10th Oct 2007, 09:03

I have a 2003 VW Jetta VR6. The car takes a between 5 seconds to 4 minutes before reverse engages. All other gears work fine. Had the brake switch replaced, same problem. Had the transmission replaced, same problem. Any ideas?

18th Oct 2007, 10:59

I have a 2002 Jetta TDI (manual). Love this car, except I have had recurrent problems with glow plugs and the wiring.

First glow plug was covered under warranty. However, when the wiring went, I had to cover this. Now, another glow plug has gone. The dealer is replacing all 4 glow plugs, but will give no indication if this is a common problem or if it is just my car.

Very frustrating, since the engine light just comes on, and I have to pay for the diagnostic tests every time. I am hoping that this is not a sign of things to come, since I only have 55,000 miles on the car and have been looking forward to keeping the car for a long time.

22nd Oct 2007, 18:08

I bought a 2000 Jetta brand new. A couple of days after I got the car the air bag light came on. Had to take the car in 3 times to get this fixed. Had the bumper come off twice. The drivers side window fell in and now I am having problems with the brake getting stuck. I never got a notice on a recall for this. I will never buy another Volkswagon.

12th Nov 2007, 20:26

Why, oh why, didn't I read the comments on this site before buying my 16 year old a 2002 Jetta GLX VR6. He absolutely loves the car. We signed the papers 1 week ago today and now the EPC and ASR lights are on. I could just kick myself for not doing my homework. I guess I'll be calling the dealer to check on recalls. By the way, the center console latch and hinge are both broken too. Thanks for all the great info.

23rd Dec 2007, 12:46

Have two VW Jettas; a 2001 and a 2002. Was notified that Brake Light Switch had recall, and brought the cars in one at a time. Two weeks later the 2001 wouldn't come out of Park. Never had the problem before. The dealer changed the Brake Light Switch; two weeks later it wouldn't come out of Park again. Now they want to charge me "at least $300" for labor and parts. They're hoping it'a a solenoid. I'll bet it's a faulty Brake Light Switch. Does anybody know how to avoid being taken advantage of?

24th Dec 2007, 07:55

Hi all! I don't understand I have a 2003 Jetta GLS 1.8T with 49K Miles on it and I luv it the only problem I had with it was with Fuel Injectors O-Ring, but nothing else, I don't understand how come you all had many problems with this car! I am in Honduras and in here there are a few of this cars and I see those cars running everyday trouble-less. What may be the difference? Could be that our stick car is harder that the automatic? I've been checking through the internet and I only read that people have problems with automatic not standard. Can somebody explain?

10th Feb 2008, 21:31

I purchased my 2003 Jetta GLX this past June, and about 2 weeks after my purchase I began to have the EPC light come on and the car suddenly completely die when I hit the brakes. For those of you that have had this happen, take it in and ask them to check the negative connections...that's what we did and they found out that there had been 30 failures on the anti-lock brakes, and when that happens the car shuts itself down to prevent an accident. They fixed the problem for us (for a lovely price of 600 bucks) and I have never had a problem with it since!

However, tonight my window fell into the door and it's going to rain tomorrow, so that will be fun.

18th Feb 2008, 22:08

I bought my 2002 Jetta GLX used in early 2005, with around 35k miles. It is a late model 2002 with the 24v VR6. Its been fairly reliable. One day however, I noticed the brake lights were stuck on in the garage. After a little research, I realized it was the brake light switch, a huge problem on Jettas. I bought one at the local stealership for $19, installed it myself, and after being told the most recent recall, did NOT include my car. 2 weeks later, I got a recall notice. Fast forward, I've been having intermittent no starts and such. Turns out at 60,800 miles, the alternator is failing. Which is a $600-$750 job according to 5 local places. The repair place, which specializes in german cars, also told me the water pump is leaking (and is a $350 fix) and a CV boot is torn (and a $170 fix). I love car when it works, but these Mk IV VWs built in Mexico are questionable at best. If the dealers pretended to care at all, maybe it would be acceptable. As it is now, I would NOT buy another VW.

5th Jun 2008, 09:25

Bought my 2002 Jetta 2.0 5-speed in November of 2001. Problems started by February of 2002. Sounds like everyone has had at least one of these problems, but VW doesn't seem to care. I have had the car towed at least three times due to the oil light coming on about every 1500 miles, after which the FINALLY replaced the pistons and rings/rebuilt the engine w/in first year (warranty). Also had the following problems: armrest latch replaced (warranty), passenger side window fell into door (warranty), electrical wiring to trunk repaired (warranty), seals on front end bearings redone (warranty), interior dashboard lighting fixed twice (warranty) and now the car is in the shop to have the steering gear box replaced at 78k miles (this one will cost me $1100!). I had been hearing noises with turns and when going over speed bump type bumps since about day one, but VW would always tell me they could not duplicate the noise, and that they were not willing to come to my parking ramp and drive the car there, where the noise always occurred. This car has the crappiest electrical system of any car on the planet. I have replaced every headlight, turn signal, back-up light, tail light and brake light at least twice, and all of the back end lights need to be replaced about twice PER YEAR. Luckily the bulbs are cheap and I can do it myself, or I would be broke. I had a 14 year old Honda that NEVER needed a single bulb replaced. I will NEVER buy another VW product again, and even if someone GAVE me one, I would sell it (if anyone would take it).