Am I the only one enjoying their '09?

Pelican18TQA4 said:

My sentiments exactly

Perhaps we should post useless information in Mach1's "Am I the only one enjoying their '06?" thread

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EDIT: We are all free to post where we want to. So you are free to do so, and so is Mach1.

However we should all refrain from posting off topic in any thread. This does apply to everyone, I now better understand what the point of this thread is and I hope it does serve its purpose, to inform potential 09 TDI buyers that the 09 Jetta TDI and TDI JSW are both great cars to own with few issues. We just need to keep the clutter down and not have multiple versions about similar topics if we can.

I for one would love to have an 2.0L CR CBEA motor! lol just put it in my 06 that I already own outright, chip it, and loose the exhaust if it can not function trouble free with the chip/remap.

I will finally adopt the "statement"..... Drive more, worry less.

pawel said:

make them illegal? i disagree! hid's should be made standard. what should be enforced is the proper headlight adjustment. most of the time i'm getting blinded by a "rice burners and alike" who just installed cheapo hid kits in halogen designed light housing and by pick up trucks with poorly adjusted headlights. look at european standards. almost every vehicle has hid lights available with some sort of leveling to minimize blinding of on coming traffic. if europeans can do why can't we here?

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Poorly adjusted HIDs and cheapo tuner rice boxes, a lot of the "blinders" who creep up on me to pass are often Lexus SUVs, BMWs, Subarus, Cadillacs.....there doesn't seem to be any distinguishing factors, and most of them are new. It's often impossible to tell what the offending vehicle is when it's an oncoming vehicle.

SBAtdijetta said:

Who cares? You are free to do so, go ahead that is exactly the point. None of this elitism, you can't post here, or this or that BS. This "should" apply to everyone, but posting the same threads over and over does get annoying to all.

I for one would love to have an 2.0L CR CBEA motor! lol just put it in my 06 that I already own outright, chip it, and loose the exhaust if it can not function trouble free with the chip/remap.

I will finally adopt the "statement"..... Drive more, worry less.

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If I ask you what 2+2 equals and you answer, saying that the ocean is blue, have you answered my question or provided any relevant information? No.

As I have previously stated, the point of this thread is to highlight people who are happy with their '09 TDIs (and yes, this is relevant as a separate topic because the engine, transmission - manual anyway, trim packages, etc. are different from the '05.5-'06 TDIs). While posting comments and information pertaining to the previous generation of TDI isn't completely irrelevant to the general topic, it is irrelevant to this thread and that makes it harder for the people reading this thread seeking information about the '09 to find that information.

No matter what generation of TDI you may or may not own, they are all great cars. However, there are distinct differences between all of them, including the BRM and CBEA.

MayorDJQ said:

Poorly adjusted HIDs and cheapo tuner rice boxes, a lot of the "blinders" who creep up on me to pass are often Lexus SUVs, BMWs, Subarus, Cadillacs.....there doesn't seem to be any distinguishing factors, and most of them are new. It's often impossible to tell what the offending vehicle is when it's an oncoming vehicle.

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I am glad to have my OEM HIDs retrofitted in my Jetta. I don't think anyone is going to make them illegal nor should they be. They simply should be adjusted properly, when done so they have far less light scatter then halogen lights, and are safer and brighter too. Have you ever seen the cut off line on true HIDs? They are much better for oncoming traffic, or rear glare if adjusted correctly. I will agree that retrofitting HIDs in to halogen headlights IS illegal, and dangerous for all drivers on the road. The rest you are on your own, I just wish the 09s had HIDs as an option.

Pelican18TQA4 said:

As I have previously stated, the point of this thread is to highlight people who are happy with their '09 TDIs (and yes, this is relevant as a separate topic because the engine, transmission - manual anyway, trim packages, etc. are different from the '05.5-'06 TDIs). While posting comments and information pertaining to the previous generation of TDI isn't completely irrelevant to the general topic, it is irrelevant to this thread and that makes it harder for the people reading this thread seeking information about the '09 to find that information.

No matter what generation of TDI you may or may not own, they are all great cars. However, there are distinct differences between all of them, including the BRM and CBEA.

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EDIT: Very well aware of those differences... I appreciate them fully and I now more fully understand what the point of your thread is.

My point before was repeating the same kinds of threads creates clutter. Having an attitude is worse. Not saying this is your intention at all, but it appears this is here from others on both sides, and we should get rid of it. Both cars are great cars, they are different cars as well.

