VW Jetta GLI Reliability and Maintenance Owner Review: 23K Miles Later 

Have a 2004 Jetta GLI 1.8T with over 455,000 miles on it and have never had a problem with it. Still has the original turbo and the only work on the engine has been timing belts every 70,000 miles. It's a stick so I've been through three clutches but never needed work on the trans yet. Still, gets 26 to 28 mpg and can easily get up over 100 mph when needed.

I have a 15 gli. 187k not a single problem. Only brakes and oil changes

Thanks. I got the ‘21 GLI - and I’m about to read the users manuals closely. Your presentation was very informative!

Great video, top quality. I'm waiting on my GLI order and I couldn't be more excited.

love these videos really informative on the gli I'm saving for one and at first I was between this and a 10th gen accord but this definitely have steered me in the vw path

I'm picking up one of these on Monday! I'm so excited. Thank you this is very informative!

Thank you so much, excellent review, been waiting desperately for this video

I used to own a 2012 GLI DSG. Best car i’ve ever owned (i’m 64). My main issue was with ignition coils (twice) but other than that, awesome car. Enjoy driving your GLI 👍

Thanks so much for your hard work! Would love to see you guys go further with more of these. I know it’ll be difficult to put mileage on multiple cars/brands… but definitely useful!!! I currently am acquiring 2023 Tiguan and Jetta, and this gave me great insight into the Jetta. I’ve been a VW fan for years and somehow feel I may be leaving the brand as there hasn’t really been much growth and yet the costs are climbing. The wiper issue mentioned was also on my 2019 Atlas along with a drop in oil when driving long distances 🤷🏽‍♂️ dealership couldn’t figure it out and always asked me to just fill it and bring it back to them 😅 but with the new cars, we’ll be trying it out again for the last time and after looking at other vehicles.

Congratulations, excellent video. Pretty far from most reviews focusing nealy only performance. Good to watch something creative and well thought. Salute fro Brazil!

I have a 2017 GLI manual with 80,000 miles, so far so good. Shes been solid with minimal maintenance, just normal wear and tear stuff, tires, brakes, coolant flushes, oil changes... stuff like that. I am happy. Also side note i live in AZ with the 120 degree summers and shes handles it beautifully. AC blows cold and no overheating

I had an 89 GLI,,,the coldest AC ever! So awesome for California heat. Great car,,,missed it the day I sold it!!!

The term RELIABILITY has been completely deformed. Reliable means, THE CAR STARTS, RUNS AND DOESN'T LEAVE YOU STRANDED. Also, not having constant break downs even after a fix. If an infotainment system doesn't properly connect to your phone, that has nothing to do with reliability. It's another tactic by the media to skew people's opinions and views about something.

11:03 I've had my MK7 GLI S for almost a year now. Only ever fed it 91 octane. I've gotten 42.5 MPG highway driving in eco mode with cruise control. It gets better numbers than advertised and I'm not complaining.

I currently drive a 2020 VW Arteon. I LUV it but, I know exactly what you mean about the wipers. I too have the same issue.... Very odd!.... Great review. Thanks!👍

AWESOME VIDEO!

Great Review ✔️

Love the GLI VIDEOS

Awesome review. I'm at the same mileage with my Arteon.

I have a 2019 GLI with 78K on it now. I have had no reliability issues so far but i am dealing with an issue right now that i hope is finally resolved as of yesterday. The plastic oil pan was replaced due to a crack from an object in the road. The drain plug kept leaking after two or three tries. Turns out they were putting a 3rd party plug in it and it just would not stop dripping. It had an original VW drain plug put in yesterday and so far it’s dry but i will wait a week or so before i try to clean the oil off the driveway just to be sure. I have the manual. Think it’s a great car to drive.

Averaging over 38 mpg in mine(1.4 6spd manual). No rough idle. Actually it's extremely smooth. Only one problem, the EPA-mandated purge valve, which is of zero need in a vehicle. Was replaced under warranty early on and not a problem since. Don't know how the EPA estimated only 41 mpg highway, as it gets 45 easily if not 46-47. On one back road ride at an easy pace it resulted in over 51 mpg for 100 miles. Handles great like a VW should. Really zero problems in 45,000 miles and 3.5 years of ownership here.

Thats encouraging. I have had one issue with mine which i am hoping is finally solved. Not a reliability issue though it was due to damage to the plastic oil pan.

