2002 Volkswagen Jetta Turbo 1.8 from North America

Summary:

Don't buy one

Faults:

I've had Nothing but trouble with my Jetta... I had to replace my engine coils 4 separate times, repaired the transmission at 65k miles and my engine light was ALWAYS on. I had regular trips to the dealer for repairs... spending more than $2,000 in car rental expenses for the various repairs that were never reimbursed by VW…finally in March 2006 at 3:00am in the morning 120 miles outside of Vegas my engine blew... yep stranded on the side of the road, two women at 3:00am – lovely! The repairs would exceed the value of the car so I sold it for $1,600 to a wrecker - I was fortunate to get $1,600 - it was because I had never been in an accident and the body was in perfect condition. I will Never buy another VW and I will tell everyone I can how Awful their products and services are!!

Cindy Smith

San Francisco CA.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No

Review Date: 21st March, 2006

15th Jan 2010, 15:09

I also owned a 2002 TDI. I loved the car for the first two years... then it all went down hill quick. At right around 105K, I had to trade my Jetta in for a Chevy Aveo after it left me stranded in Seattle - 3300 miles away from home in North Carolina.

Issues included:

Turbo started to whistle, then failed to operate. I had to restart the car, while moving at highway speeds, to make the turbo start up in order to make it up hills.

The cheap plastic interior looks nice, but breaks off in your hands. I replaced the center console latch three times in two years. Also, the glove box handle broke. I wore a hole in the carpet under the gas peddle - that's never happened to me on any other car, not even the Chevette I drove in highschool.

The electricals were all screwy. The dash would flash random idiot lights... the glow plug light would flash, even after driving in 80 degree weather for several hours.

Anyway, I wouldn't buy one of these things again. Buy something else.

2002 Volkswagen Jetta GLS 1.8T from North America

Summary:

Keep your checkbook handy and get to know your service advisor

Faults:

Check engine light x 2.

Radio replaced x 2 (plus 2 additional trips to the service department for repairs)

Battery replaced x 4. I had constant electrical problems and kept a portable jump starter in my car - since I needed it ALL THE TIME.

Brake switch.

Windows fell into the doors.

Broken wire in heated seat.

Center console broken.

A couple of 4 inch springs came out from under the passenger seat - VW says that's common???

Multiple plastic pieces kept breaking off the interior of the car (and I don't have children and am generally pretty easy on my vehicles)

General Comments:

I was very disappointed with this car. It was oh-so-fun to drive, but the constant trips to the service department will keep me from ever buying another VW. To add insult to injury, the service departments in my area do not offer loaner cars (which I had gotten used to with my Acura).

It sounds like I'm one of the luckier owners - at least mine hasn't caught fire or had the dreaded oil sludge problem. However, a lot of the problems that I had are very common on the 2002 Jetta.

After having to jump start the car twice in one day (on a 3 month old battery), I got rid of this car a few weeks ago.

Make sure you do your research before buying this car - I wish I had. Consumer Reports ranks it MUCH WORSE THAN AVERAGE.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No

Review Date: 10th March, 2006

9th Jan 2007, 09:45

I found myself reading other user's comments after paying thousands of dollars for maintenance. I've experienced a lot of the same things - window falling into tracks, brake lights failing, electrical problems, warning lights that come on all the time, ignition coils, oil leaks, etc... and I can say that I *did* read Consumer Reports before purchasing the car new in 2002, and they had rave reviews about how fun it was to drive and how VW finally fixed the electrical issues. Hind sight, right?