Problems with 2001 Volkswagen Jetta ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING

I own a vw jetta 2001 vr6. i have had to replace my rear brake pads at only 20,000 miles to me a very premature wear problem. the dealer refused to repair them at no cost to me due to the premature wear of the brake pads. the repairs to the brake pads cost me $200.00. the check engine light has come on on the same vw jetta. to find out i know have to pay $292.20 to have the maf sensor replaced on a car that has only 22,500 miles. i am trying to seek reimbursement from vw of america for these expenses. in addition this year i also had to pay $300.00 to have the passenger door latch repaired as the spring broke that allowed me to open the door with the door handle. regardless, my car is kept in pristine condition, and in no way should i be incurring these type of repairs on a vehicle that has only 20k miles on the odometer. please help me. *ak

While driving engine exploded. consumer had the vehicle towed to a dealership, and had the vehicle inspected, and was told that the engine had a build up of sludge. *ak the consumer took the vehicle in for service to get the lock on the truck fixed because you could not open it from the outside. the engine began making noise and smoking while the consumer drove on the highway leaving the consumer stranded on the highway. the consumer did not keep reciepts of work done to the vehicle therefore can not be reimbursed. the consumer sent a formal demand for settlement in the amoount of repair bills and rental car expenses through her legal councel for negligent inspection of her vehicle. *tc

Loss of 3.5 quarts of oil in 17 days after purchase. oil consumption test showed nothing. this volkswagen jetta 2001 is using about a quart of oil under 1,000 miles of driving. i am told this is "normal". my question to the service people, where has the oil gone, it's not on the ground. it is in the shop for the third time for the oil consumption test. i would like a copy of the oil consumption tsb bulletin. i am concerned about engine damage.*ak

After owning this car for 3 years, a strong, toxic smell began to come out of the vents / front of the car. the only way i can describe it is that it smells like burning crayons. i took it to my mechanics and said he found nothing wrong with it. he offered to look into it further, but i didn't want to pay the labor charges without knowing the problem. i've searched the internet extensively and have found at least 25 people citing the same "crayon smell." volkswagen customer service representatives say they have never heard of this problem. i find that hard to believe. the only explanation i've found that makes some sense is that there is some sort of insulation between the engine and the dashboard and it may melting and causing fumes to enter the interior of the car. *nm

The consumer has had on going problems with the mass air flow sensor continually failing. the sensor has been replaced three times. each time the sensor failed the vehicle lost power. the consumer received a letter from vw of america which extended the warranty of the sensor to 7 years or 70000 miles on jetta's from 1999 to 2001. the consumer feels this is an improper solution to the problem. *ak *nm the front seat frames continued to break. vw have replaced them on the consumers vehicle 5-6 times under warranty. *sc *jb

Before i picked up the car- it needed a new fuel tank because the dealer was unable to put gas into the car. at 60,000 miles the crank shaft broke off and a new engine was installed. my driver side window fell down. two plastic things keep falling out of the sunroof and i put them back up. numerous oxygen sensors have been changed but my check engine light remains on. finally, at 107,000 miles my transmission went out and vw refuses to help with any of the cost because it is out of the warranty. *nm

My three year old jetta had to be towed off of a major highway due to oxygen sensor failure. i already had one oxygen sensor replaced one year after purchasing this car.this has been a problem ever sinse i owned the car. this a major safety concern sinse the car is stalling out while traveing at high speeds. i feel that there needs to be a major investigation into why these vehicles are performing so poorly when they are still new. everyone i know that owns a jetta reports the same type of stalling and numeous other expensive problems. this is unacceptable for a $20000 product. on several occasions the dealer has not repaired the vehicle stating that there are no problems. the dealer has informed me that it is going to cost me almost $1000 to fix the problem and it is not covered under the vehicles warranty. *ak

