Re: Newbie Questions

[robparsons@juno.com (Robert A Parsons)]

On Fri, 22 Aug 1997 09:52:36 -0600 jeremy.brandow@ilsinc.com (Jeremy
Brandow) writes:
>Hi everyone,
>  My name is Jeremy Brandow.  I am 20 years old, and I am new to the
>list.  Right now I don't own a Jetta GLX, I own a '95 neon Sport 
>Coupe. 
>I am currently throwing arround the idea of trading my neon in on a 
>'97
>Jetta GLX with a lease.  The Jetta is white with a tanish leather.  I
>really like the Jettas, but I like my neon also.  The only problem is
>that the quality of the neon is really starting to get to me.  It also
>keeps having stupid little problems.
>  Is there someone here that can tell me a little more about the 
>Jetta's
>reliabuility, and performance.  Would you recomend it to someone 
>looking
>for a car with looks, awesome performance, reliabuility, fun factor.
>  I am also a little scared about a lease.  This will be my first one. 
>
>I am axcited with the fact that I can afford a nicer car for the same
>payment I have now.  That a lease gives me the option of getting into 
>a
>new car when the lease is up, but there has got to be somthing that 
>the
>dealer isn't telling me.  Could someone with a lease tell me the
>good/bad points of a lease?
>  Thanks for any and all help.  I am going to go to the dealer today 
>and
>check this Jetta GLX out a little more.
>  L8R, Jeremy Brandow
>


Hi Jeremy

The GLX is a sweet package and a blast.  It is not, however, reliable. 
There's a high probability that the annoying problems you've seen in your
neon will also continue with a Jetta.  Most of the people on this list
are attached to their car, so that all the problems are an expected part
of GLX ownership.
FYI, in Feb 97 I bought a GLX and it's a lemon.  VW will be replacing it
with another GLX within the next week.  I could never recommend this car
to a friend, but I enjoy driving it enough to get another (call me a
masochist!).   Good Luck!

