Problems with 2003 Volkswagen Jetta ELECTRICAL SYSTEM

Within 6 months (4) of the (6) ignition coils have failed. i have it in now for the third and fourth ones. *tr

Lost power, radio stopped working, a/c starting blowing hot air, epc light came on, battery light came on, abs light came on. then the car would not crank. i thought the battery was dead so i jumped the car. i made it home then the car would not start the next morning. after examination i found that the fuse box on top of the battery had melted. the wire from the fuse box to the alternator overheated. was told by two different volkswagen dealerships in birmingham, al that this was a very common problem. if it is a common problem why is there no recall? *tr

Driving home from work. has made two stops. on the way to my home my abs and airbag lights came on, radio froze, then car shut off. was advised fuse panel on the top of the battery had melted. mechanic found no reason for this to happen. no other issues. *tr

My 2003 vw jetta has been in the shop more in the past 6 months than in the last 5 years. the latest two problems were; 1) the engine coil (was replaced once by recall) and 2) my fuse box on top of my battery melted. i have spent over $1,500 in the last two months on the car. was told that only one engine coil was allowed under the recall, and was told the fuse box melting was a common occurrence even though they did not ever find the "real" reason for it to melt. *tr

There are many problems which seem to be a cause of the electrical system. the car will simply die when you stop at a red light, stop sign, etc. it will try to die while driving down the road. the digital display constantly resets itself, especially when you turn the car off, but also while driving. the radio does this too. the back brake light also has some type of short in it. it goes out and comes back on. we have replaced it twice in as many months. *tr

I turned on the driver's seat heater to 5 (highest setting) on my 2003 vw jetta tdi when leaving my house at 7 am. i used this regularly to warm the seat for a few minutes on cold mornings, then would turn it off (lower settings never produced noticeable heat). within one minute i felt a burning/electrical sensation in my upper left thigh. i was driving on a mountain road and the pain made me jump in my seat and nearly lose control of the car. i pulled over and turned off the seat heater (having heard of problems with the heater). the leather seat had a blister about the size of a cigarette burn but had not burned completely through. while i stopped the heater before it burned through the seat (and my pants), the real danger was in a possible accident from the burn/shock that caused me to momentarily lose control of the car. the seat heater is no longer safe to operate. my understanding from reading similar posts here and elsewhere is that the wiring is now broken in the seat (and many have had it break in the same spot). if i had not guessed the source of the problem quickly, or if someone were to unknowingly use the heat setter in the future, it could lead to a serious accident, personal injury, and car fire. similarly, this poses a serious risk for other drivers of these vehicles who may not be aware of the problem and react too late. i request that the nhtsa urge vw of america to issue a recall on this dangerous and pervasive problem (many reports here and elsewhere, such as tdiclub.com and vwvortex.com). vw has issued a recall on this problem in canada but not in the u.s. they also have a voluntary repair for passats of similar years, but not jettas or golfs. thank you. *tr

Ignition coil failed, was told the o2 sensor was bad and needed new spark plugs, i had just replaced the spark plugs 5 days earlier, they only had 11 miles on them, so it cannot be spark plugs, question whether the o2 is truly bad, having ignition coil replaced but was unable to tell whether the catalytic converter is also bad until other problems are corrected. *tr

Alternator wiring harness melted. *tr

I drove to work the car ran fine. after work i started the car it begin to shake. it lost half its power..the dealership was three miles away. ignition coil went bad at 46,158 miles and today 3-10-08 another one went bad at 49,036. my best friends passat ignition coil went bad at 19,367. i think these ignition coils are lemons and they need to make better ones. *tr

1/10/08 i had my 2003 vw jetta in for service. i was told the ignition coil #3 needed to be replaced. 4/11/08 ignition coil #1 needed to be replaced. i found the recall on your web site after the april problem. i was told that my car is not part of the recall, even though it states 2003 jetta. on 12/4/08 i had to replace ignition coil #4 and on 1/21/09 another which also included the last two. i contacted volkswagen of america, inc and was once again told that my 2003 jetta was not included in the recall. *tr