I am done posting in your thread, and my apologies for cluttering it up go to you and those actually giving or searching for 09 reviews, but to those doing anything else they should go elsewhere I guess myself included... lol

Btw: Anybody want to give me an 09 6spd CBEA? Or trade with my 06? I don't think trading in my 06 is an option. I want to keep all my mods.

Our '09 TDI Jetta has only 700 miles, but it has a serious number of improvements over our '03 TDI and, of course, my '96 Passat TDI. Just put in second tank of fuel. Got 43 mpg, but of course this is not a reliable figure until many more miles are registered. I really want to get this to 48-50 mpg which is what I consistently got on the '03 and continue to get on the Passat.

Whistling Wind Farm said:

I really want to get this to 48-50 mpg which is what I consistently got on the '03 and continue to get on the Passat.

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I will be delighted for you if you do, but I hope you're not setting your heart on it. 48-50 MPG is do-able in the '09 if:

• you drive nothing but highway miles on fairly level terrain
• you keep your speed down to 65 MPH
• you do nothing but long drives in winter (> 25 mi), which allow your engine to spend most of its time at operating temp

Otherwise, at least if my experience is any guide, about 45 MPG is a realistic top end for the '09 under more real-world driving conditions (or less, if your 'real world' is a city). Maybe it will edge up a tad as my engine gets more broken in, but at 12K miles I suspect the majority of my breaking in has already happened.

When you consider how much easier on the environment the '09 is, plus how much extra out-of-the-box performance VW has managed to squeeze out of the CBEA engine, that 3-5 MPG decrement in fuel economy is pretty easy to swallow. That, plus the fact that the best lifetime fuel economy I was ever able to squeeze out of any of my previous rides (gasser cars and diesel pickups) was just 28 MPG, and I'm a totally happy camper.

DoctorDawg said:

I will be delighted for you if you do, but I hope you're not setting your heart on it. 48-50 MPG is do-able in the '09 if:

• you drive nothing but highway miles on fairly level terrain
• you keep your speed down to 65 MPH ----> more like 55 to 60.
  
• you do nothing but long drives in winter (> 25 mi), which allow your engine to spend most of its time at operating temp

Otherwise, at least if my experience is any guide, about 45 MPG is a realistic top end for the '09 under more real-world driving conditions (or less, if your 'real world' is a city). Maybe it will edge up a tad as my engine gets more broken in, but at 12K miles I suspect the majority of my breaking in has already happened.

When you consider how much easier on the environment the '09 is, plus how much extra out-of-the-box performance VW has managed to squeeze out of the CBEA engine, that 3-5 MPG decrement in fuel economy is pretty easy to swallow. That, plus the fact that the best lifetime fuel economy I was ever able to squeeze out of any of my previous rides (gasser cars and diesel pickups) was just 28 MPG, and I'm a totally happy camper.

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See bold.

Just got mine Saturday, and it dazzles me daily. Now, I loooved my 2004 RC1+ PD (for sale by the way), but this is a whole 'nother level. Ride, handling, engine refinement, build quality. It feels like each part is machined from a solid block of steel or aluminum. Every component talks to all the others.

Yes, there's some things I miss (biodiesel compatibility, more on that later) and the near-violent torque peak of my chipped PD, but overall this is one slick and beautiful car. Oh yeah, you can hear the turbo at idle!

No offense to any of our friends out there, but I don't remember the new A5 PD I test drove in March 2006 feeling like this. Was probably the trim level or something; all the A5's are fabulous. The build quality on both easily matched my wife's 2004 A6 wagon.

We purchased our 09 JSW TDI manual last Friday; then drove 740 miles home from the dealer over several 4000' passes and in heavy rain. The car has fine highway stability and a very nice running motor and smooth gearbox. We varied our speed from 60-75 mph without using cruise, and got a 46 mpg average (MFD) for the highway portion of the trip. Everything works perfectly; very happy with the car.

Picked my 09 up on the 27th of October. It now has 13,275 miles on the clock. 27 fill ups so far, with the worst tank at 37.6 mpg, and the best at 44.2 mpg. Most (95%) on the highway at around 70 mph. I love my new TDI. No problems, no complaints.

09 Jetta TDI, manual, white/grey, sunroof, mats
Other rides:
05 Passat TDI, 176 k miles, 38 mpg
00 NB TDI, 334 k miles, 48 mpg, (semi-retired)
02 Eurovan 61 k miles, premuim gasser, 21 mpg
67 Beetle restoration project
86 Toyota PU, 285 k miles, a guy has to have a truck!

