My jetta stalls without warning when the gas gauge is at a quarter of a tank or less. No engine check light or any other any other device comes on to warn me it is going to stall. My speed does not matter. It happens at freeway speeds or around town. It does not occur if the gas gauge shows more than 1/4 of a tank of fuel. I do not know if it is an electrical problem, a fuel propulsion problem or an engine problem. From reading volkswagon forums, this is a very common problem with volkswagons of different years, including the new Tiguans. I'm sure there have been many fatalities as a result of this defect. I am surprised volkswagon has not been forced to repair this dangerous, life threatening problem before now! Maybe, a class action law suit involving products liability, merchantability, and fitness for a particular use would benefit not only owners, but the general public at large. I believe it is your duty to protect the general public from manufactures who place dangerous, defective products in the stream of commerce. Your action is required, and demanded. The first time ocurred right after I purchased the car in 2019. It has stalled many times since then, before I realized I needed to keep the fuel tank at least 1/2 full at all times. Keeping it 1/2 full at all times greatly deminishes the range of travel before I have to refill. It is inconvenient and expensive since fuel has to be purchased at places other the most economical place I usually purchase my gasoline. Thank you
2003 Volkswagen Jetta electrical problems
97 complaints (21% of all complaints for this car). Typical mileage when it fails: 78,203. 1 crash reported.
- owner complaints
- 97
- of this car's complaints
- 21%
- typical mileage
- 78,203
- crashes
- 1
- recalls
- 0
Which part fails
- Ignition14
- Wiring: interior/under dash3
- Wiring: fuses and circuit breakers3
- Instrument cluster/panel3
- Ignition: module3
- Alternator/generator/regulator2
- 12v/24v/48v battery2
- Wiring: front underhood1
At what mileage
Complaints by mileage at the time of the problem.
Volkswagen Jetta electrical problems in other years
Specific symptoms reported on the 2003 Volkswagen Jetta electrical
Phrases found in the owners' own descriptions, so one complaint can mention several symptoms.
Related recalls
No recalls on record for this model year.
Related investigations
Engine stalling
By letter received on june 24, 2005, mr. Ronald m. Strickland of raleigh, nc, submitted a petition requesting that the agency investigate the performance of the ignition coil plugs on model year (my) 2000-2003 volkswagen jetta, golf and passat sedans.the petitioner alleges that he had experienced multiple stalling events as a result of one or more ignition coil plugs malfunctioning on his 2002 vw jetta sedan.as a result of the engine stalling, the petitioner experienced a loss of power steering and increased braking efforts when he pulled the vehicle over to the side of the road to control the vehicle.after a few minutes parked on the shoulder he was able to restart the vehicle although the engine operated at reduced power.vw issued a customer satisfaction campaign (csc) on january 31, 2003 to instruct their dealerships to inspect the vehicles for any malfunctioning ignition coil packs and to replace them at no cost to the consumer.consumers were notified to bring their vehicles to their dealerships via owner letters mailed out on june 6, 2003.while vw initially instructed the dealerships to only replace the malfunctioning ignition coil packs, a revised csc was issued to dealerships in december 2003 and january 2004, instructing dealerships to replace all ignition coil packs regardless of their performance.a reminder to the dealerships was sent by vw on april of 2004.although the concerns of the petitioner could theoretically create a safety problem, the risk is very small, due to the engine still running on either 3, 5, or 7 cylinders.there are no reported crashes or injuries due to the alleged defect.once drivers are aware of the problem (loss of power due to one of the ignition coil packs malfunctioning), drivers are able to take precautionary and compensatory measures and still maintain control of their vehicles.in addition, four fires were reported to odi.these were ignition coil burnouts with no additional damage to the vehicle and were localized on top of the engine. During the last 24 months the number of stall and drivability complaints reported to odi has greatly diminished from a peak of 195 in january of 2003 to only 3 in august of 2005.this coincides with the csc released by vw.a safety-related defect trend has not been identified at this time and further use of agency resources does not appear to be warranted.the closing of this investigation does not constitute a finding by the federal safety agency that no safety-related defect exists.the agency reserves the right to take further action if warranted by the circumstances.
DP05004
What 2003 Volkswagen Jetta owners say
Most recent owner complaints, unedited.
Right passenger side window is blocked inside door
My car got hacked my charlie miller and chris valasek was seen over at my neighbors house on 4/29/2017 and my ex boss chris stutz jr is in charge of all the break in of my house and cars edwardsville police will not do anything because the police are friend of them I hope I don't get killed over these hacks but if that's what it will take to do anything about it
The fuse box on top of the battery melted due to overheating from the alternator cable. No excessive electrical load has been placed on the battery. Just normal use of the car causes this to melt.
When I was sitting in the driver's seat with the heated seat option turned to a 5 (high), while the car was warming up, I noticed some smoke coming from the right side of the seat. The heated seat started to burn through the cloth cover directly where my metal jacket zipper was making contact with the cloth seat surface. I immediately poured water on the seat to ensure a fire didn't start. I have not attempted to use the seat heaters since this incident.
Drivers side seat heater ignited burning through seat trim and burning driver while operating vehicle. This occurred in a seat that the dealer indicated they had replaced under the initial recall (however date on seat is 11/25/2002 before car was delivered in 4/2003 - so dealer never actually replaced it . Seat retained and photos available for inspection.
Iam the original owner and have always kept my jetta in the garage. I moved 3 and a half years ago and my car is no longer garaged. My headline is starting to detach from the inside of the car and the leather throughout my car is cracking. I noticed there was a classss action lawsuit regarding the sunroof drain getting clogged causing damage to the car. Who can I contact to see if I qualify for this action. At the time of the recall I did take my jetta to a dealership and they said everything was fine, is this because my car was garaged and now its outside exposed to the elemets, which has caused this damage? Thank you,
"takata recall" burned fuse box caused alternator to go bad.
Having worked in vw dealerships my transmission control module is failing at only 130,000 miles on it which has been an ongoing issue and complaint by many. When it acts up it won't upshift or will drop down into low gear and one has to worry about being rear ended when this condition occurs.
Engine battery fuse box melting. Replaced twice. Found out it alternator wiring is bad. I have a small child. Car has left me stranded on side of road several times due to faulty alternator wiring.
Questions about the 2003 Volkswagen Jetta electrical
Does the 2003 Volkswagen Jetta have electrical problems?
Owners have filed 97 complaints about the electrical of the 2003 Volkswagen Jetta, 21% of all its complaints.
At what mileage do 2003 Volkswagen Jetta electrical problems start?
The typical (median) mileage in owner complaints is 78,203 miles.
Was there a recall on the 2003 Volkswagen Jetta electrical?
There is no recall for this problem on this model year.
What year does the Volkswagen Jetta have the most electrical problems?
The Volkswagen Jetta model years with the most electrical complaints are 2010 (233 complaints), 2011 (186 complaints) and 2019 (154 complaints).
Other 2003 Volkswagen Jetta problems
Seats 100Airbags 77Engine 60Transmission 54Lights 29Brakes 22Visibility 21Fuel system 17Body 11Acceleration 7Locks 7Suspension 6Tires 5Wheels 5Seat belts 2Driver assistance 1Steering 1
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