29th Apr 2009, 10:41

Having bought a 2005 New Jetta, I can attest too many of the problems here.

The major problems have been on the interior, and minor blemishes, but being this was the first NEW car I ever bought I really have tried to keep it nice looking. But it's in the shop at least every other week for "warranty" work. Here are the problems I've had and resolutions from VW if offered.

Paint peeling on buttons: Everyone has had this problem and VW will happily admit there was a problem in the paint used in the early models of the MkV's. It's a quick fix as long as they have the parts. I've had all the window buttons, the headunit (This was a major disappointment because it went from having black buttons to silver buttons, which I've never gotten used to) on the stereo, sunroof controls, and the console controls replaced. VW used "Soft touch paint", which the first run, was crap. This will be fixed free of charge at the dealership being your car is under warranty, although nicer dealerships may even do it for free outside, since it's such a common problem.

All of the vent controls have broken on my climate control vents. Again, fixed free of charge. It was a very cheap snap-on plastic, but it was a little disappointing that even the vents in the back seat were broken.

The clock loses time. VW has not offered me a resolution to this issue, nor will they admit it's a problem even though it is very easy to find information on this using a quick google search.

The infamous rear brake problem. I fixed this out of pocket. And even so; VW is still pushing a brake flush even though I KNOW they had to bleed my brakes for this service. Brake flushes at a dealership (At least here in Florida) run around $200.

Airbag malfunctions: Warning lights will flash on somewhat randomly, VW says it's the computer "spitting out random codes". Sometimes there will be nothing in my seat, and the passenger's airbag will come "on". VW will not address nor fix this issue, but will "delete" the code from the computer when it comes on.

My electronic stability program (ESP) is constantly saying it's malfunctioning. VW has told me it's because I'm cornering too fast, and it shuts off as a safety protocol. This is a BS excuse. I drive like a freakin grandma most of the time. I just shut off ESP when I drive unless it rains anyways. I get slightly better few mileage.

Mass Airflow Sensor went at 40k miles. No biggie, was replaced under warranty.

I have the knocking noise near my dash. VW says this is due to "injectors misfiring", which is a load of BS. I've found the TSB on this, but they refuse to acknowledge it, and refuse to fix it.

The seatbelt warning light comes on, when my seatbelt is buckled. VW will not acknowledge nor fix the problem.

My driver's side door sticks. I've read of this elsewhere. VW acknowledges but does not offer a solution to this problem.

My clock loses time every once in a while. The time slip STOPS at 2 minutes. I've never seen it lose more. I've read about other Jetta MkV owners having this problem, and I've read about Audi's as well (Audi clocks tend to stop slipping at 6 minutes).

CD player (the new headunit) will not play mp3 cds, even though it says it will, all of the time. Even freshly burned ones. This is one of the reasons I bought this car. I figured with 6 mp3 discs, I could make my annual cross country trip to see my family without repeating songs. I'm somewhat of an audiophile and while happy overall with the sound system, the NEW software (my old one was FINE) really blows. The car has a tendancy to start on whichever tracks it feels like, but only odd numbers, and only 1-9. For example, if I shut off the car when it was playing track 6, of a cd with 13 songs, it literally will only play tracks 1, 3, 5, 7, or 9 when I start up. For some reason tracks 3 and 5 are highly favored. This is just STRANGE! Also, brand new cds sometimes skip. VW has told me this is due to a "new type of laser"...This is COMPLETE BS. This was before they knew I worked in an nanophotonics and optics laboratory, and we use lasers every day ;). I pulled that one over their heads and left their service tech (and manager) flabbergasted.

The hard starts when it's cold ARE pretty typical to VAG cars, and not of concern to me, nor is the noisy engine. I read a review, sounds like a 4 cylinder, uses gas like a 6. Sure, the 5 cylinder engine is strange, but it's a good engine and very solid. Gas consumption couldn't be better with this car. I have the six-speed-semi manual gear box, and as long as I don't have it in "manual" mode it's fine. Sport mode is more fun to drive in, and more practical for traffic, but it will eat a lot more gas, but for day to day driving, especially highway, it's easy just to stick the car in drive and go. The car handles great, and has enough power for day-to-day driving. However, with my experience, I wish I had a second car to rely upon, for all the times when mine is in the shop (the drive to the VW dealership is becoming part of my weekly routine). I know other people are happy with theirs, and I'm really glad for them, but personally, for me, VW just isn't the way to go.