Test dorove an '09 today. HUGE refinement leap in terms of noise over the 05.5 that I own. I have (in the 05.5) the best bang for the buck in terms of options inside the cars with respect to climatronic, etc. But the '09 has everything else that makes driving fun and enjoyable. The power comes on a little sooner and it is on par with my RC1+ in my 1.9 PD. - Now I just need to figure out where to come up with an extra stash of cash to upgrade.

-Mike 2005.5 A5 Jetta TDI 5m RC1+

Bought mine in December and it has been completely trouble free.
I have about a 100 mile round trip commute for work, and have been averaging over 40 mpg. 7000 miles so far and not one issue. I really love this car.

Hey, I bought my 2009 Jetta TDI sedan last saturday (02/28). The dealer got me the tank full. I finished half tank so far. The mpg on the screen is varying between 28mpg to 29mpg. Its all city driving. Is that normal? Should I wait till break in to see the 37mpg or above???
Thanks

The dealer is supposed to give you a car with a full tank. It's part of the $650 fee, IIRC.

If you're doing a lot of city driving, you'll probably not see 37mpg even when it's broken in well.

Aviator said:

Hey, I bought my 2009 Jetta TDI sedan last saturday (02/28). The dealer got me the tank full. I finished half tank so far. The mpg on the screen is varying between 28mpg to 29mpg. Its all city driving. Is that normal? Should I wait till break in to see the 37mpg or above???
Thanks

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If you're doing all city driving, you'll probably see about 30 mpg average at best once the engine is broken in.

And you might want in future to resist the urge to post the exact same question in three different threads simultaneously. It is widely considered to be bad form.

Welcome to the Club!

The test drive!

Test drove a '09 Jetta SportWagen TDI last Saturday.
The tester had a DSG transmission.

I currently drive a '02 jetta sedan with a 5 speed manual transmission.

There is a night and day difference in these vehicles!

I thought my '02 was quiet and smooth and peppy!

The '09 is like a Luxury car with sports car feel. And very powerfull!

Just got to 14k miles today and all I could say is FLAWLESS. I enjoy this Diesel Jetta more than my previous Gasoline Jetta! VW Jettas win, hands-down, over Honda Civics.

My roundtrip commute to/from work is 100 miles (50/50), with the following conditions:
TO WORK, from altitude 3,000' to 730' I get ~52 mpg (best 58 mpg). FROM WORK, from altitude 730' to 3,000' I get ~35 mpg (best 38 mpg).
AVG ROUNDTRIP ~40 mpg (best 46 mpg)

NO electrical "gremlins", yet?!?
NO mechanical problems.

I wish the seat recliner was lever-operated for a quick recline, instead of the snail-paced electric feature or hand-operated dial.

I wish the HP was more around 160-170, the HP:TORQUE ratio of 3:5 is only good for city driving (in my most humble and have-experienced-it opinion), nonetheless, I love it's torquey punch.

I have no real beef with this car, AT ALL, my best car to date and I look forward to seeing the odometer turn 100,000 miles.

2009 VW Jetta TDI, 6-spd Auto w/DSG, Deep Black [Mine]
2006 Ford Escape XLS, 5-spd Manual, Sonic Blue [Hers]
2005.5 VW Jetta 2.5 Value Edition, 6-spd Auto, Platinum Gray [Traded In]
2002 Honda Civic LX, 4-spd Auto, Clover Green Pearl [Turned In]
1990 Honda Accord LX, 5-spd Manual, Navajo Red Metallic [Traded In]

I wish the HP was more around 160-170, the HP:TORQUE ratio of 3:5 is only good for city driving (in my most humble and have-experienced-it opinion), nonetheless, I love it's torquey punch.


get it chipped by rc or a tuner of your choice and you will have 170hp and 284 ft lb

Love the '09, also loved the '06 manual that it replaced (which got a little bit better mpg). No issues with either car. Only thing that shocks me are all the '09 haters in this forum that happen to have '06 in their signatures.... that are experts in putting down a car they don't own, but maybe test drove! It kinda takes the fun out of enjoying a wonderful car.....Sheesh!

moopa said:

Only thing that shocks me are all the '09 haters in this forum that happen to have '06 in their signatures.... that are experts in putting down a car they don't own, but maybe test drove! It kinda takes the fun out of enjoying a wonderful car.....Sheesh!