Tl*the contact owns a 2003 volkswagen jetta. on two separate occasions, while driving approximately 30 mph with the accelerator pedal depressed, the vehicle hesitated to accelerate. the contact drove home and had the vehicle towed to the dealer. the dealer stated that the coil inside the cylinder failed and had to be replaced for the second time in one month. the current mileage was 39,890 and failure mileage was 39,046. updated 03/14/08. *lj the coil pack was replaced

No advance notice. the car shut off in heavy traffic, almost causing an accidents. the volkswagen dealer , carl gregory in columbus, ga, could not find the cause of the problem at first. later they found the problem and replaced: 1. harness p/n 1j0-971-349-hg, 2. holder p/n 1j0-937-617-d, .fuse p/n n-104-249-0. they did not return the parts to me. since no one was sure what caused the problem or if this fixed the problem. i own a volkswagen with only 56622 miles that i could not trust to drive out of town. *ak

Ignition coils on 2003 volkswagen jetta 1.8t continue d to fail every 3-4 months. i have gone through 6 coils in less than one year. numerous times a coil failed while on a major highway, especially while attempting to merge into traffic flow. i could recall twice where i came very close to being rear ended because of this sudden loss of power. the engine light would briefly flash letting me know that the car was having a misfire. the vehicle was taken to the dealership for this and plenty of other problems in the past. the service manager suggested that i do a tune-up on the vehicle only 5,000 miles after one was performed. he could not pinpoint' the problem or duplicate it either. apparently, volkswagen was aware of the problem, but had not taken action to my knowledge. this was something very serious that should be more of a priority to volkswagen considering i have found plenty of articles on this particular problem.*ak

Tl*the contact owns a 2003 volkswagen jetta. while driving 30 mph, the check engine light illuminated. the mechanic stated that the ignition coil was defective. as of june 22, 2007, the vehicle has not been repaired. the vin and engine size were unavailable. the current mileage is 76,000 and failure mileage was 69,000.

Epc light on dash keeps coming on. when on, it is impossible to shift car out park. when at idle and light comes on, idles wildly up and down. when epc light is on, brake lights do not work. *jb

Three out of four of my ignition coils have blown and i have less then 50,000 miles on my car. the dealership admits there is no reason this should be happening, however i have to keep breaking down and getting my car towed in for it to be covered under warranty. this is outrageous they know they are all bad, but if i ask them to fix them i have to pay for it. this is an ongoing problem with my make/model and year. i have contacted volkswagen directly and they will not do anything about it they say and i quote "i'm sorry to hear that" i tell everyone how many problems i have had due to this issue and have deterred at least two people that were considering volkswagens to buy different vehicles. its a shame this is my husband and i's second volkswagen but the car has been towed/or broken down 9 times in less then 3 years, that's not good. once this lease is up we will never deal with volkswagen again. they don't want to do anything to help their customers, and that's a shame. i have done research on the coil issue and there are a lot of people who have encountered this same problem, obviously there is a huge defect and a lot of vehicles were affected. *jb

Dt*: the contact stated while driving in a rural area going 50 mph, the battery light illuminated. the contact pulled off the road to call a tow truck. before the contact could get the call made, the vehicle caught on fire, and burned to the ground. the fire department extinguished the fire, and determined the fire originated from under the hood. prior to the incident, the contact detected a faint smell of rubber burning. there were no problems with the vehicle prior to this incident. the dealership was not notified, but the contact planned to notify them soon. updated 10/17/2006 - *nm

Dt*: the contact stated the vehicle had problems crossing the united states border from canada due to a required certificate of conformity from vw of america stating that the vehicle conformed to us federal motor vehicle safety standards, california air emission regulations and us epa emission regulations. according to the manufacturer, the vehicle met all of the above except the speedometer must be kept in reading mph (which it does), the odometer must be labeled (it is labeled in km), the dashboard brake warning light and antilocking brake system warning light must be marked brake and abs in letters at least 1/8 of an inch high. the vehicle's brake and abs indicators are images , which the contact clearly understands having driven the vehicle for 3 years, and the contact did not understand how changing the images to words can significantly affect the safety of the vehicle. the cost for the replacement of the instrument cluster ranges from $500-700. the vehicle was a 2003 volkswagen jetta wagon tdi.

