2002 Jetta GLS 1.8T Manual reliability?

[airniqueel]

Hey everyone. It's my first time posting here, so please bear with me as I continue to acclimate myself to the rules of this forum.

Currently, I drive a 1993 Honda Civic EX, and it is now close to the end of its life. It has about 170K miles, and when I bought it, it had about 136K miles.

Anyways, I was interested in the Jetta and have been keeping my eye on it for like the past few years. I've done alot of reading about the reliability of this car and am really confused about the tales I've read.

Alot of the reviews I've read all seem to be negative. It seems that everyone complains about the coils, windows falling into doors, electrical problems (e.g. warning lights staying on), and many more. After reading many of these reviews, it seems that alot of them are biased. I mean, if I had a great experience with a product, I probably wouldn't go online and brag about it. However, if I had a really bad experience with the same product, I would make an active effort to tell everyone about it. So I'm guessing that many of the happy owners of 2002 Jettas are not really spreading their stories.

My dad has basically given me a budget of $12000 to buy any car of my choice. He probably won't spend more than that amount. Hence, I've been looking at the 2002 GLS 1.8t 5-speed since I want manual in my next car. What are your experiences with this version of the Jetta?

I have a very strict attitude when it comes to maintenence. I perform oil changes every 7000 miles since my Honda is running on fully synthetic oil. I'm not really into "modding" cars since I don't have that much money. In general, I take very good care of my Honda, but the previous owner didn't really do anything. What can I expect from a VW Jetta? I really dont' wanna buy the 2002 jetta and then end up spending alot of money on repairs. Obviously, I'll show the used car to a mechanic prior to purchasing, but I want to make sure that a Jetta can last me a while (at least up to 150k miles).

Any insight would be appreciated. Thanks guys.

[Giuseppeb]

Ok here's my two cents....
I am a long time owner of VW autos, I bought a 91 16v GTI and loved it up until the day it was stolen and stripped. It had 175k mile on it, with an original clutch and the only things I had to replace/repair were the brakes and front wheel bearings (the bearings lasted about 75k). Also I put new exhaust on it around 120k miles.
When the car was stolen I looked for something I really wanted but there was nothing out there so I bought a 2001 VW Jetta 1.8T (Wolfsburg Edition). I still own it today. I have 70k miles on it and overall I am satisified with the car. However, having said that, I am NOWHERE near as satisifed with this one as I was with my GTI. Mostly this is due to little annoyances the car has had from the beginning to the issues that you raised. The window mechanism in these things SUCK! The one-touch up and down goes out of whack often, and if you use the key on the outside drivers door to roll up or down all the windows (remember the commercial???), you can bet the one-touch feature will get screwed up. Also the air conditioning vents on the outside of the dash (the driver and the passenger side ones) are pathethic in thier output. Even if I close the center vents the air does not come out anywhere near as hard as it should. There are some other annoyances as well, but suffice it to say I learned to live with them.
Enough background, here's the real deal. I have had the following break:

Hazard switch on dash (around 20k) - which causes you to lose brake lights and turn signals as well as in dash lights. 75.00 (recall issued on this 2 yrs ago)
Ignition coils were replaced during 30k checkup under recall, although I never had a problem with them before or since.
Brake light switch broke around 35k- cnat remember the cost to fix, but a subsequent recall was issued on this last year.
Now lets talk about the windows....grrrrrrr I have replaced both the driver and the passenger side window units, drivers side twice, passenger side once. Each time, doing the work myself, it cost me 175.00 for the unit. (The only thing that breaks is a little 2.00 plastic cable guide, but you cannot buy just that part.) The replacement units do not come with speakers in them, you must drill out your old ones and re-rivet them into the new ones. The latest window unit I bought appears to be a revised design in that the whole cable guide is different. works the same. I have not yet seen any recall on this to date, but obviously VW has issued a Tech Bulletin (for dealer service departments, not the public) for this and has revised the design. I am going on 10k miles with the new window units and hope to never have to replace them again, but I am not betting on it.

So there it is, my experience with the Jetta. Overall I am pleased with the performance (no mods done or anything), I love the heated seats, I am not thrilled with the stereo but for most people it is fine, under the hood I have had no problems yet- other than the coils mentioned before.

Bottom line: I would NOT purchase this car had I the chance to do it all over again. In fact my next car will probably NOT be a VW, I am sad to say.

p.s. "wolfsburg Edition" is/was supposed to be the version made in Germany for US consumers (Or so I am told by enthusiasts), however it appears from everything I have replaced or looked at....Made in Mexico like all the rest

Giuseppe

[andresmoreyra21]

bud, i loved VW up to the MK4's came out , MY jetta broke dowon and i need more than its worth to fix it, i'll never come back to VW's no matter what, they are too sensible and the repairs tend to be very expensive, even for a DIY guy , because of the special tools required to work on this things, If i were u I'll stick with a Honda