general problems of the 2003 Volkswagen Jetta - part 1

Right passenger side window is blocked inside door.

My Jetta stalls without warning when the gas gauge is at a quarter of a tank or less. No engine check light or any other any other device comes on to warn me it is going to stall. My speed does not matter. It happens at freeway speeds or around town. It does not occur if the gas gauge shows more than 1/4 of a tank of fuel. I do not know if it is an electrical problem, a fuel propulsion problem or an engine problem. From reading volkswagon forums, this is a very common problem with volkswagons of different years, including the new tiguans. I'm sure there have been many fatalities as a result of this defect. I am surprised volkswagon has not been forced to repair this dangerous, life threatening problem before now! maybe, a class action law suit involving products liability, merchantability, and fitness for a particular use would benefit not only owners, but the general public at large. I believe it is your duty to protect the general public from manufactures who place dangerous, defective products in the stream of commerce. Your action is required, and demanded. The first time ocurred right after I purchased the car in 2019. It has stalled many times since then, before I realized I needed to keep the fuel tank at least 1/2 full at all times. Keeping it 1/2 full at all times greatly deminishes the range of travel before I have to refill. It is inconvenient and expensive since fuel has to be purchased at places other the most economical place I usually purchase my gasoline. Thank you.

My car got hacked my charlie miller and chris valasek was seen over at my neighbors house on 4/29/2017 and my ex boss chris stutz jr is in charge of all the break in of my house and cars edwardsville police will not do anything because the police are friend of them I hope I don't get killed over these hacks but if that's what it will take to do anything about it.

When I was sitting in the driver's seat with the heated seat option turned to a 5 (high), while the car was warming up, I noticed some smoke coming from the right side of the seat. The heated seat started to burn through the cloth cover directly where my metal jacket zipper was making contact with the cloth seat surface. I immediately poured water on the seat to ensure a fire didn't start. I have not attempted to use the seat heaters since this incident.

Drivers side seat heater ignited burning through seat trim and burning driver while operating vehicle. This occurred in a seat that the dealer indicated they had replaced under the initial recall (however date on seat is 11/25/2002 before car was delivered in 4/2003 - so dealer never actually replaced it . Seat retained and photos available for inspection.

Having worked in vw dealerships my transmission control module is failing at only 130,000 miles on it which has been an ongoing issue and complaint by many. When it acts up it won't upshift or will drop down into low gear and one has to worry about being rear ended when this condition occurs.

The fuse box in these older Jettas melts because it is on top of the battery, which can cause the car to shut off while driving. Its very dangerous.

Tl- the contact owns a 2003 vw Jetta GLS turbo. The contact stated that while driving 50 mph, he noticed smoke coming from under the hood and entering the interior cabin of the vehicle. The contact stopped the vehicle and opened the battery fuse box where he found that there were overheated wires and overwhelming smoke. The contact stated that the failure was recurring and the smoke was emitting from the battery fuse box. The vehicle was not taken to the dealer to determine the cause of the failure. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 96,000. The VIN was not available. Kmj.

There is a fuse box on the top of my battery as there was for all mk4 Jettas, golf in all motor trims. The fuse box on top of the battery melted. When opened there was a black wire severed from the box. When turning the battery over the cable wire was arching. The wire was actually sparking. There are fuses in the original box but they never boke, tripped.

Battery fuse box melted. Engine overheated and cut off.

Air conditioner stopped working . Found left fuse on fuse box on top of battery is black and melted.

Car had a burning smell coming from the engine. The engine light came on. While on the highway the car stopped moving forward and stalled in traffic, the battery light then came on. I turned the car off and restarted it. In a 30 mile round trip, this happened 3 times. Upon further inspection, the battery mounted fuse block had completely melted and was extremely hot.

Tl- the contact owns a 2003 Volkswagen Jetta. The contact stated that while driving approximately 20 mph a burning plastic odor was present inside the vehicle before the passenger suddenly experienced a burning sensation coming from the seated area of the passenger seat. The contact indicated that the passenger side seat heater element had over heated causing a burn hole in the seat and causing a minor burn to the passenger. The contact stated that a small flamed to the passengers right pant leg had to be extinguished during the incident and the passenger seat burn hole measured approximately 1 inch in diameter. The vehicle was diagnosed at the dealer. The contact was informed that the defect was caused by a faulty heat element inside the seat. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified but no solution was offered. The failure mileage was 125,000. Jft.

