OT: anyone own a Jetta

[Mykayel]

My brother is looking at getting a Jetta TDI. Anyone own or have owned one? Any quality issues/ problems? Anyone a dealer that can help him get a good deal?

[chadscamaro]

A friend of mine has a 2004 and had a lot of problems with it, and was in the shop 4-5 times in the first year,but maybe the newer ones have all the bugs worked out ? I beleive Dick dean is where he bought his.

[latazyo]

VWs are my favorite cars of all times, but although they are relatively cheap, do not buy one unless you can afford some extra maintenance

my brother owns a 2000 TDI, and he has problems with the diesel in the winter (this is probably not a problem in missouri like it is in North Dakota though)

another thing is that (up here at least) diesel is about 25 cents more per gallon than unleaded, so even though he gets better mileage, we come out even price/mile wise

I owned 2 VWs at one point and our family owns a Passat, A4, Jetta and GTi now...they are a boatload of maintenance but how can you not love them?

my biggest qualm with them is that I think the 3 yr, 36k warranty is pretty bunk, if they had a better warranty I would have bought another one, but for a 23 year old, I can't afford to only have 3 years coverage

[maxis24]

Mykayel, have him visit www.stlvw.org and read some of the forums.

If he is going after the VW for how they handle, have him check out the 2000-2004 Ford Focus. I know, it's a Ford (some people have a vendetta against the brand). However, it is the only currently produced Ford that was designed in europe and was in C&D Top 10 vehicles four years in a row (2000-2003). Mine still handles perfectly and is a riot to drive on twisty roads.

If he wants the TDI because of the TDI, the Jetta is 100% for him. I only know one person who has one and they love it. With an ECU mod, they are quite torquey and of course, fun.

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Somehow, I still miss attending UMR. Oh yeah, people were for the most part intelligent..

[jestersv]

any most diesel is the way to go especially when you can make fuel in your garage for about $.65 a gal.

[sirreal63]

I had a 93 Jetta and loved it. My first wife still drives it daily. She has only had one clutch change done to the car. I always enjoyed driving and driving in a spirited fashion in that car. I would suggest a 5 speed over the auto though, it is easier on the engine.

[Andystl]

I have a 2001 Jetta 1.8 turbo with an APR stage II package that I purchased new. I have done a few mods to it and am getting approx 220 hp at the front wheels. This out of a 4 cyclinder that still gets almost 30 mpg. Have had a few problems with it, if you get one make sure you change the timing belt @ 80,000 miles! The biggest source of information is probably www.vwvortex.com a usergroup much like reefcentral for VW owners.

[Spiffyguy]

I have an 03 Jetta Wagon GLS. Runs nice and has not had any problems at all. I bought it used at St Charles Automotive. Was a simple sale and never have any problems when it goes in for service there too.

[Ocicat]

A friend of mine bought a used Jetta — a 2000 or 2001, I believe. She has had a lot of problems with it; the only specific problem I can recall at the moment is that one of her windows, when rolled all the way down, came loose and got stuck inside the door and wouldn't come back up. She has been really disappointed with the car over all, as it really turned out to come with a lot of hassle & extra expense. We were looking at cars at the same time, and I also considered the Jetta; after her experience I'm glad I didn't get one.

[Andystl]

The window is a very common problem with VW's. They use plastic clips to hold them, after a couple years of freezing/thawing they break. Had the same thing happen to me.

[Spiffyguy]

hmm so far the only things that were a problem was the seat heaters were on recall and they just swapped them out at a service time, under warranty. And the cetner console was loose and needed a new light. so they swapped out the shifter console and good as new, also under warranty. Maybe I got a good one off the lot?

I did run into a German guy at Home Depot who was very excited to see me driving a German car, he had a Jetta too. He was also quick to look at the VIN and tell me the car was made in a German plant. He was very proud of that fact.

[jwalters103]

ive had 2 different audis which are basically the same thing as a vw. aside from the basic things that go wrong in a car, no major problems. there was really nothing out of the ordinary that went wrong with either of them. both great cars, though if you work on your own cars, it takes a while to get used to them. they have their own way of doing everything that differed from every other car ive ever worked on

[DrBDC]

My ex had an audi fox which was also sold as a volkswagon fox depending on the year. Same with the motors. In the 80's they even sold thier 1.7 liter motor to Chrysler which put it in Omni's and Horizons. The motor was good but the car was a piece. But it was also thier lowest priced car and barely considered a car. I took one of those 1.7 liter motors and built a Chewnoth (sp?) and it ran great!