After reading consumer reports, I thought, hey, I’ll get a Volkswagen! They’re really safe, they’ve got great engines and they’re supposed to be indestructable. They’re also damn cool looking. Well, that was in 1999. Now I know better. My Volkswagen Jetta is the biggest piece of shit I have ever seen. When I first got it, I had problems with the oxygen filter. Thank god it was under warranty because it had to be fixed 3 times before the fucking piece was finally recalled on all Jettas.
Then one day, I opened my window and it dropped into the window pocket and never came back up. While that window was being fixed, the front passenger side window also dropped and never came up again. That cost me $1,000 to fix. I spoke with the guy fixing it (from a small, private auto shop), and he said that this was an extremely common problem with Volkswagens and that, although their engines are good, they use cheap plastic parts and have very complicated electronics. He even said that many Volkswagens came on the lot with the same problem mine had, even though they were new and had only been drive some 10 miles.
Now my air conditioner compressor thingy is, according to Dobb’s, going to cost me $1,400 to fix. I’m getting a second opinion because Dobb’s also sucks. A friend of mine went there to get her brakes fixed and they all of a sudden “discovered” all kinds of things wrong. She took it to the dealer and they said that the brake pads were the only things that needed fixing. The dealer estimate was three times less than Dobb’s was.
I wish I had known this before I wasted the cash to get them to look at it. Although I’m not getting it fixed there, I still wasted money on a diagnostic fee. Fuckers.
Lesson to self #1: Never, ever, ever buy a Volkswagen again!
Lesson to self #2: Never, ever, ever go to Dobb’s again.
Um, the window issue is/was a known problem and VW has been fixing it free of charge when it happens, even on cars that are out of warrantee. There’s never been an official recall, but they have been taking care of the problem. It never hurts to check with the dealer.
Jettas in particular seem to be spawn of the devil. I’ve heard more stories about rotten Jettas than anything else. I was convinced that mine was the physical embodiment of all evil in the uninverse. When I got rid of it, I got a Honda. I couldn’t stand the utter blandness of it, so I went back to VW after a year and have been rather happy with the other four (non-Jetta) VWs we’ve had.
It’s too bad you went to an independent mechanic for the window thing, because there’s sort of an unofficial recall on that now. I got my windows fixed for free. Same goes for the coil, so if your coil ever needs replacing, see if the dealer will do it for free.
Things wrong with my '01 Jetta so far (with 49,000 miles):
-Slow oil leak; they had to re-seal the oil pan
-Turbo bearing worn; replaced turbo
-Coolant leak, probably due to disturbing coolant line while replacing turbo
-the window thing
-Check engine light has come on at least 5 times for various reasons
-Transmission makes noise; they say it’s normal:dubious:
-Coil replaced
-Strange “popping” noise comes from rear of car sometimes within first few minutes after starting engine. Never happens when it’s at the dealer.
But so far I’ve paid less than 100 dollars in repairs, including $40 for one dealer to tell me I had the coolant leak (which I already knew), and say it wasn’t covered by the warranty and to go back to the place that installed the turbo. Even though they say you can go to any dealer for service, I think it would have been better to stick to one place. By the way, the dealer service is horrible. After keeping my car for 9 HOURS (I kid you not) to fix the coolant leak, they called to inform me that they didn’t have the part they needed, and I’d have to come back the next week.:smack:
Overall not TOO awful, but probably not the most reliable car you can get. Sure is fun to drive, though.
If you have a base Jetta like me they are rock solid. I haven’t had a single problem. But I don’t understand. So you bought a Jetta (must be the new one from your list of problems) in 1999, if you bought it new, I don’t understand why you didn’t get it fixed under warranty, unless you bought a used 99 Model year.
You should have gotten a GL TDI like me. I couldn’t be happier, and I haven’t had a problem yet in 20k miles
I drove an 86 Jetta from 95-2000, and apart from it being ugly, the windsheild wiper arm rusting, and it having 200,000 miles on it when the transmission finally went, the car ran great.
My friend, on the other hand, had a 99 Jetta that ran like crap! Everything from the engine to the blinkers had a problem with it. Maybe after they changed the body style sometime around 93-94, (i’m not sure when) they started paying more attention to making it better looking. But who knows.
For those of you who are convinced that the Jetta (Bora in Europe) is somehow evil and the Golf and Beetle are not: they share the same platform. Even though the article tries to argue that the cars made on this platform are very different in characteristics, there’s no denying that a Beetle TDI will have the same reliability and/or lack thereof as the Golf TDI and the Bora/Jetta TDI, on average.
Sliceguy and I are the free taxi service for our Volkswagen-owning friends (4 Jettas, 2 Golfs, a Cabrio, a Beetle and a Passat). The Jettas & Golfs seem to be the worst, followed by the Beetle. The Cabrio and Passat seem to have normal amounts and types of car problems.
Anyway, while we drive them back and forth to the dealership, we like to remind them that they mocked our Ford and Pontiac ownership in the beginning. Not anymore.
Coldfire, I agree about the platform issue, especially between the Golf and Jetta, but the Jetta vs. NB could have some differences. Granted, the chassis, ECU, engine and drivetrain are identical, the interior things, and window regulators could be different. I have never heard of a NB owner having problems with a window. That’s why I said its good to have a bare-bones Jetta, because with a manual window, there is no problem. I could talk about VW’s all day, as I’m a regular at Fred’s TDI page www.tdiclub.com so I know a thing or two about them.
shameless plug
BTW, I’m selling my Jetta GL TDI because I’m moving to Germany, so if anyone wants a great vehicle. I’m going to buy a TDI Golf in Germany, though. So if you are interested, say so.
/shameless plug
Guh, my Pontiac was in and out of repair places constantly. Every three months, something decided to stop working.
I can’t figure out why it wanted to hydroplane constantly, too, even at crawling speeds with little rain. There were never tire problems. At any rate, after a bad hydroplaning accident on the interstate, the Pontiac was gone.
My Bug is paradise in comparison. But anecdoes do not a science make. But I certainly had lots more problems with my Pontiac than with my Bug, and I got them both barely used.
Actually, the Polo is one model below the Golf, at least over here: China tends to get a strange array of models, so a Chinese Polo might be different. I’ve seen pictures of a Chinese Citroën ZX sedan, never available in Europe, for example.
WRT the Polo, it could be argued that today’s Polo is about the same size as the Golf II was. Models keep getting bigger all the time. The Polo used to be the smallest VW, but they have the (extremely overpriced) Lupo filling that spot now.
I’m on my second Polo. Keep it regularly serviced by a VW approved garage and I never had a single problem with them. It isn’t the flashiest make of car, but it’s well built, safe, reliable and not ugly.
But you always get the odd one or two cars that prove to be a nightmare, regardless of the standard of the other models.
And yes, the size has increased with each model. This happens with many manufacturer’s cars. They introduce a new model at the smallest end of the range and shuffle all the others up one.
Aren’t the Jetta’s German engineering with exquisite Mexican workmanship, coupled with Saudi princes’ pricing?
Such sweet lookng cars, but VW these days is notorious not a car of the “volks”- being WAY overpriced with shoddy track records (in comparison to like-priced competitors), and expensive to fix (at least in the US).
Though I can’t afford one anymore, I still manage to hold a soft spot for them in my heart- maybe that’s why they still sell as much as they do- it’s easy to fally in love with the overall design of their products.
My Jetta runs like a Top. Its a '01, bought new, (and the bumper to bumper just endeda few months ago. Of course I’d Never buy any car with a Turbo…they destroy the engine. Mine’s a VR6 with standard transmission. My son will probably be driving it at college (he’s 6)…
