Have skimmed this thread partly because I considered buying a used Jetta recently. Nice car in many ways, but it had a quirky glitch of some kind in the fan and AC, plus one of the power windows would not work, all of this on our test drive! If I turned off the engine, it fixed the fan/AC problem, sort of like rebooting a computer.
I asked two friends who own Jettas about them. Both of them said the engine drive train were excellent but they both had chronic "small" problems like power windows not working, door locks, interior lights, etc.
If looking at a Jetta, get a wagon, and get the diesel. The Germans are very possessive about their wagons, and to the best of my knowledge they still assemble the wagons only in Wolfsburg. The rest of the line is US or Mexico. My Jetta TDI wagon was absolutely incredible. I would buy another one in a heartbeat.
