To but a new 2003 VW Jetta Wagon TDI

My wife and I have ordered a new 2003 VW Jetta wagon with a diesel engine. The decession to buy was based on the engine lasting 300,000 miles and the great gas mileage and the resulting cost saving. The question will the rest of the automoblie last that long expecting some major serving to occur. Is the quality of these Jetta; excellent, average, or poor. If the latter two then it does not make sense to buy it. Your thoughts;
Thanks
Charles Nighbor
Walnut Creek, CA

I would say it depends how you break it in (how you drive the vehicle for its first few 1000 miles).

My parents have a 1999.5 Golf GL 2 doors which always been reliable.

It would need a paint job, mostly because it's on the road everyday, have seen lots of though winters and therefore salt.

It's pretty normal considering.

Living in California, you probably won't have to deal with the salt and sand they put on roads here.

Golf and Jetta have practically the same interior: I find the fit and finish better than in Nissan, Volvo, the big three and maybe Mitsubishi.

My personal opinion.

Also which color is the inside?

The Golf's inside is black and boy it's hot in the summer!!!

Gray or beige would be better where you live (easier to clean and stay clean too).

A black cloth inside is always looking dirty too.

My 2 cents.

I have owned many VW's in the past (57 Bug, 89 Jetta 2 door 8v, 97 Jetta VR6, 1992 Gti 16v) and I have to say the current A4 platform is heads and tails above anything VW has made before and heads and tails above anything in the same price category. The build quality is similar to what you might find in cars costing $30,000 or more. 300,000 is a long time to keep a car. I personally could never do that (I get bored to easy!) but if you are the type of person that doesn't mind an old/older car I think the Jetta will hold up quite well.

Mark Radelow
2003 Golf TDI
1995 BMW ///M3

[ February 05, 2003, 14:01: Message edited by: Mark R ]