10.0

really awful
Crashes / Fires:
1 / 0
Injuries / Deaths:
1 / 0
Average Mileage:
67,000 miles

About These NHTSA Complaints:

The NHTSA is the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints can be spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem. See the Back button — blue bar at the very top of the page — to explore more.

Get notified about new defects, investigations, recalls & lawsuits for the 1997 Volkswagen Jetta:

Unsubscribe any time. We don't sell/share your email.

problem #2

Jul 242005

Jetta 6-cyl

  • Manual transmission
  • 50,000 miles
I feel like my Jetta is a deathtrap. In the four years that I have owned it, I have had four of the power window mechanisms malfunction. Currently, the front passenger window is stuck shut, and the driver's side back window is stuck open! this is especially concerning because throughout the cold season, at least one, if not all of the doors will not open. People think my boyfriend is being a gentleman, but really, he has to walk around and let me out. This is not the frozen lock phenomenon common to many vehicles- the actual latch mechanism malfunctions. We have been repeatedly trapped in our car and had to climb out the window! the failures are so consistent, so expensive to repair (and the repairs do not last) that we drive around like this because cost of the repairs exceeds the value of the car. Help!

- Denver, CO, USA

Add Complaint
problem #1

Jan 152004

Jetta 4-cyl

  • Automatic transmission
  • 84,000 miles
The vehicle skidded on the snow on a major interstate highway and collided with a guardrail. The airbag should have deployed and did not deploy.

- Milford, CT, USA

Add Complaint