Dan:
My 2002 Jetta has not
but compared to most people I only have very minor problems:
1. 1 (or more) ignition coils dies, essentially the car decides to run on 3 (or less cylinders). In Canada this means a unplanned but time consuming trip limping to the dealership; I have heard in the US there is/was a 4-6 weeks backorder on the replacement part.
1a. As a result of 1, my car has a perpetual weird idle from possible misfiring. Also possibly related to a shot oxygen sensor, messed up electronics, etc etc ...
These are very common problems. A poll on vwvortex.com shows more than half VW owners have these problems more than once. You probably would have received letter(s) from VW indicating such a problem. My coilpacks was replaced 3 times (to think I bought a new car, as opposed to a used one, because I didn't want to go to the shop all the time ...)
2. The windows (the piece of glass) has a high propensity of falling into the door
3. Rusting issues with MkIII (previous generation) VWs. No reason to think why the current VWs will not be immune to this problem.
4. The 3 VW dealers I have dealt with in Toronto are less than competant. (Although this could be said of dealerships in general)
5. I do not have the numbers handy, but VWs rate quite low in most satisfaction ratings. IIRC they were next to last in JD Powers' survey.
I think it's safe for me to say I will not buy another VW in the near future
