1999 Volkswagen Jetta Reviews, Pricing & Specs

A little buzzy saloon with no power. i love this cute little car and all of its inconvenient little quirks. this cars has its many ups yet plenty of downs. this car is a 50/50 chance. you either pick a good one or a mess. i was skeptical to buy the new generation of a whole new design of everything, but im kind of pleasantly surprised. i have the 2.0l inline 4 and its dreadful. it makes the whole car vibrate, shake, and rattle. its pretty unrefined, and i found it to be a german car thing, but it revs all the way up to 3000-3500 rpms before it shifts,(i guess thats why it uses so much oil!) and when it shifts its a slow abrupt one. id hate this car if it wasnt so quirky and reliable. i have banged it off almost everything in the bronx and it still drives fine. gas mileage is slightly mediocre for such engine dullness but the handling also makes up for that. it has such good sticky handling around turns but has a serious traction issue if its not 100% dry out. the trunk is huge but more space should have been given to the rear seats, because it is so tight. now here comes my main issue with the car. THE ELECTRICAL SYSTEM SUCKS. if its not one random light on the dash then its another light that wont turn on in the cabin, or if i put on my turn signals or even my headlights, the radio statics really bad. the radio for some reason had static since i bought it. i thought it was just the antenna , so i bought one and it cleared a little, but still sucks. through all these times i still love it because this car is so forgiving and just so......AH! i cant describe it! i just have such a passion for this car and i love it no matter what, i plan to drive it till its dead!Mar 02, 2013

great performance - fun to drive! good acceleration [optional 6 cylinder sport engine], braking & cornering. body in good shape but missing some trim pieces. leather seats very comfortable on long trips. rear bumper cover got scratched up from parallel parking - so replaced with a black cover which looks fine [see pic]. gets good gas mileage for a peppy car because of the car's size.Apr 04, 2011

acceleration is great, not the fastest car ive driven. but it sure is fun! Brakes are great, stops on a dime. handles great! i feel like i'm driving a racecar! Appearance isn't great but i do need a paintjob and other exterior things. interior is great! only about $30 to fill up and i can for for two weeks! all around a blast to drive! I recommend it to everyone!Jun 08, 2010

Classic Volkswagen everything. It has typical performance for a 90hp diesel. Build quality is very good (German Engineering). As far as appearance goes I'm a huge fan of German styling and the cost to maintain it is minimal. Is it fun to drive? It is a Volkswagen so... heck yes! German cars always handle better! I love it! I would definitely recommend this vehicle.Dec 05, 2009

Handling is really nice with the suspension, it makes you feel like youre going 80 when your actually going 140. fairly cheap on gas, about 40$ a week depending on how much you drive. The engine is pretty well bullet proof. Dont purchase an older automatic, they tend to crap out somewhere between 230k and 300k, but if it laster past that, than its probably good to last you another 400k. they look nice if you keep it clean and maintained. Its a very fun car to drive, easy to handle and control, and fun to zip around corners. But take care of it! they are expensive to upkeep.Dec 04, 2009

Acceleration wasn't the best, often needed a lot of power to switch gears. Brakes were always kinda squeaky even after getting them replaced. Exterior paint was chipping in a couple spots. Interior paint on door handles was wearing off. Glovebox door was broken and center console cover broke. Factory alarm would activate 30 seconds after unlocking the car even if I was in it, unless I turned the car on or opened a passenger side door. Had to replace one of the power window motors. Hood latch broke and also had to be replaced. Mileage was pretty good but probably not what you'd expect from a Jetta. Otherwise it ran good, didn't need much done under the hood. Power moon/sunroof worked great and speakers sounded amazing. Black/tan interior, chrome shift panel and blue/red dashboard lights were awesome.Oct 17, 2009