I have 28,000 miles on my 2019 GLI Anniversary Edition. The 6-speed manual transmission is the smoothest I've had.....and I've had a few BMW's and a Porsche. Everything has gone well, until I just came home from a week's vacation. My car had not been driven for a week. I pushed on the clutch to start the car, and it went to the floor and stayed there! Now I'm a 75 year old man who drives like a little old lady. I think my turbo has only chimed in a couple of times since I've had the car. This is not the driver's fault. Apparently, the hydraulic fluids leaked out somehow. Anyway, two weeks without a car is not fun. No other issues with the car.

This vid covers six issues/annoyances and our daily livability with the Jetta GLI during its first 18 months and 23k miles. We have had some issues, but maintenance and fuel usage has been very reasonable. Let us know your questions about this GLI or share your experiences with Volkswagen GTI/GLI ownership and quality. And be sure to give it a like and consider subscribing.

This is my dream car when I’m outa school , 16 more months ! Hope they still offer it with a manual by the time I get there

Had to return my 2015 GTI on 1st day of lease because the infotainment system went black. 3 weeks later, I picked the car up after they replaced the entire infotainment system, and again, went black before I even left the parking lot of the dealer. Once again, replaced the entire infotainment system which took another 3 weeks. Thank god I only leased that car!

To fix your wiper problem you'll need to have the dealership pull the wiper arms off and then re-attach them. They're not angled correctly and so are putting uneven pressure on the windshield.

19 GLI M6 here....FBO IS38. The car is a rocket and I haven't had any real issues.

For rattles at highway speeds, one thing you need to do is check your tires. I have 106,000-km on my 2019 Jetta, and the tires are showing 'cupping' on their inboard edges. I thought it could be a wheel bearing, but the cupping explains it. The noise went away when I put my winter tires on which have no cupping. The only repair I needed was recently a solenoid failed that switches an oil circuit that I believe regulates the variable valves in the head. Either that or it switches open the oil cooler circuit. I've done all my maintenance so far and I'm very pleased with my Jetta.

Advance auto parts has the 0w20 508.00 spec Mobil 1 at 39.95 for a 5quart jug.

The dsg gearbox it's very noisy, I bought an audi a1 in 2018 and always make noise on slow gears, the windshield you just need to buy a new one with better quality. I sale the audi with 31,000 miles and bought the jetta 2022, very nice video it really helps me.

I have 30k miles on my 21s . Just had it to the dealer for an oil change and had them do a multipoint inspection. Hankook tires are noisy and almost worn out . Not great , since I had them rotated at each 5,000 mi oil change . Brakes are noisy and front rotors are warped . I do drive a bit fast and hard so I’m not shocked . All this fun does come at a cost . Save a few bucks and do your own cabin and engine air filter . Overall great car , dealer for oil changes and dsg service only , and a little diy and it won’t break the bank .

My experience with the parking brake is that the brake pads are semi-metallic and are literally rusting in place (lightly) and seizing to the rotor in high humidity and when applied for 24 hrs. or more. Thus the snap or pop noise is when you brake the rotor free of the rusted pad it is contacting.

Love it, thanks! If only i could find someone who also does the same style for a suburu 22 wrx, camry TRD 2022... :P GLI and those are my top 3 finalists for a purchase.

Georgous car 🔥

Owned a 2019 GLI 35th Anniversary model. Same problem with wiper noise. Numerous rattles coming from some mystery location in the middle of the dash. Swapped out the original tires which were trash for Crossclimate tires (bad winters where I live) and they work all weather conditions.

I mean, for one year and considering the mileage; that's just too many issues. Good to hear it didn't leave you stranded though.

Good luck with that DSG, mine lasted 39,000 miles (2019 Golf Alltrack). On a loaner since 3 weeks ago.

8:04 I worked in a car dealership parts department and the techs highly recommended liquimoly.

I have a 2019 GLI. I don’t drive a lot so I only have 23,000 km on it at the moment (around 15,000mi). I started to get the rough idle too lately. Just like you it doesn’t happen all the time and goes away as the engine warms up. Very strange… Otherwise no real issue with the car other than some random annoying cabin rattle. I also changed the wipers.

i had a rattle in my sunroof, got changed under warranty after 4 years, Jetta R-Line 2019, you should push..

