Jetta Car Repair

I recently took my shop to a repair shop after my engine light went on. After a full diagnostic, the repair shop said I had a leak in the vaccum hose on my brakes and that it was leaking. They replaced all the hoses and had the car up and running. On the way home from the shop, my car overheated. I took it back to the shop and repair shop tells me it was just a coincedence. The checked the thermostat and all wires leading to the water pump. After 3 hours they tell me it’s the water pump. Is it possible they damaged the water pump while fixing my brake hoses?

Hey your vaccum leak had nothing to do with the brakes, and its not likely they broke the water pump while fixing brakes

Totally unrelated. How is the jetta I hear they can be nightmares?

While I agree that the vacuum leak could have had something to do with the brakes, I doubt if anything else was related to anything else.

It is always a good idea to get the actual codes when that light comes on. The codes are usually in for form “P0123” and then post them with your question. You can even have those codes checked for free as some auto part stores; try Autozone or Advanced Auto Parts.

To start off the repair to the vacuum lines had nothing to do with the waterpump. What year and engine is this Jetta and what is the mileage. If you have a 99.5 to 2004 (newer style) everything is tied into the computer on these cars. And if you have the 1.8t, 1.9 diesel, or 2.0 they waterpump is timing belt driven and the recommended mileage to have both done is 105,000 miles but I would do it no later than 70,000 on these cars. If you have the VR6 motor the waterpump is driven by the drivebelt and is recommended to be changed at 100,000 miles. If this car has anywhere above 70,000 miles a waterpump is fair game to go out. A lot of these cars used a platic impeller on the waterpump which was prone to failure, newer ones have gone to metal. On the note of getting codes read, a lot of codes can be read at Autozone, but VWs are a wierd breed and with the computers they use Autozone can’t always get the codes even if the check engine light is triggered sometimes a Vagcom (special VW computer) has to be used. And to throw my .02 on how the Jettas are, they are not bad cars. I have a Golf (same exact car, but diffrent front sheet metal and a hatch back) and in 8 years it has never given me fits. Most real issues are caused by the owner, by either a lack of maintenance or thru modifications done wrong that messed things up. Other issues have been taken care of thru recalls by VW. Overall if you leave the car stock and do the recommended maintenance you get a reliable car.

I want to thank everybody for their responses. I was 99% sure that the vaccum leak had nothing to do with the water pump so it just a strange coincence I guess. I would never own a Jetta again. Part of the problem is they make a lot of parts with plastic (which tend to break down) and they have a lot of electrical problems (there are thousands of complaints about this on different online sites). I had to replace my convience control module, which when broke caused a short-circuit that burned out two lights on my car…crazy. I also had to replace the front axle that went bad at 90 K. All in all, I estimate (along with several others) that the cost of the Jetta is about 30% more than its purchase price and regular maintanence given how much you have to fork out every few months for such random repairs.