Faults:

Power roof came off its track after one year. Was repaired under warranty.

Engine light came on after one week after leasing the car. It was repaired under warranty, but came on again two years later, after the warranty expired. It's still on.

Anti-lock braking system light came on after one week of leasing the Jetta. It was fixed free of charge under the warranty.

After having the car for three years, every time I tried to fill it with gasoline, it would spit the gas back out at me. For some reason the last two times I filled up, nothing happened.

About two years after leasing, the car would hesitate to accelerate after stopping.

Driver's side signal light works only sometimes.

Had to have the driver and passenger side brake lights and the reverse tail lights replace after one year.

Cup holder for the back seat always stuck.

Paint on the driver side door handle is peeling.

General Comments:

I've taken this car back to service so often, that I was known by name.

My lease expires in January 2004 and I can't wait to bring this car back and leave it there at the dealership. Giving this car back worth the $250 return fee.

I plan to replace it with a Ford or Toyota. My previous car was a Geo Prism that I bought new and had for five years. I've never had to bring it in for repairs and I realize what a mistake I made when I traded it in for this lousy Volkswagen Jetta.

I have an appointment with the service department this week to do some work on the W A Campaign. I have no idea what that is, but I got that information from Volkswagen of American after I called them to find out if there were any recalls on this vehicle.

Faults:

Excessive oil consumption from delivery to present. Dealer said it was normal until ~25K miles, however it has 36K miles on it and still uses a quart of oil every 2000 miles. (doesn't leak a drop, it obviously gets burned... Will it pass smog, we haven't found out yet!)

Sticky rear door lock since new. Taken to dealer twice and never fixed... have given up.

CD player (6 CD Changer) skips and gives error messages all the time. Taken to dealer three times and they, of course can never find a problem... given up on fixing that as well.

Passenger seat spring (large spring) fell off after a plastic piece under the seat broke. Dealer said the repairs would cost us, even though we have the extended warranty (Joke). Lead us to get a refund on the extended warranty because it doesn't seem to apply to anything relevant.

Rear brakes wore premature (35K miles). This problem lead me to this site when I searched for information on the net. Seems to be quite the common problem. I even found a VW service bulletin stating rear brakes on Jettas wear prematurely because of soft pads (apparently to keep brake noise low). The bulletin recommended installed a harder compound pad which may led to increased brake noise and rotor wear... obviously a design flaw! Luckily, I am mechanically inclined, checked the brakes just in time before any rotor damage, and only spent $50 for the repair. However, I do not like the thought of having to do a rear brake job every 30K miles!

Other little things have gone wrong that my Wife would know, because it's she drives it all the time. After reading many of the reviews, we are waiting for the glove box hinge to break, engine check light to come on due to engine sensor failures, cupholders to break along with the rest of the cheap plastic parts!

General Comments:

From checking out this very informative website, I believe my Wife and I have been very lucky compared to some of the horror stories I have read.

Like most others, we like the way the car looks, feels, and performs (30-35 mpg everywhere and handles very well), however all of the little things that have gone wrong (and I know I'm forgetting some) in the first 36K miles is ridiculous for any new car, and the very poor service has left a bad taste in our mouths.

The dealer we bought it from (Dublin VW) is a joke, however we only got slightly better service from another VW in the area. We were also talked out of $350 (by the dealer) for the 'Touch of Class' appearance maintenance package that did not do anything for us when applied.

The car needs higher gearing or another gear for freeway use (4000 rpm's @ 80 mph seems like it will lead to excessive engine wear!)

We are keeping are fingers crossed and hopefully it won't fall apart for another couple of years!