I found out that when it's cold outside, the window sticks to the upper part of the door. So when I try to roll down my windows, nothing happens. Then, when it starts to thaw, it will fall into the door. First time this happened, I took it to the dealership in Evansville, IN, and they fixed it. They only charged me $30, which was their minimum for even diagnosing. Plus, they vacuumed it and did a whole check up with a detailed report on my car. They said everything was fine, they just had to put it back on the regulator properly.

A week or two later, it happened again. This time, I took matters into my own hands. I figured out that I needed to "roll it back up" after attempting to roll it down (and nothing happening). Then, I reach in with pliers, grab the window, and maneuver it back onto the regulator myself. Took a few tries, but it worked. Now I know from now on to "roll it back up" to prevent it thawing and falling into the door without a regulator.

The window on just my driver side will just fall into my door. Once the window fell completely when I shut the door and the other two times it fell partially into the door when rolling the window. This has happened 3 times in my 2004 Jetta now. Two times re-glueing the clamps and then one time replacing the clamps. Around $100 was the cheapest I've paid from a glass repair shop. Always happens in winter so I avoid rolling down my window when cold and frosted. I have lived in Montana and Alaska too so may not be an issue in warmer climates.

Last night as we were driving home, my girlfriend noticed that the front passenger-side window was open a bit - which was odd considering it was the middle of winter and we hadn't opened the window in quite some time. When she tried to shut the window with the door controls, you could hear a motor running but nothing happened ... until suddenly the window fell straight down into the door!

Our window was suddenly gone except for a small corner of the glass sticking up from the door. Luckily we could grab the glass and pull it back up, and when we did we were happily surprised to find out the glass hadn't shattered. As luck would have it, this happened late at night as a snow storm was approaching - not a good time to be missing a window. After we got home I did some research and found out this is a common problem that many people have experienced.

Warning: This is a known issue with all 4th generation (1999-2005) VW Jetta's!

When we called our local VW dealership the next day they weren't surprised at all and told us to bring it in. The problem is the clamps that hold the windows in place are made of a very cheap plastic. Sometimes when moisture gets in the door and then freezes, it expands and pushes the windows off the clamps - causing the windows to literally fall into the door. There are even reports of this happening when it gets hot outside, the windows apparently just slip off the clamps entirely. Classic.

There are even multiple reports of this happening multiple times to the same window, but luckily our local VW dealership had a "solution" - instead of just placing the windows back into the faulty clamps, they actually apply an adhesive to the clamps to help hold the windows in place. Since they started doing that they haven't had repeat problems, so it's worth asking your service station if they are going to use an adhesive - hell, even duct tape would be better than nothing.

It is also recommended that you bring your car to an authorized dealership, because VW is aware of the defect and has extended the warranty to 7 years (TSB 2012394 Warranty Extension) for this issue. Here is my official service report:

Removed the right front door panel and window, found the window has fallen out of the window clamps, technical bulletin 64-08-06 covers this problem ... removed rubber insulators from the window clamps and scuffed them with 120 grit sandpaper to remove glossy finish, applied adhesive to the rubber insulators and reinstalled them. installed window and torqued the clamps to 11nm, installed door panel.

If you're having one window fixed, it's probably worth asking your service station to fix the other window as well because according to our service station "it's bound to happen to both windows at some point". Good luck.