I bought my 96 Jetta in 98' off a 2-year lease. I had wanted a Jetta for about 10 years because of the classy way they commanded any road they were on. However, when I finally brought my Jetta home from the dealer--my nightmares began immediately.

My car was always pulling to the left. Before my 1st month of ownership, I brought it back to the dealer 3 times. It turns out I only had 10lbs. of air in my tires. My left molding was falling off the day after I brought the car home. I brought it back and it was taped---not replaced. It was already so warped that it eventually fell off. A cost I incurred as Volkswagen would not replace it even though it was already falling off when I bought the car. Then the noises began in my muffler. When I would accelerate to just about 40mph, my car would make a rattling noise somewhere in the muffler. I brought it back 3 times to the dealer to have this examined. Each time they said nothing was wrong. It wasn't till I drove the service manager around and put the car in neutral and revved the engine for him did he finally agree that there was a problem.
The dealer replaced the muffler and tailpipe at no cost. I also brought to their attention that it would take extremely long to go into gear when moving in reverse and also going into drive. They noted this in their service report and said it was "normal".

One day I lowered my right rear window. When I went to close it, it didn't move. It turns out that the clip that holds the wire in place that lifts the window broke and the window could not be closed. A friend of mine had the same problem and paid VW $310.00 to replace. I couldn't afford that expense so I had someone rig it with a new clip to hold it in place.

I should have known they were lying. Since then I have had nothing but problems with the Transmission. Every time I drive it takes forever to accelerate and feels like it skips over second gear. Sometimes it will decelerate and then all of a sudden kick in. Something is seriously wrong. On two occasions I have had to have the wires replaced because they were misfiring. $400 tune up each time. That was also the cause of the check engine light that came on. With the lack of pickup and the sudden jerks, I brought it back to VW to have the Transmission serviced. The serviceman noted that my fluid was "extremely burnt" and that my tranny wouldn't last a month--he also noted it was $3500. in parts alone. I couldn't understand why VW would have a closed Transmission service where no one could access it to check the fluid. It seems that if had been able to be checked, maybe I could have avoided these problems.

I used to enjoy driving my Jetta. I love the exterior and interior. I think the seats are comfortable and love the way it handles on the road and making turns. It is pretty quick once you can make it up to 45-50mph. The radio is great--I still have the factory installed. But the negatives over power the positives.

I am so dissatisfied with my Jetta--I wish for someone to answer my prayers. I still have 2 1/2 years left to pay and my Jetta has 97,000 miles on it. There is no warranty and I am at a loss of what to do. I dread the problems that are still yet to come. I know I will never buy a VW again and wouldn't recommend this vehicle to anyone.