2001 VOLKSWAGEN JETTA Complaints

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

IN NOV 2003, OUR 2001 JETTA TDI WOULD NOT SHIFT OUT OF PARK, CAUSING MYSELF AND MY SONS NUMEROUS TIMES TO BE STRANDED. THE PROBLEM WAS INTERMITTENT. AL SANCHEZ VW IN GILROY, CA, DIAGNOSED A SHIFTER PROBLEM AND REPLACED IT. THE PROBLEM PERSISTED. I CONTINUED TO DISCUSS IT WITH AL SANCHEZ VW, EVEN LEAVING IT WITH THEM FOR ONE WEEK TO DRIVE. I WAS TOLD THE PROBLEM WAS INTERMITTENT AND THEY COULD NOT DUPLICATE THE PROBLEM, THERE WAS NOTHING THEY COULD DO. SEVERAL WEEKS AGO, THE PROBLEM AGAIN OCCURRED. I PHONED A TOW COMPANY WHO NOTED THE VEHICLE STUCK IN PARK AND MENTIONED THE BRAKE INVOLVEMENT. AFTER TURNING OFF THE CAR AND FUSSING WITH THE BRAKE/SHIFTER, IT ENGAGED. THE NEXT MORNING, I PHONED AL SANCHEZ AND WAS TOLD THAT IT SHIFTED FINE. LATER THAT DAY, I WAS TOLD THAT IT GOT A LITTLE STICKY.THEY DIAGNOSED THE BRAKE LIGHT SWITCH. I HAVE SPOKE TO SERVICE ADVISORS AND THE SERVICE MANAGER. THEY MAINTAIN THE POSITION THAT THE SHIFTER NEEDED REPLACING IN NOV 2003, AND NOW THE BRAKE LIGHT SWITCH NEEDS REPLACING. I AM OF THE OPINION THAT THE PROBLEM WAS NOT CORRECTED. SINCE THE PROBLEM CONTINUED TO PERSIST, THIS DOES NOT SEEM TO BE AN UNREASONABLE ASSESSMENT. ON 2/21/04, I DOWNLOADED INFO FROM YOUR SIGHT. THERE WERE TWO RECALLS FOR MY CAR. TODAY, 3/31/04, THERE ARE THREE, INCLUDING AN EXTERIOR LIGHTING;BRAKE LIGHTS;SWITCH. I DECIDED TO CHECK THIS SITE TODAY ONLY BECAUSE DURING DURING ONE OF MY MORE RECENT CONVERSATIONS TO NHTSA, I WAS INFORMED THAT THERE WERE THREE RESULTS. I HAVE NOT CONFIRMED IF MY VEHICLE IN ONE INCLUDED IN THIS RECALL. IF MY VIN IS NOT ON THE RECALL LIST, THIS IS TOO MUCH OF A COINCIDENCE TO OVERLOOK. ALSO, THE LACK OF COOPERATION OF AL SANCHEZ VW AND VOLKSWAGON ADVOCATES CANNOT BE OVERLOOKED AS WELL. IDEALLY, I WOULD LIKE THE REPAIR COST OF THE SHIFTER REFUNDED TO ME AND THE RECALL TO COVER MY SHIFTING PROBLEM. *AK

I WAS TOLD TODAY BY THE VW DEALERSHIP THAT I NEED A NEW CLUTCH, PRESSURE PLATE, AND FLYWHEEL FOR MY 2001 VW JETTA 1.8T IT ONLY HAS 33,249 MILES ON IT. I HAVE BEEN DRIVING CARS AND P/U TRUCKS WITH CLUTCHES SINCE 1972. I BELIEVE THIS IS A DEFECT IN WORKMANSHIP BY THE VW MANUFACTURER. I WAS TOLD IT WILL COST $1,555.00 IN PARTS AND LABOR. *JB

WHILE DRIVING, THE CLUTCH DIED. *PH AFTER BEING TOLD THE REPAIRS WOULD NOT BE COVERED UNDER WARRANTY, THE CONSUMER DID SOME RESEARCH AND DISCOVERED THERE WERE MANY COMPLAINTS OF FAULTY PRESSURE PLATES. *JB

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

I AM COMPLAINING ABOUT THE CLUTH ON MY 2001 JETTA 1.8T. AT APPROXIMATELY 5100 MILES (MAY 2003) I HAD THE CLUTCH BURN OUT. VW REPLACED IT UNDER WARRANTY. LESS THAN 100 MILES LATER (JUNE 2003) THAT REPLACEMENT CLUTCH BURNT OUT. VW AGAIN REPLACED IT BUT SAID THAT THEY WOULD NOT COVER ANY OTHER PROBLEMS RELATED TO THE CLUTCH. I WAS TOLD THAT THIS HAPPENED BECAUSE MY DAUGHTER DIDN'T KNOW HOW TO DRIVE A MANUAL TRANSMISSION. SHE LEARNED TO DRIVE IN 1996 ON AN OMNI WITH MANUAL TRANSMISSION AND HAS BEEN DRIVING MANUAL TRANSMISSIONS FOR ALL BUT TWO YEARS SINCE THAT TIME. SINCE WE GOT THE VW JETTA OUT OF THE SHOP LAST JUNE I HAVE BEEN THE DRIVER OF THE VEHICLE AND HAD THE CLUTCH BURN OUT AGAIN ON 15 MARCH 2004. I HAVE BEEN DRIVING NUMEROUS VEHICLES IN THE LAST 35 YEARS AND HAVE NEVER BURNT UP A CLUTCH. THE JETTA STILL HAS LESS THAT 12,000 MILES ON IT. THIS MAKES FOR REPLACEMENT OF THE CLUTCH 3 TIMES SINCE I BOUGHT THE VEHICLE NEW IN AUGUST 2001.*AK

WHILE DRIVING 25 MPH DRIVER'S SIDE DOOR AND WINDOW AIR BAGS DEPLOYED INADVERTENTLY. DRIVER WAS ABLE TO MAINTAIN CONTROL OF THE VEHICLE, AND DROVE IT TO THE DEALER FOR INSPECTION. *AK *MR

JETTA SUFFERED A FAILURE WHERE THE CLUTCH PLATE SHATTERED AND THE PRESSURE PLATE FAILED. THE CLUTCH PLATE DID NOT SHOW DRASTIC WEAR, THE WEAR LINE ON THE CLUTCH PLATE WERE STILL VISIBALE. VW CONSIDERED THIS NORMAL WEAR AND TEAR. I BELIEVE THAT THE PART WAS DEFECTIVE. *AK

READ BRAKE PADS WORE OUT PREMATURLEY. WHEN TAKEN TO THE DEALER FOR SERVICE AND NOTIFIED THEM OF THAT WE HEARD GRINDING AND BOISE IN THE REAR, THEY WERE QUITE SURPRISED. THIS RESULTED IN $283.05 IN PARTS AND LABOR TO REPLACE THE PADS.*AK PARTS 1J0-615-601-C (2) AND 160-698-451-D (1)

CLUTCH WENT BAD VERY EARLY IN LIFE OF AUTO. EXPERIENCED MANUAL DRIVER. CLUTCH SEEMED TO GO BAD IN ONE DAY FROM NOTHING WRONG TO CAR NOT DRIVEABLE. VW REPLACED FLYWHEEL WITH UPGRADED PART PROVING THAT OLD PART WAS UNRELIABLE. *AK CAR HAD JUST BEEN IN FOR 40,000 MILE COMPLETE CHECK-UP WITH PASSING COLORS.