Faults:

Ignition switch.

Coil.

Fuel pressure regulator.

Oil pump.

Check engine light on / no reason.

Airbag light on.

Transmission.

General Comments:

I like the look of this car, and it drives really nice. The repairs are far too expensive, and the weirdest things go wrong with it. The transmissions are terrible in them.

I will never buy another Jetta unless maybe it's a VR6. Cool car, terrible investment. Glass headlights crack easily.

Faults:

A/C clutch went out at 130000.

Both front wheel bearings went out at 132000.

Trim piece fell off, but I glued it back on.

Head liner started pealing off; glued also.

2.0 needs a 6th gear in tranny.

General Comments:

Very fun to drive.

2.0 has some pep in 3rd and 4th gear.

I run it hard as advised by my friend who is a VW mech and also drives one.

Added a cold air intake.

Top speed was 125, which is good for me.

Still runs great, but would love to have a VR6 in it with a 6 speed.

Faults:

Replaced parts:

- Transmission

- Clutch

- Clutch cable 2x

- Axles

- Wheel bearings - couple times

- Power windows regulators - all 4 windows

- Ignition coil

- Water pump 2x

Cooling system leaks - couple times.

Check engine light on - couple times.

General Comments:

I did not mention replacement brakes, tires... these have to be fixed on other cars as well.

I have to say I've been driving this car pretty lot. First year was good, after that things started to go wrong, one by one, worse and worse.

Jetta part's reliability is poor.

Faults:

I was searching the most unreliable cars of the 1990's on the internet, because it just so happens that mine is one of them. As I was scrolling through the yahoo searches, I came over a Canadian Drivers Forum. On the forum there was some guy complaining about repairs in his 98 Golf. First off, all he was complaining about was a couple of hoses, a computer reset (a mere $100), and an antenna. What's that like $400 in Canadian change? Let's go over my repairs shall we?

- New hoses? I've had every hose under my hood replaced at almost $50 a pop.

- Antenna? Had that replaced too, and the rubber around the antenna is dry rotted.

- Antenna? How about a new tranny? $2,200... stop whining about a damn antenna.

- New clutch, $250.

- Engine rewire and new spark plugs, $560 in change.

- New exhaust and muffler that was hanging on the ground, $800.

- New catalytic converter, $500.

- New timing belt, $600.

- New coolant tank, which exploded 3 days after it was repaired, $400.

- Reseal engine for oil leak, $200.

-Instrument cluster went dead at 130,000, $450.

...shall I continue? Yeah, I'm only halfway there.

- Seven bearings had to be replaced in my car over the past year now, $2,000.

- Window motor, $450.

- Window regulator... went out in passenger rear window 3 times in past 4 years, $250 a pop for a grand total of $750.

- Window regulator in passenger front window and left rear window, an extra $500... somehow my drivers window, which I use the most has not gone out yet.

- Door hinge replacement in rear door... free, but will eventually need to get a new hinge.

- Engine had to be reshaped from possible blown head gasket... which we later found out, didn't even happen... $400.

- New distributor cap, $150 flat.

- New front suspension, which had to be replaced, and from the look of my rear suspension, I might have to repeat another $600 purchase.

- New starter $500... let me rephrase that... used and rebuilt starter $500.

- New tires $250.

- Looking like I'll have to get emergency brake line redone since it is rusted to the bone... $200.

...and so many more, I can't even list them all.

...If I hear another person whine about their car, I'm going to shove the over $9,000 worth of repairs in their face and make them weep. They haven't seen anything yet. My car is worth $3,000, and from the look of the repairs, this thing should be brand new.

General Comments:

Horrible car.