14th Jan 2007, 06:27

The car will get stuck in park because the switch that controls the ability to shift only when the brake is depressed is faulty. Take it to a dealer (usually don't recommend, but this particular defect was a recall a few years back - they should fix it for free). I have a 2001 Jetta VR6. I've had many of the same problems already listed, but I thought I could add a few more. I loved the car when I first bought it. It has 77,000 miles on it now. The transmission died at 72,000 miles, and the case even cracked due to excessive heat. I had it repaired and drove it for a while. Now the turn signals stopped working, the passenger side mirror electrical problems caused the glass in the mirror to darken so I can't see out of it, and it is currently with an engine repair shop because the engine quit while I was driving. The dealership charged me $95 to look at it and wanted another $500 to take apart the engine and tell me what is wrong. I would recommend this car to anyone who hates money.

27th Jan 2007, 01:11

I bought a 2001 Volkswagen Jetta 1.8l turbo. I have had it two months and the check engine light came on and its idling funny. I have no idea why and the guy at the shop said the check engine light came on bc it was a"air leak" problem. He told me to check the gas cap and charged me a hundred dollars. I am freaking out bc I haven't made, but three payments and its messing up... Any ideas?

23rd Feb 2007, 11:44

I have a 2001 VW Jetta 1.8T and am the original owner. Have had numerous issues with the car from check engine light being on constantly, replaced brakes early, faulty window, ignition coils and am now working on EPC problem. Have had the dealer replace numerous parts including the mainframe computer all to create even more problems with the car.

Have filed complaints with corporate and have gotten no where. My car stalled out while driving on main highways all due to the EPC light and they don't even know how to fix it! Would not recommend this car to anyone, but will take input on problems with the EPC light. It's really affecting the driveability of my car for more than 10 miles. Am ready to get rid of it.

26th Apr 2007, 10:11

I also have a VW Jetta 1.8t and have been forced to get rid of it. once the EPC (electronics power control? light turns on, the car falls apart; but I also have another problem. it's an automatic and upon putting the car into reverse, there is no response! it has been doing this on and off for the past 2-3 months and just got worse. it now does it every time and the only successful way I found for getting it into reverse is to rev the rpms slightly (around 2k) and with foot on brake, shift from neutral to reverse. it jumps pretty bad, but I'm at the point in which I don't care any more. from what I heard, the problem lies in a switch... within the tranny! at least $1500 to fix it. so I'm selling out and gonna get a 1996 infiniti g20, nothing special, but it will get me from point A to point B while going into reverse the first time. good luck with your problems, but as I see it, VWs are money pits and I'm getting off that train.

2nd May 2007, 17:49

I also have a 2001 VW Jetta 1.8T. I have had it for a little under two years now, and have already had to replace the ignition coils once.

I had a blow off valve installed thinking that might help with the "hiccuping" the car was doing sometimes upon acceleration. It helped a little, but the car still idles funny before it warms up; then it seems to run fine. I am thinking of installing a turbo timer to see if that helps even more, if I decide to keep the car long enough.

I am definitely fed up with the window regulator, but that is nothing a special trip to the dealer won't fix. There are several recalls they can fix while I'm there =).

Is there no hope for these cars? I love it to death, when it's working!

6th May 2007, 10:05

I'll add to the troubles. My check engine light has been on for about three or four years, but nothing bad has happened, though it occasionally starts rough. This weekend I couldn't get the car out of Park and the EPC light came on. Looks like these are common problems, too. Here's a new one: whenever it rains hard the car leaks through the passenger side by your feet, and also through the little lights above your head. I haven't heard of that before. The mechanic cleaned out everything around the lights, but no luck. The car flooded with a full inch of water and smells all musty now.

8th May 2007, 08:20

To put it simply. DO YOURSELF A BIG FAVOR AND DON’T BUY A VW!!! Especially not a Jetta!

I bought this 01 Jetta brand new and have had nothing, but constant problems.

Bolts all over the car are loose and falling out, all of the screws around the air filter fell out, the 3 bolts holding the ignition coil fell out. The bolts holding the windshield wipers on fell off so the wipers fell off in the middle of a downpour! Main bolts holing the frame together are not tight.

Ignition coil failed at 30,000 and was not covered under warranty

Cat converter needed replacing at 40,000 (covered under warranty)

Turn signals randomly don’t work

Airbag light is on at 40,000 can’t make it go away.

Headlights are very poor, I just drive around with the high beams on all the time and nobody ever flashes at me cuz even the high beams stink.

The way the oil filter attaches to the car, it’s kind of upside down so when the oil is changed the oil runs all over the engine and burns on it so the whole car always stinks of burning oil.

EPC light is now on, the car left me stranded cuz it wouldn’t shift out of park because of this. I figured it was the brake light switch so I walked to an auto place, bought a new one and installed it myself, but it didn’t fix the problem. Had a toe truck guy show me the trick to get it in gear (obviously this happens allot!!) drove it home, but the car wouldn’t shift out of 2nd gear for some reason!

When the car was shifting, it shifted VERY poorly, abrupt jarring shifts, sometimes takes very long to shift (revs for long periods before upshifting) sometimes downshifts for no reason (no change in demand on engine) and then shifts back again almost immediately.

Stroke to bore ratio and gears seem to be set so the car has good getup and go from 0-30 and then nothing after that, can barely pass people that are going 40 mph.

Overall car has fairly poor performance and gas mileage.

So many problems it's unbelievable!