Bought a volkswagen jetta gls in 2003. several things have had to be replaced. for example the glove box cover, wheel bearing. my mechanic told me that on most newer vehicles that wheel bearings do not require maintenance. my car has 74,000 miles. last week i was driving and my malfunction indicator light started flashing and the car if going over 30 mph cut out. there was a rotten egg smell. it immediately went to the dealership and they said the catalytic converter and 2 coils were faulty. they replaced the catalytic converter and ignition coils for cylinders 1&3 and cleared fault codes. the catalytic converter was replaced under warranty. but said volkswagen feels the ignition coils are a regular maintenance issue. i have done some research and am finding that volkswagen has numerous complaints on the coils. in my research i found that vw had a customer satisfaction letter that was sent out to vw owners to bring car into dealership to replace the coils. vw representative in michigan told me that they stopped doing that in 2005. i believe that i should have not had to pay to replace the ignition coils. vw knows that they have had numerous problems with this. i love my vw but i have had problems this car that i have never had in any other vehicle. i trade vehicles every 3-4 years but will not purchase another volkswagen. not because i have had so many things go wrong because the strange problems i have had with the car and volkswagen doesn't take care of their drivers. *jb

A week before this incident speedometer quit. non vw repair shop replaced speed sensor, this did not fix speedometer problem so they sent me to ny vw dealer who replaced crank sensor. could not even drive car out of their lot after the repair as car was stalling and hesitating. they then said i needed to replace needle lift sensor. i begged them at that point to look for a wiring problem or electrical system problem because i couldn't believe that 3 sensors could all go at once without a system cause. i was told to "trust them" and that they had checked with vw and vw said that was all they could do. "the diagnostic computer said that is all that is wrong" . after week in repair shop vw dealer told me car was "all fixed". 3 days and 300 miles later on i-83 south of harrisburg car began jerking and lurching out of control, then stalled. i was near exit 32 and was able to get off safely, fortunately. had to be towed to vw dealer. now vw dealer in pa tells me car had "coolant migration" which was source of all problems, they think dealer in ny should have caught it. vw is backing ny dealer that they fixed car correctly despite other dealers comment and my near miss with being crashed into by other drivers on i-83. i fail to see how coolant migration happened in 3 days and 300 miles. pa vw dealer says ny dealer should not have missed the coolant migration, and should not have replaced the expensive sensors before repairing the coolant migration problem. i certainly agree since i traveled less than 300 miles and i was just lucky that i was so close to an exit and was able to keep restarting the car and coast off i-83. had i been further away from an exit or in heavier traffic i could easily have been run into by another driver as the car lurched and jerked and stalled. i also fail to understand why vw is not responsible. obviously this problem started while the car was still in warranty -pa dealer said engine was "very corroded" and the wiring was "full of coolant". *jb

My situation is very similar to odi id number : 10136903. i have a 2003 jetta. i was driving about 65 mph, my abs warning light turned on, air bag warning light turned on, and my radio turned off. after stopping my car, it wouldn't start again. i had it towed to mechanic, who determined that my fuse panel (above the battery) had melted and he was very surprised that my car hadn't caught on fire. he replaced the fuse panel. a few days later, my car failed to start again. a jump start started it. next day, my car failed to start again. a jump start started it. i drove it straight to mechanic. my alternator, which was fine last week, is now fried (after two drives), most likely because the fuse panel burnt it out. the alternator in my 2003 jetta is a 90 amp alternator. vw stopped making these because they aren't powerful enough for the cars. i repeat, 90 amp alternators are no longer made for my car because it requires 120 amp alternator. hmm. *nm

