I purchased this car used from a VW dealer in Fl. in October 2007
I once owned a Saab 900 s, and I loved driving that car. Due to my occupation, driving from office to office in constant traffic, the Saab was not happy so I decided it was time to buy another car…


I test drove all makes and models of cars, I needed something quick and nimble. I test drove passats, jettas, minis coopers, Nissan Versa (never do that again) and other various cars. It took a month and finally I found this car, it didn’t even make it to the lot. I test drove it, looked it over, and took it home that night.


I purchased this car with 25,000 miles, it now has 80,000 in the 7 months I have owned this car the only problems I have had are the MAF (Mass Air Flow Sensor) went out, which is typical of any turbo, and the Second Oxygen Sensor has gone out. The front brake rotors need to be spun... I intend to buy the performance vented rotors for my front breaks.

This car has the Tiptronic Transmission, which I would rather have a manual transmission, but I drive allot in traffic. It has that silly auto shift which does work when you need to down shift quickly. The Wolfsburg edition comes with tuning, suspension tuning and other things I can’t recall. It drives very smoothly, and you don’t realize how fast you are moving until you look at the speedometer (My mother got a ticket driving my car).

It moves around corners where a Japanese car would slide, it feels stable and solid. The ESP (Electronic Stability) this works well, you can activate this manually or it will kick in when needed, such as on a wet road, if you take sharp corners at a high speeds, I have learned to turn this on, otherwise the car does this Oversteer/jerking thing, where the ESP is going off and on.

As for interior comfort, the sunroof works unless you are going 90 mph, then you will want to close it as there is air fluttering, or you have to open some other windows to allow the wind to pass.
There is the Monsoon Radio which is loud and clear, the highs are high and the bass is deep. The bad part of this is, adding an amp is difficult as there is a signal voltage running through all connections to the stereo including the speakers. This is tied into the alarm... Otherwise sounds good.

Two of the Knobs on the radio have broken off. The seats are bucket and hug you, unless your extremely large it is comfortable, the trunks is big, the back seat is comfortable, unless your 7 feet tall, but it is a small compact car.

Visibility is good; I enjoy the Defrosting outside mirrors. Most of all I can pull into traffic with out worrying about getting rear ended. I can pass on the interstate without a problem. It handles as well as any german/sweedish car I have driven.

I once had the folks at Kia attempt to sale me a car, I told them, I will pick a road, and you pick a driver and car, if that car makes it to the end of the road ahead of me, I will buy your car. I don’t own a KIA...
And I have made this offer to a few other people whom attempted to sell me a car. I am still driving my VW.

I test drove several Jettas and Passats, all nice cars, but not what I wanted.

This car I intend to keep a long time. And I have not had the problems people have complained about? But again I bought the Wolfsburg edition… (do a google search and compare this to a regular VW Jetta)

 it will suck the gas if you lay into it (or go over 80MPH I believe the Turbo kicks on at 3800 RPM, at 95MPH the RPM is over 3900)
about the battery going dead, if people would read the Manual that comes with the car, they should have gotten a little Solar Panel,
this solar panel plugs into the Cig lighter, This is designed to power the battery while long periods of storage.. The Alarm drains the battery..

Update:12-30-08
While in Orlando Florida, returning to Tampa on I4, my car over heated…
During the summer at long idle times, in the extreme heat, this car tends to get a little hot. Turning off the air conditioning for a while, until the traffic starts to move cools it a bit.

This was not the case:
My water pump broke. The impeller cracked.
From my understanding this is a common problem with VW (even the older models)
If the car came to a stop and Idled, it would cool down, if I drove faster it would heat up. I did not drive it past the Red Line of the when it got hot; this can severally damage the engine. Turning the heater to full also helps cool the car.  

I had my Water Pump, Thermostat, and Timing Belt replaced.
The timing belt is a scheduled maintenance that should be done at I think 60000 (check your maint list?) the water pump is turned by the timing belt, so if you get one done get the other done at the same time. Save on a break down and labor cost.
This car Only usues D12 Collant.. not water or the green anti freeze..

The Trunck Lattch Broke recently..
The trunk Latch has a plastic coating the metal latch?
It cracked and broke off, casuing a spring to come off.
I took it apart removed the Plastic coating and reconected the spring and all is well.

The car has a rear valance/fin thing.. It has a light in it.
The wires for this have rotted and disconnected, someday I wll fix that..



My current milage is 84892 and the car is still moving along…

Parts Replaced so Far
Synthetic Moble 1 - 5W-30 Oil Changes!
(VW Recommends Oil Change at 5000 Miles)
MAF (mass Air Flow Sensor)
Oxygen Senor (checky your Warranty if you ahve this problem, I believe they cover it to 80000?)
Thermostat
Water Pump
Timing Belt
Oxygen Sensor
Winsheld Wiper Blades
Repaired Trunk Latch
Also Need new tires
Amount Paid (US$): 14,600
Condition: Used
Model Year: 2003
Model and Options: Wolfsburg 1.8T