Anybody own a 2005/6 Jetta Wagon?

xsbank · Dec 17, 2005

The wagons are made in Germany. I am trying to find out if anyone has had any issues with reliability. I am going to unload my Golf lemon and get a Jetta Wagon, as long as they are less prone to failure than my current 2004. Buying another Golf seems silly if it comes from the same plant. I would not have any confidence that even if it was 2 years newer, that it also wouldn't be a dud. Anyone have any useful info? Thanks.

DrewD · Dec 17, 2005

What was wrong with your current car? Some details would be nice. VWS are about 50/50 chance with reliability as far as I am concerned. I am one of the lucky ones so far.

xsbank · Dec 17, 2005

"04 Golf TDI - 13,000 km.
Smoking, hard start - new ecu;
rear doors out of adjustment - damaged paint in door jambs by w/x stripping;
failed wheel bearing right front (squealing);
seat heater recall;
fuel pump recall;
AM radio antennae replaced;
failed cruise control;
plastic vent parts fell off interior, plastic retainers back-ordered;
Alarm system lost its mind and goes of whenever the door is opened;
And now I have 22,000 km on the car and the catalytic converter has failed (rattles loudly);
My passenger seat adjuster broke and they had to remove the seat to replace the cable;
The radio antenna has been replaced AGAIN and I still can't listen to the radio without interference/crackling/static - I'm going to get a satellite radio.
The clutch is juddering and grabbing,
Oh yeah, my best mileage ever was 41 miles per Imperial gallon but still not as good as it should be;
This is the worst VW I have ever had, (my first diesel) and since the late 60s I have had 7.
My alternator failed 24,000 km.

DrewD · Dec 18, 2005

xsbank said:
"04 Golf TDI - 13,000 km.
Smoking, hard start - new ecu;

Me too!

rear doors out of adjustment - damaged paint in door jambs by w/x

I haven't looked at my door jambs.

stripping;

Common problem

failed wheel bearing right front (squealing);

Common VW problem is premature bearing failure, I expect it to happen eventually

seat heater recall;
VW responded to complaints and did the right thing. I don't see how this qualifies it as a lemon

fuel pump recall;

Again, bad parts replaced under warranty. Luckily mine didn't leak.

AM radio antennae replaced;

NO VW radio picks up AM well, its something I have to put up with on my Moonsoon. I knew this before I bought it by doing research here.

failed cruise control;
I've read here that the switch goes bad and I leave my cruise control on the entire time.

plastic vent parts fell off interior, plastic retainers back-ordered;

Yep, interior is shoddy. I have gear shift knob replaced, center console/armrest replaced and this week I'm having my driver's seat replaced (bad frame that is poking through the fabric)

Alarm system lost its mind and goes of whenever the door is opened;
Typical VW electrical gremlins

And now I have 22,000 km on the car and the catalytic converter has failed (rattles loudly);

You sure it isn't an exhaust hanger?

My passenger seat adjuster broke and they had to remove the seat to replace the cable;

Yikes

The radio antenna has been replaced AGAIN and I still can't listen to the radio without interference/crackling/static - I'm going to get a satellite radio.
Good choice
The clutch is juddering and grabbing,

DMF clutch won't handle abuse

Oh yeah, my best mileage ever was 41 miles per Imperial gallon but still not as good as it should be;

It took me about 20k miles to get EPA fuel economy.

This is the worst VW I have ever had, (my first diesel) and since the late 60s I have had 7.

My alternator failed 24,000 km.

That sucks

If I were you, I'd stay away from VW. Some of your problems are common problems and the remainder are well, VWs fault.

Go get yourself a nice Toyota or Honda and you'll sleep easier at night. If you decide to get another VW, go to www.myvwlemon.com and do some reading help change your mind.

marekcz · Dec 18, 2005

I have 2005 Jetta Wagon. ~21000km so far and no problems.
Jetta Wagon is not made in Germany. It is assembled in Germany from parts made all over the World. So far i have spotted parts from Poland, Czech Republic, Austria, Germany and Mexico.

Marek

WDM · Dec 18, 2005

I love my 05 Wagon so far, got a MIL at 2000km that was solved by DeoxIT and dielectric grease in my GP harness, that's it so far. Mind you I only have 6500km on it. Only problem I can pass-on is Capilano VW themselves, if you do decide to buy one I'd go to Clarkdale or elsewhere. I think DrewD's advice is quite valid BTW although it does seem that most people with Wagons have had good experiences with them.

DrewD said:
...go to www.myvwlemon.com and do some reading help change your mind.

