11 problems related to bumper have been reported for the 1999 Volkswagen Jetta. The most recently reported issues are listed below.
Front bumper too low, gets caught and detaches from body of car.
Front bumper is way too low and scraps and gets caught on curbs. This can result in the whole front bumper coming off. The first time this happened the local dealership replaced it for free. Now they just say watch how you park. The trouble is, you cant's tell when you drive over a curb, only when backing out, does the bumper catch and pull off. This is a defect the manufacturer should fix, especially since I know my car was manufactured in mexico.
Regardless where I park, home,work, grocery stores, the concrete parking stops rip off the bumper and the assembly that holds the wheel wells together. The front grill pieces also pop out. Who is not meeting the standards here the people installing parking bumpers or the manufacturer of the car?.
Front bumper is too low and standard. Right side/ left side contrete grill will take front bumper off completely.
Bumper pulled loose (almost completely off) from mounting by cement parking space stopper while backing out of parking space.
Engine transmission light failed after 3 months, both windows have fallen down into door, front bumper has been torn off, antena and other plastic objects around car have fallen off,abs system light is on again, cover for gas tank will not open (I had to pry it open), cup holders and mirror covers have broken, inside of car started to bubble after 6 months, because of the plastic. All the service department in san antonio could say was that I did not know how to manage car. I didn't know I had to take a class in opening the gas cover. Oddly enough, most of these things started to break after my two year warranty expired. All they had to say was that "when it rains it pours". I would never recommend this car to anyone.
While on vacation and pulling into a parking lot the front right hand side of the bumper came off of the one screw that was holding it into place and the brackets came out making it unsecure. The bumper lay on the ground as I proceeded into the parking lot, scratching on the asphalt as I had to pull in to avoid a potential accident. Went to a local auto body shop where the man who temporarily fixed the bumper told me that vw's have unsecure front and rear bumpers, and that this happens all the time.
When parking against a concrete parking stop, if you pull the front tires all the way to the stop when you back out you just about pull the entire bumper off. This happened only a couple months after we bought the car. We pulled into the parking spot not thinking anything of it. We owned similar sized cars before. The grillwork pops out and snaps back in. We lost two of the three pieces of grillwork from not realizing that they do come out when you simply park your car. The first I mentioned the incident to the service tech he said I guess they don't have those parking stops in germany. The second time I mentioned it the service tech said you have to remember this is a compact car and you don't have to pull all the way in. I believe the newer Jetta models have more clearance than the "troubled Jettas" do. We have somewhat gotten used to not pulling in so far but not all the time. We also refuse to get it repaired at our expense.
Front bumper separates from the vehicle when it touches a parking stop at low speed. Dealership personnel acknowledge that this has happened to many people but gave us no warning when we purchased the vehicle. The body shop we took it too, carriage auto body in margate, FL, believes the bumper is not manufactured and installed correctly and that it is not the fault of the driver.
No summary listed for above vehicle.
Paint on rear bumper of 1999 vw Jetta's chip & peel off on most vehicles. Reduces the resale value & appearance of the vehicle.