2003 Volkswagen Jetta problems
The 2003 Volkswagen Jetta has 554 complaints on file with NHTSA. The largest share (19%) concerns seats. After that come electrical system (18%) and air bags (15%).
At a glance
- Complaints
- 554 filed with NHTSA
- Most reported
- Seats 19% of complaints
- Crashes and fires
- 38 and 79
- Injuries and deaths
- 92 and 1
- Typical mileage
- 57,000 miles 460 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 | 82 |
| 20k to 40k miles | 83 |
| 40k to 60k miles | 75 |
| 60k to 80k miles | 69 |
| 80k to 100k miles | 54 |
| 100k to 120k miles | 24 |
| 120k to 140k miles | 23 |
| 140k to 160k miles | 20 |
| 160k to 180k miles | 13 |
| 180k to 200k miles | 8 |
| 200k+ miles | 9 |
What the data shows
Among the 460 complaints that report mileage, the typical (median) problem appeared at about 57,000 miles. For seats specifically, the median reported mileage is about 55,000 miles (84 complaints with mileage).
Safety-related details: 38 complaints mention a crash; 79 complaints mention a fire; 92 injuries reported; 1 death reported. Its complaints are more severe on average than those of 95% 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 2003 ranks 12th most-complained-about out of 35 model years of the Volkswagen Jetta with enough data (369 complaints in that window). It is also covered by 2 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.
This car is equipped with electric seat heaters. After driving this vehicle for approximately 25 miles, the driver seat heater burnt through the seat, burning my butt. The seat quit burning after turning the heater off. I have spoke to two VW dealers and VW directly and it sounds like this is not an isolated incident by any means.
Our jetta was rear-ended at a red light and the gas tank exploded, causing the car to become a fireball. The car was obviously totalled, and we lost all of our belongings inside the car.
Dt*: the contact stated while driving 30 MPH through an intersection, the vehicle was t-boned on the passenger side. The side and curtain air bags did not deploy. Five people sustained minor injuries and a police report was taken. The dealer was not contacted.
I was driving my leased, 2003 volkswagen jetta, (equipped with cold weather package), on a very busy road in late afternoon on a cold autumn day just outside of boston. I turned my driver side seat warmer on the highest level, (5) and in about 5 minutes I felt a sharp pain on the backside of my left thigh and thought something had stung me at first. I repositioned myself in the seat, and could smell something burning.
My seat heater failed in my 2003 VW jetta, burning a hole in the seat under my left [xxx]. I was startled when suddenly there a strong burning smell in the car, then a hot spot in the seat occurred which caused me to have to quickly shift my seating posting and I immediately turned off the seat heater. Luckily I was driving slowly in the city and able to pull in the in a parking spot quickly and the seat or my clothing did not catch on fire. The seat was set to 3 on a scale of 1-5.