Heres a copy of a sob story I posted a while back:>>
	>>My "VW experience" began with a phone call from City Volkswagen
(San Diego) explaining that they found a car for me but that the hood had
a paint blemish and was returned to the dealership they traded
with....they wanted my new car to be "perfect".  OK, I can be carless for
a while as long as my first new car is "perfect".  One week later my
Windsor Blue GLX  with Biber Beige leather arrives.
	Feb 16, I sign all the paperwork while the car gets washed, and
then the cleaning dude shows up with the keys and says that he couldn't
get the car into reverse.  He said that it took him awhile and that the
gears were tough to get in to (stick shift).  The salesman gave me the
"Well, sometimes these take a week or two to work themselves out."  So,
out of ignorance, I drive off the lot.    Stoooooopid me.
	The transmission was VERY hard to get into all gears, at least
compared to other VR6s I had test driven.  On the second day of ownership
my girlfriend is driving and we're stopped at a light, and she can't get
into the entire left side of the transmission!  No 1st, 2nd or reverse! 
After convincing her not to fry the clutch, and, wondering if this is a
chick-thing, we switch seats and I'll be damned if it didn't feel like a
metal plate was sectioning off the left side of the tranny.  We just
happened to be on one of  the steepest streets in San Diego with airport
traffic all around;  bad scene.           .................after a couple
minutes I was able to get into first.  Later that night I experimented in
a parking lot and found that with the stick in the reverse position the
car would go forward about 30% of the time!  I didn't feel any difference
in position and thus couldn't predict which direction the car would go
in.  Also, by this time I had realized that the car was not equipped with
the BOSE sound system that the MSRP I had negotiated on included.   At
this point I'm not feeling good about my new car.
	The next morning I drop it off at the dealership and they keep it
for a week.  The mechanic later told me that he didn't even have to take
it for a test drive;  the "tightness" of the transmission revealed that
something major was wrong.  The work report states that reverse gear had
chip marks and 1st and 2nd showed abnormal wear marks (the car had ~300
miles on it).  To my surprise they did NOT replace the transmission but
instead replaced every part related to reverse, 1st and 2nd.  After
picking up my car I drove across the street to the sales dept. and
demanded a new car.  After several days of stalling, I was eventually
told that I should be happy with the $2,500 worth of transmission work
and that mine was better than new since transmissions are not tested at
the plant.   I eventually spoke to the factory rep for 
 the region, dealership owner, VWoA.......all leaving me with a sinking
feeling in my gut.
	After driving my new/heavily-worked-upon car home, my horn didn't
sound when locking the door(s)!   Tested several times and the horn
wouldn't beep  when arming the alarm. It would, however, work when
pushing on the steering wheel or testing the alarm system.   After 2
weeks I take it back to the dealership (without the horn sounding once)
and later the next day they give me a call and say that it works fine,
don't see any evidence of there being a problem.    ....You gotta be
shittin me!
Sure enough, it worked fine, and I was expected to believe that either it
always worked or that it miraculousy fixed itself after I dropped it off.
 Of course, a service advisor witnessed the problem (they wouldn't have
given me a loaner unless he had) but seemed to suffer from a bout of
amnesia when confronted about it.
	3 days later I go skiing and all four windows go down immediately
upon unlocking the door (no ~3 sec delay) or, the 2 rears would go down
with the front 2 remaining up.  Also, the horn would either not sound or
have a sick half-powered sound when locking the car.  Over the 4 day trip
the central locking system malfunctioned, one way or the other, EVERY
time I unlocked or locked the car.  After arriving home (different
altitude, temp, humidity) these problems gradually went away.  I was
unable to reveal the car's "personality" to dealerships despite several
attempts.  The system would malfunction and I'd race to the garage, and
of course it would work perfectly.   The locking system settled down by
April and has been perfect since, with the one exception of the alarm
going off for 2 sec after opening up the driver's door normally. 
Convinced that my car was possessed, I called  the Better Business Bureau
(BBB) autoline late March.  	
	In April I started hearing a faint squeak from the left front
wheel every wheel rotation.  I smiled to myself because when you have a
car like this you're curious as to what the next problem will be.  I had
the lug nuts tightened with no effect, made an appointment for the
following day and, of course, the noise went away the next morning.  Over
the next 2 weeks it became sporadic and alternated between squeaking,
grinding, and groaning.  Another VW visit resulted in an embarrassingly
quiet 10min tour of the neighborhood.   20 days after I first heard the
noises I drove up to Palo Alto (Nor Cal)  to visit the family, and when
pulling into their driveway I heard a deep, ominous growl that came from
the entire chassis.  The next morning a service manager at Carlsen VW
heard the noise and told me that I had a bad wheel bearing (No kiddin,
guy!).  4 days later I get the car back and the alignment is way off, so
an hour later I go back and while they're figuring/plotting what to do I
ask the mechanic what happened  - the service record mentions a failed
hub assembly and bearing.  The mechanic says, "The hub assembly is held
together by a nut, and that nut had come loose.  When you drove in here
that morning your wheel was hanging on by a thread....if it had come off
you would have been a goner!"    Uhhhh, yeah.  I hauled ass over  the
grapevine and the 152;  a 3 wheeled car would have been interesting.
Regarding the alignment, it turned out the Palo Alto goons didn't follow
a VW bulletin on Eagle GA tire rotation (?), so I drove back to SD with
the car pulling right.
	About  a month before my scheduled BBB hearing of June 25, the
reverse gear resumed its old ways by moving the car forward (1st gear). 
This time around I could feel a slight difference in the location of the
shifter when this would happen, so it wasn't a major safety concern for
me.  I opted not to bring it to VWs attention so that I would have
something concrete and tangible for the hearing.  Also during this time a
loud whining sound started when the engine was cold and under boost -
it's loud enough to wake up my neighbors.  I had a service manager listen
to it and he told me "Your problems are progressive, you should bring
your car back when they get worse".  During that visit I had a burnt out
interior dome light replaced.
	June 25:  The BBB hearing.    The last time I was this nervous
the night before was when I took the SATs.  Recently out of college,
buying a new car was a big deal and it was depressing that an investment
of this size had become "that pathetically unpredictable yet fun to drive
thing outside".	Representing VW at the hearing was the regional
factory rep, City service manager and City sales manager.  Their position
was one of denial (shocker!), and it was this inane denial that helped me
in the end.   They started by saying that the guy who cleaned the car and
noticed the transmission problems on the day of delivery did not remember
having a conversation with the salesperson and myself and remembered no
such transmission problems.   I informed that arbitrator that it was too
bad that the salesman wasn't present, because he remembers the
conversation very well.  In fact, 2 weeks ago he was ready to submit
testimonial on my behalf but was directed by the dealership owner  to
only  provide information if subpoenaed in court.
	Overall, I was dumbfounded by the stupidity of these guys (my jaw
dropped a few times).  The service manager went off on a 5 minute tirade,
proclaiming the malfunctions of the locking system, transmission, and hub
assembly as being impossibilities.  This was inspite of the transmission
and hub assembly defects as being well documented by VW service
departments.
	During the test drive the arbitrator noted that the whining sound
was not a noise he had ever heard or expected to hear from a new car.  I
put the car in reverse and we all felt the car go forward with release of
the clutch. By this time I had "practiced" enough with the transmission
to be able to make it malfunction when I wanted.  Luckily, the arbitrator
shifted into reverse with the same results (on the 3rd try).  I was
shocked, and thrown-off, when the VW dorks in the rear seats denied this
as being a problem, implying that it was a design characteristic.  wow.
VW concluded the hearing by talking about the 10yr/100,000mile powertrain
warranty, and that VW was "here to help".   I thought to myself, as did
the arbitrator, "What good is a warranty if it doesn't cover a car going
in the wrong direction?"
	2 weeks later I was granted a repurchase on the car.  VW will pay
me back for all money invested, including the last 6 months of payments. 
The BBB gave me 30 days to respond to their resolution, and I'm currently
awaiting the arrival of another GLX (BOSE included) with a born-on-date
of July 16, that's a wednesday!  Needless to say, I'll be dealing with
another dealership.  It works out to 6 months of free miles and $1,000
off the total purchase price of the car (by putting the monthly payments
towards the initial down payment I'll save on the finance charge). 
There's nothing better than driving hard, knowing you'll be getting a new
one in a couple weeks.

Thoughts:  City VW is thoroughly corrupt.   Sales, service and ownership
are all suspect and customers are at risk of being taken advantage of.
	VW repair service has been poor from the 3 dealerships I've been
to.
	My only corporate experience has been with the regional factory
rep and VWoA, and I'm left to wonder just how far this ineptness goes.
	I feel like I'm going out on a limb by getting another GLX;
rolling the dice.  I love the car and have convinced myself it is a good
design - I was just unlucky the first time around.  I also know of a
great mechanic and I won't be too bummed when it's out of warranty.
	I was lucky that the transmission posed a "safety risk".  I
believe this is the only reason I was granted a repurchase.

Sorry this was so long.... I think it's therapy for me!

- -Rob