Tl*the contact owns a 2003 volkswagen jetta. On two separate occasions, while driving approximately 30 MPH with the accelerator pedal depressed, the vehicle hesitated to accelerate. The contact drove home and had the vehicle towed to the dealer. The dealer stated that the coil inside the cylinder failed and had to be replaced for the second time in one month. The current mileage was 39,890 and failure mileage was 39,046. Updated 03/14/08. *lj the coil pack was replaced
2003 Volkswagen Jetta engine complaints
Page 3 of 3: complaints 41 to 60 of 60, newest first, as owners wrote them.
While driving from pa to boston my car's engine broke down in what appears to be a common issue with the vw 1.8 liter turbo engines. The passat (from '98-'04) had an extended warranty on the issue because of this defect. I drive a '03 jetta with vw's 1.8 turbo engine, but because it's not a passat the warranty was not extended. I still have several months of payments on this car and it only has 70,000. All vw can/wants to do to help me is offer $1,500 in repairs or trade in. I'm looking at $7,200 and owe $1,600 on the car.
There was a large amount of smoke from the tailpipe right after the 75,000 mile cpo warranty ended. The smoke was caused by a faulty turbo. The turbo had been replaced at 49,000 miles and vw and an independent verified that the turbo was faulty. The dealership was asked to check the engine (under warranty) five times throughout the time after the first turbo was installed, they reported that all was fine. As soon as the warranty ended, they said that the turbo needed to be replaced. Vw has shifted all responsibility to me. Even though the car is burning oil, and affecting the catalytic converter, no warranties apply. The turbo needs to be replaced again, however, no one (including vw) can explain why it keeps failing, despite perfect maintenance.
I have owned a volkswagen jetta (turbo - 2003) and have had one horrible problem after another. Without fail, I have taken my vehicle in for random mechanical repairs every few months since purchasing the vehicle. I found out the car was manufactured in mexico and that vw was aware of how bad their car's manufactured in mexico were. If that is the case, how can so many car owners with so many mechanical issues continue to sell in this country? I would like to report vw for lackluster performance and for continuing manufacture in an area well known for its below average standards and for continuing to bleed the consumer when it is fully aware of the issue.
Vw jetta 2003 oil leakage from oil pan screw according local service guy: alumin pan and steel screw theard on oil pan loose grip. Vw need to recall this. Http://www.auho.com/forum/archive/index.php/t-1613.html
Bought a volkswagen jetta gls in 2003. Several things have had to be replaced. For example the glove box cover, wheel bearing. My mechanic told me that on most newer vehicles that wheel bearings do not require maintenance. My car has 74,000 miles. Last week I was driving and my malfunction indicator light started flashing and the car if going over 30 MPH cut out. There was a rotten egg smell. It immediately went to the dealership and they said the catalytic converter and 2 coils were faulty. They replaced the catalytic converter and ignition coils for cylinders 1&3 and cleared fault codes. The catalytic converter was replaced under warranty. But said volkswagen feels the ignition coils are a regular maintenance issue. I have done some research and am finding that volkswagen has numerous complaints on the coils. In my research I found that vw had a customer satisfaction letter that was sent out to vw owners to bring car into dealership to replace the coils. Vw representative in michigan told me that they stopped doing that in 2005. I believe that I should have not had to pay to replace the ignition coils. Vw knows that they have had numerous problems with this. I love my vw but I have had problems this car that I have never had in any other vehicle. I trade vehicles every 3-4 years but will not purchase another volkswagen. Not because I have had so many things go wrong because the strange problems I have had with the car and volkswagen doesn't take care of their drivers.
I have a 2003 volkswagen jetta tdi gls. I should note that this vehicle has been faithfully serviced by the dealer following the maintenance schedule listed in the user manual. The vehicle currently has 109,000 miles. While driving the vehicle a few days before the incident date listed on this complaint, the A/C ceased to function properly. There was no cool air coming out of the vents. Also, when the vehicle was shutdown, the radiator fans would continue to run upwards of 15 minutes. Neither event has occurred before. I brought my vehicle in to a vw dealership on the incident date to have its normal 110,000 mile service and to have the issues (noted above) diagnosed. I received a call from the dealership later in the day on the incident date stating that a failure in the coolant level sensor caused coolant fluid to be wicked into the vehicle's wiring harness leading to contamination / corrosion of the engine and body harness. The quote to repair was approximately $6,000. This problem is a latent defect in the design. The service department told me that the vehicle was un-drivable until the repairs are made. The service advisor also confirmed that because the problem was with the harness itself, any electrical component could be affected such as the airbags, ABS, SRS, etc. Also, from my own research I found some people who experienced this problem have also had smoke or fires inside the vehicle. Vw issued a technical service bulletin (id# c 97-01-01) for a similar issue on 1999.5 - 2001 model year jettas, but never for the 2003 and never a recall campaign on the defective design. Vw has refused to assist in the cost of repair to the vehicle as well.
Check engine light during work out of state. Diagnosis at a service station indicated both electrical cooling fans had failed. I replaced them with aftermarket fans in order to drive the car home and immediately took to the dealer. Dealer replaced both fans and found the cooling temp sensor had been shorting out. I was charged over 900.00 for the fans and told they were not covered since I had put aftermarket fans on the car. I offered to give the dealer the stock fans so they could verify they were not working but they refused. Given I did not cause the oem parts to fail and made no modifications to the car or it's wiring with the temporary fans I feel this should be covered. Also, a search of online vw user groups indicates the problem is very common, (hundreds of identical reports on one site). I was also charged for the oem cooling parts which had failed such as temp sensor, temp switch and fan control module. For the record, I called vw and requested a tow to service and was told I would have to drive the car in.