My 2001 vw jetta burns a quart of oil every 600 miles. this problem occured from the first moments i owed the vehicle. i immediatedly reported this to the dealer who informed me that it was "a condition with new jettas and would right itself after i drove the car a while." this position was repeated during the "free" oil changes up to the point where the warranty expired. now that the warranty has expired, vw mechanics insisit that they have to do a $90 diagnosis test before they will address it (i had a previous one during the warranty period that found nothing). now the car is getting older, the oil buring is getting worse. i searched the internet and found numerous jetta owners with the same problems, and even worse as a result - including blown engines. one jetta owner stated that there is a manufacturing defect with the rings of the car. he had the car's rings repaired (at a cost of nearly $1,000) and nothing is now wrong with the car. he also stated that he found out that the defect impacts a significant portion of the cars sold in two years, manafesting in blown catalitic converters and engines. he also states that vw instructed its dealers to tell owners that it is normal with the car during the break-in period - thereby pushing the problem past the 28,000 mile warranty obligation. which makes sense since this problem would cost vw millions. *ak

Check engine light o2 sensor, mass air flow sensor. *ak

Replacement of coil pack on my 2001 jetta glx. *mr the consumer requested reimbursement. there were also electrical problems. *sc

Tl*the contact owns a 2001 volkswagen jetta. the contact brought the vehicle to the dealer yesterday to have the mass air flow meter serviced. the contact stated that this failure has been ongoing for approximately three years and has become costly. the current and failure mileage were 115,781.*ak

The check engine light and the driver assisted light came on and remained on in my car. on my way to the dealership to have the car looked at, thr car completely shut down. the dealer repair facility ran the car on their diagnostic computer and said there were multiple faults. i was told that the car had a vacuum leak and it was allegedly fixed.i was also told that the light might come back on because of something else. this was on thursday, november 6, 2003. while driving to work on friday, november 7, 2003, the engine light came on again. this first "repair " cost me $133.60. on my way home i stopped at the dealership and was told in essence something else might be wrong. simply put, this is a relatively new car and should not have these kinds of problems. through research on this site and others, i have found out that this seems to be a prevalent problem with the volkswagon jeeta 2001. as a consumer and a taxpayer, i demand that something be done. this problem with these cars is dangerous and could lead to a serious accident or death. i am also going to write to vw. however, i feel that there should be a full investigation of this matter. *la

Interior console paint peeling, fabric fading, engine rattle noise, window actuator failure and noise, thermastat, fuel door actuator, seat springs snap, brake pad excessive wear, a/c runs hot.*ak

I bought a previously owned vw jetta gls with 25,000 mi on september 22, 2003. two weeks later, the oil light came on briefly as i was parking at home. i checked the dipstick and it was dry. i called the dealer and it was towed and checked and a fluorescent probe was put in and i was told there were two quarts of oil remaining. where did the oil go? my car is scheduled to go in for a check on this problem this week. there was no oil on the ground and the service tech said they had a problem like this once before. has this problem ever been addressed by other consumers? thank you. *ak

The 2001 vw jetta i purchased in april 2003 seemed to be a great car until the check engine light turned on and has been on since. i have taken it to a numerous amount of dealerships or "specialty" volkswagen auto shops and noone is able to figure out why the light is on unless i pay them $600-$1500 to go in and diagnose more thouroughly. the computer on the jetta putout a "fuel-injuection" problem and noone is able to tell me what exactly this could be. i continue to drive with the light on and was advised not to drive with the light on if it begins to flash. very frustrating.*ak

While driving at 30 mph and with no warning vehicle shut off, and resulted in an accident with another vehicle.*ak

Consumer stated safety chip failed causing engine to lock up. dealer notified.*ak

2001 volkswagen jetta (complaint numbers 30291114,30343786 and 03092183) our 2001 jetta started clicking and blowing white smoke. we called the dealership and they said it was the turbo and would be covered under warranty. we towed the car to them on may 19, 2003 and they did replace the turbo. however, they advised us the vehicle needed a new engine because it was still clicking. they said it looked like we had not been changing the oil which is why the engine was clogged. the service department then gave us the run around for a few months. they wanted oil change receipts, which we provided. the mechanic told us the turbo replacement was denied by vw and they ate the cost. he told us they would not do any more work on the car. on july 09, 2003 we had the car towed from the dealership.i went to vw and spoke with the new service manager, donnie fielder. the new service manager told me they had just replaced a guys engine that had the same problem as ours. he said they messed up and replaced it under warranty no questions asked and later decided he had not changed the oil. he said they could not afford to pay for another engine and would not touch our vehicle. i took the car to alternative imports on charlotte avenue. sam (a.i.) said the engine was full of sludge. he found several similar cases on a mechanics web site. he also found that vw did not properly complete the turbo replacement. the engine is the same one (1.8l turbo) that vw has acknowledged, at least in the passat, has a sludge problem. however, they do not acknowledge that the same problem exists in the jetta even though it is the same engine. they extended the warranty on the passats to 8 years unlimited mileage.

