20th Sep 2005, 17:30

Yes I completely agree with what you say, I went to the dealership and they charged me 5,000 to get the smell to go away.. I paid the sum and now my car smells like brand new.

27th Nov 2005, 21:58

It is most definitely, positively, NOT a normal smell. Some days I drive for 10 minutes and the smell is on my skin, in my hair, on my jacket, in my clothing. I go to use a kleenex from my car and the kleenex is drenched in the smell so strongly I could almost vomit. My CD case smells like the smell. I can drive 5 minutes and my hands smell like the smell. It's positively disgusting, probably unhealthy, and it makes a person STINK. I go to the market and the smell wafts with me as I walk down the aisle!!! Not only is that disgusting for ME to deal with, but people behind me must wonder what the hell is wrong with me! It smells like a mix of crayons and mildew.

It's "normal" huh. Well, VW also tries to tell us that the dripping wax on the sides of our doors is "normal". Yeah, ooookay. Idiots.

29th Nov 2005, 13:47

From what I've read on these vehicles, the crayon smell is in fact wax. The wax is sprayed on the interior of the door panels and other metal surfaces in order to prevent rusting. I have noticed, especially in the summer, the wax dripping from the base of my doors. All the VWs I've seen smell like this and we have four in my household. Notably, not all ooze wax. But hey, at least its not oil.

12th Dec 2005, 10:21

I recently bought a used 2001 Jetta TDI and I love the way it drives, but I too am suffering from the Crayon Smell of the interior. I'm normally not very sensitive to smells, but this one gives me a headache within 10 minutes of getting in the car (I've heard the TDI has extra insulation because of the diesel engine, so maybe I have an especially bad case).

Regardless, I spend 2hrs a day in this car and I can't deal with the smell. I spoke to a VW dealer about getting it fixed, but he doesn't believe it is caused by the sound insulation or soundproofing material. Can anyone point me to a PDF of the Technical Bulletin or at the very least give me a reference number to the Bulletin so I can enlighten my dealer?

Thanks in advance.

16th Dec 2005, 21:00

Headaches? Health effects? You guys are ridiculous. The smell is not that bad. Honestly. I think if one person reads negative reviews about the smell, other people chime in, until they are convinced that the crayon smell alone is killing them and Volkswagen should be ashamed of itself. Please. Go buy a boring Corolla and stop whining.

17th Dec 2005, 03:13

By all means, go buy a Corolla: It'll be plain boring, since windows will function as they should, "check engine" light won't be constantly on, interior plastics won't peel off, it won't have that crayon smell, yellow goo will not leak out of its doors, transmission won't whine, ignition coils won't pack up... All that boring "character" stuff actually.

Come on people, is is that hard to admit that VW really messed up with this generation of Jetta/Golf IV?

17th Dec 2005, 15:06

VW did make some mistakes with the Golf/Jetta IV, but some of them are not the huge, "the-sky-is-falling" mistakes that people make them out to be. It seems that when people read about small, niggling problems on boards like this(such as a crayon-like odor) they put them on a par with major problems, and then go on to say that they will never buy a VW again because "it smells like crayons and it affects my health." Misery loves company.

19th Dec 2005, 14:30

From what I have seen VWs 'little' troubles include clutches (1.8t), power window motors, Mass Air sensors, transmissions, brake light switches, turbos, intake manifolds, instrument clusters, comfort & alarm modules, batteries, oil changes, engines, etc... And a bulb here and there.

6th Jan 2006, 12:22

I think if you can spend $5,000 to get rid of the Crayon smell, you probably have enough money that you could have just bought a different car. Anyhow, my car has the smell, too, and every person who gets in my car points it out in the form of a question: "Hey, you know what your car smells like?" The thing is, it smells like Crayons, not rotting meat. It's not a bad smell. To me it smells much better than awful chemical artificial air fresheners or just general funk. I think maybe people are a little too sensitive. I have never noticed wax dripping from the doors. That seems a bit nasty. I have had a lot of real problems with the VW in the past, like the fact that it wouldn't start. So now that it starts every time I put the key in the ignition, I stopped worrying about things that didn't matter, like the Crayon smell.

20th Feb 2006, 03:57

I recently purchased a 2002 Oldsmobile Alero which I really like, but have read several negative reviews - good ones too. Most of the bad reviews had to do with similar items like brakes, intake gaskets etc. Most seemed to make issues out of some modest repairs- handles or dome lights coming off. I got a general feeling that the owners of Jettas are a bit more - well, educated than the young people who seems to own the olds. I am hoping that as with Jettas that the overwhelming majority prove to be OK, maybe not great. Should I get a warranty from AAA, it's $1731.00 up to 100k or 5 years. I have 13k on it now. I have to pay for it over 12 months and really do not like to dish out this much cash like I was really paying for repairs the first year. I would prefer to take my chances. I'd pose this questions to Alero owners, but do not want to handle the myrid of emotions I am sure to get from that group.

5th Jun 2006, 17:47

I just got done reading this bulletin and wanted to ask, not about the crayon smell, but about you transmission problems. I have an 01 jetta VR also and at 65,000 miles the trans is starting to slip and its getting worse. I noticed at 15,000 miles you said yours had slipping problems and I was wondering what they said was wrong with it? thank you for the story about your car.. Yes mine also smells of the crayola #5.

24th Aug 2006, 21:56

I had to fight tooth and nail to have them finally admit that the transmission needed replacing. They denied it the whole time I owned my car, no matter how many times I complained about it. I kept getting their horrible "we can't recreate the problem so we can't do anything" b. s speech.

Thing was, not a few months after I could tell the whole process was starting up again (!). Sure enough, slowly it started to slip more and more. Finally, driving in the rain where my transmission was slipping so badly I'm lucky to have made it home without a major accident, I traded that pile in for something great (that works and SMELLS CLEAN AND FRESH!)

All you have to do is print out all the slipping transmission stories you find on the internet about your car and slap it (hard) into the faces of your dealership. That's all I can suggest.

Or trade in your pile, too.