7th Apr 2007, 22:25
I own a 2002 Jetta Wagon and we have been pretty happy with it. Like everyone else on this site, we have had a problem with leaking for years. I am just wondering if anyone has gotten anywhere with a class action law suit, as I feel very strongly that this is a design malfunction and should not be passed on as the health hazard (mold) that it is! Does anyone have any words on this?
19th Apr 2007, 10:17
I have owned our 2003 Jetta Wagon TDI for the last 2 years. We live on the North end of Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada. Lots of rain, all the time. Over the last 6 months it has been in the shop twice and needing to go in a third time. The car has around 100000kms on it and has been amazing for its lack of fuel consumption and comfort. The water issue is what may be the end of it. I too have had the standard interior condensation issues, mildew smell, every time.
Our problem is the drivers side, backseat footwell. It is the only place where water has pooled. Every time we have taken it back to the dealership where it was purchased for repair. The first 'fix' was done while the vehicle was still on warranty. Initially they blamed me for leaving the sunroof open, or the windows cracked, but they figured it was the sunroof drains. The fix was to clip the narrow openings off the rubber nipples inside the front doors to allow better flow. This didn't fix the problem. They removed the seats, carpet, underlay and determined that the problem was a ventilation system junction box under the wiper assembly that had inadequate sealant. They resealed the junction box, treated everything with an anti-mildew agent, reinstalled everything and said it was good to go. One month later same issue. This time they blamed a rear sunroof drain that was disconnected. Odd since there was absolutely no evidence of water on the headliner or sides of the interior of the vehicle, just the same spot in the drivers side rear seat footwell.
Once again we will be making the trip to the VW dealer that we bought it from 400kms away. They responded to my phone call with 'maybe we missed something'. Since we live so far away from the dealership, we have left the car with them for a total of 6 weeks now with no change in this leak problem.
I too am at my wits end and am looking for some other direction. We have paid over $1000 in total for this problem to be dealt with, not including travel/fuel costs.
24th Apr 2007, 12:45
I FIXED MINE!!!
So a while ago I posted about a 2000 jetta without a sunroof. I was getting a leak into the drivers footwell from under the leftside of the dash.
Basically, I investigated the "well" beneath the wipers and that was not it. I sealed that up good (trust me) and still got the leak.
So, I tracked it a little more an concluded that the water was coming down by the hinge to the hood and dripping/flowing down the top of the shock mount. There is a little channel that the hood release cable runs in. Water would flow through there and then down around the top of the shock mount and down the firewall. The trick is that the transition from vertical to horizontal (underneath the wiper well) is rounded. Meaning the water can travel underneath and along the bottom of the well. From here the water was dripping down the firewall and making it's way in there somehow.
In the firewall, one large cable bundle makes its way in via a rubber coupling. In addition, a metal plate is bolted to the firewall and "sealed". I tightened the plate to no avail, but sealed the hell out the area (silicone). Also, I diverted the water flow starting with the channel mentioned above, and then beaded up the rounded lip to prevent water from following the "ceiling". So I addressed it in three ways.
To get to the firewall, carefully remove the air filter, and work your way in under the wire bundle.
1st May 2007, 08:17
I have a VW 2002 TDI Beetle and I have the exact same problem. After a heavy rain I find water in the drivers side front and rear foot well. I would be interested in any solution. I heard that there is a class action suit. Please email me if you know any solutions. kevincherry@mail.com.
10th May 2007, 15:23
I own a 2002 Volkswagen Jetta GLS. I bought the car new and have had all service done by the dealer. The vehicle has been either garaged or parked off the street the entire time. When it was not garaged it was covered. It has never been in an accident or mistreated in anyway. One day I got into my vehicle and noticed an inch or more water on the floor of the front and back of the drivers side. My dealer played dumb to it and quoted me a $1000 to fix the problem including the drying of the vehicle. When I brought it into another dealer they told me it was the drain tubes for the sunroof were clogged. I have owned many cars with sunroofs and never saw this before. As I did more research I found that this is happening across the country and Volkswagen is not doing anything about it. I am so shocked and disgusted with Volkswagen. I have never heard of such a thing in my entire life. Without question it is a design flaw and I will never buy another Volkswagen again. It is a terrible situation for us all because now we own vehicles that are impossible to sell or trade in due to the leaking and mildew smell. How is this fair? Why should we suffer financially while Volkswagen still brings in millions? If anything comes about on the possibilty of a law suit please email me at j_nelkin@hotmail.com. Something has to be done. Good luck everyone.
30th Mar 2007, 11:38
This may help a few vw owners with leaking problems. I have a '98 Jetta. My problem was with the a/c drain. Symptoms were substantial leaking onto the passenger side floor, and slight leaking on drivers side. Water vapour would pour out of the vents with both the a/c and heat on. If you weren't careful, you could condense enough moisture on the windshield in a matter of seconds to completely blind yourself. Water would accumulate in the vent/duct system when you ran the a/c for any lenghth of time. There were other posts on this and other sites saying to use compressed air to blow out the drain. That may be right for other years, but for my car, all I had to do was peel up the flexible heat shield on the left (passenger) side of the firewall, and there was a small rubber grommet with a flap on it. The flap was sealed shut on mine from accumulated dirt, etc. Water started pouring out the second I pulled on the flap. Just clean out the gunk, and that's it. No tools and only about two minutes. Hope it helps someone.