please advise your experience with 2002 & 2003 Jetta

2002 and up Jettas come with a 4 year, 50,000 mile warranty - bumper to bumper. 2001 was the last year to have the 2 year warranty. No MAJOR inherent problems come to mind off the top of my head... gimme time, tho! : )

2002 had the old window regulator clips that fail and have a 7 year warranty extension in the US. But a 2002 GL model should have manual windows that don't seem to fail as often.

If there are no service records, the warranty is less likely to be honored for things which the scheduled maintenance affects.

Rob, I know you're in Canada, so I don't know how the feature list differs, but my U.S. '03 GL Wagon has power windows, the optional Monsoon system (I think CD comes even on the regular stereo), and you could not get a sunroof without going to the GLS. The '03 warranty is three years bumper-to-bumper and 12 years anti-corrosion.

sd

Be careful when using Consumer Reports ratings. IMHO, that little mark (no matter what color it is) grossly oversimplifies things. For one thing, CR does not take what many would consider to be a legitimate sample of owners. They poll their own subscribers, whom you would imagine would be more critical of how well things work, but I've read posts from many CR subscribers who wrote that they tossed their survey in the trash. That makes the validity of the sample questionable in my mind.

And then there's what goes into each little (black) mark. That mark does not differentiate between a problem that is a nuisance (car tires squeal while cornering) or one that is life-threatening (car rolls over while cornering). They don't even differentiate between problems that come direct from the factory and those introduced by service people. A problem is a problem is a problem. They all get equal weight. I don't think that's a good way to look at it.

Look, I won't tell you VWs are trouble-free. I've owned too many to say that. But CR's survey and reporting methodology paints with a _very_ broad brush. As a prospective buyer, you owe it to yourself to dig deeper (as you are doing here).

AS for my own '03 Jetta, the only situation I've encountered that could be considered common is that my car still had the plastic window clips that broke easily, but 1) they were replaced proactively with metal ones; and 2) VW warrants those parts special, for seven years.

Other than that, pretty happy motoring ...

sd

but my U.S. '03 GL Wagon has power windows

Yup. P/W became standard on US Jetta/Golf GLs a couple of years ago but not on Canadian ones.

That also was a change around the same time as the windows. Sunroof used to be optional on GL and GLS, now standard on GLS and N/A on GL.

The Jetta GL I drove was a 99.5 - I maybe should have mentioned that... and yah, Canadian cars seem to able to be had in more "stripped" form. This Jetta GL had no centre armrest, cheaper seat material, roll up windows... but power locks :-)... Beginning to think it didn't have a sunroof either, but I think it did - could have been the Jetta GLS i'm thinking of (it's been a year... and the company had 4 VW's to choose from... soo....). Maybe the GL here has a lot of options.

Another point to mention... The MAFs on the TDI's, at least in Canada were volunarily recalled by the company - VW Canada is paying reimburements if you fill in a form availible at the dealer... we got several hundred dollars back.

That depends on model. The Passat is currently available in GL form in the US, but the GLS is the "base model" in Canada.

I had a 99 Jetta which was delivered the first week of the new models (mid-November 98), a 2001 Jetta, and a 2002 Jetta I got at the end of the model year 2 years later. My wife has a 2004 Golf now. There have been MANY incremental improvements and changes since 99.

Jim B.

Please tell me about this 7 year warranty extension? Whom do I buy this warranty extension from? Local dealer or VW factory? Can a second hand owner buy this warranty extension? Is these warranty extension works like factory warranty or insurance? Please tell me more? Thank you.

The front window regulator 7 year warranty extension in the US was given by VWoA at no additional cost to owners of 1999-2002 a4 Golf / Jetta. Contact VWoA for details (and to inform them of your purchase of a used VW if you buy one -- they need to know that you own it in case of recalls or warranty extensions).

I called VW dealer in Sunnyvale today. They told me this extended warranty is offer by third party insurance company. It has nothing to do with VW factory warranty, nor VW dealer nor VWoA.

The windows regulator clip and mass airflow sensor warranty extensions come from VWoA. Call VWoA for details. Note that these are not "general" extended warranties; they cover only those specific parts that had a high rate of failure.

I'm not too sure about that. The window-clip problem existed since the A4s came out in mid-99. Why should my car, built four years later, still have the same crappy plastic parts they were now replacing left and right? FTM, A2 owners (* raises hand *) battled the "use-'em-or-lose-'em" outside door handles for years -- well after a Toyota or Honda or even Ford would have replaced them as a customer-unfriendly liability. And let's not forget the 1.8 engine ignition pack debacle, in which VW could not get enough replacement parts from its supplier to "proactively" replace them before cars stranded their drivers.

I'll grant that I would have been ticked off to hear "we'll fix your windows when they break" (though that _is_ what ignition-pack customers heard). But I don't believe that VW has done anything heroic in responding to these failures. If anything, something inside the company enables these situations. And it really gives VW a black eye.

sd

So, when I check a 2002-2003 Jetta GL from 3rd party seller, I should check:

1. window-clip problem - please tell me where to find more detail on what to look at?
2. outside door handles
3. MAF/coils/window regulators - please tell me where to find more detail on what to look at for this problem.
4. any thing else? Thank you.

I don't have much information on how to check #1 yourself. It will involve removing the door panel from inside the door; I don't know how eager most sellers will be to have you do that. In addition, VW has applied a seven-year warranty to the affected cars that addresses that problem. I'd leave that alone.

#2 applied to the model two generations previous to this one and is not an issue with the cars you're considering.

For more information on #3, I suggest you fire up your favorite Web search engine and type in VW MAF or VW coil or something like that. I'm sure there will be oceans of information -- too much to capsulize in this ng.

If you are considering a diesel Jetta at all, I'd make sure to spend some time at

. It's everything you could ever want to know about TDI VWs -- and more. Otherwise, you could check out . Please remember when reading on these sites that there's barely a car out there that _requires_ some of the attention lavished on them by devotees, and that bad news travels much faster than good news, so you'll likely read more from unhappy people than the ones who quietly enjoy their VWs every day. sd

A few more points: The car is great for crashes. Compare its weight to a similar competitor, it's heavier by about 15-20%. Great for crashes, the three airbags per person in the front really protect a person. The Chevy Blazer did not do as well as the VW Jetta. Neither driver was hurt however.

Check with your insurance company, you may find liability somewhat cheaper for a Jetta than other comparable cars.

If you're not a do-it-yourselfer, maintenance could be expensive.

If there aren't good maintenance records for the car, don't buy it.

CR was biased years ago towards VW's, I think because they were small cars - fuel economy, etc (environmentalists) long after VW's were obviously a problem. Now it's the other way.

VW handled the coil packs., window regulators, etc poorly and has an attitude of the consumer be da...d. They will not admit a mistake or problem.

Great car, will buy another when the time comes.

Good luck.

As for the air bags, my daughter's Volvo hit a post in the parking lot caused all air bags deploy. To replace the airbags, seat belts (internal triggered also deploy) and electronic sensors are too expensive meaning the car is totaled.