If the list of issues…
Name: Dean P.
State Purchase: Louisiana
Model Year: 2003
Purchase/Lease Date: April 2005
Story:
Bought @ 28,000 miles / Fuel injector malfunction @ 34,000 miles / Headliner began falling down @ 40,000 miles / Lid to center console breaks off from normal use @ 46,000 miles / Soft touch begin peeling everywhere @ 50,000 miles / Battery dies @ 54,000 miles (2.5 years old) / Oil dipstick breaks in two when checking oil @ 56,000 miles / Turbo becomes audible @ 69,000 miles / Fuel pump (non-moving isolated part) breaks into pieces - leaking into car @ 74,000 miles / Clutch goes out @ 75,000 miles / Front oxygen sensor needs replacing @ 77,000 miles / Reverse light on/off switch breaks @ 79,000 miles / Sunroof begins opening and closing for no reason @ 80,000 miles / Vacuum tube leak discovered @ 80,000 miles / Transmission needs rebuild @ 80,000 miles / Trade in Jetta for Toyota Echo @ 80,000 miles
If the list of issues above isn’t bad enough… The brake lights burnt out about every two months. Sometimes the lights weren’t burnt out; you’d have to simply walk around to the back and give the light a nice slap or punch and it would come back on.
This car also rattled a lot. I realize that cars will inevitably rattle, but I always felt it was just too young a vehicle (two years old) when it started.
You know, I really loved this car at first. I found it fun to drive, and I actually really liked the people at the dealership. But this car would eventually take me for all that I had and more. In just the last three months that I owned it, I spent close to $3,000 on various parts and labor; only to be left with a car that had a headliner in need of replacing, a sunroof with a mind of its own, reverse lights that wouldn’t come on, a vacuum tube leak, break lights that burned out like candles, and a transmission that needed a rebuild. Not to mention, I couldn’t get this car to pass state inspection in my wildest dreams (I also got ticketed for having an expired inspection sticker). I could barely drive it to the Toyota dealership where I GLADLY accepted a $3,000 loss on a trade for an Echo. It does suck, however, for every payment I make on my Echo, about 25% of that payment is going towards the negative equity at the trade in. So, you can say that I will be paying for that Jetta for years to come.
Also, I have a friend in town experiencing terrible problems with his ‘03 Jetta as well. AND his mom is experiencing major problems with her ‘03 Beetle. I could go on and on about how and why this car sucked the life out of me, but I think I’d now like to concentrate more on my life without this car. Thank you for your time.
