Faults:

Catalytic converter burned up.

O2 sensors burned up.

Battery acid leaked on coolant reservoir and caused leak.

General Comments:

I had bought a '97 Jetta GLX VR6 back in 2004, and it ran excellent for a couple of years till the battery started leaking out battery acid onto the bottom of the coolant reservoir tank, which put a hole in it and was leaking coolant, so I replaced it and cleaned all that battery acid with baking soda and water.

The guy at the dealership told me that he also own a 97 Jetta, and said that it's a known problem with these cars.

Then shortly after that, my tire blew on the freeway in the fast lane, and I had to pull over onto a rocky pavement on the left. I had the tire replaced and started my car up, and it lost power. It ran really bad uphill. I could only go about 45 miles an hour on the freeway.

I drove like this for about a month and then had my spark plugs and wires replaced. I notice a little crack in the ignition coil and replaced that. Then I took it for a test drive and it ran way worse than before. It would only go about 20 miles an hour, then it just turned off and start smoking really bad... black smoke... I freaked out and thought my car was on fire. When it stopped smoking I noticed that the O2 sensor on the catalytic converter was all burned to crisp. I took off my catalytic converter and it was all burned up and crumbling. So I haven't been able to get my car fixed for the past 2 years due to high priced parts. Supposedly the catalytic converter can only be purchased through Volkswagen because of some OBDII compliant thing for smog reasons. CRAZY! I'm hoping that it's just that problem.

Has anyone have had any similar problems?

Angela.

Faults:

I recently had to replace the distributor cap.

Needed to get new front brakes and the rotors are not looking 100 percent.

The biggest problem so far is the transmission slipping and I can't find the fill or drain caps for the transmission to fill the fluids.

Sunroof rails broke while putting it back.

Both rear windows have broken. One windows motor and the other windows plastic snap the holds it to the track.

General Comments:

The car a very smooth handling and relatively good gas mileage.

The stock six inch pioneers make great highs for a system.

Somewhat quiet cabin noise.

Need to know where I can fill the transmission fluid at, its driving me nuts.

Faults:

Starter went out at 139000 miles. ($124)

Blinker switch went out at 141000 when hit by someone backing out. ($110)

Sunroof smashed by a football-sized rock from a gravel truck. ($100)

General Comments:

The car was fast, with great torque/weight ratio.

Handling must be experienced to be believed.

Acceleration is impressive.

Seats and interior are perfect.

Easy to set up for racing.

Faults:

Things that have been very upsetting:

Door trim fell off.

Airbag light stays on.

Gas mileage is poor. 19 city, 27 highway. It's a 4cyl. Whats wrong with that picture?

Temp light randomly goes on.

Seats falling apart.

Paint chips.

Cigarette lighter fails to work.

Coolant is screwed up.

General Comments:

Not a bad car other than the listed above. I would have preferred to buy a 00 Jetta. It's a fast 4cyl though. I put on a cold air intake, and it flies.

Faults:

The hood latch began having problems latching.

The front door handles began to freeze in cold weather, causing me to get in through the back door and climb over the seats.

The clutch went out at around 110,000 miles.

The drivers side seat mounts became weak and needed re-enforcements.

General Comments:

When I sold the car at 158,000 miles with faded paint, and worn out carpet and upholstery; I was extremely sad to see it go.

The 2.0 motor with the manual transmission is seriously quick for such a small motor.

The interior could have used some more color (my car was black exterior / black interior), however the interior styling is classy, and was ahead of its time.

The car seemed to get 30 miles to the gallon both in the city and on the freeway.