Learned colleagues, educate me please on MKIV VWs

Ok, so these seem to be the most maligned car on the planet, at least over on the VW Vortex so I thought I'd pop in to a place with reasonable people who's opinions mean something to me.

Car in question is a 2000 Jetta VR6 5 speed.

Under 100,000 miles (154,000 km it's a Canadian car)

Known issues

Driver door window clips

Cruise Control inop

CEL is on (aren't they all?)

Price was worth it just to drive home from BABE with A/C, but it was very enjoyable to drive and Im considering keeping it for awhile. The few folks I know with MKIV experience are telling me to run away from it fast.

Who can share their experiences?

Pic of the car in question

My experience with my 2001 Golf has been overwhelmingly positive. It is at 197k and has never left me stranded or even had anything big go wrong. The most money I had to spend on it was $450 for a catalytic converter so it can pass smog here in California.

What I've seen with others is that they are variable, some are good and some are bad. Seems like manuals are more reliable than automatics and the ones made in Germany are better than the ones made in Mexico... But all of that is not based on any real data.

I love my 2001. FWIW, it's a TDI: your mileage will definitely vary. It only has 100k, but hasn't cost me a cent in the last 30k, which is what I've put on it. I'll probably be freshening up the suspension, but it appears to be a relatively simple car to work on. I did buy VAGcom (a good idea, I'm told), but I've only used it for bleeding the brakes - it works the ABS pump in an 'approved' fashion.

If you bought it for BABE money then keep it and drive it.

A 2000 with VR6 and only 154K kms. I'd keep it.

Get a scanner so you can reset the CEL. I had a 99 Passat and I never had a CEL in 7 years of owning it.

NGTD wrote: If you bought it for BABE money then keep it and drive it. A 2000 with VR6 and only 154K kms. I'd keep it. Get a scanner so you can reset the CEL. I had a 99 Passat and I never had a CEL in 7 years of owning it.

Does a standard ODBII scanner work to read/reset these? I do have one but not sure what the difference is between that and the VAG tool.

Yes, purchased for BABE money and no not even close to a BABE car, once I get it cleaned up I'll post better pics.

MKIV's are solid cars saddled with irritating electronics. They tend to be a little more practical than fun, but there is a big aftermarket - and in this case you got a lot of car for the money.

Just got home from BABE(Tim from WestFailia). I've had a 2005 1.8T GTi from new and had very few undocumented issues.

1. coilpacks: This doesn't apply to you but the 1.8t's go through them on a regular basis

2. Window regulators: There was a recall on these and I believe there are upgraded parts. My driver side failed with less than 6 months on the car.

3. Fiddly interior bits are starting to fail. The center console latch has failed twice now. First time replaced under warranty.

I've heard that the electronics are a pain, but I haven't experienced too much of that yet, mostly just a single corroded battery cable.

Overall I'm happy with the car, and my wife loves it. Since I'm finally home, I'm assuming you are since you could do a little more than our 55. :)

EDIT: HEY! That's our Bus in the background!

the MkIV Jettas were assembled in Mexico (along with the New Beetle) and are generally accepted as being the worst assembled car since my childhood Erector Set creations. Combine that with the electronics gremlins that affect MkIV VWs and you don't have a good recipe.

gimpstang wrote: the MkIV Jettas were assembled in Mexico (along with the New Beetle) and are generally accepted as being the worst assembled car since my childhood Erector Set creations. Combine that with the electronics gremlins that affect MkIV VWs and you don't have a good recipe.

B.S. The Germans were just as capable of building a bad Mk IV as not all were assembled in Mexico (wagons are German assembled).

I've posted at length about Mk IV's in the past (I also have a TDI - now w/ 252K+) and don't really feel like repeating myself... again... Simply put, regardless of where it was assembled, they are no better or worse than any other German car.

I had an '01 Jetta VR6. Although I bought it with 19k and sold it with 60k, it never gave me any problems. You might call the dealer about the window clips. At one point the warranty on them was extended pretty much indefinitely, since it was a known problem. The only problem I had was due to a leaky coolant tank. The level sensor plug leaked, and coolant wicked into the wiring harness. It was out of warranty, but the dealer fixed it all under goodwill, since they new of the issue.

Jim,

Glad to see that you made it home okay.

Well the big issue right now is not mechanical.

VW of America does not want to send me the Certificate of Compliance to show the car meets FMVSS standards. They will only give it to the original owner. The seller is going to try to get it for me. Still have dozens of hoops to jump through with Customs since this was driven in as a vacation car so no import papers were done, but the CoC from VW is required before I can go to customs.