The thermostat on my 2003 Volkswagen Jetta failed for the second time. The first time it failed as at approximately 40,000 miles in 2009.

The temp sender on my 2003 Volkswagen Jetta failed for the second time. The first failure occurred at approximately 38,000 miles in 2007.

One of the two large cooling fans in the front of the engine failed. The part must be replaced to prevent engine overheating. The part number is 6x0-959-445-f.

The car was parked for two days without being driven. While it was parked, neighbors ran over to report it was smoking under the hood. We saw that there were flames coming out from underneath the front of the car. Fire department came, but fire had already extinguished itself. Fire department disconnected the battery ground and said the wires going to the cooling fan had set on fire. All of this was spontaneous. Engine was not on.

Iam the original owner and have always kept my Jetta in the garage. I moved 3 and a half years ago and my car is no longer garaged. My headline is starting to detach from the inside of the car and the leather throughout my car is cracking. I noticed there was a classss action lawsuit regarding the sunroof drain getting clogged causing damage to the car. Who can I contact to see if I qualify for this action. At the time of the recall I did take my Jetta to a dealership and they said everything was fine, is this because my car was garaged and now its outside exposed to the elemets, which has caused this damage? thank you,.

Both front seats, the bottom right side bolster burned. The heated front seats will over heat, the failure appears to be confined to the right bolster on the bottom section of the seat. The heating elements get hot enough to burn through the seat material. Being the side of the seat I was able to shift my leg away and power off the heated seat. If left on the seats will start to smoke. I consider this a safety issue, I haven't tried , but it seems as though the seat could catch on fire if left on. The local dealer's service rep said just unplug it the option.

Driver's seat heater malfunctioned. Right side of seat has small burn marks, is discolored, has exposed elements, and seat foam is melted. Two pairs of pants obtained singe marks on separate occasions. I drive the car to and from the city via interstate for 40 minutes each way. Seat heaters are typically on for about 20 minutes. Beginning in November when I used the seat heaters I could smell a slight burning smell. Since it was the beginning of the winter season I figured it was just heated dust on my seats from being inactive all summer. The final time I used the seat heaters (1/26/12) the smell got so bad that I had to open the sun roof for air. I also noticed the seats got hotter than usual and wondered if my seat back was heating at all. As was usual when the seat was hot enough I would manually turn off the seat heater. I did not know what was happening until one day when I noticed brown marks on the right side of my pants. I then looked at the seat and saw the damage to the seat. The driver's seat element was replaced in may 2006, the passenger seat August 2006, due to previous recall/warranty service.

Hola mi hija tuvo una experiencie terrible con su auto. Ella se dirigia a la universidad en su auto y DE momento comenzo a salir humo pr el area donde esta el guia y el conta milla mas o menos por lo poco que no pudo explicar por lo afectada que estaba. Inmediatamente ella se detuvo y se bajo DE vehiculo para llamar a su papa y jucto en ese momento se incendio y estamos seguros que fue un problema DE fabrica para que se incendiara DE esa manera. Gracias a dios que mi hija estaba fuera del vehiculo porque por lo que rapido sucedio no le hubiera dado DE salir y la historia hubiera sido otra. Hago este reporte para que no vuelva a suceder algo asi. Porque mi hija esta sumamente afectada. Muchas gracias por su atencion.

My 2003 Volkswagen Jetta has experienced a coil pack failure causing a reduction in power, and the engine to misfire. According to the Volkswagen dealer, the housing of the coil pack was cracked which allowed moisture to affect its operation. The dealer also stated that there is no recall or replacement program for 4 cylinder engines experiencing this problem.

The safety light on the interior of the front passenger door that lights up when the door is opened failed on my 2003 Volkswagen Jetta. The dealer stated that the problem was a failure in the front passenger door latch mechanism. The door latch mechanism was replaced, and was not covered under warranty.

My drivers side seat heater doesn't recognize the setting of 0-5. It's either on, or off. Meaning, 0-4 the seat heater doesn't heat the seat. But when I turn it to 5 on the setting within 10 minutes the seat gets so hot it burns my legs through clothing.

