Faults:

Love my 2000 Volkswagen Jetta TDI (not!!!). Recently, I had the MIL light come on and resulted in the turbocharger and airflow meter being replaced at a cost of almost $2700!

Previous to that, the front passenger window rolled all the way down and would not close and resulted in the replacement of the window cables and clips at a cost of almost $300!!

That being said, the MIL light for the Volkswagen is something to be feared because on my vehicle the MIL light has come on 6 different occasions resulting in the replacement of 4 glow plugs, glow plug relay (twice), coolant temperature sensor (twice), and glow plug harness.

That doesn't even factor in the other problems that I never bothered to replace (ie- passenger door lock only partially comes up, broken glove compartment and center console, driver visor light burned out, cassette getting stuck in the tape deck).

I hope this e-mail serves as a warning to prospective Jetta buyers and people should steer clear of this car---I have spent almost $9000 of my hard earned money for maintenance in the last 3.5 years and I still have 7 more car payments to go to boot!!

My venting is now complete---and I thought an Eagle Talon was a lemon (my previous vehicle)!

General Comments:

Nice looking sedan, but costs too much to keep on the road...

Faults:

The "Check Engine" light and "Emissions Workshop!" warning came on the day I purchased the car. It has taken me 4 trips to the dealer over a span of 2.5 months to get the problem fixed.

First, the dealer told me my ignition coil was bad and they could barely keep the car running while it was in the shop. However, it seemed to run just fine to me, and when I went to pick up the car (before the coil was replaced), it was miraculously running well again. Since my model was not covered under the Volkswagen ignition coil recall, I sent an e-mail to Volkswagen Customer Care to complain that if my ignition coil was faulty at only 50,000 miles, then it should be covered under the recall also! Volkswagen Customer Care called me back within a few days and agreed to pay for the repair. They seem to agree to this very easily, so if anybody else has ignition coil problems and your model is not covered under the recall, contact Volkswagen Customer Care before paying over $600 for the repair!

The day after having my ignition coil repaired, my "Check Engine" light and "Emissions Workshop!" warning came back on again! I made another service appointment (each time, Southern Volkswagen, in Waldorf, Maryland took several weeks to fit me in). This time, they told me my car had a fault code 17545 (Long term fuel trim add fuel (bank 1) system too rich). However, after keeping my car overnight and performing further diagnostics, they told me there was nothing wrong with the car! Of course, that did not stop them from charging me $77 for the diagnostic fee.

The very next day, my "Check Engine" light and "Emissions Workshop!" warning came back on again! This time, I took the car to a different Volkswagen dealership (College Park Volkswagen, College Park, Maryland). Unlike Southern Volkswagen, they gave me an appointment the very next day and told me I had a bad mass airflow meter (MAF). The repair was covered under my extended warranty, and this seems to have fixed the problem (at least for now)!

Other problems:

Cruise control indicator light on the instrument panel does not work.

One of the glove compartment hinges is broken.

Armrest latch is broken.

General Comments:

The performance of the Jetta VR6 is awesome. Great acceleration, buttery smooth suspension, and great handling.

Overall, the interior of the car is very comfortable and very nicely constructed. The interior has a feel of a luxury automobile.

I wish the seats had a little more side support to hold me in place around the turns. The back seats are small, but sufficient.

The Monsoon sound system is awesome!

Climatronic automatic climate control system works well.

Rain sensor windshield wipers only sometimes work as designed.

Cup holders work fine for cans or small bottles, but there is no place to put a Big Gulp cup! Volkswagen sells a cupholder insert for the armrest that is a must!