latched closed. My coil packs had to be replaced 2 within 6 months of each other. I love the look of my Jetta, I have a silver one with tinted windows and the sports package with the 17 in wheels. I always drove Hondas and Acuras. My sunroof also sometimes moves on its own. I will never buy another VW again.

Thank you so much for the advice on Fuse 42 in regards to the radio not turning on (most recent problem)!

I've also had the same problems with the windows, brake light, and turn signals. I've included below the letter I sent to Volkswagen in May 2007 as a heads up and I'd also be interested in knowing if anyone else on here has had the same issue. I also contacted the Office of Defects Investigation (http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/cars/problems/complain/) as instructed by the Volkswagen Customer Service Representative who called me back after the letter was received so they were also aware of the problem. This is how most recalls are issued, the more complaints this agency receives about a particular problem the more likely a recall is...I'm very surprised that one concerning the heated seats catching on fire has not been issued yet.

Letter:

I took my 2002 Jetta in on Wednesday, May 10th for what should have been a routine oil change, but $330 dollars later was obviously not. My mechanic informed me that I needed a new oil pan. Something that is 99% of the time only replaced after an accident or after 15 years or so if it's rusted out. The reason: the oil pan itself is made of aluminum and the drain plug is made of steel. Anyone with half an ounce of engineering or materials knowledge (something I would hope and assume a Volkswagen parts designer has) knows that you don't manufacture a part out of a soft metal which has something screwed into it made out of a harder metal. The threads eventually get completely stripped after repeated oil changes. According to the service schedule in my owner's manual, oil changes are mandatory service required to keep the car under warranty.

What has angered me the most about this is that Volkswagen obviously knows about this design defect and has not issued a recall. When my mechanic called the local Volkswagen dealer (and where I purchased my car) the parts department told him "Oh yeah, we know about that problem. In fact we stock the redesigned part". The bottom of my new oil pan is now made of steel which it should have been in the first place.

I expect to be completely refunded for the parts and labor costs to fix your flawed design, and I hope a recall is issued so other "Drivers" do not get stuck with this bill. Fortunately for me I took it to my trusted mechanic as I can assure you if I had taken it to the dealer I would have not known that this is your problem. It is totally unacceptable for Volkswagen to expect its customers to pay for this lack of engineering sense. As an engineer and the quality assurance person for my company, I would be embarrassed if one of my customer's found such a poorly designed part in one of our products. I hope to hear from you soon.

Sincerely.

My Name.

Of course they didn't refund any of the costs.

We have an 02 Jetta GLI and have had issues as well. Our Monsoon radio stopped working. It would come on but no sound. It was stuck on one radio station and if a cd was in there was no sound but you could see the time elapsing. We disconnected the battery and tried entering the radio code. Unfortunately, I came upon this website too late so I didn't know about fuse 42. We had a new stereo put in.

Our window fell into the door. That was covered by warranty.

Two years ago I engaged the clutch to start the car and the clutch stuck to the floor. They changed the slave cylinder in the transmission and also changed the clutch under warranty. The same thing happened to us a month ago. This time it wasn't under warranty, and we were on a road trip. To get to the cylinder the whole tranny needs to be taken out (5 hour job) so it cost $300 for the part and $500 for labor. Still having problems with the clutch, leaking fluid and taking it back in tomorrow.

The door sensor used to give us problems in the winter, now it's all the time. It doesn't sense when the doors are open so it locks itself and the interior light won't come on either. Our mechanic told us it's a very common problem and should be a recall. I will be calling vw to put in a complaint.

Both remote entries have not been working well for a while. Had new batteries put in both etc. Still have to press the button a few times to work. Haven't been able to use the remote to open the trunk for a couple years.

We have had to top up our power steering fluid quite a few times over the years.

Have had a whirring noise coming from the front of the car since we bought it 4 years ago. Took it into dealer numerous times. Each time they replaced clips etc but it hasn't gone away.

The engine light comes on all the time. I just unscrew then re-tighten the gas cap. It goes off in a day or so.

Have had what looks like steam come from the front grill when I turn the car off (in the winter). Took it to dealer a few times and they couldn't find anything.

We do love this car but are starting to get frustrated over the problems. It's only 6 years old and has 83000km.

So, my Jetta 2003 window has recently fallen into the door. I took the door apart today and it seems the windows won't stay on the clips?, regulators? Anyone here fix this themselves at all? Any help would be appreciated.

The spring falling out of the front seat problem is due to a cast metal hook breaking off the seat frame. The spring helps bring the seat toward the dashboard.

I can't find another place to re-attach the coil spring on the seat frame of my 2003 Jetta sedan, so the spring is "stored" in the trunk.