Problems with 2001 Volkswagen Jetta ELECTRICAL SYSTEM

Brake lights have gone out, and will not work when consumer is driving. contacted dealer, and dealer is not willing to do the work.*ak

Abs light came on at startup, contacted dealer service and told them of the problem, asked if safe to drive. they replied yes without abs. drove 30mi home, stopped and shutoff car, 1minute later, large amounts of smoke from under hood and in cabin. fire dept responded. no visible flame, but burned wiring was evident. dealer has only confirmed so far that the abs controller, pump and wiring harness has shorted out.*ak

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

Numerous problems with 2001 vw jetta, purchased new in june, 2001.including : windows sporadically malfunctioning (when i called vw corporate as well as my local dealer, i was told that after the dealer evaluated problem i could be responsible for the labor charge depending on the outcome of their diagnosis!!); trunk latch has been replaced once (out of warranty) and now latch does not respond to remotes nor to the inside release on driver door; driver door lock does not respond to remotes nor to control on driver door (the other three door locks are presently functioning); interior coating on plastic door handles and center console began to peel within six months of delivery; center console latch broke long ago; check engine light comes on/off sporadically (brought car to certified mechanic but problem undiagnosed); a wax substance was constantly running into doorwells; vw dealer replaced coil, cables and buffer in response to rough engine idle complaint and i incurred all costs and inconvenience of car in shop , this at 72,000 miles,hazard lights malfunctioned; turn signals malfunctioned; now i hear of a brake light recall and an emergency light switch problem. i am just realizing recently that i am not alone with my jetta problems, that numerous jjetta owners are having the same problems ( i researched on internet) . vw customer service not helpful at all in resolving these problems. *tr

Since i have had my jetta i have had to keep oil in the trunk because the car burns oil, i was told by the dealer that it is normal for a car to use that much oil, i have had to have the brake switch replaced, the arm rest latch replaced, cd player replaced twice, my passenger rear brake lights burn out regularly (only passenger side), my key in the ignition alarm and lights left on alarm turned and stayed on everytime i drove my car. the dealer's solution to all these problems was to downgrade my car and buy a vw beetle. i purchased a 2002 used beetle - dealer allowed me take car and promised to fix anything on the following monday. there was a light on the dash that was lit up called epc - i asked the dealer what the light was for and they said that the alignment needed to be adjusted no big deal they would fix it when i returned on monday. i drove the car off the lot got about 20 miles for the dealership and the car died on the freeway!!!!! while waiting for the tow truck i read in the car manual that epc stood for electric power control - it said if this light goes on do not attempt to drive - tow to dealership immediately - after that i marched right back to the dealer and got my jetta back - however i still have all of the above problems and few to add to the list defective electric window, noisy brakes when in reverse even after brakes were replaced. i can't wait to turn the piece of @#$%# in to the dealer when my lease is up and walk away - i just feel sorry for the fool they turn around and sell it to! *la

The cehck enging light illuminated and smoke started coming from the engine compartment, the dealer stated there was a faulty ignition coil. ts *jb

Vehicle has been serviced a minimum of 20 times for reoccuring problems. since the vehicle had 800 miles on it, it has had issues running properly. vehicle has stalled on more than a few occasions, and put both my child and wife in immediate danger. this vehicle is unsafe to drive, by my standards. here is a small sample of whats been replaced on a 3 year old 40500 mile vehicle: throttle body 4 times secondary air pump 2 times diverter valve 2 times coils 5 times engine wiring harness abs control unit fuse for secondary airpump ecm 2 times armrest on door 2 times center console armrest 2 times rear brakes under warranty at 10k miles

Ignition coil malfunctioned, but according to the dealership my car is not covered under the vw customer service action replacing ignition coils on other 2001, 2002 jettas. i have different coils? defective coils are defective coils period! this is a dangerous situation and luckily no one was behind me when it happened. *ak

Dealer has replaced several parts "4" different times within less than 3,000 miles. we believe that they are unsure what the problem is. we have had the coil pac replaced 2 weeks later ground wires cleaned @ coil pac,third time in it had "10" faults pulled "mainley short to ground with spro misfire in all cylinders" replaced lower fuse panel & fuel pump rely. milage @ third visit 2,274 mileage 2nd visit 1,270.. 4th visit mileage 2,893. they claim the spark plug wire was missing insulation which caused it to arc causing engine light to come on 4th time. dates of service 12/4 00 845. miles 12/20/00 mileage 1,270.00 1/25/01 mileage 2,274. 4th visit 2/4/01 mileage 2893.*ak

I am not satisfied with my 2001 jetta. one week after i purchased the car in aug 2001 the passenger and driver side seats started to move everytime i stepped on the brake. i took it to the dealership and they said nothing was wrong. a few months later i noticed that floor padding on the back seat area (both sides) started bulging. the dealership indicated that is normal for all 2001 jettas. i have several friends who drives vw and they never had the same problem with their floor paddings. a few months later, the window on the driver side broke. all in all my driver side and passenger side windows have malfunctioned 5 times. in addition to all these problems, the temp gauge also malfunctioned. the temperature gauge would move from extremenme heat temp tocold tem and vice versa. what upset me is that there are two current recalls for 2001 jettas and i havent heard from vw. i wasn't even informed about the window regulator problem.