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Comments
I turned 4000rpm at 105mph with a Tiptronic 1.8T, incase anyone was wondering.
I was going to get the chip too, but still can't decide. It seems like a fun investment, but I have been more wrapped up in putting money into the house lately (which will gain value vs. dropping like a car does). Will keep you posted on my choice though.
VW is not going to pay for a mid-size SUV, they will only pay for a compact-sized car. You will have to pay for the upgrade on your own. I got an Impala last time (when my one coil went, back in November), but that was only because Enterprise was out of everything else when I showed up on a Monday morning.
Vocus, since he apparently does not live in Maryland, you should be careful about telling him what is and is not covered by his state's lemon law.
One problem alot of customers seem to have with VW/Audi is that, in earlier articles, they said they didn't consider this coil problem a safety hazard and didn't plan a recall. They were pretty much 'forced' to recall the cars from the media. They did the same thing with the window regulator problem, finally standing up and refunding/recalling years after the problems started. I like my Jetta more than alot of the dozens of cars I have driven over the the last 7 years, but VW's customer care and ethics policies suck. They are more than likely what will keep me from getting another VW after this one.
Fiance needed a car to go back and forth to work. I have always been a big bimmer fan (3 in the family)and bought a 325xi last year. However we could not afford another bimmer at this time. She mentioned VW as an alternative. I had some reservations as to reliability but she really liked the Jetta. So after negotiating the price (about $19,500) we picked up a platinum grey 2.0 gls auto w/leather & monsoon system on Saturday and have driven it all weekend. Below are some first impressions and questions
Exterior: Car looks great. As we were driving noticed many people taking a good look at the car. Very classy color.
Interior:
Leather is nice and much better than the velour. Blue dash lighting at night is cool.
I question how durable some of the buttons and turnknobs (seem flimsy).
Nice sunroof but think the turn mechanism to open and close is a bad design.
Monsoon system is nice but nothing special. Nice leg room in the front.
Rear seats are adequate as long as front and rear passengers are not over 6 feet. Head room in the back is not so great.
Cup holders are now between the two front seats as opposed to the pop-out ones over the radio.
Takes a while to warm up but once its going the heat becomes unbearable. Heated seats on 5 will burn your...
Glove compartment is a joke
Trunk:
HUGE!!!. Drop down seats are a very nice touch
Engine/Drive:
Suprised at how smooth this little 4 cylinder was on the highway.Did not seem bad at all at 50 mph (didn't want to go over too much due to break in period). Seems ok at lower speeds but have noticed some sluggishness at times on take off.
Road noise is not great (I guess thats what the radio is there for) but nothing we can't live with.
No rattles (yet)
Car Prep:
Not too great! There seemed to be a faint white dust coating over the seats, shoe print on passegener side rear and steering colum soiled. Took the car home and noticed windshield scratched. Some moron must have turned on the wipers without the rubber on as the scratch is in the wiper path. Dealer stated to bring car in to take care of it. Don't know if this means they will replace the entire windshield?
Overall:
For the money, I think you can't beat this car and what you get. Mind you I am somewhat spoiled by bimmer but felt the car drives great. I actually had a lot of fun driving it around. Handles nicely also. Again, engine is very smooth.
Crossings fingers as to reliability. Spoke to some people who had 2001 & 2002 2.0 gls and so far they have not had any problems...praying to be in this group. Also heard that VW corrected (I hope) alot of the problems these cars were having.
Question:
When car is is park and you hit the break, you hear a thunk from beneath the car. Is this normal?
Take care guys
The 'clunk' you speak of is the interlock system for the automatic shifter. If you look in the dash panel (inside the tachometer) you will see the little yellow light go off when you step on the brakes. That 'clunk' is corresponding with the light. Totally normal.
Don't know if they will replace the whole windshield, they will probably try to buff out the imperfection. My car wasn't prepped too well either, but I bought it on a Sat afternoon, they were probably rushing and trying to get out the door.
