Faults:

Nothing has gone wrong with this car, which is amazing.

General Comments:

This VW Jetta TDI is without a doubt the most solid, reliable, and economical car that I have ever owned.

I am aware of three other TDI's of the same model year that have gone over 200,000 miles.

There has been no trouble at all associated with the diesel fuel - the technology has come a long ways since the first US diesel cars.

Faults:

I have had a wonderful experience with my Jetta. It has been comfortable and very reliable.

On Friday I rolled down my driver's side window and the window wouldn't roll back up. I immediately called the dealership that does my service. They said to bring it in this morning (Monday).

I took it this morning. They replaced the broken clip in the window for free, and replaced the unbroken clips in the other windows. I was told that the new clips are covered for 7 years from my purchase date.

General Comments:

I have only good things to say about my car. I love it.

Faults:

Both driver and passenger window units have been replaced.

Driver side seatbelt security device faulty.

Have had system computer reset 3 times in 4 months.

Two sensors replaced.

Engine is faulty has been deemed faulty and in need of replacement.

Had to replace rear brakes 2 and 1/2 weeks after purchase.

General Comments:

The car is surprisingly quick and responsive.

Faults:

A strange intermittent low popping noise sometimes comes from somewhere in the back while idle; mostly at stoplights. I've taken it in to the dealership and they checked it out thoroughly, twice, at no cost to me, and reported that no matter what they checked they didn't find anything. They also hadn't heard of such a problem, but they've kept a lookout for it. Since the car has run absolutely perfectly except for the unusual noise, I've just accepted it as a part of this particular car.

General Comments:

I love this car.

From the other comments I've read, it seems that those who have had problems with the Jetta mostly had issues with the dealership. I can definitely state that dealership is a major factor in the service you'll get. (One person mentioned the paint peeling off their console - All I could think was, What paint?) It seems that some dealerships are very shifty and others give excellent service. I have been fortunate enough to have the excellent service of Countryside VW here in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area, but I know not all dealerships are this good.

My Jetta has never failed to perform, even in harsh Minnesota winters. Good response, good brakes, good engineering in general; very safe car, and I would sleep just fine at night if my closest friends were driving them as well.

Volkswagens in general tend to be "quirky" cars (the avid owners call it "personality"), but the Jetta is surprisingly stable and reliable as they go.

Faults:

Problem 1: Our ABS light came on and we took the car in for service. Dealer had the car for 3 days, turned the light off via computer and said they couldn't find a problem, they told us it might be a dirty sensor. We picked the car up and the light came back on the very next day. Took the car into the dealer and again they said they could not duplicate the issue. Well, on the 8 mile drive home the ABS light came on again. This time we demanded that they fix the problem (warranty). The dealership finally admitted that there was a problem and they were ordering parts. Our car sat at the dealership for 18 days while they waited for the replacement ABS Module. The dealer never did tell us there was a national recall on the ABS module.

Problem 2: The automatic transmission would not come out of park. We called Volkswagen assistance and the agent was able to walk us through a series of steps that would allow us to get the car out of park and in for service. Obviously this problem had happened too many other Jetta owners, because the agent said he "knew what the problem was" and was able to help immediately. Dealer said they replaced a faulty brake light switch.

Problem 3. Very little air flow from the driver and passenger dash side vents. All the air seems to blow out the dash center vents. Doesn't matter if the fan is on high or low. Dealer says that is normal. However we demonstrated to them, with another car on their lot, that the air flow should be more uniform. No resolution yet.

Problem 4: Rear brake shoes wore out at 36,000 miles. Front brake shoes are still about 80%. Everyone knows this is a chronic design problem with these cars.

Problem 5: After putting the car in reverse, it would not move or would hesitate and then slam into gear.

This happened intermittently, but began to occur more frequently. We took the car into the dealer and after having the car 12 days, they replaced the automatic transmission control module (TCM).

General Comments:

The Jetta TDI gets fairly good mileage and for the most part is a solid car.

However, a new car should not have all these problems. We own 4 other vehicles ranging in age from 12 to 5 years and none of them has ever been in the shop for other than scheduled maintenance.

Avoid Volkswagens.

I will never buy another.