Problems with 2001 Volkswagen Jetta EQUIPMENT

I own a 2001 vw jetta gls vr6. since i have owned this car i have had problems with it. i am a young woman in the military and am in full time school, so i don't have the money to run around and fix it as much as i have been forced to do. first my gas gauge went out three months after buying it $600(under warranty) then a month later o2 sensor $300(non warranty). then it was the catalytic converter$1500(non warranty) wiring system$1000(of course non warranty) windows wont roll up without rolling down again and sometimes get stuck$700(non warranty) cruise control went out$845 (non warranty), windshield wiper motor... stationed in alaska and couldn't go without that $750(non warranty) now my secondary air pump is out and i was quoted $1294 from private mechanic and $1400 from vw. also the cruise is still out and the windows are doing the same again. i have talked to many people in the same boat i have been in with so many repairs. is there anything that can be done to stop vw from making faulty parts and charging an arm and a leg? i feel though that if it is brought up to you that my voice will be heard, because when i call the volkwagen customer service and complaints i get nowhere. *tr

I have a 2001 volkswagen jetta wolfsburg edition, the bbs wheels that come with the wolfsburg trim are defective. the lip around the wheel is pitting and is corrosive. there is no approximate incident date just over the time of purchase the wheels get worse and worse. *tr

The failure was that the loose spark plug widened the combustion chamber and that caused the loud vibration in the engine. it also affected the function of the braking system, too. so, i was told by the riverside vw dealership that the whole chamber has to be replaced at the cost of $5,400. the riverside dealership made a contact with new century dealership in glendale, ca and they did the tune-up on april 5, 2004. it was clearly the mechanic who did not screw the spark plug tightly. it was the human error on the part of the dealership. i could not use the car due to this unnecessary error that could be preventable. i have been taking my jetta to all the vw dealerships to do maintenance services and repairs, as well. my feeling is that they should replace the part where the spark plugs are at no cost due to careless error. *tr

I have recently had the ignition coil on my 2001 volkswagon jetta gls vr6 go bad again for the third time. this causes sudden power loss while on the road and could be extremely dangerous on highways or other high traffic areas.

Dt*: the contact stated upon inspection, it was noticed the brake light switch was inoperable. the dealership replaced the brake light switch and determined there was a nhtsa recall, # 06v183000, regarding the exterior lighting brake light switch. the vin was not included in the recall. the manufacturer was alerted. updated 6/27/2006 - the switch was replaced by the original owner under recall on 4/26/05 with 44653 miles. the replacement switch failed one year later at 52675 miles. the coolant pump failed and caused the vehicle to overheat. the front woofer in the door failed internally causing the sound to be distorted. *nm

My 2001 volkswagen jetta fell off the jack while my son was changing a tire this morning. the jack, provided by the manufacturer with the vehicle, appears to have some sort of design defect. i was able to raise the vehicle and replace the tire using the jack provided with a 1994 volvo 940. *jb

Windshield wiper failure 3 times within one year, wipers have stopped wires have been replaced - motor replaced has been same issue each time - motor still working - wipers not. *jb

The airbag light randomly came on in my car. i have absolutely no clue why it came on. i had it vag com'd. and a code came up as being a bad control module for the airbag. *jb

The air coming out of my 2001 volkswagen jetta's air conditioning unit started to smelling like melted crayons and engine fumes. a few weeks later, the air conditioner broke down, and i took it to get repaired at deel volkswagen in miami. i told the service agent that the car also had a terrible smell of car fumes and to please check that. the next day, i received a service repair quote for $1,300 that included the replacement of the battery fuse box, main fan, a/c fan and fan module. the parts were replaced in the car on 10/22/2004. when i picked up the car, i noticed that the a/c had the same engine fumes smell, and told the service person, ricardo wilder, that the a/c still smelled the same. he told me that all jetta's smelled the same, and that i should drive it for several weeks to let the newly replaced parts do their job. it is now april, 2005 and the car still strongly smells like engine fumes. at the end of my driving day, my clothes and the inside of thee car smell like engine fumes. i now drive with the windows and moon roof open and with the a/c off in order to fight the strong smell. i strongly believe that whatever this smell is, it is detrimental to my health. *ak

