No other car maker offers a car as well equipped as the Jetta/Golf TDI's

This is an amazing car for under 26 grand folks. We who own them are the lucky ones.

I couldn't agree with you more.

Agreed, and in life it is wonderful to know when you have something good and appreciate it.

Cant wait to pick mine up tomorrow!

Yes it's true, but I wish the quality was better. I geuss thats the sacrifice you make, more features and lesser quality over fewer features and better quality.

I know people are going to disagree, but when comparing our 05.5 Jetta to the 03 Explorer, the Ford has had fewer issues and the interior quality is much higher.

The Jetta, radio buttons are chipping, the headlight switch is all scratched up, same with the area around the window switches, the headlights are all cloudy the list goes on.

Now to give you perspective, my wife drove the Explorer until we bought the Jetta, so both vehicles have had roughly 3 years by the same driver.

Actually, the quality on my 2009 is better than just about any car I've driven or ridden in. Better than my buddy's C230, better than my wife's former A6, and better than her two Passats. Maybe I'm just lucky, but everything from the brake pedal to the turn signal action is terrific.

This is the best car I've had, hands down.

might be a nice car but it comes with an incompetent dealer service network so not too much to get excited about imo

Yes absolutely! The Jetta TDI is one of the best equiped cars I have ever bought for the money. You also got to include its great resale value as well!

The only drawbacks I have reservations with: high cost of preventive maintenance parts (oil, fltrs, etc); waranty rules on OEM parts only; limited dealer knowledge of issues; limited dealer trust on VW paid maintenance cycles (so scary, most with knowledge don't take advantage of); VOA; and somewhat complicated design.

Given all of my drawbacks, I still have owned both an '06 and '09 TDI, and would consider another new TDI purchase for the future.

I know of no maker who offers a 50 state US emissions legal (wo Urea) diesel with the advanced DSG type trans, that gets 50 mpg hwy, 35-40 city mpg, is 5 star crash rated, with free maintenance for 36000 miles or 3 yrs, has so many std power features in the interior, and has the fit and finish inside out as that of the VW TDI's that costs 23 to $25,000.oo.

If anyone knows of anything remotely close, I'm all ears.

Rod Bearing said:

This is an amazing car for under 26 grand folks. We who own them are the lucky ones.

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Oh you're so right. Those leather seats are nice, the power seat with memory is great & the climatronic is awesome.

^ Haha lol I see what you did there. Very funny (nice). I love my sport leather seats and climatronic, but no auto seats for me. Not that I need them, nobody but myself drives my car.

Windjammer said:

Oh you're so right. Those leather seats are nice, the power seat with memory is great & the climatronic is awesome.

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Leatherette is more durable, easier to keep clean, and doesn't show its age like leather does. Memory seats are a nice to have, but since I'm the only person that drives my car, not missed at all (except the added weight ). Climatronic is the one that I really wish my car had.

So, I think my '09 is just dandy and never considered a Jetta TDI until VW released the CBEA. The BRM was a little too tame in the power department and after all the problems I had with my chipped BEW, I want the power stock.

I bought another VW mostly out of inertia, I've owned them all my life (but have had plenty of additional cars as well.) About the same time I got my '09, a friend bought a Mazda MX3 6 cyl. It's loaded price was considerably less than my JSW. My JSW has no power seats (well, half-a$$ed ones anyway), no multifunction steering wheel, no xenon's, no auto wipers, no dimming mirror, fewer and crappier cup holders <g>, and a very mediocre sound system compared to the Mazda. Build quality is probably equal.

That said, I wouldn't trade by any means. If those things really mattered that much to me, I probably wouldn't own a VW. Hell, I didn't even opt for the killer pano roof out of fear of baking. Road feel and driving manners of the VW were bigger factors by far. After a few hundred miles behind the wheel of the Mazda, I couldn't wait to drive the JSW again.

Being a diabetic, the vented glove box is fantastic - my insulin stays cool with the AC on in the summer. I had to carry a small cooler on the trip I took with the Mazda. There, see, I guess our cars are well-appointed...

I am very pleased with the standard of equipment and the quality of my 2009 Jetta TDI.

Rod Bearing said:

This is an amazing car for under 26 grand folks. We who own them are the lucky ones.

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2005.5 pkg 2 or 2006 pkg 3 - Yes.

Everything else is just a stripped version with no options available.

Rod Bearing said:

This is an amazing car for under 26 grand folks. We who own them are the lucky ones.

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Better yet, if you own a 05.5 . . .

Rod Bearing said:

This is an amazing car for under 26 grand folks. We who own them are the lucky ones.

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I read somewhere that the MkV was designed to be sold at a higher price point than it currently is being sold. I can't recall where I read that, but I think it was in conjunction with an article about the new car that will come from the Chattanooga plant. I do know that article prompted me to go ahead and buy my 09 JSW.
I was very skeptical. Anyone who owned a 93 Eurovan (my last VW, disposed of in '99) would have been very leery of coming back to a VW of any kind. I looked at the Mazda 3 (the new design killed that), Mazda 6, and Civic EX, and after a couple of months of research, couldn't find a reason not to go with the JSW. My love for station wagons didn't hurt, either.
My skepticism was displaced by absolute satisfaction. The build quality and trim finish of the interior is that or better than of cars at the $30k+ level, its frugal, and is as fun to drive as anything I've ever owned, including BMW 3-series. I've put 15k miles on it in 6 months, without issue. I haven't looked forward to seat time in a car like I do now in years...

