What to do about car i bought, 99 Jetta

[Joemonkey]

Originally posted by: NFS4
Beside the definition of lemon in the dictionary, they should show a VW symbol.

🙁

 

[huesmann]

It's your oxygen sensor. That or your EGR system. Or your MAF sensor. Or perhaps you have low pressure in one of your cylinders. Or...

 

[SharkyTM]

in addition to the email i sent you earlier, heres some more stuff to think about:
your engine is an 8v 2.0L inline 4 cyl. Your mechanic said it has 16v... wrong.
misfiring at low rpm is NOT acceptable, unless the engine is lower than 1500rpm (considered teh cutoff)
If the car misfires above 2000rpm in any gear, get it checked... dont take no for an answer. there is a problem, and they need to fix it.
If you need a fuel door, check the vortex. A bunch of the people on there own junkyards, and should be able to get you the part.

To all you VW haters: bite me. VWs have had their problems (recently at least, especially with the early MKIV's), but all in all, you are getting the best interior of any decently priced car, and a long-lasting engine/transmission. The brakes are amazing, and the drivability is insanely good. Many people own new VWs with no problems, but those that do have problems (me included) are vocal about it. Lay off VW!

 

[NFS4]

Originally posted by: SharkyTM
in addition to the email i sent you earlier, heres some more stuff to think about:
your engine is an 8v 2.0L inline 4 cyl. Your mechanic said it has 16v... wrong.
misfiring at low rpm is NOT acceptable, unless the engine is lower than 1500rpm (considered teh cutoff)
If the car misfires above 2000rpm in any gear, get it checked... dont take no for an answer. there is a problem, and they need to fix it.
If you need a fuel door, check the vortex. A bunch of the people on there own junkyards, and should be able to get you the part.

To all you VW haters: bite me. VWs have had their problems (recently at least, especially with the early MKIV's), but all in all, you are getting the best interior of any decently priced car, and a long-lasting engine/transmission. The brakes are amazing, and the drivability is insanely good. Many people own new VWs with no problems, but those that do have problems (me included) are vocal about it. Lay off VW!

I'm glad your happy with VW, but most people are getting tired of their %&@$

 

[SharkyTM]

even i'm starting to get fed up. Frozen ebrake this morning... its one thing after another.
that being said, the j&g V should fix a lot of the problems everyones having with the MKIV's...

 

[StageLeft]

sharky They are nice cars when they work, but their reliability is sh*t, especially considering that they are not particularly inexpensive cars in the first place. Anecdotal numbers and then jd power, consumer reports, etc. all point to VWs being crap now in terms of how much you pay for the car and the problems you can expect.

Originally posted by: Joemonkey
ok so, they fixed the trunk and fuel cap lid switch for free, said the code on the CEL was that cylinder 1 had misfired, but told me it wasn't anything to worry about? said it would work itself out and was probably just a result of driving it too soon after the engine got steam cleaned.

unfortunately, the gas cap lid itself is broken. they didn't tell me that, but i found it out while testing the switches before i left. the little clip that hooks onto the the release isn't there (I can see white where the red plastic was broken). i really don't care that much, suppose i should start looking for a new lid sometime. i can get the thing open w/ a key no problem.

they also said the switches were... well... switched, and had no idea why. the fuel door switch opened the trunk, and the trunk switch did nothing (since the lid is broken). he switched them back for me

do i need to me more worried about the engine? CEL hasn't come back on in about 30 miles of driving

guy also said VW's were meant to be driven at high RPMs, that since it's a 16 valve engine that switching gears at low RPMs creates too rich of a mixture and that also could have caused the cyilnder to misfire... i'm not worried right now, but i'm sure someone's reply will change my mind

I didn't know how to change my oil until a year ago, but what you were told sounds like a bunch of crap. It's possible that steam cleaning the engine could produce some misfires if moisture got in where the ignition coil contacts the spark plug though (recently had mine cleaned and the detailer said that infrequently they have problems, generally with Lexus' and moisture gets in there). You could go to cylinder one and take the coil out (should be quite easy) and let that whole area dry out.

The whole switching gears at low RPM throwing a code...well that sounds pretty silly to me (like I said, what do I know, but I've never ever heard of that in a car that is functioning properly).

As others have mentioned next time a code is thrown bring it into autozone.

I'm guessing sharky probably gave you ample advice already but I think your VW falls into the notorious faulty coil range (my 00 maxima had bad coils recently too!), so your problems could in great part (or entire part) be traced back to that. Coils should be easy to change and you'll save a lot doing them yourself vs. a dealer, but don't change them unless you have to because throwing parts in is costly.

 

[Mill]

If you've noticed something, it isn't the engineering or the people who are putting the cars together. It is the shoddy manufacturers that VW/Audi buys their parts from. The whole A4 coilpack recall/problem was due to fvcking cheap ass coils from a supplier. VW is obviously going through that stage that Porsche went through. Their factory's productivity is suffering due to old machinery and equipment, and they are making up for their slow car-building time by using cheap parts to maintain their current bottom line. VW is just going to have to eat some cash, modernize, cut ties to the shoddy manufacturers, and then start making quality cars again. My Audi is a great car, but I can't see keeping it much past 60-70k miles. Once I have to start paying that 50 dollar deductible for the CPO coverage I'll bet I sell.

 

[Joemonkey]

well CEL came back on omw to work today, stayed on all the way there and home (30 mile or so drive)

idling really rough, hesitating a lot again... sheesh

i heard they recalled the MAF's on 99 Jettas recently, but they won't replace it if the car has over 70k on it, and mine has around 67500

Do i need to wait for a letter, or call the VW customer service line and give them my VIN to see if i qualify?

 

[StageLeft]

Originally posted by: Joemonkey
well CEL came back on omw to work today, stayed on all the way there and home (30 mile or so drive)

idling really rough, hesitating a lot again... sheesh

i heard they recalled the MAF's on 99 Jettas recently, but they won't replace it if the car has over 70k on it, and mine has around 67500

Do i need to wait for a letter, or call the VW customer service line and give them my VIN to see if i qualify?

Why haven't you gone to autozone to have the codes pulled? It's FREE.

 

[Papagayo]

Call VW
There is a recall up to 2001 on Jettas and Golfs for MAF (Mass Air Flow sensor).

 

[Eli]

Originally posted by: Joemonkey
guy also said VW's were meant to be driven at high RPMs, that since it's a 16 valve engine that switching gears at low RPMs creates too rich of a mixture and that also could have caused the cyilnder to misfire... i'm not worried right now, but i'm sure someone's reply will change my mind

He's an idiot.

 

[Joemonkey]

Originally posted by: Papagayo
Call VW There is a recall up to 2001 on Jettas and Golfs for MAF (Mass Air Flow sensor).

is there a website where I can look up the recalls? google wasn't much help, i got a bunch of people trying to sell me stuff