I have a 2003 volkswagen jetta tdi gls. i should note that this vehicle has been faithfully serviced by the dealer following the maintenance schedule listed in the user manual. the vehicle currently has 109,000 miles. while driving the vehicle a few days before the incident date listed on this complaint, the a/c ceased to function properly. there was no cool air coming out of the vents. also, when the vehicle was shutdown, the radiator fans would continue to run upwards of 15 minutes. neither event has occurred before. i brought my vehicle in to a vw dealership on the incident date to have its normal 110,000 mile service and to have the issues (noted above) diagnosed. i received a call from the dealership later in the day on the incident date stating that a failure in the coolant level sensor caused coolant fluid to be wicked into the vehicle's wiring harness leading to contamination / corrosion of the engine and body harness. the quote to repair was approximately $6,000. this problem is a latent defect in the design. the service department told me that the vehicle was un-drivable until the repairs are made. the service advisor also confirmed that because the problem was with the harness itself, any electrical component could be affected such as the airbags, abs, srs, etc. also, from my own research i found some people who experienced this problem have also had smoke or fires inside the vehicle. vw issued a technical service bulletin (id# c 97-01-01) for a similar issue on 1999.5 - 2001 model year jettas, but never for the 2003 and never a recall campaign on the defective design. vw has refused to assist in the cost of repair to the vehicle as well. *nm

Addendum to nhtsa action number: dp05004 over the course of the past 11 months, four of the ignition coils in my 2003 jetta gli/ 6cyl have failed. the service dates for each occurrence are: 5-12-06, 8-9-06, 12-26-06 and 4-5-07. upon the third failure in december 2006 i asked if my vw dealer could replace all of the original ignition coils, as clearly a pattern of failure was evident. the dealer indicated that they were only able to replace coils as they failed and that i could contact vw to voice my concern. i contacted vw customer service to request that they replace the remaining 3 coils, to again receive the response that they will replace the coils as they fail, but not proactively. (as long as my car is under warranty.) today the fourth ignition coil failed and i am now outside of my warranty coverage. (warranty ended 2-28-07.) i contacted vw customer service to file another complaint and was instructed that i will be responsible for the repairs as the car is no longer under warranty. upon receiving this information, i researched the issue and found nhtsa action number dp05004, which indicates that vw issued customer service campaigns on 1-31-03, 6-6-03, 12-03 and 1-04 instructing dealers to replace all ignition coil packs in model year 2000-2003 volkswagen jettas. upon finding this information, i called vw customer service again to see if my car would be covered and was informed that my vin was not covered by the csc, as csc's are vin specific, not model/year specific. i would like the nhtsa to re-open action number dp05004. the ignition coil issue is still occurring, and vw is not authorizing dealers to replace all of the suspect ignition coils as indicated when this action number was closed. *jb

As i was pulling out of a grocery store parking lot, my 2003 jetta gli vr6 began to sputter and lose power. engine light came on and would stay lit or start blinking as i tried to drive home. i contacted vw roadside assistance along with my vw dealership (strong vw, slc ut), and they informed me that i must bring it in. seeing that i was barely going to make it home i contacted roadside assistance which was provided with my jetta and they informed me that they could tow it to the nearest vw dealership (not where i originally purchased or had my car serviced) to have it looked at. needless to say it was actually closer for me to drop off the jetta at the nearest dealership rather than take it home, so i did that. i found out the following morning that the ignition coils were bad and needed to be replaced. that was done under warranty and apparently everything was fine. three days later, each and every time i started my jetta a noxious smell would fill the cabin. i reported this to my original dealership and had it in for service to fix the problem. after 5 days of trying to determine what the problem was they informed that since they couldn't duplicate the problem that there was nothing they could do. ironically it hasn't happened since. my major complaint is that in the year and a half that i have owned my jetta, i have had it in for non-traditional or non-scheduled service more than 3 times. my major fear is that when the warranty runs out what will happen next. i have been a loyal vw customer for 20+ years and haven't had this many problems with my previous 4 vw vehicles combined. sadly enough, i possibly may never buy or lease a vw again! *jb

Dt*: the contact stated the engine light illuminated four times. each time the vehicle was taken to the local dealership for inspection and repair. the dealership repair department replaced the glow plug, the relay to the glow plug and the thermostat, however this did not remedy the problem.