I knew this wouldn't be simple, but I didn't think VW would be the ones giving me headaches. Anyone here work for/know someone at VWoA that could help?

JThw8 wrote:

NGTD wrote: If you bought it for BABE money then keep it and drive it. A 2000 with VR6 and only 154K kms. I'd keep it. Get a scanner so you can reset the CEL. I had a 99 Passat and I never had a CEL in 7 years of owning it.

Does a standard ODBII scanner work to read/reset these? I do have one but not sure what the difference is between that and the VAG tool. Yes, purchased for BABE money and no not even close to a BABE car, once I get it cleaned up I'll post better pics.

Now that you mention it - I think you need VAG-COM

In reply to NGTD:

Sorry. but could someone tell me what vag-com is? Pardon my ignorance.

BBC

Billy_Bottle_Caps wrote: In reply to NGTD: Sorry. but could someone tell me what vag-com is? Pardon my ignorance. BBC

Its a VW specific ODBII scanner (so much for a universal standard)

Yeah I hooked up my regular scanner and it wouldn't read. Something new to add to the toolbox now.

Oh and I promised better pics and never delivered....here ya go.

JThw8 wrote:

Billy_Bottle_Caps wrote: In reply to NGTD: Sorry. but could someone tell me what vag-com is? Pardon my ignorance. BBC

Its a VW specific ODBII scanner (so much for a universal standard) Yeah I hooked up my regular scanner and it wouldn't read. Something new to add to the toolbox now.

In general, OBDII is only emmissions related, although that usually is what triggers a CEL so who knows. VAG-COM allows reading and adjusting most of the car's computer systems. It's actually not called VAG-COM anymore... now called VCDS. VWoA probably told Ross-tech to change the name. Regardless, for $250, it's still a pretty good deal compared to pro versions sold by OTC and others for much more.

VW has actually been very good about this. Back in 2003, Ross-tech was beta-testing a BMW version (BIM-COM - one of the developers would bring it to PA & NJ MINI meets sicne they are based nearby in Lansdale, PA), but they were not able to get it to work with the same consistancy as VAG-COM due to BMW constantly changing the communications protocols.

In reply to Ian F:

Thanks for the info. :) By the way nice looking VW JThw8

BBC

Billy_Bottle_Caps wrote: In reply to Ian F: Thanks for the info. :) By the way nice looking VW JThw8 BBC

Thanks. It's nothing I'd normally be that excited about but for $500 my excitement level increases dramatically.

I had a MkIV Golf that I bought new. German-made. It was the 2.0, and it seemed to go through brake rotors like a fat kid through candy. Every winter, the first time I'd open the glove box the latch would break. And punk kids kept stealing my VW logo. But otherwise, it worked just fine for me.

I sold it to a friend who had a matching 4-door Golf. He kept replacing the brake rotors on both of them as well as a few other odds and ends like strut tops. No major issues though.

By the way, get yourself a set of red/blue 3D glasses. They make those red and blue instruments absolutely awesome.

Wierd... my car seems to go about 175K on the front brakes and about 100K on the rears. That included a half-season of autocrossing...

Yeah... a $500 Mk IV is a virtual steal.

I'm with Ian. I've got 155K and a season of autocross on my '05 GTi. I replaced the front OE pads and rotors at about 130K only because they were warped horribly. Rears wore out at 152K. I think the GTi's had upgraded brakes though.

Jim, You got lucky on that buy. I know at least 3 other teams had checkbooks out, and if nobody else had snagged it, I should as heck would have just to flip.

Tim.

tpwalsh wrote: Jim, You got lucky on that buy. I know at least 3 other teams had checkbooks out, and if nobody else had snagged it, I should as heck would have just to flip. Tim.

Dont be so sure just yet. VWoA is just plain refusing to give me a Certificate of Compliance so I can get it through customs and title it in the US. It's fully compliant but without the letter I'm dead in the water.

The seller is trying to get it for me, and I have an email out to VW AG to see if they will help, but the sad answer is this may end up as a parts car. :(

The first set of brake rotors on my car were replaced when it was only a few months old. I went out of town for three weeks in the summer and left the car parked under a car cover. The pads rusted to the rotors so badly that the dealer replaced them under warranty, after I'd driven them over 1000 km on his orders with nicely pulsing brakes. My friend who bought the car had to keep replacing the brakes fairly often as well on both his Golfs. In fact, when he decide to sell both cars, it was while he was in the middle of a brake job

Obviously, YMMV. But in the sample size of two that I know, both had quite an appetite for brake consumables. Both were 2.0s and neither got driven in an unusual manner. We both had other cars for that.

I have a friend that works for Audi in Auburn Hills in customer relations. I'll get a hold of her and see if she can help you out.