2004 Volkswagen Jetta Gl Sedan 4-door 2.0l With Only 38,500 Miles on 2040-cars

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Here are a few of our automotive guilty pleasures

It goes without saying, but I'll say it anyway. The world is full of cars, and just about as many of them are bad as are good. It's pretty easy to pick which fall into each category after giving them a thorough walkaround and, more important, driving them. But every once in a while, an automobile straddles the line somehow between good and bad — it may be hideously overpriced and therefore a marketplace failure, it may be stupid quick in a straight line but handles like a drunken noodle, or it may have an interior that looks like it was made of a mess of injection-molded Legos. Heck, maybe all three. Yet there's something special about some bad cars that actually makes them likable. The idea for this list came to me while I was browsing classified ads for cars within a few hundred miles of my house. I ran across a few oddballs and shared them with the rest of the team in our online chat room. It turns out several of us have a few automotive guilty pleasures that we're willing to admit to. We'll call a few of 'em out here. Feel free to share some of your own in the comments below. Dodge Neon SRT4 and Caliber SRT4: The Neon was a passably good and plucky little city car when it debuted for the 1995 model year. The Caliber, which replaced the aging Neon and sought to replace its friendly marketing campaign with something more sinister, was panned from the very outset for its cheap interior furnishings, but at least offered some decent utility with its hatchback shape. What the two little front-wheel-drive Dodge models have in common are their rip-roarin' SRT variants, each powered by turbocharged 2.4-liter four-cylinder engines. Known for their propensity to light up their front tires under hard acceleration, the duo were legitimately quick and fun to drive with a fantastic turbo whoosh that called to mind the early days of turbo technology. — Consumer Editor Jeremy Korzeniewski  Chevrolet HHR SS: Chevy's HHR SS came out early in my automotive journalism career, and I have fond memories of the press launch (and having dinner with Bob Lutz) that included plenty of tire-smoking hard launches and demonstrations of the manual transmission's no-lift shift feature. The 260-horsepower turbocharged four-cylinder was and still is a spunky little engine that makes the retro-inspired HHR a fun little hot rod that works quite well as a fun little daily driver.

VW recalling 38k Jettas, Passats, Golfs and Beetles for fuel leak

Earlier we reported on a recall issued for the 2015 VW Jetta regarding a problem with the headlights, and now Volkswagen and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration have issued another recall for a separate issue affecting not only the Jetta, but several other models as well. The issue revolves around a sealing cap in the fuel rail, which could leak fuel into the engine compartment and potentially cause a fire. The problem affects an estimated 37,979 vehicles in the United States, including the 2014-15 Jetta (manufactured between March 28 and November 24, 2014), the 2014-15 Passat (April 7 to November 18), the 2015 Golf and GTI (July 1 to November 20) and the 2014-15 Beetle and Beetle Convertible (March 31 to November 27). That covers pretty much the entire range offered by Volkswagen of America, short of the Tiguan and Touareg crossovers (and the discontinued Eos convertible). Considering, though, that VW routinely sells around 30,000 vehicles in the US each month, the small number of vehicles being recalled (relative to the quantity out there) tells you this recall really only affects a specific cross-section of models. Owners of the affected vehicles can expect to be contacted by their dealers to have the fuel rails replaced. RECALL Subject : Fuel Leaking Into Engine Compartment Report Receipt Date: DEC 22, 2014 NHTSA Campaign Number: 14V809000 Component(s): FUEL SYSTEM, GASOLINE Potential Number of Units Affected: 37,979 Manufacturer: Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. SUMMARY: Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. (Volkswagen) is recalling certain model year 2014-2015 Jetta vehicles manufactured March 28, 2014, to November 24, 2014, certain 2014-2015 Passat vehicles manufactured April 7, 2014, to November 18, 2014, certain 2015 Golf and GTI vehicles manufactured July 1, 2014, to November 20, 2014, and certain 2014-2015 Beetle and Beetle Convertible vehicles manufactured March 31, 2014, to November 27, 2014. A sealing cap at the fuel rail may fail, allowing fuel to leak into the engine compartment. CONSEQUENCE: A fuel leak, in the presence of an ignition source, can result in a vehicle fire. REMEDY: Volkswagen will notify owners, and dealers will replace the fuel rails with new parts, free of charge. The manufacturer has not yet provided a notification schedule. Owners may contact Volkswagen customer service at 1-800-822-8987. Volkswagen's number for this recall is 24Bi.

VW may move production because of Russia's cutoff of natural gas

Volkswagen AG is exploring ways to counter a shortage in natural gas, including shifting production around its network of global facilities, signaling how the energy crisis unleashed by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine threatens to upend EuropeÂ’s industrial landscape. Volkswagen, EuropeÂ’s biggest carmaker, said Thursday that reallocating some of its production was one of the options available in the medium term if gas shortages last much beyond this winter. The company has major factories in Germany, the Czech Republic and Slovakia, which are among European countries most reliant on Russian gas, as well as facilities in southern Europe that source energy from elsewhere. “As mid-term alternatives, we are focusing on greater localization, relocation of manufacturing capacity, or technical alternatives, similar to what is already common practice in the context of challenges related to semiconductor shortages and other recent supply chain disruptions,” Geng Wu, VolkswagenÂ’s head of purchasing, said in a statement.  RussiaÂ’s decision to throttle gas supplies to Europe has raised concerns that Germany might be forced to ration its fuel. Recent news that gas storage levels hit 90% ahead of schedule has soothed fears of acute shortages this winter, but Germany faces a challenge in replenishing depleted reserves next summer without contributions from Russia. Southwestern Europe or coastal zones of northern Europe, both of which have better access to seaborne liquefied natural gas cargoes, could be the beneficiaries of any production shift, a Volkswagen spokesman said by phone. The Volkswagen group already operates car factories in Portugal, Spain and Belgium, countries that host LNG terminals. Labor hurdles To be sure, any major production shift away from EuropeÂ’s biggest economy would face significant hurdles. VW has some 295,000 employees in Germany and worker representatives account for around half the companyÂ’s 20-member supervisory board. Any shift in production would likely involve a limited number of vehicles rather than wholesale factory shutdowns. While gas supplies for VWÂ’s plants are currently secured, the company has identified potential savings at its European sites to cut gas consumption by a “mid-double-digit percentage,” said Michael Heinemann, managing director of VWÂ’s power-plant unit. Still, the carmaker said it was concerned about the effect high gas prices could have on its suppliers.