Faults:

My Jetta has been in the shop three different times for coil replacements.

A week after I bought it the check engine light illuminated. The car was lagging and had practically no power.

It has been in the shop seven times for the same "bucking" motion while the engine is cool. They have tried an assortment of things to fix this problem. None of them have worked.

The fuel sensor gauge had to be replaced at around 25,000 miles.

The speedometer also had to be replaced along with a computer in the dash at 25,000 miles.

The lamination on the interior trim on the doors has worn off.

General Comments:

The car handles incredibly well for a sedan. I was very impressed with its performance.

The exterior looks great, almost like a little BMW. The interior is equally impressive right off the showroom floor, but begins to wear very quickly.

I originally thought my Chevy Blazer was causing me problems when I had to replace the head gasket and the engine at 90,000 miles. I bought a Volkswagon because I had heard nothing bad about them. Unfortunately, I believe this particular model is flawed. I have nothing against the company, but I have been very disappointed in this product.

Faults:

The car overall had been performing well until 110000 miles. At this point the automatic transmission failed on the car. The dealer advised me that this repair would be $4957 to fix. I then had the car taken to a transmission shop which replaced the transmission for just over $2000.

I have also had the window failures that have followed this car. Three total failures, but now all of the new parts are in place and after admitting the problem I have received a refund from VW of America.

The center latch has also failed in my car.

The rubber has worn off of both door handles.

The rear brakes went out on the car at about 50000 miles while the front brakes looked new. I had asked the dealer about this since when I cleaned the car the brake dust was always heavier on the rear wheels. They always would say we checked the brakes and they are fine.

General Comments:

I will admit that I drive more than the average person and it will take time to see these problems in more cars. The Jetta is a nice car to drive when things are good, but problems can be costly.

The transmission being the biggest headache. I had asked the dealer what I needed to do for the transmission and they would respond nothing needs to be done to the unit. It will now go the the private shop that replaced the unit.

The car is good on fuel, but as the miles have increased the fuel mileage has decreased. I started by getting 45-47mpg, but an down to 40-42mpg.

Faults:

Leather seats wearing out badly on driver side, due to previous owners lack of care.

Floor mats were very dirty, but cleaned up well with standard home floor steamer.

General Comments:

This is one of the nicest cars I have ever driven (and I have driven a lot). Yes I know I have just purchased this car, but even though the previous owner took somewhat ragged care of it the car is still very sound. Handles extremely well, starts a little hard on cold days, but you should always let a car warm up before driving it, especially with a turbo. I still love my Beretta, but since they don't make them anymore, I think I'll stick with the VW's for a while.