Faults:

Almost nothing has gone wrong with this car (knock on wood).

The mass airflow sensor (MAF) was replaced under warranty.

The wiring to the trunk lid needed to be repaired.

The standard BBS wheels are pitting (well known issue with this particular wheel).

Minor squeaks & rattles inside the cabin, but not unbearable.

Check engine light has come on (and goes off) over the past 20,000 km, but the dealer can't find the cause. No effect on performance noted.

General Comments:

Contrary too many of the other reviews I've read, I've been fortunate to have a good, reliable car. Virtually no repairs required in 5 years of driving.

Great value for the price - luxury and performance with the 1.8T engine. You can easily get more power out of this engine with a cheap ($600) software modification.

Fit and finish are great, other than some of the interior coating on the trim pieces starting to wear off (after 5 years). Interior trim and materials look good and feel nice to the touch (i.e. not plastic-y).

Mileage is good (I've averaged 27 MPG with mainly city driving).

Wolfsburg sport seats (made by Recaro) with the inexpensive heating option ($200 at time of initial purchase) are comfortable and supportive, and the perfect driving position can easily be found with the hight adjustment lever (6-way manual seats).

Faults:

I purchased my 2001 Jetta new. With the amount of problems I have had I figured my car was either made on a Friday afternoon or a Monday morning.

The first problem I encountered was the first summer I owned the car. After the horrible smell of dog poo coming from my vents, I took it in to the dealership. To my dismay there was a flap of some sort that was broken which caused an abundance of mold to grow on the my ac filter. Great I was breathing mold into my lungs!

The next problem I faced was the costly replacement of rear rotors in the third year and then front rotors the next year. Can I just say the front ones are supposed to go before the back rotors. Not normal and very costly.

Then last year my transmission was acting up. The service center hooked it up to the computer and the computer said there was nothing wrong. Um…..the car was not shifting properly, but what the computer says must be right. I demanded a mechanic, a living human, look at the car. I am a female college student so I may come across as ignorant, but I know when something is wrong with the car I drive everyday. So I made the dealership keep the car until they figured out what was wrong with it. A week later, they called back to say that after driving the car for an hour they experienced what I was talking about and with that they replace the whole transmission. Hot damn! What would I know, I am only a girl? I do know that replacing the transmission in the first four years screams major problems.

And then there is today. My window has fallen into the door. Apparently the plastic clips that hold the window have broken in a lot of the cars. Volkswagen has extended this to a seven year warranty and replaces the clips with mental ones. But where am I when they do not have time to get my car in? Oh yes, I get to drive around with a bag on my window. Thanks VW.

These were the major problems I faced. On top of these problems, I do have the crayon smell, which I did not notice at first because of the smell of dog. Then when that was fixed I figured since I baby sit that one of the kids crayons may have fallen into the floor vents. After reading these comments I now know it is the car. After five years I too have the problem of the oozing goo from the door, which gets on my clothes when I get out of the car. The plastic is pealing off the doors, my back cup holder is broken, and everything sticks to the cloth seats.

I am selling my jetta. If anyone is looking for a nice looking car with lots of expensive problems…I have the car for you!