VehicleVerdict

1998 Volkswagen Jetta visibility & wipers problems

The 1998 Volkswagen Jetta has 44 visibility & wipers complaints filed with NHTSA — 17% of the year's total, and up sharply from the prior model year.

44

Visibility & Wipers complaints

17%

Share of year

0

Crash-involved

0

Related recalls

Visibility & Wipers complaints by year

Jetta visibility & wipers complaints by model year85 complaints1985: 1 complaints1986: 3 complaints1987: 4 complaints1988: 3 complaints1989: 6 complaints1990: 4 complaints1991: 7 complaints1992: 3 complaints1993: 4 complaints1994: 16 complaints1995: 29 complaints1996: 45 complaints1997: 29 complaints1998: 44 complaints1999: 85 complaints2000: 79 complaints2001: 72 complaints2002: 46 complaints2003: 22 complaints2004: 11 complaints2005: 7 complaints2006: 25 complaints2007: 7 complaints2008: 8 complaints2009: 10 complaints2010: 14 complaints2011: 26 complaints2012: 24 complaints2013: 12 complaints2014: 7 complaints2015: 4 complaints2016: 2 complaints2017: 5 complaints2019: 23 complaints2020: 2 complaints2021: 4 complaints2022: 1 complaints2024: 2 complaints2025: 1 complaints
Jetta visibility & wipers complaints by model year. Red bars are years to avoid.

What owners report

“WHILE DRIVING SMOKE WAS COMING FROM THE STEERING COLUMN. CONSUMER TOOK THE VEHICLE TO DEALER FOR INSPECTION AND THE TECHNICIAN WAS UNABLE TO PIN PINPOINT THE PROBLEM. THE CONSUMER DETERMINED THAT THE WIPER SWITCH INSIDE OF THE STEERING COLUMN NEEDED TO BE REPLACED DUE TO WORN OUT SWITCH. *AK AN…”

Complaint filed with NHTSA · Visibility & Wipers · September 2, 2004

Common questions

How many visibility & wipers complaints does the 1998 Volkswagen Jetta have?

NHTSA has 44 complaints about the 1998 Volkswagen Jetta visibility & wipers — 17% of all complaints filed for that model year.

Related

Based on NHTSA ODI data through June 2026. Complaints are consumer-reported and unverified. Updated July 5, 2026.

Compiled by Sharon Ben-Moshe, Founder.