1997 Volkswagen Golf problems

Filed Aug 10, 2009 · Visibility · 208,800 miles · NY

I was driving at night bringing a friend home and as I was approaching an off ramp, I felt something burning on my legs. I looked down to try to see what it was and when I looked up, my windshield was completely covered in fog. Thankfully there was a shoulder on the exit, so I pulled over and shut the car off and did some investigating. There was a small stream of coolant coming down from behind my dash, and onto the floor. If there had been traffic I don't know what I would have done but, I had to call another friend and come get us at 12:30am on the side of the highway. I did some investigating online and searched for recalls, and I found that the mark 2 jettas and golfs had a heater core recall. I did some further investigating and found out that the mark 2 heatercores and the mark 3 heatercores have the same part number - so why is there not a recall for the mark 3's? There are many people online and on a forum called vwvortex.com where there is at least 40+ reported issues in that small community alone. (http://forums.vwvortex.com/zerothread?id=1593587&page=9).

Filed Aug 30, 2005 · 81,000 miles · NC

Air conditioning is leaking condensation into the car, fogging up front window and compromising visibility. Floorboard is soaked with water, clouding windows.

Filed Mar 10, 2005 · Transmission · 80,000 miles · CA

Transmission will not shift when needed into higher gears, and sometimes falls out of the proper gear and into a lower gear when it's not supposed to, causing engine to rev way too high while on the freeway. Car does not run properly as a result, and I can't really drive it until it's fixed. I tried to have volkswagon fix the known problem, but they refused.

Filed Mar 9, 2005 · Transmission · CA

Transmission failed while shifting. Driver pulled over, and noticed that transmission light flashed on and off. The vehicle was towed to the dealer, and mechanic determined that transmission needed to be replaced due to the housing shaft.

Filed Jun 23, 2004 · Body · NJ

While inspecting the vehicle consumer noticed four doors' molding separated from vehicle. Consumer glued molding on twice, but problem recurred. Dealership and manufacturer were contacted.

Filed Apr 22, 2004 · Transmission · CT

Automatic transmission, when the engine is "cold" the transmission does not shift in to gear properly. It usually gets stuck between gears, if you step on the gas at the time between gears the car will buck violently as it shifts. Even though it has happend many times I will list the date it happened last.

Filed Jan 6, 2004 · Locks · 30,000 miles · IN

Automatic door lock intermittently malfunctioned in cold temperatures. Door knob popped up, but the door failed to open automatically or manually. As a result, consumer was trapped in or locked out of the vehicle. The cause of the failure had not been determined.