Car has just had the second transmission placed in less than 11,000 miles. i have had this car in the shop 17 times losing it each time at the least for 2 days and at the most for a week and a half. the dealership and vw refuse to provide any type of assistance with a rental car leaving me to rely on others for transportation or pay high rental costs. every time the transmission goes out it begins to slip when going into gears and pounds into gears other times. i have also replaced several emission sensors and completely rebuilt the back brake system. these are just a few of the numerous problems. so far most of the parts have been replaced under warranty, but there has been several that i have had to pay for out of my own pocket. i bought a vw for its supposed excellent quality, but have obviously purchased a lemon.*ak

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 purchase a 2001 jetta new and in about 3 yrs i have had to replace the brake light switch twice for an average life expectance of 19 months. talking with the dealer, i was invormed that the brake light switch base no available several months ago and is now starting to become available again. currently my mechanic has found only 1 brake light switch on the east coast. he has call the local dealers in a 100 mile radius and they do not have any, contacted vw regional and they do not have any. interested to know if others are having the same problem. to me 19 months between switches is a little excessive to replace. *ak

I have a 2001 volkswagen jetta gls vr6. in april of 2003 i experienced problems with my car where especially in wet conditions, the car would hesitate and misfire then the check engine light would blink on and off. it got to the point where it was difficult to drive because it was losing power. i took it to the dealership and they diagnosed it as the ignition coil pack was bad. they explained that this was an expensive part and that it would cost over $1300.00 to repair and was not covered under warranty. i did some research and found that many similar volkswagens were having the same problems and the manufacturer had a recall out on the coil pack. i contacted volkswagen and they claimed that my engine was not a part of the recall but that they would give me a courtesy and cover the cost of the repairs. in october of 2005 i began to have the problem with my car again. i brought it back to the dealership and again they diagnosed that my ignition coil pack was bad. i again did research and read several articles online that vw was recalling the coil pack for my particular model. i contacted vw and they would not do anything about it because in their system, my car didn't qualify. i explained that there has only been about 20,000 miles put on the car since the last occurance and to no avail would they help me out. they say that because of the age and mileage on my car they would not do another courtesy and because my vin number does not qualify for the coil pack recall, it will not be covered under the recall. i have had several other friends with vw jettas the same year as mine and they have had the same problem. why hasn't vw listed my car in the recall. having this issue twice in the short lifespan of the car signals that there is a default in the part and it should be taken care of by the manufacturer. *nm

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

(1) normal driving, regular scheduled dealer maintainance before the failure of the clutch. the manual transmission became difficult to put into gear and noise started to come from the engine compartment. (2) clutch failed and it became very difficult to engage transmission. dealer service advisor recommended looking at transmission and then discovered that the clutch had failed. immediate diagnosis was that it was driver error. later that day, after examining the parts that were removed from the car it was revealed that the springs of the clutch plate had come out of the metal brackets of the clutch. dealer claimed they had only seen that as a result of misuse but decided to partially warranty the parts after determining that i had taken excellent care of the car and had exhibited no abuse of the vehicle. this first incident took place when the car had 23k miles on the odometer and i had owned the vehicle since it was new. the second failure was at 73 k miles in march of 2005. the same parts failed and the same diagnosis was made by a different vw dealership. the clutch failed in the springs but showed no outward signs of abuse or excessive wear. the clutch had approximately 50 k miles of use but still had significant material left on the clutch pads. the failure of the clutch springs damaged the flywheel. as result i had to pay for a new flywhelel, throwout bearing and clutch plate. an appeal to vw was rejected and they said that the decision was the dealership's and that they would stand by that. i consider thiese failures to be caused by weak parts provided by vw of america. this second failure cost me $1600.00 in repair costs.

The consumer has experienced the following: tread separation(tires)/the outside tires cupped, more wear on the center, 3-4 tires had shown a sign of separating cords, the driver seat back is worn, unspecified bad remote, and the speaker would drift away then come back again. the consumer seeks reimbursement for the defective tires. scc ph

Consumer states that when starting the vehicle the alarm sounds and horn goes off and lights flash on and off for about 10 minutes. this also happens when opening doors to exit the vehicle. also the illuminated entry and the power door locks were not working. the dealer has replaced wiring and relay in the doors, the radio ignition switch, and door lock, however the problem still exists. the dealer now states that there is nothing further they can do. nlm front bumer pulled loose. bumper and lower facia reinstalled. *tt

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

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

Nothing but problems!!! the day i was to pick my car up, driver window needed replacement. since then it has fallen into door 3 times. air conitioner leaked into interior, soaking carpets and smells bad. brake lights stuck on when car is off, arm rest and glove box broke. received zero help from dealership or volks.of america. what is next???