# VW Jetta



## e60lover (Dec 28, 2005)

Hey everyone, I drove a VW Jetta SE today and I really liked it. I was looking for a first car for my son. Does anyone have any opinions or experiences with VW's in general? I've heard reliability is sometimes a problem, but all new VW's come with free maintenance standard for 3 years, much like BMW's plan.


Thanks 

-E60


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## BmW745On19's (Aug 12, 2005)

Passats are cheaper used and are better cars in general, larger, safer, more get up and go, more room, and better looking.


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## e60lover (Dec 28, 2005)

BmW745On19's said:


> Passats are cheaper used and are better cars in general, larger, safer, more get up and go, more room, and better looking.


Hm, thanks. I'll take a look at them, I've always been a fan of the previous generation Passat, not so much the new one. Problem is, there is no VW dealer in my particular city.


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## BmW745On19's (Aug 12, 2005)

e60lover said:


> Hm, thanks. I'll take a look at them, I've always been a fan of the previous generation Passat, not so much the new one. Problem is, there is no VW dealer in my particular city.


Hm. Well maybe VW shouldn't be your vehicle of choice.

Even though I loathe most Japanese cars, Hondas are really great appliances, run forever, have good warranties, and hold their value very well.


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## hts (Dec 19, 2001)

i like the jetta. i also think the fact that it's a little smaller than a passat is prolly a good thing for a son's first car. did you check out the diesel?


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## e60lover (Dec 28, 2005)

hts said:


> i like the jetta. i also think the fact that it's a little smaller than a passat is prolly a good thing for a son's first car. did you check out the diesel?


I thought the size was good for a car of it's class. The interior by no means is "small". I did, an advertised 44 MPG sounds great to me, but I think the 2.5 would probably be easier for a first car, fill up stations etc. I was thinking about picking a TDI up for myself.


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## hts (Dec 19, 2001)

the jetta is a very nice car and a good size. i said 'smaller' than the passat. smaller in a good way. have you ever sat in the back seat of a passat? it's down-right cavernous. feels more like the back seat of a 750iL.


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## Frank Rizzo (Aug 2, 2003)

I'll speak with real facts here based on my own VW owning experience.

My .:R32 is the best car I've owned period. I have had no problems for 7k miles and is a blast to drive. At the same point in my E46 ownership, I had been in the shop 3 times and the car left me stranded 200 miles from home.

Mrs. Rizzo has a 2006 Beetle 'vert and it has had one window regulator failure in 13k miles repaired under warranty.

My sister is going thru a divorce and wanted to scale down expenses, so she turned in her Explorer at the end of the lease and at my insistence we got her a Jetta SE. Zero down, no drive off, not one cent out of pocket. $336/mo for 36 mos. Free maintenace for 36 mos, as you mentioned. 

Mrs. Rizzo's friend is turning in her Jeep GC next month and is buying/leasing a Jetta after I told her to take one for a test drive. My neighbor is trading in his Escape for a Jetta Wagon at my insistance. 

I think they are great cars and tremendous value for the money. I dont think there is a car with the safety featues and fun-to-drive factor at this price point. You should easily be able to get one for invoice.


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## brkf (May 26, 2003)

Experience with VW/Audi:

1. 2001 Jetta 1.8T - nightmare car with constant parts breaking and electrical problems. Fun to mod.

2. 1999 VW Jetta - nightmare, everything broke.

3. 2006 Audi A3 - nice enough car, lots of little parts breaking, still under warranty but not much is covered by audi's flimsy bumper-to-bumper. Wife loves it.

I would not suggest a VW as a first car. I'll throw my kid in a 4-6 year old 4 cylinder accord (preferably manual) and call it a day.


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## Dyno might (Jul 5, 2008)

I've owned both a 1986 GTI and a 1989 Jetta GLI. The GTI was my first car and it was a blast to drive. I then moved up to the Jetta GLI, and everything went to hell on that car. On the other hand, everyone I know who has owned a Honda Accord, swears by them. If I were to buy a safe and reliable car for my son, I would lean toward the Honda. :thumbup:


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## e60lover (Dec 28, 2005)

Thanks for all of the opinions.
I will look at some Honda's this weekend.
My son swears by German cars, growing up with all an all BMW family I'm assuming. Expensive habit. :/ This is why I was originally leaning to something along the lines of a Jetta. In the meantime I'll read up at VW Vortex to get a feel for VW's. I'll keep all of you updated.


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## Frank Rizzo (Aug 2, 2003)

If he likes cars and driving get the Jetta.
If he only wants transpo then the Honduh will do.

Careful on the Vortex, lots of good info but a really poorly organized board with a really basic interface. It's kind of hard to pinpoint specific info. People seem to get into arguments there at the drop of a hat - over nothing. It reminds me of the old Roadfly days.

Also - the Rabbit is the same platform (MKV). He might like a 2door one instead and I think they have some rebates and low financing now. PM me if you want more info.
.


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## soupcon (Sep 13, 2008)

i have a 2004 jetta that had maybe 1 minor problem while on warranty. now that it's off warranty, it's been relatively problem free, although i had to pay $2k to fix the a/c right after the warranty ran out. in the last three months, stuff started breaking (water pump, trunk latch, sunroof....ps i'm at 92k miles). instead of fixing all of it, i'm just going to dump it.

i am also surprised at how well it's held its value. a clean, loaded VW is something that people want.

the dealers i've dealt with were fairly corrupt, so that troubles me. not sure if i'll own another one, although that r32 sounds pretty cool!

in the early 80s, i had the very first GTI and one thing that vw's seem to have in common, through the ages: they were not designed to be fixed. i think parts are not cheap, but labor is even worse. buyer beware.


