2009 VW Jetta TDI: Better Than Expected

If I were your average joe, I would buy nothing but VW. Reliable, torquey, luxurious, solid, comfortable... it is very much German luxury car without the price. And I don't need women dating me for my car...

Unfortunately, the only German luxury cars that really drew my attention were those with AMG or M badges... and VW cannot produce such a car for fear of cannibalizing Audi. I can tell you the GTI cannibalized at least 1 sale from Audi... me. It is a great fun car, but it will never fully satisfy my need for a sports car.

smrtypants is right in that VW's option bundling can be pretty hit or miss, but I love the fact that you can get a lot of stuff on their cars usually without getting the two big items that everyone else assumes you want but I really don't: leather and sunroof. I hate leather and sunroofs are a waste of money in my book, so I'm so glad you can get so far up the chain in VW's lineup before those two things are foisted on you.

I'd take a Jetta (preferably a Rabbit, actually) over a Civic or Corolla in a heartbeat. The 3 is the sharper drive but I think the 2010 facelift looks even dumber in person than in photos (in photos, only the front looks dumb, but in real life the whole thing is wonked). The Lancer is tempting but is not a good value in GTS trim (the only trim worth owning) and though Kia and Hyundai both offer tempting economy cars in this segment (Forte and Elantra), neither of them are going to be quite as good to drive as a VW. So, yeah, I think the VW Rabbit/Jetta are at or near the top of my list for economy cars available right now (looking forward to the MkVI though).

As for quality, the MkV cars have been ranked above average by consumer reports for awhile. They're totally fine cars, it's just people got burned by the early MkIV cars and love to complain.

early MkV's had plenty of problems, but VW has eliminated them all. i purposely waited til 09 to buy one for that reason. even if you spent big bucks on a top of the line Mercedes Benz, you would still have problems... so its best to just wait. if you want to be the hottest mofo on the block with the newest car, then you gotta pay the price sometimes...

"Wouldn't you rather have a Jetta (TDI or not) over a Corolla or Civic or many others?"

Sure. If I could get mine serviced at a Toyota or Honda dealer. They don't price to make sure I put their offspring through school.

@clarkma5, you should be fair. "people got burned by the early MkIV cars and love to complain" If people spend 15-20 grand on a car and it doesn't hold up, why would they come back and risk their money all over again? Just because it appears the cars are more reliable than they used to be?

I'm a long term VW fan, but I was one of those bitten by the appalling reliability of a '98 Passat. I loved that car, but I have to stay away from VWs until I'm positive that I won't be wasting my money by having to replace it after only 4 years like last time. (oh, the stories I have!) My 6 year old Mazda 6 has had a few issues, but NOTHING like I experienced before. I want the snazzy VW design and materials again, but only if I'm confident I can keep it without the frustrations.

Another VW problem seems to be terrible dealer service, apparently originating with VW USA. When the coil/etc. problems cropped up on those VWs folks had a terrible time getting them fixed.

I dunno about you guys, but personally I'm going to stay away from VW all together just for the fact that my cousin's 2006 Jetta needed an entirely new engine by 50,000 miles. All routine maintenance was performed at the dealership, yet the engine began to get metal shavings in the oil and it seized up. That's inexcusable for a 3 year old car. Now granted, this is the 2.5 engine and it was brand new for that year, but still, with so many other proven cars out there, why take the chance?

I'm wary of VWs after owning several in our family. Service aside (don't go to dealers for service), the rubber coated plastic that becomes scratched, stained and destroyed after 3-4 years and stuff like the brutal front suspension problems makes me stay well away.

My experience with VWs is limited to two New Beetles that I drove for work - a 2004 and a 2006, both of which I drove from new. They both needed repairs virtually every 5k miles. Parts always took forever to arrive. And the auto-up/down windows were never fixed properly - they would reverse even when nothing was in the way, and sometimes, when it was cold, they needed a push to actually close. The biggest issue that I saw was that the '04 and the '06 had many of the same problems - so VW wasn't making design changes to fix the issues. And remember that the New Beetle came out in 1998, so they'd had plenty of time to have the glitches worked out. Other VW models might be more reliable, but I am never going to purchase one to find out.