Oh, check it if you want but it just seems like a very small minority of whiners and emotionally scarred idiots complaining about wear items on their 10 year old cars. Naturally there are a few "lemons" being discussed and a few ligitimate problems, as are also found here or anywhere else for that matter. No car is perfect and bad luck can be bought from any manufacturer. A friend of mine bought a 03 Accord sedan for his wife and has had nothing but problems with it. He is currently car shopping so he can trade the "POS" and has sworn-off Honda forever.

dieseldorf · Dec 18, 2005

Point of final assembly has no correlation to reliability when it comes to these cars.

Vehicles are assembled from a box full of parts and assembled by the same robots whether in Wolfsburg or Curitiba...don't kid yourself.

compu_85 · Dec 18, 2005

Ya, our Mexican built 99.5 Jetta as been as problematic as most other 99.5's. (Read, not very problematic)

-J

n1das · Dec 19, 2005

2005 PD Jetta Wagen, absolutely 100% ZERO problems. Only 9700 miles on it so far.

AlbanyTDI · Dec 21, 2005

I don't think jumping to a Toyota or Honda is the solution. If you had that many problems, and VW lemon'd the car, excelent! It happens sometimes. They're not all like that. My wife's '03 Jetta (gasser) was perfect, except the brake switch - wound up needing to be towed (auto tranny), but that was the fault of the dealer refusing to change the part we knew was failing. I let them tow and repair just on principal (maybe the service manager would realize we were right). That car was a classic mexidub and we're almost sorry we got rid of it. My Golf is Brazilian (how exotic), bought used at 57k, and other than the normal cel for glow plugs (now replaced) it's been great. Don't lose faith, buy another dub and enjoy it.

Zero10 · Dec 21, 2005

My golf was built in Brazil as well, has a couple rattles, and the hatch leaks, but other than that, no serious troubles. Then again, I'm only at 6700km.

xsbank · Dec 23, 2005

What is wrong with Cap Volkswagen? Their service department is good, so far, and I'm on a first name basis with most of them 'cause I'm in there so often. If you have had a bad experience with them, please tell all.

Hatch leaks and rattles with 6500 km?? How bad does it have to get?

WDM · Dec 23, 2005

xsbank said:
I'm on a first name basis with most of them 'cause I'm in there so often.

LOL, sweet Jesus...

xsbank said:
Hatch leaks and rattles with 6500 km?? How bad does it have to get?

Huh? If your referencing my car I explained previously that thankfully the only problem I've had is the ubiquitous corroded-glow-plug-harness-induced-MIL simply fixed by myself with thanks to these forums and a trustworthy local mechanic who read the code initially on no notice.

Regarding Cap VW, I'm sorry but I care not to elaborate on my personal experiences with them because frankly I'm trying to put it all behind me and enjoy my car.

TornadoRed · Dec 24, 2005

xsbank said:
The wagons are made in Germany. I am trying to find out if anyone has had any issues with reliability. I am going to unload my Golf lemon and get a Jetta Wagon, as long as they are less prone to failure than my current 2004. Buying another Golf seems silly if it comes from the same plant. I would not have any confidence that even if it was 2 years newer, that it also wouldn't be a dud. Anyone have any useful info? Thanks.

My Golf came from the same factory in Brazil, and is definitely not a dud.

You Canadians are fortunate to have the opportunity to buy new A4 Jetta TDI wagons -- they are no longer available in the US. Also, Jetta waons (and Passat wagons) seem to hold their value very well.

So yes, you should definitely buy a Jetta TDI wagon. And if, after 7500 miles, you decide you really don't like it, I'm sure there are many Californians who would be happy to take it off your hands.

Zero10 · Dec 24, 2005

I should have bought the jetta wagon... i debated and debated. Decided that since the G/F didn't like it, and it was $3k more, I'd pass. I forgot about how well they hold their value.

danski0224 · Dec 25, 2005

I own a 2005 Jetta wagon. Just had all 4 glow plugs, injectors and control module #8 replaced under warranty. The car ran fine, but the cold start wasn't good once the temps got below 20* F. Never threw a MIL.

Hope that is the end of it.

Mileage seems to be way up- will know more at the next fill up. Approaching 400 miles at the halfway point of my vented tank.

flakrat · Dec 28, 2005

I have a 2005 Jetta Wagon TDI, bought it April 2005 and have put 17,000 miles on it thus far (and that's with it being in the VW service garage for 3 months)...

I love the wagon, I've been tracking the mileage and it's been increasing from 38 mpg to now 43 mpg.

That said, it's had one major problem (see the in the shop for 3 months bit) where it'll just drop to idle rpms without warning. I just got a call today where they found a wire from the TPS to the ECM that was making contact intermittently that's (hopefully) the problem.

Go for the wagon!

Anybody own a 2005/6 Jetta Wagon?

xsbank

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DrewD

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xsbank

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DrewD

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marekcz

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WDM

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dieseldorf

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compu_85

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n1das

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AlbanyTDI

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Zero10

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xsbank

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WDM

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TornadoRed

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Zero10

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flakrat

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