Dt: the contact owns a 2003 volkswagen jetty. the contact stated s dashboard control system caught on fire. last night was driving on highway smelled something burning. was not sure what it was. got close to home and smoke was coming out of the dashboard. by the time she got within a block of the house the dashboard was on fire. husband came out with a fire extinguisher. husband used extinguisher on vehicle. called fire department and police departments. they unhooked the battery. fire department gave all clear, but not to try to drive vehicle. they told consumer to take vehicle to volkswagen dealer. this morning called volkswagen, and were in the process of seeing what they could do. husband sustained right leg injuries. customer also complained of eyes burning from smoke. police department and fire department reports taken. no crashes. we had just picked vehicle up from the dealer.*ak

Dt: the consumer was driving on the highway when the abs light and the air bag light came on. she pulled off the road and the vehicle stalled . the vehicle would not start back. the mechanic informed the consumer the alternator cable burned the fuse box and cover. the consumer was concerned that if they same part will be put back on the same thing will happen again. *ak *jb

Dt: 2003 volkswagen jetta diesel tdi. the engine died at 70 mph. the consumer knew it was not the timing belt and believed it to be an electrical problem. the car has an electrical problem with the computer sensor that controls the signals. lights to flash, flashers also with power windows. the consumer took the vehicle to a mechanic and he could find no reason for this to happen. the timing belt is in place and in good condition. *tt *sc *jb

Dt*: the contact stated while driving at 35 mph on normal road condition problems were notice with the traction button for the esp system. the vehicle was taken to the dealership who determined the black brake switch failed. the brake light switch has been replaced for the purple brake light switch twice. the black brake light switch had a recall for 2002 model but does not cover the 2003 models. additional problems are associated with the brake switch, which includes the traction button for the esp system and the park position lever which locks often. also the contact once became stranded on a highway when the vehicle stalled and could not be restarted. the vehicle was towed to the dealership who replaced the ignition coil. all repairs made by the dealership has been covered by the vehicle warranty. the contact expressed concern about brake lights because represents serious safety problem

All dashboard lights illuminated and then the car died within sixty seconds. we were able to re-start the car after sitting for 30 minutes, only to have the same thing re-occur within two miles. there were no warnings, except for the illuminated lights, but this left no time to safely pull to the side of the road. this could have been a very tragic or fatal event if we were not on a local, neighborhood road.*ak

While i was driving on the freeway, suddenly a fire started for no reason from under the passenger glove compartment, burning plastic was dripping to the floor mats. i pulled over to the shoulder, and after several minutes my car was totally on fire. i would like to know if there are other incidents of spontaneous fires for this make and year model.*ak

My brand new 2003 jetta gli failed to start at a shopping center. the car was parked there for only two hours. seems like the battery and ignition switch works, but the engine would not start. called aaa. after 10 minutes and numerous attempts of cranking the engine, he was able to start the car. took car into the delearship. they were not able to duplicate the problem after two days, but put 60 miles on the car.

This is the second time now that my 2003 vw 1.8t jetta would not start when i went to leave for work in the morning. i un-lock the doors with the remote and get in the car, press in on the clutch and turn the key, the headlights, radio, door-chimes and interior lights all come on but the engine will not turn over at all. i only have 8800 miles on the car at this point in time, the first time was about two weeks ago and the dealer can't seem to find anything wrong with it. i don't understand what could possibly be causing the problem except that both time it has been near freezing outside and the car had sat over-night. the first time the dealer had my car for three days, without giving me a loaner car before they told me to come pick it up because they couldn't duplicate the problem. this time they have had my car for two days now, and i haven't even received a phone call from them to let me know about the progress of my vehicle. *la

