1994 Volkswagen Jetta problems
The 1994 Volkswagen Jetta has 167 complaints on file with NHTSA. The largest share (16%) concerns electrical system. After that come engine (13%) and wipers, windshield & visibility (10%).
At a glance
- Complaints
- 167 filed with NHTSA
- Most reported
- Electrical system 16% of complaints
- Crashes and fires
- 9 and 11
- Injuries and deaths
- 12 and 0
Source: NHTSA owner complaints
Where the complaints are
Share of this model year's complaints by the part of the car involved. One complaint can name more than one part, so the shares can add up to more than 100%.
What the data shows
Safety-related details: 9 complaints mention a crash; 11 complaints mention a fire; 12 injuries reported.
Looking only at complaints filed within five years of the model year (so older and newer years are comparable), the 1994 ranks 24th most-complained-about out of 35 model years of the Volkswagen Jetta with enough data (104 complaints in that window). It is also covered by 5 safety recall campaigns.
What owners wrote
A few complaints as filed, shortened and with personal details removed. The first ones are among the most serious reports for this model year; the rest are typical.
Vehicle was rear ended and a child safety seat was in the rear seat, in a seat belt. Force caused the seat belt to bedisconnected, throwing the child safety seat around in vehicle. Dealer not aware of the problem. Vehicle was totalled.
When slowing down vehicle accelerated at a high speed, causing an accident. The vehicle accelerated on its own and struck a manure tank spreader, there was one injury.
While operating my vehicle (1994 VW jetta) the hood latch broke and hood detached from lock flew up cracking my windshield, braking wipers, I lost control of vehicle crashing into divider of highway. By the grace of god I was able to avoid traffic and drove to safety as my hood covered the windshield. The glass shattered over the front driving area. Thank god my children were not with me at this traumatic time. I had to call for help and use first aid for cuts.
Airbag control module failure without warning. I noticed the red light for the airbag did not go off (not noticeable in daylight) this could be a significant public safety issue. The car only has 92k miles. The warning light is virtually impossible to see in bright daylight. If it fails in the middle of a journey there is no warning sound.... Consumers can be killed or maimed if an accident occurs without realizing this part has stopped functioning, drivers may get a false sense of security.
The in tank fuel pump design has the actual pump sitting in a plastic housing with rubber seals at the top and bottom to keep fuel around the pump for cooling, even when the tank quantity gets low. The rubber seals on my fuel pump rotted and disintegrated. This would allow the pump to operate without the designed cooling of the pump at low gas levels. Overheating of the pump because of this could result in a gas tank fire or explosion.