Known as the Vento in Europe, the Volkswagen Jetta III, as it was known in the US, was introduced at a time when US sales were at their lowest and it appeared as if VW was considering pulling out of the US market. This car, along with the third generation Golf, was credited for keeping the flame alive on these shores. This generation Jetta became the best selling Volkswagen by the time the production run ceased in 1999.
The MkIII Jetta brought about many refinements, including a more streamlined look, safety features such as airbags and anti-lock brakes and, for the first time, the addition of a six cylinder engine. The recently introduced 2.8 liter VR6 found its way under the Jetta’s hood beginning in 1994. Thus equipped, this car could scoot to 60 miles per hour in under seven seconds. While they were great performers in their day, few survive in good running order. This Jetta GLX VR6 for sale in Florida is the last year the hot version of the Jetta MkIII was produced.
1998 Volkswagen Jetta GLX VR6 on eBay
1998 VW Jetta GLX VR6. One owner, 69k ACTUAL miles, leather, automatic, sunroof, keyless entry, fog lights, spoiler, alloys, Bose, etc. Showroom Condition. Clean Carfax. Made in Germany. Last year of the classic body style.
A MkIII Jetta or Golf is hard to come by in good nick. The glaring problem for this car, at least for me, is the lack of a manual transmission. The Volkswagen VR6 is arguably one of the best engines of the last 25 years and frankly, it deserves not to be saddled with a slushbox. Other than that, this is the best Jetta GLX I’ve seen in a while. One error in the seller’s description is the country of origin. This particular Jetta was built in Mexico, not Germany. This is readily apparent from the VIN starting with the digit “3.”
At almost $6,000, we’re a bit on the high side for a MkIII, as that kind of money will get you into a similar vintage E36 3 series. Two very different cars, but in all honestly, it depends on what you’re looking for. Having owned a MkIII GTI with the 2.0 liter engine, I can honestly say I miss that car. At the same time I owned that car, two good friends of mine had MkIII Jettas; one a 1997 Trek and the other a 1998 Wolfsburg Edition. Seeking this GLX brings back a lot of great memories.
-Paul
Credit to the owner for keeping this up in such good condition. Too bad it’s saddled an automatic and a beige leather interior (which, in my opinion, is all wrong for a Jetta GLX VR6).
Yes, the owner is pretty optimistic on price, and needs some help with rounding numbers (69,981 miles is not “69K ACTUAL miles,” it’s 70K miles). But the Q&A section provided the best entertainment:
First, 70K miles is not “ultra-low miles.” Second, the owner is not going to drop the price by 1/3 just because you tell him that’s what you can afford to pay for his car. Be realistic, OK?
And speaking of realistic, what answer did you really expect when you asked, “any AC issues at all? even the slightest issue? any leaks? transmission issues? funny sounds, issues at all, or maybe what you would fix next if you did fix something?”
I always remember my friend’s 90s VR6 with overheated constantly for no reason. He took good care of his cars as well.
He eventually traded it in for a Eagle Talon TSI AWD only to get hilarious electrical issues that you would normally see in a car with Lucas electronics. Eventually sorted that out though unlike the VR6 overheating.