VWAG = will not bother honoring warranty

There are two main reasons i'd choose a Civic over a Jetta: long term reliability, and post-warranty repair costs. Not to mention when optioned the way i'd like, the Civic comes in significantly cheaper.

A few things I do envy: the superior paint quality and more insulated ride. Road noise and rock chips come standard with any Honda.

All I know is my GTI has been more reliable than my WRX. I made sure my GTI was made in Germany, though. The Rabbit's are also made in Germany, but the engine is made in Mexico. Jetta TDI's are also made in Germany last I checked. Regular Jetta's and New Beetles come from Mexico. Basically, I wouldn't buy a VW made in Mexico.

Actually, the Jetta TDI i looked at was a Wagon, so it may just be the Wagon that was made in Germany.

My wife bought a 2006 Jetta 2.0T new. She shopped less expensive Japanese cars first but was won over to the Jetta's higher price tag because of its premium cabin and high level of standard features like heated seats. The controlled ride and powerful turbo engine are obvious pluses, too. If you want to compare the Jetta to something from Japan, you really have to be looking at cars like the Acura TSX, not the Toyota Corolla. Then the price gap disappears.

BTW, while her car has been reliable for almost 50k miles, dealership service is spotty. Management at our nearest dealership are assholes, and the next closest shop (15-20 miles away) typically flubs details like when a part will be in or when service will be completed. The dealership we bought from were a real class act, but they're 40 miles away....

On paper, the Jetta TDi Sportwagen is in the top two on the list of vehicles I am considering for my next purchase.

In reality, the Jetta is pushed further down the list by virtue (or sin) of being a VW. I'm not just concerned about dealer service, since at least there's an alternative to that (there are plenty of independent VW shops that actually appreciate your business).

I'm more concerned about post-warranty costs. I'd want the DSG in my Jetta, but that is one complex piece of equipment, and is relatively unproven as far as long-term reliability. Imagine the cost if that thing grenaded out-of-warranty...

It's great that VW's overall reliability is now more in line with "normal" cars; and as I said, I am still considering the TDi despite the above caveats.

I bought a Jetta last summer and would have loved to get the TDI. That said, I was at the dealer last weekend and saw that dealer had a 5k markup on the SportWagen. I took a picture of the sticker just to prove it. The asking price was 27468, added markup of 4995, with a total of 32643. Who would pay that? I would save the money and just by a gasoline version.

That's the problem with the TDI - transaction price premium is way more that MSRP would suggest.

I considered a Rabbit for my new car. Liked it better than any of the others I looked at, by a slight margin. What I couldn't get around, though, was that it was a VW.

I had a '95 Golf that was as big a piece of crap as anything I've ever owned. Bits fell off that thing with doleful regularity. And the dealership was absolutely awful about it. I generally keep cars a very long time (11 1/2 years on the one I just replaced), but I traded that turkey after less than 3 years.

The cars may be more reliable now. Indications are that the short-term reliability is indeed better. The jury is still out on the long-term reliability.

The dealer network, though, still sucks. When I was considering the Rabbit I checked Edmunds's dealership reviews, and saw a review on there that exactly mirrored the way that dealership treated me 12 years ago. The review was from just a couple months ago. Nothing has changed.

Maybe, in five or ten years, if the cars prove to be reliable out of warranty, and the vile pit of snakes and hellspawn that VW calls a dealer network has been cleaned up some, I might buy one. Maybe. There are plenty of other car companies out there who _haven't_ screwed me.

Maybe is just luck. My 2000 Golf TDI has 155K miles and runs smooth. The only thing that required repair was the wiper motor. Last tank was 57 MPG. Can't ask more of a car.

It is. But with some manufacturers you need more luck than others to get a trouble-free car. Some you need a LOT more luck.