Hey I have a 2019 GLI and definitely see a lot of the same stuff. I had the fuel line rattle from the moment I drove it off the lot. LOL they said it was the dealer plate vibrating in the back windshield on the test drive. Mine got fixed really easily though. I also hear the mechanical noises from the DSG... mainly as you're coasting to a stop. My guess is that's the clutches releasing? It used to scare me at first coming from a non-DSG car... I thought something was really off. I get the wiper drags, too just like yours. I don't think the rain sensing wipers are very good either... they either go a million miles an hour or not nearly enough. I get the rough idle here and there... mainly when it's really hot and humid out. I thought maybe it had something to do with the a/c spooling up at full blast on startup. Mine will work itself out right away. I find high humidity zaps the performance pretty good in general. Right now the turbo definitely has more lag than say an October day. My only other nitpick is that the red paint seems kind of soft. I've picked up some chips and I don't even drive a ton. OH yeah... the rims show scrapes really easily... even with the slightest touch against a curb... beware. I got a check engine light on in mine once because the engine went through a sequence where it was too cold. That was bizarre. The dealer cleared everything and gave it a clean bill of health so IDK what that was about. Also, I've hit 40 mpg in mine... and that's still moving at a pretty clip. All in all I really love this car and have way too much fun in it. I'm planning to keep it for at least 6 years while under warranty.

2 kinds of cars in the world VW and the rest 💯 great info 👍

I’ve found with my GLI, I’ve gotten slightly better mpg and obviously better performance with premium gas compared to 87, especially in hot weather. Plus premium generally at top tier gas stations has more detergents than regular, especially at shell. So I’ll pay the extra few dollars for premium in mine

Have you noticed the rear view mirrors? They felt really small and don't have enough visibility

Same here on the wiper blades...I have this rattle in the steering wheel column I got from day one and the dealer won't look at it or even acknowledge its there...also my auto transmission makes a "darth vader" breathing sound going from 4th to 5th gear

I have a '20 GLI and have had 2 things i would consider problems. 1. I had the in car microphone crap out. You know, the one that lets you talk on the phone and stuff. I almost never use it but first noticed it around the time i had my first oil change done. They replaced it and had no problems since. 2. The sunglasses holder broke on me twice. The latches that keep it shut are very small and break easily it seems so when they break the door wont stay closed which is very annoying since it is right in front of the rear view mirror. Replaced by dealer twice, now i just dont use it anymore.

On occasion I have driven a late model Jetta as a loaner. I like them but only have a couple of dislikes. The turn signals sound cheap when applied. I also dislike the engine stop/start feature. I like the engine temperature guage, which my earlier year Jettas did not have (2014, 2016). I now drive a 2020 Passat SE.

Haven't changed the brake fluid in my '68 Chevelle in probably 20 years ...

Re the wipers - this happens to me also when I use Rain-X on the windshield. The advantage is that the rain forms little beads and the visibility out front is much better, the disadvantage is that the wipers will drag. You can put a little bit of a polish like Nu Finish on the wipers and they'll glide over smooth again.

I don’t know if you heard about them but you should check out FCP euro for oil and parts, they have liife warranty on everything including oil

You can use Castrol 0w-20 full synthetic.

Are there any soft materials (fabric) on the interior door panels or are they 100% textured plastic?

I experience the same issue with the windshield wipers on my Honda Civic. May just need a new set of wipers?

Looking into a GLI, very informative video! Anyone have a recommendation on a specific year Mk7 GLI which is best? I see a lot of 2019’s but I heard it’s not the best year for that chassis

27k on mine, Other than regular maintenance, no issues yet.

How are the seats for long rides, they seemed a little firm on my test drive and my back doesnt like firm.

I've had a 2020 Jetta SE since Sept 2020 - 51,000 miles later. Still a solid car too! The stock Bridgestones that come with the normal Jettas are horrible. I get an alignment every 20k miles and they still wore weird. I did not have an issue with the wiper blades on mine. I'm assuming it's the same as the normal jetta

Bro rain x kept my wiper from squeaking from dragging super hard. I tried a bunch of stuff but this rain x is easy and lasts quite a while

10:00 Issue 2 happens when you wash you car and park with the autohold on. Wherever you wash the car don't press the autohold or before you star driving turn off the autohold, then few meters after you can turn on again.

You can't really tell when the car is only 3 years old...

Vws still have pressurized wipers they need to be adjusted

10:13 there's a reason technicians hate the electronic hill brake. I prefer a manual one but learned to live this in my MK7.

My only complaint is how loose feeling the 6-speed shifter is, how it moves from side to side. I thought it was hard to shift and grinding till I realized you have to just use a much lighter touch and just nudge it into gear. (2019 GLI.)

I don’t know if it’s me getting used to the car since I’ve had it for about 3 weeks. Do you find that your GLI has a very mild vibration at about very low rpm’s? Like around 1-1.5k rpm?