The mass air flow sensor failed four times and was replaced. a recall letter was received, and consumer was not satisfied. fuel mixture in the vehicle was still defective. also, frame on the seats broke on seven occasions and repaired by the manufacturer. *ak

Back brakes and rotors had to be replaced on my 2001 jetta glx v6 which was purchased 08/01. i only had 23,000 miles on the car! at my 20,000 mile service no problems were mentioned. my check engine light came on too. i had to have my o2 sensor replaced under warranty. the warranty did not cover the brakes. i do not ride the brakes. 1 month after i bought the car i noticed that when i start it in the morning it makes a sound like and old junky car would. i had it to the dealer twice for this and they said its nothing and that's the way a v6 sounds! it only does it on the first start of the day. i am afraid it will end up being some very expensive problem in the future. 9 months after i had the car the arm rest came apart and had to be fixed under warranty. i will never buy another volkswagen again and i would not recommend them to my friends who are md's and rn's and can afford nice cars. *jb

The vehicle vibrated and then stalled.*jb

To whom it may concern, when "flooring" my 2001 vw jetta gls 1.8t as to merge on the highway, approx. 50% of the time i experience loss of power. the engine and turbo seem to stall out until i let off the gas and reapply. due to the sporadic nature of this, the dealer can not recreate. i believe this to be very dangerous, when merging on a freeway i expect my car to provide continuous acceleration, not to stall out. given the nature of honolulu's freeway, it is most important to have full power due to the shortness of the on ramps. i have always used premium gas as required by vw, and had the fuel injectors cleaned by a nationally recognized auto service chain, to make sure i did not have any "bad gas" deposits. this still has not fixed the problem. i would appreciate any advice or assistance you can offer in this matter. respectfully, jordan d. o'hearn cto1 usn. *nlm

Consumer stated while driving at 40mph the engine makes a severe noise and then a vibration is felt as if the engine is loosing power, which was due to a faulty engine coil pack that went bad. dealer was notified and will change only one coil. duke gold's speed way volkswagen dealer, will not replace the coil at least in the following next 3 weeks because there is a national back order. please provide further information.*jb

Consumer stated while driving at any speed and without warning the engine failed and lost power and it was difficult to control the vehicle.*jb

Purchased new 2001 jetta in august of 2000, gls 2.0l engine and it has always been burning/losing oil. about 1 qt evey 1000 miles driven. cannot understand and oil consumption test by vwof a in july of 2002 said it was normal even after breakin period. car currently has 46,000 miles. i am pissed off still and i am basically putting a quart of oil in every month plus 2 oil changes a year. this normal oil consumtion is costing a fortune and this was never disclosed to me when i purchased the car new. no mention of it in the service manual and vwof a has a tsb out there but i would like to see a new engine.

Dealer mechanic stated that the air pump rusted and needed to be replaced. the car was garaged every night. warranty on part expired at 24000 miles i have 31000.

