2002 Volkswagen Jetta LSI 2.0 liter, AZG from North America

Summary:

Hard to find fault with it, but not roomy enough, front and back

Faults:

Switch on brake pedal to enable start went dead.

Air dam below grille broken loose at time of purchase--difficult to keep in repair.

Slight problems with remote---codes to open door locks, except driver's, went out with dead battery,stayed out even when batt restored, dealer charged for restoring codes.

General Comments:

Best car I ever owned. beautiful handling/ride/comfort. quiet. adequate power, quite economical (fuel) previous car we liked & performed well ('88 LeBaron) but no air bags---100K miles on it. this Jetta built in Wolfsburg, perhaps better workmanship. until now couldn't ask for better dealer support but now has changed hands & not looking too good.

If I could find another one from Wolfsburg, I would probably buy it. (bought a Vega with 30K miles & drove it mostly trouble-free for about 100K) apparently lots of people out there (including dealers) who are trouble-magnets.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 21st September, 2007

2002 Volkswagen Jetta Wagon 1.? from North America

Faults:

I have had the same problem with the radio not working. I did not try pulling fuse #42 - but I did disconnect the battery and reconnected. Everything works fine.

I have had a couple times where the car cannot be switched into drive. Last one was after a football game while watching 90,000 fans exit in front of me. After starting and shutting off the engine about 4 or 5 times it worked. Hopefully the recall will fix.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 12th September, 2007

2002 Volkswagen Jetta GLS 1.8T from North America

Summary:

Don't Buy IT

Faults:

I have had issues since Day 1 I got this Jetta 1.8T

- both front door windows dropped: thankfully covered under warranty, dealer replaced the plastic hinges

- electric coil issues, covered through recall program

- middle handrest panel broken

- plastic coating on door handles peeling off

- front door seat springs came off, though does not impact the functioning of the car.

- after warranty expired, had a major AC issue, found out that one of the slow speed motors was faulty, spent some $600 to get that fixed (non-dealer location)

- engine light on for temp sensor, got that fixed by buying a part and getting fixed at non-dealer location

- engine light on for Bank 1 Cat Converter performing below threshold.. thankfully the light has gone out itself...

And lastly the problem that has just started 2 days back... the front map light, door light on right side is not switching off... panel shows as if the right front door is open all the time... even the car alarm went off by itself a couple of times in last 2 days... need to get that fixed now...

Can somebody tell me what could be wrong, or point out the fuses that I can take out so that the lights do not stay on.. I need to disable the fuse, so that I can at least wait till the weekend to have a mechanic look into it.

General Comments:

Horrible car, horrible issues, dealers are worse who keep recommending that you should sell off a 6 year old Jetta.. c'mon, if the car is so bad that it cannot last for 6 years, no point in buying it at all.

Lesson: not going to ever buy a VW again... stick to Hondas and Toyotas, at least the repair work is cheaper..

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No

Review Date: 10th September, 2007

2002 Volkswagen Jetta GT 1.8 from North America

Summary:

I really like this car and would consider getting another one

Faults:

The main problem I have had with this car has been with my dealings with the dealership. It seems like from the second time I have took this car in for an oil check, every time I have brought it back home it has had another issue. I just spent almost $1300 on repairs and maintenance for this car, and in less than two weeks my coolant light came on today.

My question is, shouldn't this have been checked and maintained when I paid almost $600 for the 80,000k mile check up that I just had done about a month ago?

General Comments:

I mean the car runs well and I love it so much, but it seams like it is causing me stress and unnecessary finances.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 26th August, 2007