2002 Volkswagen Jetta problems
The 2002 Volkswagen Jetta has 885 complaints on file with NHTSA. The largest share (17%) concerns electrical system. After that come air bags (12%) and engine (12%).
At a glance
- Complaints
- 885 filed with NHTSA
- Most reported
- Electrical system 17% of complaints
- Crashes and fires
- 41 and 81
- Injuries and deaths
- 83 and 10
- Typical mileage
- 55,000 miles 630 complaints with mileage
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%.
When problems show up
View the numbers
| Mileage | Complaints |
|---|---|
| 0k to 20k miles | 115 |
| 20k to 40k miles | 123 |
| 40k to 60k miles | 100 |
| 60k to 80k miles | 95 |
| 80k to 100k miles | 92 |
| 100k to 120k miles | 31 |
| 120k to 140k miles | 30 |
| 140k to 160k miles | 21 |
| 160k to 180k miles | 7 |
| 180k to 200k miles | 4 |
| 200k+ miles | 12 |
What the data shows
Among the 630 complaints that report mileage, the typical (median) problem appeared at about 55,000 miles. For electrical system specifically, the median reported mileage is about 34,000 miles (105 complaints with mileage).
Safety-related details: 41 complaints mention a crash; 81 complaints mention a fire; 83 injuries reported; 10 deaths reported. Its complaints are more severe on average than those of 84% of model years in our database.
Looking only at complaints filed within five years of the model year (so older and newer years are comparable), the 2002 ranks 5th most-complained-about out of 35 model years of the Volkswagen Jetta with enough data (628 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.
I have been going to board walk volkswagen dealer in richardson and rusty wallace volkswagen in garland, texas for my repair for my car for more than 8 times. The car is still not repaired and I am very frustrated. The problem is that when I start my car, it shakes really bad I would have to warm it up for 5 minutes. Sometimes the car dies while I am driving. I wrote a complaint letter to the rusty wallace because I purchased my vehicle there and the service manager (dan turk) seems to be avoiding my phone calls.
The consumer smelled smoke while traveling with the driver's side seat heater on. The consumer opened the driver's side window and the driver's seat caught on fire and burned the consumer. *scc
While driving I smelled something burning. As I pulled over I felt I was being burned on my upper left leg (rear end). I got out and checked and my seat heating unit had burned through the seat, through my pants and coat and burned my skin.
Vehicle suddenly loss engine power and can not be driven. Dealer notified. Please provide additional information. Ts
Dt: the contact stated the hazard flashing lights switch malfunctioned. All of the exterior lights on the car burned out. The turn signals would tick, but the blinker light would not come on. This was temporarily solved by removing the hazard light switch. Volkswagen issued recall 04v584000 on the hazard switch, but this vehicle was not included in the recall. The manufacturer and the dealer have been contact, and neither offered any free solution.