I hate the new cupholders between the seats, very 'Chevy' to me. I have the pop-out dash ones, and prefer them even though they block the CD player when using them.
Good luck with the car. If you want, email me (see my profile, just click on my username) and I will give you some websites to learn about the VWs.
it is strange that you say you don't like the sunroof dial. it is often heralded as the best design out there. all VW/Audi products use it.
if you are used to BMW, then the VW won't be any worse reliability wise. you will be just fine!
congrats. yep, for the money, the Jettas are packed full of features and are fun to drive too, even with automatic.
What facts are you basing that statement off of?
I have a 2003 Jetta 1.8T GLS with just over 1,200 miles on it and haven't had any trouble yet. I'm still holding my breath. Except, I can't get it to go any faster than 140 mph. Just kidding!!! You'll find that there is some humor on these pages which helps the medicine go down some. My Jetta color is postcard red and looks very "racie" (sp?) as it looks to be in it's stance.
About your windshield scratches, they'll probably just replace half of it leaving a seam right down the middle of it. See, there goes that humor again.
Good luck with your new Jetta and we all wish you blue skies and green lights. Isn't this fun?
You don't have to keep your right paw off the steering wheel or stick shift for just a moment.
I see that the newer cars have an extra stop on the dial so the roof will not slide back 100% unless you put your hand back up there. I like my original dial better.
But they do work very well in the new position. (Cups in my old Civic are constantly toppling from the too-shallow holders.) But I don't know why VW couldn't have retained the old in-dash cupholders while adding the new spots in the console. That piece of plastic in the dash that now doesn't do anything -- and is slightly loose in my case -- is kind of cheesy.
One feature I love in my '03 Jetta is the ability to roll up the power windows and close the sunroof *after* taking the key out of the ignition. Very thoughtful. I also love the music system controls on the steering wheel.
Greg T.
i agree. If there's one element in my interior that i love it's that simple dial. i despise having to hold a button to open a sunroof (I use my sunroof nearly daily)...i like the set it and forget it style. Very user friendly. Pull up to a store and want to keep the air flowing, twist the dial a bit so the sunroof almost closes. Love it.
BTW, I'm not a cupholder guy, so I really liked that the original Jetta design had cupholders where they should be - unseen and unused. Just a pet peeve, but cupholders rate right up with "baby on board" signs for me in usefulness.
Drove the Jetta again last night down some curvey roads. Was very impressed at how the car handled the roads. Again, like how smooth this little engine feels. Fiance is starting to joke that I have driven the car more than her.
Vocus: Thanks for answering my question and will take you up on those websites.
Justin: From my experience bmw's are very reliable. In the family we have as '86 325is, a '89 325i and 2002 325xi. The two older ones each have over 160,000 miles on them and apart from wear and tear have not had any significant problems. If we can get close to this in the Jetta, I will be extremely happy.
Cards28: Thanks for the laughs. Good to hear that you have not experienced any problems. Hopeful it is a sign that VW has worked out some of the gremlins.
As the Sunroof dial, this my first impression of it. The 2002 bmw is one touch sunroof and feels simpler to me to push and to twist a button but this could be contributed to habit. As we enjoy the car my opinion of the dial may change.
Thanks to all again and look forward to partaking in interesting discussions with you.
The best thing though is that MD will NOT pay for any damages to your car, even if the road is substandard. I saw a pothole the other day that was literally wide as an entire lane, and about 12" deep as well.
I was originally considering the Audi A4 1.8T, but after some rather poor treatment at the dealer, I moved along to VW.
ANY tips you may have for me will be greatly appreciated.
I wish you blue skies and green lights. Happy Motoring.
