7.2
pretty bad- Crashes / Fires:
- 0 / 0
- Injuries / Deaths:
- 0 / 0
- Average Mileage:
- 7,937 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.
Early clutch failure. We just replaced the clutch on 2002 Jetta at 51,000 miles. She owned other manual transmission cars and did not replace the clutch this early with one exception, a Volkswagen, fox. Was this a pattern, maybe.
- San Diego, CA, USA
Whilst driving I experienced a problem changing gears - stiffness getting car into low gears. Car was towed into local VW dealer. I was informed that the clutch was worn out. The car is 2 1/2 years old with 16,000 miles on the clock. VW (dealer and VW of America customer care) claim that this is due to "wear and tear" and the result of the driver not knowing how to drive stick shift ! I've driven manual transmissions for the last 17 years (every car I have owned was manual transmission) from the research I've done this seems to be a common issue with the 1.8T Jetta.
- Atlanta, GA, USA
2002 VW Jetta 1.8T - I sure you have heard of the clutch problems my clutch has gone out now at only 27,000 miles. Visit myvwlemon.com and you will see hundreds of stories of the same problem, also on vwvortex.com even car and drive wrote about it. The clutch needs to be recalled I am willing to get even more names of people with the same problem and can have hundrends of complaints within days if needed.
- West Jordan , UT, USA
My vehicle was repurchased by vwoa (Volkswagen of America) from the first owner for a recall problem. When I purchased this vehicle it came with an all inclusive 12 month/12,000 mile warranty and then the rest of the 4 year/50,000 mile warranty. At 11,700 miles the clutch starting sticking and wouldn't shift, the car also would go to high rpms when accelerating, even if only a little. The next day, I got out to get gas and I smelled burning. I looked under the hood and I could tell something was burnt. I called VW first thing Monday morning and had it towed to them. They told me that the car "may be" under warranty. I have a document that clearly states that it is. They contacted their service rep, fred hingle, and was told that if it was not "wear and tear" that it would be covered. Well VW tore the car apart, and affirmed that it must be wear and tear, do to the burnt clutch and flywheel. After this I did some research and found that many people at myvwlemon.com have had problems with the clutch going out at 9,000 to 26,000 miles, including car and driver guide, who test drove the Jetta and had the clutch go out at 26,000 miles, and these are professional drivers! they told me the repairs would total $1551 dollars almost 10% of what I paid for the car. Mr. Hingle the corporate rep refuses to speak with me. I believe the clutch used in this model and year is indeed defective and vwoa refuses to disclose it.
- Kalamazoo, MI, USA
I had both the passenger side window and the driver side window fall into the door frame within a matter of months. Both times the windows were fixed, however, they were reluctant to fix the problem as if it had been my fault. I have a small child and I don't think he appreciates asphyxiation from so much wind in his face on the long drives to the dealer to be replaced. This is just one of the problems on this car, the clutch gets stuck (repaired twice), the sunroof trim broke off and needed to be replaced, the engine makes a rattling noise when shifting (fixed twice), stereo system swallowed my cd (twice before new system installed), and air conditioning releases an awful moldy smell when turned on which dealer refuses to attempt to fix. Bought car in valencia Volkswagen in valencia, ca. Solution simple, traded in my 1yr old car for a better car, one that works!
- Palmdale, CA, USA
Clutch kept slipping, dealer replaced clutch assembly.
- Hayward, CA, USA
While shifting gears clutch goes out without warning. Clutch system has been repaired 3 times. Dealer still cannot identify cause.
- Fair Oaks, CA, USA
- Los Angeles, CA, USA