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EnginePart report

2004 Volkswagen Jetta Engine Problems

Complaints
11about this part
Share
5%of 231 total for the year
Median mileage
116,500miles
Trend
Not enough dataFewer than 15 complaints, too few for a reliable trend.

NHTSA recorded 11 complaints about the engine of the 2004 Volkswagen Jetta, 5% of the 231 complaints for this model year. Where a mileage was given, the median is 116,500 miles. 1 a fire, according to the filers.

Fewer than 15 complaints name this part, so treat the figures as a rough indication only.

Example complaints

Selected from NHTSA records; personal details are removed. They are consumer reports, not findings.

“Vw ignition coils are failed, causing the spark plug not to fire and cutting power to the engine. The technician was unable to find the issue about 4 hours and finally found the problem. The car was working fine one day and while at the bank with my boys in the back the car shut off. I needed to get out and push the car into the parking lot to get out of the way.”

NHTSA complaint #10839806, filed 2016-03, 70,000 miles

“My car is currently staged at my home it's still drivable but I don't know gor how long! I recently bought this car from a dealer in california about 3 months ago, now all of a sudden I'm having issues with my transmission I caught the issue fast and took it to a multistate transmission shop and they told me they would have to rebuild my transmission with the amount of money I already spent on fixing up this car I am extremely upset, I cannot afford such a insane amount everything with the car besides that is perfect though.”

NHTSA complaint #11190213, filed 2019-03, 141,000 miles

“While driving down road early in morning approx 2 miles from house I just left from my 2004 Jetta shuts down total loss of all power I pulled car over in a church parking lot I smelled smoke and could see smoke coming from fire wall I raised hood and pulled battery cable off I could see smpoke filling inside of my car walked around to driver door to get my phone and I seen fuse box on fire.another vehicle stopped to help me and he approached my car and then called police ,full flames were coming from my car within 5 min so I stood back and watched my car burn .fire dept showed up and put…”

NHTSA complaint #11076395, filed 2018-03, 115,000 miles

“I purchased my car back in october 2013. When I purchased my car, the mechanic said that he replaced the ABS system. The lights were not on when I bought it. A few months later, out of the blue in about april 2014, I was turning my car on and the engine light, the ABS light and the brake light all came on momentarily after turning my engine on as I was still in park. My car had close to 100,000 miles on it. The problem went away and shortly came back a week later. Ever since, it has been on. Every once in a while, all of the lights would go off. …”

NHTSA complaint #10747218, filed 2015-08, 100,000 miles

“Vw corp rejected catalytic converter replacement when we identified that the flex pipe was leaking/loud and was over the mileage warranty (vw extended the part warranty to 10yrs or 120k miles) our car had 120,110 miles. There was no local vw dealership to id repairs near where I was working. The part did failed before the 120k miles; and has been leaking or damaged for sometime. Since it warmed up and I had the windows down I was able to hear the leak. This part was replaced under warranty previously and was a recall item on this model and year. …”

NHTSA complaint #10583941, filed 2014-04, 119,000 miles

Related service bulletins

Engine: other model years

YearComplaintsShare of year
2026117%
202513%
20241226%
20231126%
20221228%
202157%
20201222%
201914727%
201826%
20173321%
20164327%
20154322%
201410828%
201311222%
20128417%
20119015%
201011714%
20099611%
20082011%
2007168%
2006397%
20052711%
2004115%
2003164%
200271%
200191%
200082%
199921%

Other parts of the 2004 Volkswagen Jetta

Engine cooling
37 complaints
Fuel system
37 complaints
Electrical system
36 complaints
Transmission and drivetrain
35 complaints
Seats
22 complaints
Air bags
21 complaints
Brakes
12 complaints
Visibility (wipers, defrost, mirrors)
11 complaints
Exterior lighting
9 complaints
Body and structure
8 complaints
Other or unknown
7 complaints
Vehicle speed control
7 complaints

← All problems reported for the 2004 Volkswagen Jetta

About this data. Data from NHTSA (ODI) complaints, recalls, TSBs and investigations, updated Oct 28, 2026. Complaints are unverified consumer reports and may be duplicated or inaccurate.

To check a specific vehicle for open recalls, use its VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls. Methodology