I had a coil pack burn out on my 2001 vw jetta - it has 21000 miles. it appears to be a known problem and many people are experiencing this failure. vw (and audi) will only replace coils when they individually burn out. vw/audi should recall and replace all coils either at the time of burn out or before it becomes an issue. the number of people who have had this problem suggest that the coils are either defective or the design of the vehicle is faulty. the manufacturer should be responsible for this even if the vehicles warranty has expired. ts

The vehicle shut down without prior warning and heststate . please provide additional information dealer is aware of the problem. ts

While driving , vehicle started to stall and then shut off. dealer contacted. please provide additional information. ts

The vehicle mass air flow sensor failed which caused the vehicle to perform poorly. *nm the consumer was reimbursed for the cost of the repair. *tc *jb

The consumer states that while driving and with no warning, the vehicle jerked and lost power. dealer notified. mr the consumer states that the vehicle has had several transmissions replaced in a year-feels that the vehicle is a lemon. scc

There was a foul smell coming from inside of the vehicle. consumer has had to go to hospital because of a rash due to some kind of chemical that she was smelling. contacted dealer, and dealer could not find cause. *ak

The vehicle sputters when you first start out and after sitting for a while and is started up again. i have taken it to the dealership where i purchased it from on 3 separate occasions. on the last trip to the dealership, they took it the the manufacturer for diagnosis. the manufacturer advised it was my mass air flow sensor. once that was replaced my vehicle still experienced problems. on today 8/30/02 i took my vehicle to the manufacturer directly and was advised that the wiring that went to the maf sensor needs to be changed. almost $600.00 later, spark plugs, fuel fiter, air filter , o2 sensors, mass air flow sensor and wires...........the problem is not as bad, but still exists. the dealer where the vehicle was purchased is upset that the manufacter did the last repairs and guaranteed the vehicle was fixed.........after letting it sit for 3 hours today, starting the vehicle, backing out of my driveway....and turning the wheel.........the sputter was back. i do want to go back to the manufacturer to get the vehicle repaired. but i do not want to pay $75 an hour labor for them to check the same problem over and over again, and pretty much just replace various parts. has anyone else experienced this problem or one similar. what can i do to get my car repaired and not have to pay for the check out charge for the same problem?*ak

The maf sensor was replaced on my vehicle about 2 years ago. i replaced part myself after the dealer told me that this part was bad. i did not receive a service report for this troubleshooting. i purchased and replaced the part myself. 1.5 years later i received a warrenty extension letter from vw, stating reimbursment with receipt of charges, including vin # and mileage. at the time i purchased the part, from a vw dealer, this info was not required to be on a part order. i supmitted this info in dec 2003. in june 2004, i received a reject for claim because the receipt did not have this info on it. i believe that vw has done the warrenty extension to prevent an offical recall, but it has not been done in good faith. they set a requirement that their own dealers did not start on vin and mileage on part orders, only on service orders, at the time. they have designed the system to fail. under a warranty extension they do not have to report the number of rejected claims to you and it can appear that they are addressing the issue. i can understand this requirement for claims dated after the letter, but not 1.5. years before. *ak

My car which was purchased brand new in july 2001 has been to the repair shop 13 times. i purchased a 2001 volkswagen jetta. the ongoing problem is that the car is losing power while accelerating. volkswagen doesn't want to acknowledge the defect of their own product. i was told two things which doesn't make sense to me. first, i was told my engine is not apart of the recall for those other vw cars that are losing power. second, a vw representative told me it was my extra car mats that is probably causing the problem. i think volkswagen is just ignoring this serious problem. if my car slows down on me whenever it wants and i die as a result of their defect product that they don't want to recognize, it is truly going to be a serious problem. the car had problems with the engine, airbags, malfunctioned sensor, clock spring, harness, and now it is losing power. although this car has had numerous problems, this is the most serious problem that i would like o be rectified. volkswagen service department changed the computer and told me this will definitely solve the problem. obviously it did not solve the problem. since the computer was changed in sept. 2002 the car lost power 3 times since then.*jb

2001 vw jetta - numerous build issues. excessive oil consumption - 1 quart in 1000 miles. vehicle re-ringed at 19k. current mileage 47k - last oil change down 2 quarts in 5ooo miles. window regulators - recall. shifter shaft replaced for serious vibration in 2nd and 5th gears. both front seats feel like they aren't locked in place! diagnosed as faulty weld at time of manufacture.*ak

While driving, vehicle loses power with out warning. no lights illuminate before or after vehicle stalls. dealer is aware of problem. *ak the vehicle was towed to the nearest dealer for repairs. when consumer received the vehicle back, the mileage was run up to an inappropriate amount. vehicle had been in 4 times prior for vehicle not starting. dealer explainded nothing could be found wrong and that they had driven the vehicle approx. 120 miles. there is an unanswered 82 miles to be accounted for. dealer has replaced the ecm power relay and a pin at the ecu connector.