My seat heater failed in my 2003 vw Jetta, burning a hole in the seat under my left buttock. 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. The car has about 125k miles on it.

I am the owner of a 2003 vw Jetta. I was recently burned(11/2010) by the seat heater while driving and the car seat smelled like it was going to start on fire. My car had a recall not long after I bought it for the seat heaters. It is obviously a malfunction in the seat heater that vw has had numerous problems with based on the recall and the plethora of complaints on the internet. I can no longer use the heating unit. I took it to patrick motors in auburn, MA where I bought the car. They said it was out of warranty and they would charge me to look at it to see what the problem was and then maybe ask vwoa if they would help. I was not willing to pay more money for something that is obviously a manufacturing problem and has been documented as problematic.

Started car and turned on headlights. Started driving home and the dashboard dimmer switch caught fire. Fire went out but all dashboard lights were out.

Rear passenger doors fail to respond to key fob. Stay locked/ unlocked.

Sun roof drain clogs!!! no direction in manual for cleaning nor warning that it can happen. I found nearly three inches of water in the floor and water all over the interior fuse block. My concern is fire related. Corrosion can lead to high impedence connections and after water intrusion I have no idea how safe my electrical system is. This is the second or third incident and I finally found out what was causing the problem by doing research on the internet. Many others have experienced this problem and it appears that the design of the outlet nipple is the issue.

I have had 27 things break or fail on my 03vw Jetta 1. 8t. I bought the car used in 01/06 with 32,000 miles. After buying the car the first five mins the window shattered. First two months 2 tires blew out, front rim cracked, back tires out of alignment. Dealer paid to fix rim broke 2 weeks later the dealer paid fo used set of similar rims. Every light inside and out went out by 05/06 driver seat wont raise up cargo net in trunk falls apart dealer wont cover. Gas and trunk release buttons fell down inside of door. Radio stopped working front door speakers are shorting out. Driver window switch goes up when you push down and down when you push down have to fiddle with it for it to go up. Exhaust hanger broke causing chatter. Swaybar bushing fell out causing grinding and shaking when ever moving. Not cover by warranty all these happened by 05/07. Now its 10/08 and I have 84,000 miles. Current problems are rear spoiler brake light hangs down(dealer just glued it in place lasted about 4 months) cam and crank seals leaking oil cause odor inside of cabin. If I drive for more then an hour I get sick and light-headed. Seat, cargo net in trunk, is still broken. Radio still isn't fixed so I just went and bought an after market. Speakers still shortening out only when its cold out. Keyless entry only works within 4ft of the car. In the winter the car only gets 18mpg on the highway and about 14 in the city and the car is parked in a heated underground garage.

2003 vw Jetta GLS wagon with 62k miles, abruptly shut down while driving. After towing to local mechanic, it was determined the main fuse holder had shorted out and begun to melt, risking an engine fire. Part was replaced and problem repaired for $237.

There are many problems which seem to be a cause of the electrical system. The car will simply die when you stop at a red light, stop sign, etc. It will try to die while driving down the road. The digital display constantly resets itself, especially when you turn the car off, but also while driving. The radio does this too. The back brake light also has some type of short in it. It goes out and comes back on. We have replaced it twice in as many months.

No advance notice. The car shut off in heavy traffic, almost causing an accidents. The Volkswagen dealer , carl gregory in columbus, GA, could not find the cause of the problem at first. Later they found the problem and replaced: 1. Harness p/n 1j0-971-349-hg, 2. Holder p/n 1j0-937-617-d, . Fuse p/n n-104-249-0. They did not return the parts to me. Since no one was sure what caused the problem or if this fixed the problem. I own a Volkswagen with only 56622 miles that I could not trust to drive out of town.

: the contact stated the engine light illuminated four times. Each time the vehicle was taken to the local dealership for inspection and repair. The dealership repair department replaced the glow plug, the relay to the glow plug and the thermostat, however this did not remedy the problem.

2003 Volkswagen Jetta diesel tdi. The engine died at 70 mph. The consumer knew it was not the timing belt and believed it to be an electrical problem. The car has an electrical problem with the computer sensor that controls the signals. Lights to flash, flashers also with power windows. The consumer took the vehicle to a mechanic and he could find no reason for this to happen. The timing belt is in place and in good condition.