12th Oct 2007, 08:14

Hmm, reading all of this makes me regret getting a Jetta. I just recently bought a 98 Jetta GLS. I had the problem of it not starting due to humidity or moisture, but I replace the plugs and wires and so far haven't had a repeat of the problem. My guess: leaks in the plug wire insulation. The cruise control works only when it wants to, which is very rarely. At highway speeds in Colorado (75 mph) the speedometer needle floats, hopefully it's only a speed sensor. Everything else electronic works thankfully. I do think it's weird that with the auto tranny I'm cruising over 3000 rpm on the interstate. Is that normal for these cars?

25th Nov 2007, 16:24

Has this ever happened to any of you jetta owners (2.0 IL4) I've had the car for almost four months and I'm starting to have very expensive repairs to take care of! first of all my clutch went out completely without warning (such as slipping) my first thought was that the clutch went out, but I had doubts, oil is leaking BADLY and a clutch doesn't just go out, out of the nothing. I need some advice please, well apart from beign left at an abandoned place where I rolled of the road to, I have no ride to work!!! I'm pissed these cars are supposed to be dependable!!! (i was very happy with this car before it broke)... thanks.

3rd Jan 2008, 15:50

Well, I have a 99 Wolf and love it. The two rear windows don't work, the passenger side one has a bad connection I guess, because it doesn't respond to button presses, but stays up, and the driver rear window had a large "bang" noise and has been held up with tape for the last few months.

I have 87000 on it, and the thermostat went out, it needed new belts, and really nothing too bad has happened. I will be fixing the TStat today, and be putting new plug wires on it today (the ones on there are the factory ones! Yikes! 8 year old wires!)

She starts up EVERY DAY no problem and is a great, safe car.

However, my volume knob for the radio is annoying; if I turn the volume down slowly, it actually goes up quickly. I have to crank the volume quickly to turn it down slowly... its odd.. all the speakers rattle, but sound good. It must be the mounts that rattle.

Passenger front door molding has fallen off, but I completely cleaned the molding and the door, and it has been on there for 2 years now with no problems :) if you do it, do a good job and it will last longer than the factory job ever would, and use good, 3M tape.

The brake rotors lasted 80K miles, which I laugh at every time I say it. It was driven by my grandma for the first 35K of its life, then my dad until about 74K. By comparison, I beat the crap out of the car.

Typical 20 year old driver "with nothing to lose" attitude, LOL! But really, this is a great car and it holds its value pretty well. The body panels in the rear and front, the bumpers, have begun sagging a while back, and that makes it look pretty ghetto. Also, the trim that runs under the doors along the bottom is getting "bubbly" and is very costly to repair.

2 years of winter driving have done a number on this car, and that is a shame. The 5 other years of winter driving didn't even affect it, but now its catching up with it. It is a very nice car and is a pleasure to drive, but I am really looking forward to an 08 Jetta sometime later this year when I have some money.

Thank you for reading.

20th Jan 2008, 21:28

Well I just bought a 98 Jetta. You all are freaking me out it has less than 80,000 miles. I just took it on a 200 mile round trip and I burnt up almost a full tank of gas. The rpm's were running about 3200 rpm's and this car should get about 29 miles per gallon and so around 420 miles to the tank. Am I incorrect, but I should be able to get 200 miles and still have at least 1/2 a tank left. Then is there any solution for the exhaust rattle under the back of the car?

5th Mar 2008, 01:01

I have a 1998 Jetta K2 5speed I got it in September 2007 I love the car. I got into an accident like 2-3 months ago and they wanted 5800 to fix it. So instead I did it myself slowly, but surely I did. Now I have a problem when it rains my car chokes when I give it gas sometimes and feels like its gonna die. It has before stall out on me. I waited a bit and then it started right up and I brought it home. You guys think its the ignition coil. I also have a contunies long tone of a high pitch beep noise after the car has been running and its really annoying its by the air intake. Now when I drive my car by my stick there is something that rattles really loud and vibrates the floor. and my reverse gear has a loud clicking noise when I back up I think I need a new one or something. my car has 136000 miles. If you guys know the answers to my problems I would love I because I don't want to get rid of my car.

22nd Apr 2008, 12:17

I've had a '98 Jetta since August '07. The car runs good (engine wise) but it's currently in the shop. It needs an entirely new transmission, and my car is automatic. It's a painful $2,500. The car won't go into second, and winds out back into first. It has absolutely no pick up after being stopped at a red light or parked for a few. It's a shame because I love the car.

I've had pretty much the same problems as everyone else:

-tape deck

-sound system

-blinkers only work when they want to no matter how many times the bulbs are changed

-transmission.

My car has no problems in the rain at all.

After my car hit 90k miles it spiraled down hill. I've taken excellent care of the car, it's just very touchy and needs a lot of maintenance. It's a great car if you have the time and patience (and money!).

11th Jun 2008, 15:47

I own a 1994 Jetta III GL with 250,000 miles. Bought it with over 220,000 about two years ago. Gets 32mpg in the summer, but drops to 26 in the winter (I think it has to do with the fuel blend here in the Midwest). I too have the issue with stalling/hard starting when damp or humid. Pulled the distributor cap and no moisture so guess I will look into the coil. Only major problem I have had was just after purchasing the spider gears in the trans-axle seized and exploded taking out the case. $75 for used transmission and $150 for new clutch. Unfortunately transmission I got has bad synchro in 2nd gear. Oh well, still drives good as long as you double clutch 2nd gear.

Overall I have been very happy with this car.