2003 Volkswagen Jetta 1.8 turbo from North America
Summary:
Fun, fast, cute, unreliable, expensive
Faults:
Not sure what is wrong with the car, but it occasionally will completely lose power while I am driving. Most of the time, it will eventually jerk back into gear and go again, but I have experienced about 10 times where the car completely shuts off while driving. It first loses power then the battery light comes on. After I pull over and shut it off completely, it will start up right away again. No one has ever been able to tell me what is wrong since it does it so infrequently.
It is hard to go from park to any other gear. Once in drive however, the car acts like it is in neutral, and I have to put it into forth gear in order for it to drive.
Radio and tape deck completely stopped working. CD player still works though.
The headlights have gotten so yellow and foggy that I constantly have to have my brights on. I have tried numerous times with special cleaner to fix this, and nothing will work.
General Comments:
I really enjoy this car when it is running properly. It is fast and controls very well. Unfortunately, I feel it is too unreliable to drive long distances anymore.
Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No
Review Date: 12th January, 2010
30th Sep 2010, 13:14
You have to drive it like you stole it. I cleaned out the intake myself, and found that if I plugged the EGR valve tube, it stopped coking-up. Runs like a raped ape now. You need to shift it at 3000 rpm often to help keep the intake cleaned out. Haven't had any problems with mine since I've done that. I have had a few electrical problems, like electric window motors failing ($900 for both in the rear), but that's been it. Kinda eats-up the savings from the excellent fuel mileage pretty quick.
Mike in Mich.