Vehicle quits running after being driven on the highway for a period of time when coming to a complete stop then attempts to turn left. *la

My brake light swich has been replaced 3 times on my 2003 jetta tdi vw. failure of this switch causes brake light's to either stay on consistently or not turn on at all. loss of turbo in vehicle and can cause loss of power due to battery shut down.*ak

There have been numerous problems with the electrical system in my car. most of which have been unfounded by the dealership. in most cases it is my windows that do not obey comands. if i push the window up button, the windows may roll themselves down or go all the way up instead of just a little bit up. same on the down. sometimes the pinch control will activate itself and the window (which i think is closing) will roll down. this is not a safety concern per say but i am concerned that i may be unaware of the window being down and my dog might jump out causing an accident, or it might draw my attention away from driving while i try to figure out what is going on, again, possibly causing an accident. the car has been in a few times for this problem but the dealership says they "can't duplicate the problem" and refuse to do anything about it. another problem is that the radio stays on sometimes when i am exiting the car, again not a safety issue, but it really lets me believe there is an electrical problem with the car. i have also had a blown fuse-causing the epc-light to come on... it was for the rear brakes. the lights wouldn't turn off after i was out of the car.

Failure of door wiring harness. does not allow me to drive the car - the engin will not engage due to the electronic failure of the door wiring harness. there should be some way to override the electronic failure so that i can drive it.

Ignition coil failure on the 1.8 liter turbo engine for the volkswagen jetta. *jb

Ignition coil on a brand new vw will go bad. i own a 2003 vw jetta 1.8t. ignition coil #3 went out while i was driving on the highway. car just lost power and started to run very rough. brought it in to dealership to repair and was inform that they are aware of this problem and parts are back ordered. shouldn't there be a notice sent out to owners about this problem and it's potential risk?

My wife's 2002 volkswagen jetta has a bad ignition coil. both volkswagen corporation and our local vw dealer, speedcraft in wakefield ri, admitted that they have a coil problem with all 2002 jettas and passats. they further noted to my wife that they do not have enough parts on hand to perform an actual recall. we are demanding that they replace all 4 coils since they know that it is likely that all 4 will eventually fail. they are refusing to do this. we feel it is unacceptable for them to refuse fixing a problem they know will likely occur. such a failure at the wrong time while driving could possibly cause an accident. we are fearing for our safety.

Failure (cracked) of multiple ignition coil packs- causes engine to misfire/sputter- allowable emissions exceeded (mil-light indicator). scc ***dimsii ivoq entry posted after 12/12/02 cut-over to artemis****770863****

Ignition coil packs are faulty on 2002 vw jetta's with 1.8t engines. there are four of these parts on each 1.8t engine. this problem causes the engine to misfire to the point of the car will stall and can not be driven. vw is aware of the problem and has not issued a recall and will only replace the defective coil that fails not all defective coils. owners could be stranded on the roadside and face potential danger. one of my coils failed this january 13, 2003

I have owned a volkswagen jetta (turbo - 2003) and have had one horrible problem after another. without fail, i have taken my vehicle in for random mechanical repairs every few months since purchasing the vehicle. i found out the car was manufactured in mexico and that vw was aware of how bad their car's manufactured in mexico were. if that is the case, how can so many car owners with so many mechanical issues continue to sell in this country? i would like to report vw for lackluster performance and for continuing manufacture in an area well known for its below average standards and for continuing to bleed the consumer when it is fully aware of the issue. *tr

My coil packs seem to be failing, but cannot be reproduced by the dealer. my 2003 jetta 1.8t runs very rough in the morning and then runs fine. i am scared that the coil packs will fail in a critical driving situation.

Numerous times that the engine light has come on my 2003 jetta. first visit was 9/12/02. the others were: 2/21/03, 6/13/03, 10/21/04, 1/6/05, 12/14/05, 12/21/05, 1/9/06, 1/13/06. it is currently on and is waiting for a cat. converter. they charged me to hook up to computer, replaced all coils & spark plugs and the light is still on. *jb