Opinions: 2001 VW Jetta GLS

[DementedReality]

Anyone have any opinions on this car, year, model, make etc?

Anyone have any good links to bonafide reviews?

[photon]

I have a 2000 VW Passat, and while not the same car I can say that VWs when they get old enough start to get expensive to repair.

Plus it's made in Mexico!

[HalifaxDrunk]

I have a 2000 VW Golf GLS, and absolutely love it. The Jetta and Golf are basically the same car (the trunk/hatchback is the only difference). I've had it since 2001 and love it. No major problems (I had to put new windshield wipers on today ), it's like the Energizer bunny.... You can't ask for more in a car thats 8 years old.

I know a few people with newer VWs and the 1999-02's are having better records for reliability.

Remember, it's used and you don't know how it was treated before you get it, check it out thoroughly or better yet have a mechanic do it for you.

[Fozzie_DeBear]

My advice...pass on this car big time

http://www.carsurvey.org/modelyear_V...etta_2001.html

Also my next door neighbor has a Jetta of this vintage and he thinks it is a piece of crap...

[Juventus3]

I just got rid of a 2000 Jetta GLS VR6. I bought it used in 2004 and had nothing but problems with it. Only got 350 km to a tank (costed around $60 to fill up). Just not a good year for the Jetta. As someone's pointed out, they were making their NA Jetta's in Mexco during the late 90's to save on costs, but the quality of the car went down bigtime. Since then they've started making them in Germany again.

[CRXguy]

I've heard more negatives than positives, through friends and various car forums. Best bet it to look for something else.

[iggypop]

I love my 01 GTI. Never had any problems with yet. Id suggest reading this forum:
www.eurodrivers.ca its a calgary based VW site, they have tons of info on these cars.

[DementedReality]

Originally Posted by iggypop

I love my 01 GTI. Never had any problems with yet. Id suggest reading this forum:
www.eurodrivers.ca its a calgary based VW site, they have tons of info on these cars.

thanks!

[shane_c]

My 2000 Jetta was in the shop almost 30 times in the 3 years I had it. Biggest piece of junk I've ever owned.

[ricosuave]

there is some misconception in this thread...

first off, they were not made only in mexico. if your serial number begins with 3vw, it was, but if it is wvw, then it is german made, there are others that i cant remember right now...

second, it is true that these cars sometimes have issues, electrical being the biggest.

third, do not take the car to a 'stealership' that is just asking to be raped. find a good local mechanic or shop (cough tunedub cough) and stick with them.

if the vehicle has a recorded service history, and is in good shape, then there should be no problem.

i have a 2000 golf tdi and absolutely love it

other sites to look around are clubveedub.com, eurodrivers.ca, vwvortex.com, concept1.ca

i concur with getting the vehicle checked out by someone who is in the know, other than a dealer, (cough george at tunedub cough)

good luck!

[Bill Bumface]

Were 2001 GLS's 1.8T's or VR6's?

[photon]

Originally Posted by ricosuave

there is some misconception in this thread...

first off, they were not made only in mexico. if your serial number begins with 3vw, it was, but if it is wvw, then it is german made, there are others that i cant remember right now...

When I was looking to buy back then (was considering a Jetta) and hung out on the VW boards they were saying that the first digit wasn't always the way to tell, they said the best way was to look at the 11th # of the VIN. M was Mexico, and pretty much any other letter was different places in Germany except for P being Brazil and some others I forget.

But at that time all Jettas for North America were being assembled in Mexico (or so the people on the VW forums said), and his is from the same time so that's why I said it was made in Mexico.

third, do not take the car to a 'stealership' that is just asking to be raped. find a good local mechanic or shop (cough tunedub cough) and stick with them.

Second that. I've tried Two Square Auto who say they're German car repair specialists, but almost everything they've fixed on my car has broken again (amazingly enough just beyond the warranty for the repair). Nice to deal with, but I'll try somewhere else for my next repair.

Still expensive to repair though.

[ricosuave]

nope, the first digit is the way to tell.

also, avoid 2square at all costs... they are crooks through and through...

midtown vw (i think), concept1, tunedub, there are some good shops here...

[photon]

Originally Posted by ricosuave

nope, the first digit is the way to tell.

also, avoid 2square at all costs... they are crooks through and through...

midtown vw (i think), concept1, tunedub, there are some good shops here...

More info about country of manufacture, I didn't know the MkV wasn't made in Germany at all:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volkswagen_Jetta

I wish I could find the link, but there was a big list with the 11th digit because it would tell you the actual plant rather than just the country.

What makes you say 2square are crooks? Like I said the stuff I had repaired on my car went bad again, but I doubt they could do that intentionally (make a power steering fluid line burst a month after the repair warranty expired). Like I said I'll go somewhere else for my next repair but it'd probably help other VW owners to know about them if they're shady.

[ricosuave]

^
its well known in the local vw community that 2square overcharge for the work they do, and when they do the work, it has failed again - that happened to me as well.

ex mechanics on the other boards relayed stories of how they could diagnose a problem in 5 min, but were told by the owner to book an hour of labour on it, stuff like that....

[photon]

Oh and for tunedub, are they good for just general maintenance? From their site I got the impression they were more for tuning. I just need a windshield washer fluid reservoir fixed.

EDIT: And thanks for the info!

[Fozzie_DeBear]

2001 Jetta no es Bueno