"How reliable is the 1999 Volkswagen Jetta?"

"Based on 488 NHTSA complaints, the 1999 Volkswagen Jetta has a median complaint mileage of 70419 miles. The most common issue is VISIBILITY:POWER WINDOW DEVICES AND CONTROLS."

"What are common problems with the 1999 Volkswagen Jetta?"

"The most frequently reported component in NHTSA complaints for the 1999 Volkswagen Jetta is VISIBILITY:POWER WINDOW DEVICES AND CONTROLS, accounting for a significant portion of the 488 total complaints filed."

1999 Volkswagen Jetta: Reliability Data

Source: NHTSA — 488 complaints

488

Total Complaints

70,419mi

Median Mileage

VISIBILITY:POWER WINDOW DEVICES AND CONTROLS

Top Issue

Crash Reports

When Do Complaints Happen?

Distribution of NHTSA complaints by vehicle mileage at time of report.

53,000 25th Percentile

70,419 Median Mileage

99,074 75th Percentile

What Fails?

Most reported component issues from NHTSA complaints.

VISIBILITY:POWER WINDOW DEVICES AND CONTROLS

ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING:ENGINE:GASOLINE

POWER TRAIN:AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION

ELECTRICAL SYSTEM

AIR BAGS:FRONTAL

ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING:ENGINE

UNKNOWN OR OTHER

VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL

ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING:EXHAUST SYSTEM:EMISSION CONTROL

ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING

Severity Assessment

Crashes

Fires

Injuries

Deaths

Sample Complaint Reports

"CONSUMER WAS INVOLVED IN A COLLISION IN WHICH THE SHOULDER AND LAP BELT DISENGAGED OR UNBUCKLED, CAUSE UNKNOWN. DEALER REPLACED COMPLETE SEAT BELT ASSEMBLY WHICH HAS NOT REMEDIED THE PROBLEM. THE BUCKLE CONTINUES TO UNLOCK. *AK.ET."

"ENGINE DIED WHILE DRIVING SLOWLY. MIL AND GENERATOR LIGHTS CAME ON. TOOK TWO TRIES TO START ENGINE AGAIN, THEN VEHICLE OPERATED NORMALLY. THIS IS THE SECOND OCCURRENCE IN A WEEK AND A HALF. DEALER WAS UNABLE TO FIND A PROBLEM AFTER THE FIRST FAILURE. *AK"

"WHILE VEHICLE WAS MOVING FROM A GREEN LIGHT ANOTHER VEHICLE CROSSED THE RED LIGHT, STRICKING CONSUMER'S VEHICLE ON THE RIGHT FRONT PASSENGERS SIDE WHERE NONE OF THE AIR BAGS DEPLOYED, NOT PROTECTING PASSENGER AND *AK"

Source: NHTSA ODI Complaints Database. Names and identifying details omitted.

Data source: View this vehicle on NHTSA.gov | NHTSA ODI Complaints Database. Public domain.

Methodology: Complaint counts and mileage distributions are computed directly from consumer-reported NHTSA complaints. This data represents reported issues, not failure rates — vehicles without complaints are not represented. Full methodology.

Data through: 2026-03-28