2.4

hardly worth mentioning
Crashes / Fires:
0 / 0
Injuries / Deaths:
0 / 0
Average Mileage:
64,100 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 2003 Volkswagen Jetta:

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

problem #2

Jan 142008

Jetta 4-cyl

  • Automatic transmission
  • 67,000 miles
Recently the radio in my 2003 Volkswagen Jetta wolfsburg edition stopped working. At first the radio station was displayed but I was unable to get any buttons to work except the eject button, the volume knob, and the on/off button. The last radio station I listened to was displayed but no sound could be heard. I started to look for help on the internet, possibly a fuse or something simple but what I found was completely the opposite. According to several websites, the radio has an internal defect which fries the radio when the battery starts to get weak. I work at a Cadillac dealership so I tested the battery and it tested marginal. I checked with a couple VW dealerships and they both told me I would have to replace the radio. I just received my aftermarket radio, which I ordered after hearing horror stories of replacing the radio with an oem unit and having them go bad again the next time the battery went dead. I still have the oem radio, and will hang on to it for while.

- Sturgis, SD, USA

problem #1

Jul 272006

Jetta 4-cyl

  • Automatic transmission
  • 61,200 miles
Out of no where my radio on my 2003 Volkswagen Jetta wagon stopped working. All I got was static on my radio. After reviewing several VW forums, I found out that my radio antenna had corroded inside. I took it apart and cleaned all the corrosion and found that the main wire on the circuit board was broke. I had to solder a new wire onto it. Many VW owners are complaining about this same problem, but Volkswagen will not do anything about it. A antenna should not go bad in a three year old car.

- Marlette, MI, USA