11th Jan 2008, 13:50

Okay...I mean we all have these water issues, but are doing what again about them? there may not be much we can do, without knowledge, but someones got to have it! WHERE THE HECK is the solution?

13th Jan 2008, 12:05

My car is a 2002 VW Jetta Wagon without a sunroof.

I, along with the rest of you, have been having the water problem, and was recently able to solve my problem, although I am not sure if this will help yours.

I took the cover off some kind of air filter located on the passenger side under the hood, right in front of the windshield. I believe it is the interior air filter. I noticed the cover is cracked, which allowed the water coming off the windshield to run into the air filter and into the car. So far fixing this has fixed my leak. It was not a factory defect; I believe it occurred when my wife took it to get the oil changed (which I usually do myself) and they checked the filter, and some idiot just crammed the cover back in without being careful and cracked it. So beware of those quick oil change places, because on the same visit they wanted to charge her $80 to change a part that costs about $3, and takes about 2 minutes to change without any tools. Luckily she knows a little about cars and called them out on it. Hope this helps.

21st Jan 2008, 16:37

Same problems! 2001 Jetta GL. I live in SoCal where it rarely rains. One morning after a night of heavy rain I had standing water in my passenger footwell. I then had two options: replace the carpet and padding for $750 thru my insurance, or have an auto upholstery place replace the padding and allow the carpet to dry for $250. The owner of the place even has a daughter with a 2001 Jetta and cleans the drains regularly. I think the culprit was my sunroof since there was a bit of moisture in the A frame. We're expecting more rains in the next few weeks and if I have another flood in my car I'm gonna go nuts since this has happened to SO MANY unsuspecting, considerate VW owners! Why was there no warning of these well-documented problems in the owners manual!?!?! The car place that replaced the padding was Jim's Auto Upholstery in San Diego, contact them if you need replacements!

25th Jan 2008, 15:38

I have a 2001 VW Jetta with about 2 inches of water on my passenger side floor board. I did some searches on the web and found some advise on possible fixes and have pasted them below.

Incidentally, I called VW customer care and spoke to my "customer advocate" (ha!) who told me that I should go to the dealership for repairs and that she had no further information on why the problem is so persistent amongst VWs. I'm going to try the recommendations below and if they don't work I will go to the dealership and negotiate away!

1. Does your car have a sunroof? If so, you may have a plugged sunroof drain.

2. Has any warranty work been done to that passenger door, like window regulator, etc. If so, there is a moisture barrier (plastic shield) and sometimes mechanics, in their rush, will tear it or forget to replace it. This moisture shield will sometimes re-direct water leaking past the window "squeegee" (rubber strip at the bottom of the window) into the door drains. If there is no moisture barrier, the water leaking past the squeegee will drip into the car instead.

Fixes:

1. Push sunroof all the way back. Using gentle air pressure, blow into front sunroof drain (there are usually two, front and back). Then pour a small amount of water into sunroof channel. Water should be seen draining somewhere in back of front tire. If no water is draining, and you can't unplug the drain by air pressure, you may have to dig into the headliner or window trim to get at the channel. There is usually a small section of rubber hose that can be cleaned.

2. Obviously replace the moisture barrier and the window squeegee.

27th Jan 2008, 22:06

I have a 2002 VW Jetta with a sunroof and the same problem - after 2 bouts of heavy rain this month, I've found deep puddles on my driver side floor. Had to bail it out like a boat! I've noticed it only happens when I park downhill during the storms - level ground and uphill are fine. I called the Dealer after the second leak, and he said it was probably the sunroof drains, and that they should be cleaned every year or so (costs about $150 to have them do it). No one ever told me about this when I bought the car! I've owned cars with sunroofs since I was 16 and have never had this problem. Now, 1 day after the second leak, my speedometer and clock LCDs stopped working, can't wait to hear how much that's going to cost to fix.

6th Feb 2008, 22:55

I am also in Southern California and it has been raining here more often than other years.

I have always parked my car outside, and had never had an issue until two weeks ago.

I was out of town one day and returned to discover my 2001 Jetta GLX flooded about 3 inches in the rear passenger floor and 2 in the front passenger floor.

I am so peeved after reading that this is an ongoing problem and that VW has taken no accountability for this matter.

I am taking my car into the dealership tomorrow and am fearing I will be told I need to spend several hundred dollars to fix the sunroof drains---which is totally absurd!

If anyone has any info on how to handle this, please email me. I am in full support of a class-action suit with this!

Erin_ab@yahoo.com THANKS!

13th Feb 2008, 18:09

I have a 2001 VW Jetta and have had several problems. Currently I have noticed dampness on the front passenger floor and up where the windshield and roof meet. Today there was a significant amount of water on the floor (after ice and rain all day). I scooped some water out with the plastic floormat and then soaked up what I could with a towel when I got home from work. Now I just have a towel down to catch any new waterfall, but it is so cold out and the wetness has frozen on the floor. I am scared of how much this is going to cost me to fix! I am calling around in the morning to see where to take it. I had no idea this leaking issue was so common with VW's, especially Jettas, but now I have been hearing of so many other owners with problems. I am so frustrated! Why don't they send out a recall so owners are aware of the problem before it becomes so bad?? How much does it usually cost to fix the leak? My car was bought used and is no longer under any warranty. Does anyone have any advice? I am also worried about being taken advantage of as far as what I am charged to fix the problem...