2003 Volkswagen Jetta

MY 2003 VW JETTA HAS BEEN IN THE SHOP MORE IN THE PAST 6 MONTHS THAN IN THE LAST 5 YEARS. THE LATEST TWO PROBLEMS WERE; 1) THE ENGINE COIL (WAS REPLACED ONCE BY RECALL) AND 2) MY FUSE BOX ON TOP OF MY BATTERY MELTED. I HAVE SPENT OVER $1,500 IN THE LAST TWO MONTHS ON THE CAR. WAS TOLD THAT ONLY ONE ENGINE COIL WAS ALLOWED UNDER THE RECALL, AND WAS TOLD THE FUSE BOX MELTING WAS A COMMON OCCURRENCE EVEN THOUGH THEY DID NOT EVER FIND THE "REAL" REASON FOR IT TO MELT. *TR

ON MARCH 1, 2004, I PURCHASED AND FINANCED A 2003 JETTA TDI FROM THE VW DEALERSHIP IN CHICO, CA. I BEGAN TO EXPERIENCE PROBLEMS WITH MY NEW VEHICLE IN LATE NOVEMBER 2005, WITH MILEAGE AT 47399. I SUFFERED INTERMITTENT LOSS OF POWER WHEN ACCELERATING ONTO THE FREEWAY AND IN TRAVELING UP HILLS. DURING THE LOSS OF POWER, I ALSO NOTICED THAT I COULD NOT HEAR THE WHINE OF THE TURBO AND ASSUMED THAT THE PROBLEM MUST BE RELATED TO MY TURBO. THE CHICO DEALER TEST DROVE THE CAR FOR APPROXIMATELY 25 MILES WITH A SCAN TOOL BUT WAS UNABLE TO VERIFY MY COMPLAINT. UNFORTUNATELY, THE PROBLEM WITH THE TURBO PERSISTED. I BROUGHT MY CAR BACK TO THE CHICO DEALERSHIP ON JANUARY 7, 2006, WITH MILEAGE AT 50856. ONCE AGAIN, THE CHICO DEALER WAS UNABLE TO VERIFY MY COMPLAINT BECAUSE THEIR SCAN TOOL DID NOT PULL A CODE. THE CHICO DEALER STATED THAT THEY WOULD REPLACE THE MASS AIR FLOW SENSOR IN AN ATTEMPT TO RESOLVE MY COMPLAINT REGARDING THE LOSS OF POWER. THE MASS AIR FLOW SENSOR WAS REPLACED BY THE CHICO DEALER ON JANUARY 7, 2006. FEELING DEFEATED AND FRUSTRATED, I SUFFERED THROUGH THE TURBO PROBLEM FOR ANOTHER YEAR. DURING THIS TIME, I WAS FORCED TO TAKE EXTRA SPECIAL PRECAUTION WHEN ENTERING THE FREEWAY IN CASE MY TURBO FAILED TO RESPOND UPON ACCELERATION. IN ADDITION, WHEN I EXPERIENCED A LOSS POWER TRAVELING UP-HILL, I WAS FORCED TO UTILIZE MY HAZARD SIGNAL AND MOVE TO EITHER THE SLOW LANE OR THE SHOULDER OF THE ROAD TO ALLOW OTHER VEHICLES TO PASS ME. WHEN MY TURBO FAILED TO RESPOND PROPERLY, MY VEHICLE WOULD ONLY TRAVEL AT A MAXIMUM OF 45-55 MPH WHEN ACCELERATING ONTO THE FREEWAY AND 35-45 MPH WHEN TRAVELING UP-HILL. NEEDLESS TO SAY, EVEN LARGE SEMI-TRUCKS PASSED ME TRAVELING UP-HILL. THE PROBLEM WITH MY TURBO JEOPARDIZED MY SAFETY AND THAT OF MY PASSENGERS' AS WELL AS THOSE TRAVELING AROUND US. THIS HAS GONE ON TOO LONG WITHOUT THE PROPER ATTENTION TO MY CONCERNS AND I FEEL UNSAFE WHILE TRAVELING IN MY VW. *TR

I HAVE A PIECE OF JUNK VOLKSWAGEN JETTA 1.8T THAT IS A LEMON. AT 64,000 MILES THE FAN SHORTED OUT AND CAUSED SOME PROBLEMS TO THE TUNE OF $800. THEN AT 70,000 MILES THE AIR TUBES MELTED MAKING THE CAR RUN TERRIBLE. THAT WAS ANOTHER $600 DOLLARS TO FIX. NOW AT 71000 MILES THE HEATING AND COOLING SYSTEM STOPPED WORKING ALONG WITH OTHER ELECTRICAL COMPONENTS. I HAVE HAD IT TALKING TO THE DEALER AND CONSTANTLY WRITING VOLKSWAGEN. THERE CUSTOMER SERVICE SUCKS AND THEY DO NOT STAND BY THEIR PRODUCTS. THANK YOU, GEORGE AND LAURA BOGDAN *TR