You will find this to be FUN!!!
at least my Jetta always starts. it might only run on 3 cylinders sometimes, but it always starts
i will never buy another German car again, period. doesn't leave me with much choice because all of my Hondas have been crap, Nissans are a joke these days, and Toyota, outside of the LS430 (can't afford it) and IS300 (too small, might as well keep the Jetta), doesn't get my blood pumping either.
all that is left is Miata
Snow EXTRA, EXTRA Chicago is getting hit with 6 - 8" tonite. Are you sure that you folks in MD aren't shoveling all of your snow back to the west? If it does hit us, my wife will probably have a snow day tomorrow. She is a teacher. School buses have trouble getting dug out, let alone navigating the roadways. My snow blower is primed and ready to go, though.
I'm in the process of updating my detailing supplies when I read that some leather is coated with vinly and shouldbe treated as a vinyl interior. Leather conditioners shoud not be used on vcinyl topped leather.
Thanks
of course, i don't use them nearly enough to matter. i use armor all wipes for the VW and the BMW. they are really easy, and seem to work really well, cleaning and conditioning wise.
I was doing some reading up on detailing (I seem to do this when I 'perceive' Spring is near and I will be detailing the cars) and read that 'vinyl topped leather' should not be treated with leather conditioner. First time I have ever heard of "vinyl topped leather". Seems to defeat the purpose if you ask me.
Many myths still exist about exactly what leather is. Real leather is the top split of the hide. It has natural flaws characteristic of the animal to whom the skin once belonged. There are many "leathers" that are actually the thin bottom suede split of the hide. These splits have been coated with a vinyl type coating and a grained impression is applied with rollers. According to U.S. Government standards, these should actually be labeled and sold as suede. However, after being treated, they are being passed as "genuine leather" to the consumer.
justin: the tsx looks promising. i always liked the accords the europeans get to drive.
Today, my daughter told me that the oil-pan had a hole in it and it cost over $400 to replace it. This was obviously caused from the heaving that the roads have this time of year. He may have a new oilpan... but the damage to the engine is irreversable (short of a complete rebuild) I would not want to be the next owner of that Jetta 8-(
The aluminum oilpans that VW uses are easy to damage (soft material and very close to ground)
I am posting this link here again for those of you that wish to PREVENT this from occouring to yourselves.
http://www.dieselgeek.com/skidplate.htm
The cupholder is not in the armrest, if that's what you're worried about. There are two lined up behind the parking brake. I really don't think they're a bad design, though the armrest does hinder access to one of them.
I hate the stuff personally, the fake shine it provides. Yuck. I just clean the dash with a damp cloth to get the dust off.
I have Meguiar's Gold Class leather cleaner, and I use that about every month or two. Makes the interior look and smell like the day I took delivery of the car, even with almost 33K on it.
You can feel free to come to MD and fully detail my Jetta too, it surely needs it after all this snow..
Stick to the cupholder you have hidden in the dash, it's much more visually appealing I think. The center one looks to cheap American plasticky for my tastes, and doesn't belong in a VW.
i am going to wait until April to have it cleaned the way i do it myself. thoroughly.
and yes, the TSX looks nice, especially for a Honda! not sure about a high strung non-forced induction 4 cylinder though.
I also got some all-weather mats from WalMart ($8 for 2 front ones), so my carpet mats don't have crap all over them. These have nice deep grooves too, and hold the sand/salt/snow in them. I just took them out the other day and rinsed/brushed them when I took the car and washed it (it was 50 here the other day and I had to go wash my baby).
It's gonna be 60 in MD today, can you believe it? Meanwhile, I have a 5' pile of snow outside my front door waiting to melt...
First of all, I loved how the Jetta drove and handled over the Accord & Altima. Since I have never owned a VW before, I have a few of questions. I am looking at buying a 2003 Jetta 1.8t GLS in the next month. Are the 2003 1.8t having the same coil problems that I hear so much about? Has your VW been reliable? What the major issues with owning a Jetta?
I have owned Nissans, Toyotas in the past. Luckily, I have not had any problems with them. I hope it's the same for VW. Thanks in advance for your feedback!
The coil problems were solved very early in the 03 model year, so if you get one now it should be ok.