1990 Volkswagen Jetta GL 1.8L from North America
Summary:
12 year old new car smell
Faults:
Replaced the alternator twice.
Replaced the shocks struts and springs at 175,000, they had started to sag.
Not much else has been replaced besides the brakes at 45,000 mile intervals and the belts at 40,000 miles or so.
General Comments:
What a car, I have been on so many road trips in the last 7 years and the reliability has been outstanding.
I have done most maintenance myself, along with the Robert Bentley Manual.
We just got hit from behind and now have to replace it.
The secret to buying an older Jetta, go with the Wolfsburg Edition.
German quality far exceeds those built in Brazil and Mexico.
Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes
Review Date: 6th September, 2001
17th Jun 2001, 10:49
I used to own a new 1989 Jetta Flair 2-door 5-speed. It was a fun car to drive and the performance and handling was great. Too bad it had some quality problems right from the first day of ownership.
The first problem was water leaking from the right rear passenger door window. That was fixed immediately by the dealer. Then the driver seat release didn't work and the dealer 'fixed' this by tying a knot in the release cable to make it shorter. Eventually the cable broke loose and the driver seat wouldn't release at all.
There was also tapping noise from the engine which appeared only after the first scheduled service at the dealer. Although it was not a major problem but it was very annoying. Repeated trips to the dealer during the warranty period failed to locate the source of the problem.
There was some also some rattling in the sunroof and the engine was not very smooth during idle.
After 2 years and 57,000km I sold the car at a loss. Maybe I just had bad luck with mine because I had heard so much good things about VW. My friends had VW also and they had good experiences with theirs.
Apart from these quality problems, the car was wonderful to drive and there was lots of space in the interior and in the trunk. I would consider buying another VW again but they are becoming overpriced now.