This was the first car that I have ever owned, bought for me by my parents. I knew then I wanted something that looked bold, stylish, and crafted with a touch of German. Not throwing out the idea of owing a Civic, but every kid my age had one. Little did I know, I ended up in the land of Vdub. What came along with owning a VW, was the sub- culture that came behind it. Through shockers, and love amongst Dubbers; it seemed almost as a cult. However, a cult with tastefully modded vehicles, unlike their counter part japanese street tuners. Stretch tires and RWD fitments on a FWD car with huge spacers became a fashionable thing to do amongst dubbers, completely senseless, but cool. At the time, these where in the discussion boards and a power struggle between VW and Honda fanboys were hitting the drag strips. I enjoyed the quarrels, and participated in many discussions. It became my passion, my pass time, my studies... From then I grew with real knowledge from mechanics and physics. What I had gained from this car, was once a great time in my life. From knowledge, wisdom, the right mods, the wrong mods, friends, and stories. This car was the love of my life! It was a Love/Hate story. Had I have know at the time of purchase I would have gone with a 1.8T 5- speed gear shifter, instead with no knowledge I opted for a 2.0L grand-ma/sissi boy gear changer aka automatic transmission. Performance wise, it was very weak. It was never built for performance actually . Yet it felt nice as it revved to 3k RPM before shifting gears. Higher gear ratio's made it very "torquey"! Suspension was solid and kept the car on the road very well. Compared to those japanese vehicles, it was smooth and not as bouncy. It felt solid, it felt German. Built quality seemed impeccable, especially the interior was very comfortable and un-boring as if nothing seemed cheap. Even though it really was! Broken glove box, plastic molding from the dash kept breaking off, and the lighting from the heater dial would never light up when you want it to and the heater never seem to kick in just right. Windows either fog up after awhile, then you would have to trickle with the dials to get it back on, it was a constant adjustment. Finally, you would always have a burnt stop light bulb or a burnt headlight that was nearly impossible to change behind the battery. To top things of the 2.0L burns oil faster than a Buggati Veyron hitting top speed with a full tank of gas! On a final note, it had a very poorly design by having its engine sit so low as for the oil pan to knock every bump on the road. I had gone through 4 oil pans within it's life span. In the end, I loved it! It was beautiful, was comfortable, and was fun to drive. Those were just minor details that some will cry over, but not I; a person who just absolutely enjoys driving. Whether it just be around the city that I've grown to love & call home.Oct 14, 2009

Great build quality, minimal repairs. Good options and good choice of interior materials. Pleasing yet practical styling in typical VW manner. The performance on the 2.0 liter is reasonably snappy, and good on gas, but not a huge thriller on the straights. Gearbox is slightly clunky. However, great handling with compliant ride quality make it a fun and economical city car.Apr 15, 2009

Always wanted a diesel car. Glad I got one. Gets 50mpg on the highway and no less than 43 no matter how hard I run it on local runs. Will run 75mph at barely over 2500rpms. Car has 240k and, while some extras no longer work (heated seats, etc.), it doesn't appear that it will ever wear out. Biggest drawback is that is nearly impossible for a non-VW mechanic to work on as the motor is absolutely shoehorned into the engine compartment, and everything on the car is controlled by seemingly 10 different electric gizmos. Also requires about the most expensive 65 series tires money can buy. Bottom line, it does use some expensive parts, but they last forever, and I can't complain.Jan 20, 2009

My car is a beast. It's a "wolfsburg" edition.... I like to call it the pack-leader, because it seems to feed monthly.The build is very tough and can withstand a great deal of beating. I love driving it though; the handling is great. It packs a lot of punch for just a four cylinder. The gas mileage is awesome. It gets about 28-30 miles to the gallon (highway). It's not high maintenance, just the usual stuff. The interior is very roomy for such a compact car. Dec 08, 2008

I like the amount of torque that comes with it. You can customize these cars in so many different ways to fit your profile. There is a great official manual that the experts use to work on this car. It makes it very easy to break down your car and make the customizations yourself. I think with just some basic customizations you can make this car turn into a very sporty, fast sedan. German engineers really know what they are doing. I have 101,000 miles on my car and it actually runs better now than the day to bought it off the lot. Like I said with a few modifications to you can turn this "adorable" car into a little monster!Oct 03, 2008

One morning i went to go to the store rolled down my window and it fell all the way in the door. Same happend to the otherside a few months later. I have also problems with the entire side of the dricers door panel does not work! Not the gas pop, the trunk pop, or any of the door locks. I love this car and I payed a lot of money for it and it shouldent be falling apart.Mar 13, 2008