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Overall, I've been reasonably impressed by the open-mindedness of most of the '06 owners on this board, with respect to their opinions regarding the '09. Hey, its fair to say the jury's still out...these cars are a whole new level of complicated, with parts that will cost a small fortune to replace ($180 for a glow plug, and something like $4K for the DPF), so its reasonable to reserve judgement. Us '09 owners may be whistling out of the other end of our gastrointestinal tracts a few years from now when the repair bills start coming in. Or, not. We really don't know. But for now...well, "this is the day the Lord has made," so I'm just a-drivin' and a-grinnin'.

DoctorDawg said:

Overall, I've been reasonably impressed by the open-mindedness of most of the '06 owners on this board, with respect to their opinions regarding the '09. Hey, its fair to say the jury's still out...these cars are a whole new level of complicated, with parts that will cost a small fortune to replace ($180 for a glow plug, and something like $4K for the DPF), so its reasonable to reserve judgement. Us '09 owners may be whistling out of the other end of our gastrointestinal tracts a few years from now when the repair bills start coming in. Or, not. We really don't know. But for now...well, "this is the day the Lord has made," so I'm just a-drivin' and a-grinnin'.

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Indeed a good point! Here are some numbers to put some realities to the concept and hopefully further discussion.

First off, the meager warranty went from (i.e.,03 Jetta TDI) 4 years 60,000 miles to more Toyota/Honda- like 3 years/36,000 miles. The news "free maintnanace the first 30,000 miles !!??? So if you got/get the so called lemon, you REALLY want the lemon est attributes to come out during the warranty periods.

If not, any and all cars realistically can/should go 100,000 miles with normal (actually without also) maintenance. So for example in the 03 Jetta's case starting off at roughly 25,000 miles per year, 6 years has AVERAGED 19. k per year.

I got the required 100,000 miles TB/WP change done. Period . Yes 2 TSB's were done (free of charge) but neither were needed.

So really we are talking the 2nd 3rd and 4th 100,000 miles for the 2009 and how many are into that phase? Most everything sans those phases are hopes, fears, speculations and a laser sharp emphasis on the ability of some (probably normal) defects to become deal breaking trend problems.

According to my window sticker, the warranty for the '09 is:
3yr/36,000 "New Car Warranty".....aka bumper to bumper.
5yr/60,000 limited power train.
12 yr unlimited mileage corrosion warranty.

As for parts, as more '09s and CBEAs hit the streets, aftermarket manufacturers will state making replacement parts. The same thing happended with A3s and A4s. For example, injection pumps and turbos were initially only available through the dealer. Now you can find them all over the web. At some point DPFs and the other exhaust components will be available outside the dealership. Impex has GPs for $120 which is expensive, but proabably a lot less than dealership prices.

6,000 miles since the end of September and really liking this SW.
Fuel economy has risen from 38 mpg average to 42-43 mpg all by itself and driving habits haven't changed at all. I expect to be in the mid 40s by the summer. A good car and very glad I bought it.

MayorDJQ said:

According to my window sticker, the warranty for the '09 is:
3yr/36,000 "New Car Warranty".....aka bumper to bumper.
5yr/60,000 limited power train.
12 yr unlimited mileage corrosion warranty.

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Plus...
8 yr/80,000 Federal emissions warranty on cat. converters and engine computer.

So far 1300 mi on our JSW with zero problems; very enjoyable car.

Got my 09 TDI Sportwagen last week in January. I averaged up all my mileage figures and have an average of 38.1 mpg. Both my old 05 Passat TDI and 09 TDI have automatic transmission with the 09 being GSM. The life time average for the Passat was 33 mpg. I think the improvement comes from the GSM transmission. Very pleased with the Sportwagon.

jimlockey said:

Got my 09 TDI Sportwagen last week in January. I averaged up all my mileage figures and have an average of 38.1 mpg. Both my old 05 Passat TDI and 09 TDI have automatic transmission with the 09 being GSM. The life time average for the Passat was 33 mpg. I think the improvement comes from the GSM transmission. Very pleased with the Sportwagon.

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Don't you mean DSG transmission?

I love my 2009 TDI sportwagen. It drives better (and is more fun to drive) than my 2005 BMW 325i.

chemeng1661 said:

I love my 2009 TDI sportwagen. It drives better (and is more fun to drive) than my 2005 BMW 325i.

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....

chemeng1661 said:

I love my 2009 TDI sportwagen. It drives better (and is more fun to drive) than my 2005 BMW 325i.

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That's cause the 325 is the chump model