WHAT YOU SAID!

dave729 said:

I read somewhere that the MkV was designed to be sold at a higher price point than it currently is being sold. I can't recall where I read that, but I think it was in conjunction with an article about the new car that will come from the Chattanooga plant. I do know that article prompted me to go ahead and buy my 09 JSW.
I was very skeptical. Anyone who owned a 93 Eurovan (my last VW, disposed of in '99) would have been very leery of coming back to a VW of any kind. I looked at the Mazda 3 (the new design killed that), Mazda 6, and Civic EX, and after a couple of months of research, couldn't find a reason not to go with the JSW. My love for station wagons didn't hurt, either.
My skepticism was displaced by absolute satisfaction. The build quality and trim finish of the interior is that or better than of cars at the $30k+ level, its frugal, and is as fun to drive as anything I've ever owned, including BMW 3-series. I've put 15k miles on it in 6 months, without issue. I haven't looked forward to seat time in a car like I do now in years...

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dave729 said:

...The build quality and trim finish of the interior is that or better than of cars at the $30k+ level, its frugal, and is as fun to drive as anything I've ever owned, including BMW 3-series. I've put 15k miles on it in 6 months, without issue. I haven't looked forward to seat time in a car like I do now in years...

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I fully agree. I traded in my 2007 BMW 328xi for my TDI and not only have no regrets, but am far happier and drive it much more.

I had my Ford diesel truck in for some work. My wife followed me up in our 09 JSW TDI. One of the Ford maintance men was sure looking at our TDI. I ask him if he would like to drive it. He said yes and his wife is now a proud owner of a new Jetta TDI. True story.

My '09 JSW is the first car purchase I've made in many years that did NOT leave me feeling "buyer's remorse". Fit and finish, materials inside and out, all outstanding at this price point. Everything works exactly as it should, not one single issue. I love this car.

I never sat in a 2009 or 2010 or any jetta newer than a 2000 1.8T till i picked up my 2010 TDI. That was going from a 1993 Volvo 960, yeah there's some charm missing from the TDI that the 960 had. A tear still forms in my eye thinking of the old Volvo, but every-time i fill up and go 600 miles, that tear disappears.

I was looking at subaru outback sport, Mazda 3 hatch, and volvo C30 and the TDI won the battle between what i wanted and what seemed most piratical in my head.

Climate control? What are you talking about? Set the temp control at 72 and forget it. All that's required of you is to turn on the a/c if needed. More bells and whistles the more potential problems. As for full function electric seats..........they just add weight. If you were to drive a GT3 Porsche or Carrera you would find NO electric seat just the backrest like the Jetta is electric.

My Lexus IS250 is the same dimensions almost to the inch as my Jetta yet it weights in close to two hundred pounds more than the Jetta.......and drives like it too. Solid? Yes, but drives like a heavy car not at all like the Jetta.........which, at least to me...........feels light on it's feet.

De-Content practice. Scalpel please!

Rod Bearing said:

I know of no maker who offers a 50 state US emissions legal (wo Urea) diesel with the advanced DSG type trans, that gets 50 mpg hwy, 35-40 city mpg, is 5 star crash rated, with free maintenance for 36000 miles or 3 yrs, has so many std power features in the interior, and has the fit and finish inside out as that of the VW TDI's that costs 23 to $25,000.oo.

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Really,,, 50MPG Hwy and 35-40 City; down what mountain and in which city!

Our ordered new MY06.5 Pkg 2, DSG, Navi, etc, etc, option car is a favorite to drive at the house. But let’s not loose sight of the scalpel sharp de-content practice VW has taken with the MKV model range. The MKV-MKVI (same Body in White) has gone up in price for less content. Yeah,, it continues being a great car to drive, but,,,,,

I don't really miss the Climatronic at all, the climate control works pretty much just like it did on my old Passat, only difference is it's a control knob instead of a digital readout.

I'll take manual climate controls over automatic any day. If it were possible, I would gladly have deleted the automatic climate controls from several of the "luxury" cars I have owned over the years. It was not possible. NONE of them worked to my satisfaction. They ALL had minds of their own requiring constant override each trip. I sold one of these ridiculously priced models after only 7 months of ownership due to the climate controls becoming the focus of my discontent. Automatic climate controls amount to the same concept as a computerized flush toilet.

IMO it is Dual Zone feature what makes Climatronic worth having.

I can see the dual-zone benefit in a large SUV. Not in a small passenger car.

Jetta Knight said:

I can see the dual-zone benefit in a large SUV. Not in a small passenger car.

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Not sure I understand your rationale, but it works just fine. I can say that because I had a Single Zone Climatic and retrofitted Dual Zone Climatronic. And I can feel the difference (read: wife stopped complaining about the temp too low ).

GTIDan said:

Climate control? What are you talking about? Set the temp control at 72 and forget it. All that's required of you is to turn on the a/c if needed. More bells and whistles the more potential problems. As for full function electric seats..........they just add weight. If you were to drive a GT3 Porsche or Carrera you would find NO electric seat just the backrest like the Jetta is electric.

My Lexus IS250 is the same dimensions almost to the inch as my Jetta yet it weights in close to two hundred pounds more than the Jetta.......and drives like it too. Solid? Yes, but drives like a heavy car not at all like the Jetta.........which, at least to me...........feels light on it's feet.

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Oh my goodness. 200lbs, really? Do you remove your spare to save weight? Do you really think 200lbs makes a difference? All I can say is I'll take the weight hit for the power seats. If my Wife & I switch cars then there is no screwing around with the seat. When I unlock either car the seat is then set & ready to go.
As maloosheck posted, dual zone is a life saver if 2 people in the car can't agree on the temperature.