Hello everyone,
I am currently 15 years old, and will be driving in a year in a half. I think it would be a good idea to try and get a car within a few months, so I can learn how to work on my on car and gain experience. I have been looking at Jettas, and have really taken a liking to them. At first I was looking at the gli version, but as a first car the price is rather high. Once I new I wanted a Jetta, I set my price limit.

I figured I could spend around 6,000$ on a car. I started looking and I have been finding Jettas 1999-2001 from $5-6k with 99-110k miles. Some have 4 cylinders with no turbo and the others are the vr6 versions. All are manual transmission. What I have come here for is some basic information on the Jettas I am looking at. I am hoping to have this car for all 4 years or so, and would not like to spend a lot of money fixing things. I am have been reading that the vr6 engines are reliable, but haven't read much about the turbo-less 4 cylinders.

I was wondering if I can get some information, and 1st hand cases about the cars. Are the miles I am looking at too high for a vw? What kind of repairs am I looking at in the future? Would the car be able to handle upgrades. (exhausts, intake, computer upgrade, turbo?) Thanks for all the future help. I know I may seem like a kid but please try and take me seriously. Also if someone asks why I want to get a car a year and half early, its because I am hoping to save up some money, and do some mods to it while its parked. I am hoping to have a gli look a like by the time its finished, and have a nice car that is enjoyable to look at.


Thanks,
Jester

 

Dude I have one to sell if you're interested. I have it listed for $6,500. But I could sell it to you for $6,000. It's a 99.5 MKIV Jetta. I just bought a '08 GLI so I need to sell my car. I'm not sure where you live but I'll post the link anyways. It's black and only has 84,000 miles on it.

Here's the LINK to autotrader.com. I just put it on the site a few days ago.

 

All i can say is don't get the 2.0 4 cylinder (the non turbo one) i have had two of them in mk3 vw's and around 100 to 110k quite a few things start to go bad. If i was in your situation i would look for an mk3 (94-98) gti or jetta vr6, its the same as the mk4 vr6 depending on if its dohc or sohc and you could pick one up for that price with less miles on the clock. or buy raiders jetta it sounds like an ok deal

 

i have an2001 1.8t jetta and love it. only thing is it dosent like the freeway, but its a 4speed auto sooooooo....

 

I paid $5,500 for my mk4 99 Jetta GLS (fully loaded) 4 cyl. auto. with 84k miles. Have had to replace o2 sensor and window regulator after only owning it a month or two.

I'm hoping what dubalicious is saying isn't true about my model.

Don't really know if I'd recommend a VW as a first car if you're worried about repairs. Parts can be fairly expensive. May want to look at Toyota and Honda.

 

I agree. For a first time driver unless daddy is gonna foot the bill, this car is expensive for repairs. It's like having a woman, you gotta take care if her, if not she'll tear you up and steal your money! The biggest problem with my VR6 is the coil pack. It was $200 off Ebay, but most places wanted $400. Other than that some coolant lines were leaking and had them replaced. no major major problems to report and has been a fun @$$ car!!