2003 volkswagen jetta caught on fire while driving. A vehicle following my sons car on a major interstate (my son was out of state returning home) noticed smoke coming from under the car and blow horn and flickered lights. My son looked in his rear view mirror and saw smoke and immediately pulled off the road. The fire department was called by vehicle following. The jetta never lost power and when he pulled off the road and he had to turn the ignition off. The jetta was smoking and the fire started immediately and with in minutes full flames. There was a loud boom and it came from the front of the jetta. The fire department could not get the fire out and had to break through the hood. The whole front (engine area) was burned. The jetta was still under warranty therefore we personally went to the dealership to report (thinking still under warranty they would provide a rental and want to investigate) all they did was refer us to volkswagen. I contacted volkswagen on march 27, 2005 and to make a long story short I had to report to my insurance. Volkswagen also told me that if it was a manufacturer defect.... They would only pay what insurance would pay??????? My son also talked to the owner of the dealership and all that was said is he (the dealership owner) was sorry and good thing he (my son ) had insurance. The dealership didn't even offer to try and help us get back into a vehicle. There was no indication (no engine warning, no power lose, smell etc.) there was anything wrong. The smoke was going up under the jetta and out under the back. The blessing is the vehicle behind my son.... What if he hadn't caught my sons attention?????????? The auto insurance didn't cover for what was lost in the vehicle, just the jetta. All scheduled maintenance were done as recommended by volkswagen?????
Numerous times that the engine light has come on my 2003 jetta. First visit was 9/12/02. The others were: 2/21/03, 6/13/03, 10/21/04, 1/6/05, 12/14/05, 12/21/05, 1/9/06, 1/13/06. It is currently on and is waiting for a cat. Converter. They charged me to hook up to computer, replaced all coils & spark plugs and the light is still on.
Excessive buildup of carbon in the exhaust manifold leading to the failure of the car to start. This is a known issue among vw dealers with tdi diesels and there is nothing vw is doing about it. Cost $700 to repair this.
A/c fan siezed, causing enough heat to start a fire. The shroud, upper radiator modlings, A/C hose, hood insulation and paint were damaged.
Vehicle being driven on a highway and motor "blew up". Towed to dealership and told that it was faulty turbo due to sludge in the turbo. Dealership denied any responsibility claiming it was owner's problem because synthetic oil was not used.
Car stared putting out alot of blue smoke from tail pipe on start up and gas milage was dropping 5-6 mpg and I thought that was alot for a diesel engine. Car lost power at freeway speeds and would barely run. Entire intake system to the head was full black sticky carbon choking the engine for clean air. Intake system had to be completly disassembled (maniflod,egr vavle,ccv tube) and cleaned of carbon, which by searching the internet is a very common problem with vw tdi 1.9 engine.
The check engine light stayed on while the car was in motion. When the car was idling, the check engine light blinked. I was able to drive it to fairfax volkswagen in fairfax, va to have the car checked out. Apparently there was a recall on the ignition coils, which had been out for over a year. I had no idea about the recall -- even after I took the jetta to stohlman vw for service on my audio speakers in the fall of 2004. They never told me about the recall and it should have been repaired at that time. Fairfax vw told me that checking for recalls is their first priority, and that is how the recall was brought to my attention. I am very displeased with stohlman, and the service, or lack thereof, I received.
Check engine light illuminated and there was no power to the vehicle. At highway speeds there was a severe vibration in the steering wheel. *mr this resulted in a complete lost of power and a replacement of the injector system. The consumer was told that there was muddy diesel fuel but couldn't produce the fuel filter to back up the claim. There was another incident where there was a puff of smoke and a lost of power down to 25 MPH on the road. The engine had a #3 valve go through the piston and run up and down the crankshaft. The engine was replaced along with another injector system and fuel pump was added. Several weeks later, a high pressure oil line broke from the weld and spewed oil everywhere. The axle assembly and the transmission slave cylinder were replaced as well. *sc
Problems with air conditioner on 2003 volkswagen jetta. *mr the air intake duct leaked which caused white smoke to emit from the vehicle when parked after a 75 mile trip. The part had to be ordered. The A/C condenser leaked which caused the A/C not to cool the vehicle properly. The dealer surmised that the damage to the condenser was from an outside source therefore refused to replace it under warranty.
The oil pump quit, causing the oil pressure lamp to come on. The vehicle is still under warranty, but since I cannot produce all of the receipts for oil changes since I purchased the vehicle, they will not cover the warranty. The dealer says that the failure was due to oil sludge. I was not informed that I had to keep receipts for oil changes durring the lifetime of the vehicle.
My 2003 jetta tdi was parked in front of my apartment building for approximately 40 minutes. When I went back out to the car to get in it, I found it with smoke billowing out from under the hood. As I started to pull the hood release to investigate, I noticed flames. I did not open the hood and instead quickly called the fire department and they responded asap. By the time they started putting out the fire, flames were engulfing the whole windshield from under the hood. After the flame was extinguished in reignited and had to be put out again. The car is inoperable. I only owned this car for three months and it was not even due for its first oil change. Now volkswagen (vw) is stalling and has not even been to the dealership to perform its investigation. I am very upset that after two weeks no one has given me a progress update. I am seriously considering seeking legal advice.
10,000 miles, mil (malfunction indicator lamp) came on solid. After I was told that if the light was solid, the car was safe to drive. Took car home and drove to dealership next day. After princeton volkswagen looked at the car, turned out to be that my 2003 jetta gls 1.8t that was less than 3 months old had a fuel leak! I was told that the fuel sender clamp was loose and hose was smoking.
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