PURCHASED A USED 03 VW TDI ON 04/05, HAD THE WARRANTY TRANSFERRED AND REGISTERED TO ME AT VW. BRIEF RANDOM INCIDENTS OCCURRED WHERE THROTTLE WOULD NOT RESPOND FOR 1-3 SECONDS WHEN STARTING FROM A STOP SIGN. (THIS COULD BE DETRIMENTAL TO YOUR HEALTH) VW DEALER COULD DO NOTHING WITHOUT A FAULT CODE. THIS CONTINUED FOR 2 YEARS AND 24000 MILES. ON 02/04/08, I SHUT THE ENGINE OFF, DID AN ERRAND, CAME OUT AND RESTARTED THE ENGINE ONLY TO HAVE IT IDLE ROUGH THEN DIE OUT, DURING THIS TIME THERE WAS NO THROTTLE RESPONSE. I RESTARTED ENGINE 6-7 TIMES, ON THE 8TH TIME IT RAN NORMALLY. NEXT DAY SAME HAPPENED TO WIFE. I LOADED CAR ONTO A FLATBED AND DELIVERED TO VW DEALER 60 MILES AWAY. THEY FOUND THE EGR THROTTLE VALVE STUCK, REMOVED IT, CLEANED OUT BUILT-UP CARBON. THIS COST $370.00 WE DO NOT KNOW IF THESE INCIDENTS ARE RELATED. *TR

A) 1) DROVE VEHICLE FOR ABOUT 2 MILES ON THE MORNING OF 05/21/07 WHEN THE FAILURE HAPPENED. 2) VEHICLE LOST ENGINE POWER AND VEHICLE STARTED TO VIBRATE A LOT. 3) FAILED IGNITION COIL #3 WAS REPLACED UNDER WARRANTY. B) 1) DROVE VEHICLE FOR ABOUT 1 MILES ON THE MORNING OF 11/07/07 WHEN THE FAILURE HAPPENED. 2) VEHICLE LOST ENGINE POWER AND VEHICLE STARTED TO VIBRATE A LOT. 3) FAILED IGNITION COIL #4 WAS REPLACED. *TR

TL*THE CONTACT OWNS A 2003 VOLKSWAGEN JETTA. ON TWO SEPARATE OCCASIONS, WHILE DRIVING APPROXIMATELY 30 MPH WITH THE ACCELERATOR PEDAL DEPRESSED, THE VEHICLE HESITATED TO ACCELERATE. THE CONTACT DROVE HOME AND HAD THE VEHICLE TOWED TO THE DEALER. THE DEALER STATED THAT THE COIL INSIDE THE CYLINDER FAILED AND HAD TO BE REPLACED FOR THE SECOND TIME IN ONE MONTH. THE CURRENT MILEAGE WAS 39,890 AND FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 39,046. UPDATED 03/14/08. *LJ THE COIL PACK WAS REPLACED

WHILE DRIVING FROM PA TO BOSTON MY CAR'S ENGINE BROKE DOWN IN WHAT APPEARS TO BE A COMMON ISSUE WITH THE VW 1.8 LITER TURBO ENGINES. THE PASSAT (FROM '98-'04) HAD AN EXTENDED WARRANTY ON THE ISSUE BECAUSE OF THIS DEFECT. I DRIVE A '03 JETTA WITH VW'S 1.8 TURBO ENGINE, BUT BECAUSE IT'S NOT A PASSAT THE WARRANTY WAS NOT EXTENDED. I STILL HAVE SEVERAL MONTHS OF PAYMENTS ON THIS CAR AND IT ONLY HAS 70,000. ALL VW CAN/WANTS TO DO TO HELP ME IS OFFER $1,500 IN REPAIRS OR TRADE IN. I'M LOOKING AT $7,200 AND OWE $1,600 ON THE CAR. *TR

THERE WAS A LARGE AMOUNT OF SMOKE FROM THE TAILPIPE RIGHT AFTER THE 75,000 MILE CPO WARRANTY ENDED. THE SMOKE WAS CAUSED BY A FAULTY TURBO. THE TURBO HAD BEEN REPLACED AT 49,000 MILES AND VW AND AN INDEPENDENT VERIFIED THAT THE TURBO WAS FAULTY. THE DEALERSHIP WAS ASKED TO CHECK THE ENGINE (UNDER WARRANTY) FIVE TIMES THROUGHOUT THE TIME AFTER THE FIRST TURBO WAS INSTALLED, THEY REPORTED THAT ALL WAS FINE. AS SOON AS THE WARRANTY ENDED, THEY SAID THAT THE TURBO NEEDED TO BE REPLACED. VW HAS SHIFTED ALL RESPONSIBILITY TO ME. EVEN THOUGH THE CAR IS BURNING OIL, AND AFFECTING THE CATALYTIC CONVERTER, NO WARRANTIES APPLY. THE TURBO NEEDS TO BE REPLACED AGAIN, HOWEVER, NO ONE (INCLUDING VW) CAN EXPLAIN WHY IT KEEPS FAILING, DESPITE PERFECT MAINTENANCE. *TR

I HAVE OWNED A VOLKSWAGEN JETTA (TURBO - 2003) AND HAVE HAD ONE HORRIBLE PROBLEM AFTER ANOTHER. WITHOUT FAIL, I HAVE TAKEN MY VEHICLE IN FOR RANDOM MECHANICAL REPAIRS EVERY FEW MONTHS SINCE PURCHASING THE VEHICLE. I FOUND OUT THE CAR WAS MANUFACTURED IN MEXICO AND THAT VW WAS AWARE OF HOW BAD THEIR CAR'S MANUFACTURED IN MEXICO WERE. IF THAT IS THE CASE, HOW CAN SO MANY CAR OWNERS WITH SO MANY MECHANICAL ISSUES CONTINUE TO SELL IN THIS COUNTRY? I WOULD LIKE TO REPORT VW FOR LACKLUSTER PERFORMANCE AND FOR CONTINUING MANUFACTURE IN AN AREA WELL KNOWN FOR ITS BELOW AVERAGE STANDARDS AND FOR CONTINUING TO BLEED THE CONSUMER WHEN IT IS FULLY AWARE OF THE ISSUE. *TR