Discovered car was burning oil although it gave no indications. told this was normal by dealer. car almost stalled on three occasions under 20000 miles. oxygen sensor was replaced after car almost stalled on major highway in front of oncoming traffic. fixed after three seperate trips to dealer. car has had all sheduled oil changes and maintainence sinse purchase.

Vehicle would lose power while driving, dealer was notified, and was unable to duplicate the problem. feel free to problem any further information.*ak

While the vehicle was turned on or off a loud noise was heard. vehicle was taken to the dealer four times, and mechanic could not duplicate the problem. *ak

No summary. dt

Vehicle would hestate and stall out when applying the acceletor pedal from a stop position. please provide more details. ts

Transmision does not shift correctly around third gear, the car will rev up then the car has a hard jerk. as for the engine the engine will kill any where at any time the hole car will just shut of driving or just sitting still. i feel very unsafe in this car!*ak

Consumer states while driving, the check oil light illuminated, when checking the dipstick there was no oil, so the consumer added 1 quart of oil and called the dealer, the dealer is running an oil consumption test, but in the meantime the engine is still using almost a quart of oil every 1000 miles. *slc

I have had nothing but problems after purchasing my brand new 2001 v.w jetta. i had vehicle only 6 months and it left me stranded due to malfunction of emission control sensor. 5 months after that, ignition lock cylinder was inoperable, needing them to repair. 2 months later, owned for 1 yr 1 month, car was burning a lot of oil so consumption test was done and determined to be true,that the car was in fact consuming abnormal amount of oil. as "a courtesy to me, the customer" volkswagen replaced piston rings, rod bearings and deglazed cylynder walls. they had my car 6 days to rebuild engine. 6 months later car was shaking really bad when driving on the freeway, took it in and service technition discovered that rear brakes were warped and rear brake pads had "premature wear." those were replaced. throughout this course of time the passenger brake light had been replace 2 times,air condition vent was not working and had to be remove and install new center air outlet,armrest broke and had to be replaced, glove compartment latch broke, and the brake lights have gone out and been repaired numerous times but are still faulty,not working at this time. volkswagen has treated me as though i was the one inconviencing them!! i regret purchasing this vehicle and will continue discouraging anyone from ever buying a volkswagen! i don't feel safe in this car!! after doing some research i see now that i am not alone. knowing there are many other vw's on the road with the same mechanical problems my car, i'm concerned with the safety of others as well as myself! *la

Thereis a very heavy chemical smell in interior of vehicle. took vehicle to volkswagen for service, and dealer couldn't locate a problem. consumer stated that smell was making driver sick in the stomach. please provide any further information.*aki

Shortly after purchase of the vehicle the engine began to sputter and shake with the check engine light illuminating, consumer returned vehicle to dealership to fix temperature regulator in the engine system, however after repair the vehicle's engine light illuminated and consumer lost all braking ability. the dealership and manual state that it is ok for the driver to continue to drive the vehicle with the check engine light on, but when light is flashing do not drive, the brakes and engine failure occurred without flashing lights for proper warning. *mjs

No summary listed for abov evehi cle. *ak

Check oil light came on. after checking dipstick found that it was completely empty. took car next day directly to dealer and found they know of problem with the car burning oil and it was "normal for the car to do that under 10,000." car was serviced at minuteman vw for 5k service. car taken to same location. they suggested we put oil in car and come back tuesday. we drove away but retuned after 10 minutes to get rental car. the vehicle gave no signs about an oil leak beforehand nor heavy smoke from the exhuast. unfortunately, i did not get a chance to check the spark plugs. is there any recourse we can have since this defect no matter how many times we take it back will devalue our vehicle? please advise.

Vehicle stalls at any speed/ any time. shortly after purchase engine check light came on. taken to dealer who repaired. however, vehicle stalls on a daily basis, taken to dealer 6 times, cannot remedy problem. *ak