I test drove a reflex silver Jetta GLI VR6 6speed. It was loaded with all options. It felt faster than the 200hp advertised and the engine was almost inline-6-like in TQ and smoothness. It felt so solid and connected. I have $5,000 for downpayment already so I'm going in again on Monday to see if I can get the loan and if they are willing to deal with me. My other option is a lease-to-own, which sounds so nice, but I'll end up paying for more. My biggest fear with this car is long-term reliability, which makes leasing the car for 36months more interesting.

 

Don't know about the Jetta, Passats's seem to have an inumerable amoumt of TSB'S issued in the past. Audi's(same engines and electronics) are famous for being electronically defective. You might try searching for VW sites and inquire there. Test drove a V6 Jetta in 2000, hella F#$cking fast. Looks well put together, think I'll wait for a German car til I can buy a three or a five series.

 

Had a Passat, have friends with Porsches, Audis, BMWs, etc and it seems to be the same complaint...The engine, transmission,road feel, fit and finish are second to none but the horrendous and numerous electrical issues are expensive to troubleshoot and repair.

Most people can afford to buy a Bavarian automobile but can you afford to keep it?

For my next car I was shooting for an new M3 or used M5 but I am worried about those same issues. I may have to go back to a Honda unless the Germans car-makers start to hire Japanese electrical engineers. (Maybe the Japanese car-makers will start to hire German mechanical engineers)

 

traitor

 

My Mom and two coworkers all have Jetta's. All three have had problems with the window motors. One of my coworkers had to have the motor for the same door replaced three times. My Mom's also had a lot of problems where the the car would go through periods of running rough that started only a few months after she bought it. Dealer couldn't find the problem. Of course it didn't present itself while it was there. Eventually it would go away for a few weeks then start up again. Weird. But hey her car is a blast to drive and toss around.

 

For what it's worth, back in 84 I bought a new GTI when they were fairly new to the market. It was a blast to drive. Pretty well built as well. I didn't drive it too hard, but I did have some fun with it. However at less than 40k miles, I ended up needing a new clutch and a bunch of front end work done. Very dissappointing considering I've had a Toyota Celica; 4x4 pickup and Datsun 240z that went into the 100k range on the original clutch. I know that was quite a while ago, but I still hear things about the durability of some of the Euro cars. Just my 2 cents worth! Good luck!

 

could not have said it any better , those power windows are something that VW hasnt been able to get right since day 1, they always fry.

 

We just put our deposit on a new 337 GTI. Should be here this week. I am hoping for the best with this car for the lady. The issue with VW is, you get a perfect car, or one that has problems, and there is no in-between. I am hoping because there is only 1500 of these cars coming the attention to detail will be better, but prolly not.

The .org version for the dubbers is www.vwvortex.com Lots of good info there. Good luck.

 

my friend has a 2000 VR6 jetta and i must say its very smooth and quiet. Not nearly as much power as my max, but not a bad ride. However, i have to say that he has had numerous problems with YES the windows and many other little things like the glove box door breaking and the ash tray...but its still not bad performance-wise and that was before the engine upgrade.

 

German cars are very reliable from my experience. My parents own nothing but germans cars and they are far more reliable than my Maxima. Our old E320 went into the shop for one fix, which was a stuck A/C button. My moms current 330i has been in the shop also once for a tranny software update over 2 years. My Maxima has spent SO much time in the shop in the 2 years that I have owned it. It has so much stuff replaced/fixed I cant remember all of it.

 

Both of my friends who own Jettas have this same problem and it's never been corrected. One's been in three times and one twice. One of my friends has had even more reliability problems with the car, and it really doesn't feel as together and solid as a German car should.

 

The window issues were fixed for 2002. 2001 and before they had issues with that. The manufacture switched for 2002 to a different manufacture for some of its electrical components.

 

A friend of mine had a '00 Jetta GLS 1.8T In the year he owned it, he never had a single problem with it.