11th May 2009, 14:52

My son bought a 2005 VW Jetta new. It was great for about 2-1/2 yrs. This past year it keeps dying as he drives. He'd stop & restart it & it would start again. Dealer says they can't recreate the problem. Then the key wouldn't come out of the lock. They replaced that, luckily under warranty. It still kept dying as he drove. He had VW tow it & they said it was the fuel pump, which they replaced, again under warranty. We thought that was the whole problem, but a couple of days ago, it died again. It sounds like there are a lot of people who encounter this issue. If they keep fixing things under warranty, I'm happy, but quite frankly at this point even if they say it is fixed, none of us feel it is reliable any more.

19th May 2009, 21:50

I have a 2005 1/2 Jetta 2.5l, and it overall has seemed to be a good car.

In the past year that we have owned the car, the radio button has faded and the driver's automatic window button has chipped. I am picky about the look of a vehicle, and when I asked if there was anything I could do, the dealership said no.

My car is noisy when it starts, but that is normal. The ticking sound near the glove box makes me crazy.

Now this week, one of the coil packs went out; 275$ to have it fixed.

I love the performance of my Jetta, leatherette seats, and the turning is great.

I have also noticed that my clock seems to lose two minutes off my clock time also.

When I put the car in reverse, the fan for the climate control system goes too high. My stereo seems to vary in volume without me changing it from time to time. That seems to be it!

Would I own another Jetta? Good question!

28th May 2009, 19:14

I own a 06 Jetta 2.5L and it was great up until I began dealing with numerous issues.

The first I hear a knocking sound by the glove compartment while parked and engine on. Not sure if this occurs when driving since the road noise is loud in this car (the road noise is not a big deal to me). Also, the sunroof shade gets stuck.

The black buttons on the radio began to peel. The paint on the front passenger bumper is peeling as well.

I only have 35,000 miles on it, bought it new and take excellent care of my vehicles. However, this vehicle is definitely not one of my favorites. I had a 06 Scion TC prior (was in an accident and was totaled) and actually prefer that over this vehicle. I wish I would have bought another Scion to save the hassle of driving to the dealer and having to get stupid miscellaneous things fixed. Thank god it's still under warranty for now. I'm just scared for when it's not. Hopefully by then I have replaced it.

16th Oct 2009, 06:41

I bought a 2005.5 in July of 05. In almost 4.5 years of driving I have never had to take the car in for an unscheduled service. Had a CEL light go on at 30K and it was fixed at the regular service appointment. I also have experienced the clicking noise behind the dash. The dealership replaced the electronic climate control unit, but the problem persists. Still has the original brakes, battery, etc. Except for the noisy start ups, I have been very pleased the quality and construction.

20th Feb 2010, 14:28

I purchased a used 2005 Jetta.5 in April of 2008. Overall the car has been good, but I have been wondering about problems with the electrical system & wiring. In the 2 years that I've had the car, I've had to replace various bulbs 6 different times, and last Thursday the sunroof decided not to close completely. Took the car in today for the 60k maintenance, replace another bulb (headlight) and fix the sunroof. I'm concerned that more electrical problems will follow, so I'll be trading the car in very soon.

30th Apr 2010, 17:08

I bought a used 2005 new Jetta 5 months ago, and I have been nothing but frustrated!!! The car sound like a diesel once started in the morning. Even if this is normal for the Jetta, it is unacceptable. I've owned numerous cars and none of them sound like that.

I have an interesting 'ticking" sound that comes and goes. Not a big deal, so I decided to ignore it.

The paint on the radio has all chipped off, and there are bubbles under a chrome lining near the gear shifter. The interior looks terrible now!!! The seat belts also don't retract. Not sure why, but the car is only 5 years old... poor engineering.

Those are all small problems I've been dealing with, so here are the larger issues:

1) The catalytic converter needed to be replaced a couple months ago. Since being replaced, the check engine light randomly turns on and off.

2) The transmission shifts just fine in the morning when the car is cold. Once it warms up, the gears slip.

I have been getting different answers from different shops regarding the source of the problem. Someone said it was the valve body and someone said it was the catalytic converter causing shifting problems. I can't wait to get rid of the car and remove unwanted stress from my life.

I WILL NEVER BUY VW EVER AGAIN. I WILL TELL ALL MY FRIENDS AND FAMILY TO NEVER BUY ONE. BUY A SUBARU!!!

10th May 2010, 05:03

I bought a 2005 VW Jetta 1.8t. Plain and simple, love the car to death... but one day driving to work from the motel I stay at during the week for work, the car died on the highway. Tried restarting once I pulled over, and you can hear the starter trying to turn over the car, but the coil packs were not giving the car the signal to start.. Stupid. Made me mad, but luckily it is covered by manufacturer defect, which I have not found on any website yet.. but overall fun car, attractive, sporty, and reliable.

If people would only take care of their vehicles and actually buy what they want.

20th May 2010, 17:36

I bought a used 2005 Jetta (new body style) with 45K miles on it about a year ago. I have put nearly 20,000 miles on it. Pretty pleased with it so far.

Rear brakes squeak under light pressure. The disks and pads seem okay, I check them when I rotate the tires. I have never noticed many of the complaints on here except my driver's door unlock switch is peeling and I had to replace one headlight bulb.

The reason I came on here is I just noticed a "clicking" noise coming from the passenger's front corner of the engine. I have never noticed it from inside the vehicle. It was at idle and I was just walking by, it gets progressively louder then a valve or something opens and it quiets down, but is still there. The engine was at operating temp when I first noticed it. Just wondering if it is something I need to worry about. Does the clicking noise everyone is talking about come from the area I described?