4.2

definitely annoying
Crashes / Fires:
0 / 0
Injuries / Deaths:
0 / 0
Average Mileage:
28,000 miles

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problem #2

Aug 012005

GTI 6-cyl

  • Manual transmission
  • 30,000 miles
I have taken my '03 Gti VR6 to the dealer 3 times for the same complaint. When it is raining, there is a squealing noise coming from the passenger side of the car. Dealer could not replicate the problem each time I brought the car to them. They said that it could be the belt but it would not be covered under warranty. I replaced the belt myself and I still get the squealing noise, even with belt dressing. I have also noticed a decrease in engine power when the squealing noise is occurring. My most recent problem now is my speedometer and fuel gauge stop working intermittently. The speedo will be reading my current speed and then drop to zero, bounce back up and back down to zero, up a little bit more and then stay at zero until the next time I drive the car. Seems to do this only on trips greater than 20 minutes.

- Oxnard, CA, USA

problem #1

Jun 082004

GTI 4-cyl

  • Manual transmission
  • 26,000 miles
The clutch slowly started to slip when trying to move forward eventually the engine would rev at very high rpms with very little forward movement in the car. After much reading, this seems to be a very common problem. My car only had 26,000 miles on it. It is a daily commuter driven mostly on the freeway which should mean very little clutch wear. I took it to a shop to replace it with a more "sturdy" clutch made of ceramic since it was out of warranty already. Approximately 8 months after the clutch was replaced the suddenly stuck in first gear and would not shift out. After taking it to the dealer again, they determined it was most likely the transmission, once they pulled it apart they said the clutch was bad again. This leads me to believe the design of the car is causing these problems, not my driving or normal "wear and tear".

- Sandy, UT, USA