How is the DCC? Is there a huge difference between sport and comfort?

I also has the same wiper issue on my polo 2020

German engineering amd Mexican quality lol If you will commute in this car go ahead and buy it but if you think you can beat it up like a Camry and use it for Uber or something do a hard pass

I have a ‘22 with 600 miles on it and I have the fuel line rattle. How have they not addressed this?

To close the sunroof just hold down close for 15 seconds and keep holding it'll learn

I fear for long term durability. I had a Passat and lots of premature plastic part wear. The liner in the ceiling was coming apart I just don’t know if it could last 200-300k miles.

111k on my 2018 Golf no issues.

i have 79k miles on my 2019 GLI only ever needed to do the brakes and plug a hole in a tire

23k is still new, Would like to hear back when the car has 80k

Love the video! Putnam County, New York??:

I would go 5K max oil oil in a turbo car. 20k on and air filter and 30k on plugs. It’s cheap insurance as long as you can DIY the job…

That intermittent rough idle is likely the result of carbon buildup on your intake valves, due to VW's insistence on using direct injection only, instead of direct injection plus port injection, which Toyota uses specifically to prevent carbon gunking on the intake valves.

How much did insurance cost you i know every one gets different quotes but just curious

The rough idle might be due to it being a direct injection vehicle trying to burn off carbon build up possibly?

I just ordered one but after hundreds of poor comments and now this video I can help but think I’ve made a mistake. I’ve had 20 new cars and none have had such ridiculous problems. I mean for 33k you’d think it be built right

What’s the exhaust setup?

Carbon buildup the cause of the rough idle @ startup?

Dsg fluid 40.000 miles,4,to 450$ coming from the dealership

I replaced the stock right wipers I had to slam problem maybe they're using cheap wipers that are too hard

The passenger noise is the fuel line, dealer fixed mine

I have been driving Jetta for 6 years and am happy with mechanics, however I have discovered that it has a rust problem at the lower part of the fenders just by the front wheels. It sucks. I don't like rust. It is a known issue. You can find videos on RU-vid that discuss the issue. Again, I love the mechanics and the interior quality but the known rust issue at the lower part of the side fenders is sad. It is just a poor design. I hope someone from VW managment reads this message and do something about. Please deal with the rust issue at the lower part of the side fenders.

I currently own a 2012 GLI. It began to rust prematurely and Volkswagen refused to cover the guarantee. I have decided never to buy another Volkswagen again. Looks like they did the same refusal as they had a known issue and would rather not deal with it.

I wanna know the reliability after 140k miles

I’m having a same rattling noise…just after a month buying…I’ve 22 gli…it’s super annoying 😫😫

How about long term reliability shod be 5 years

You want reliability, buy a Toyota. Take it from a guy who owned 6 VW, and 4 Toyotas. Toyota ALL DAY!

2021 GLI , turbo had to be replaced at 3,100 miles 😭

If it is direct injected what is the top tier fuel supposed to accomplish?

I don't know anyone who purchased a second VW. I know people who drive Subarus or Toyotas, Hondas. They just keep buying them car after car. But not Volkswagens.

All four tires had to be replaced at 17,000 miles.

I would get the DSG service at 40k.

spark plugs 60K?

Do not do oil changes at 10k or even 5k. I do mine at 3k. And I've always used Castrol 5/30 synthetic from Walmart since 2k. It is approved like vw I truly belive why mine made it to 187k. Wo issues. I do fuel filter every 25k it's 25 bucks and 10min job.. And I do spark plugs 15-20k. It's 60 bucks.. You said u have rough idle. Sounds like carbon deposit. Why I do oil changes at 3k it helps with carbon and do some highway runs helps keeps intake chambers clean.. Always 93 even though it says 87. Always 93

I drive a 2002 mark 4 Jetta, with 225k miles. Same engine, transmission (manual) and clutch. That oil requirement is BS, you can use whatever you want. That maintenance schedule is a joke, cut it in half or by a third. Please don't wait until 80k to change your transmission fluid, Jesus Christ. 20-30k. Volkswagen told me it was a "lifetime fill" even though there's a drain and fill plug right on the transmission, and refused to change it. Its all about marketing and planned obsolescence. Volkswagen are still using direct injection motors? They will never learn.

Yeah the car doesn’t really live up to its name. Poor quality issues, especially since the dealer didn’t do anything about the supposed brake line noise. So no way am I going to buy one.