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## pilotman (Feb 2, 2006)

blueguydotcom said:


> Experience with VW/Audi:
> 
> 1. 2001 Jetta 1.8T - nightmare car with constant parts breaking and electrical problems. Fun to mod.
> 
> ...


i don't understand the part about the "flimsy warranty"

it reads almost the same as any other manufacturers' bumper to bumper warranty, and covers the same things...I personally have NEVER had ANY problem with getting items fixed under warranty on my VWs and Audis.

Its a contract, if the A/C doesn't work, its covered, how could it not be? :dunno:

I would LEASE a VW, but not buy, due to long term reliability. We leased a 2008 Passat Wagon, great car, very safe, lots of airbags, very roomy, etc....our payment is something like $320 a month, zero down, 15k miles per year....

if you want cheaper maintenance, better long term reliability and less fun to drive factor then get a honda as others have noted.


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## MarcusSDCA (Jan 14, 2004)

The new 2009 Jetta TDI delivers amazing acceleration and great handling for the $$. There's virtually no diesel smell from the exhaust. It's also pushing 40mpg or more in combined real world driving according to TDIForums. http://forums.tdiclub.com/showthread.php?t=229049

My 06 TDI has 45K miles and the only thing that has gone "wrong" is a blown fuse for the rear defroster. I change my own oil and filters...it's super easy to do....and it just keeps on humming. I'm a huge fan of the 06 and newer Jetta...lots of goodies for half the price of a BMW (more or less) and with the 17" rims and 225/45s it handles quite good. I think stiffer springs and/or sway bars would really tighten this up to near BMW levels.


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## Coconutpete (Feb 7, 2008)

I Like VW's, but their quality / reliability seems to have really suffered in recent years.

Between my parents, they have owned 8 Golfs, ranging from the first one ever made up to 1997 - besides the fact that the 1997 was a SLED in the snow that wouldn't turn if your foot was within 2 inches of the brake pedal I have no complaints, other than the fact that VW (like BMW) should have just never made an automatic transmission. Thank god only 1 out of 8 golfs was an auto.

The good seems to end there:

My girls younger sister: 2001 Jetta: Electrical problems, transmission problems

My buddy's wife: 2004 Passat, is currently on it's 3rd tranny at under 40K miles

My buddy who owns a towing company and has seen the number of VW's he tows skyrocket over the last 4 years - His words " Stay away from new VW's"

Even with all that.... the only thing I 100% would never buy is an automatic VW...... all the other problems seem like you could deal with them if you love the car...


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## kenomail (Dec 27, 2007)

Check out Honda's - 4-cyl models should be bulletproof.


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## PhillyNate (Jul 27, 2008)

My Wife has had a 2007 jetta wolfsburg for nearly 2 years and not one problem. No mechanical, quality or fit and finish issues whatsoever. IMO the 2.5 litre in-line five cylinder is a little anemic though, but it does only require regular gas.


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## Frank Rizzo (Aug 2, 2003)

PhillyNate said:


> My Wife has had a 2007 jetta wolfsburg for nearly 2 years and not one problem. No mechanical, quality or fit and finish issues whatsoever. IMO the 2.5 litre in-line five cylinder is a little anemic though, but it does only require regular gas.


I noticed the same thing in Mrs Rizzo's New Beetle 'vert. 21mpg in the city. At first I thought it was a mistake. The Wolfsburg Jetta gets the 200HP 2.0 Turbo 4 and gets 1 MPG better in the city than the 2.5 5cyl.

I dont think I'd buy a pre-2006 VW. New ones have some of the best safety ratings and dont seem to suffer the problems of the older ones.

.


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## brkf (May 26, 2003)

pilotman said:


> i don't understand the part about the "flimsy warranty"
> 
> it reads almost the same as any other manufacturers' bumper to bumper warranty, and covers the same things...I personally have NEVER had ANY problem with getting items fixed under warranty on my VWs and Audis.
> 
> Its a contract, if the A/C doesn't work, its covered, how could it not be? :dunno:


They say, "Oh that's a wear and tear item, so it's only covered for 12k miles or 12 months. We've had plastic blister and come apart (in "scorching San Diego") on the A3's door trim and the Audi dealers refuse to fix it under warranty. Door seal came off another door and they said it'd be $500 to fix it. Tranny acting up - that'll be extra. Trunk lid has something rolling inside it..."we'll look but if we have to take anything apart that's an extra charge."

I experienced same issues with my 2001 Jetta 1.8t during its short warranty. Coils went out, that was fixed. Broken windows, bad electricals, bad HVAC, broken trim, etc all required more than a simple "this is broken, fix it."

With BMW/Mini (3 cars in 6 years) I'm used to taking the car in, pointing to a problem and getting a resolution. No push back "this isn't covered."

I would never consider a used VW/Audi for a kid. Give'em a beater Accord (he's gonna crash anyway) - cloth interior, manual, 4 cylinder, 75-90k miles.


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