Considering Buying a 2014 Sportwagen Questions

alext91 · Apr 10, 2019

So my wife has a 2015 Golf TDI, I used to have a 99.5 Jetta TDI, and I'm now considering trading my 2013 Honda Civic Si for a 2014 Jetta Sportwagen. As much as I love my Honda for autocross/track driving, I need something more practical for highway trips and daily driving. I really like the Sportwagens, and a local dealer has a few of the MK6 JSWs in stock with fairly low miles (two under 17k). I have considered the MK7 like my wife's, but I don't like the torsion beam rear end, plus, I think I can get a better deal on a MK6 with similar mileage and more features. Is there anything I should look for when taking a look at these cars? I know the warranty isn't as good (10yr/120k vs the MK7 11yr/162k). I just like the idea of the modularity of this chassis for suspension mods etc. Would be planning to do Bilstein HDs with H&R sport springs, sway bars, dieselgeek shifter and still run the car at autocross/track events more casually.

Edit: I'm going to look at some this afternoon. Thanks in advance!

KITEWAGON · Apr 10, 2019

I'd worry about condition more than mileage. The difference between 15k and 40k is pretty small to me. The car at 15k may have had lots of short trips and more wear and tear than the one with higher mileage. I'd go base model and skip the sunroof, especially if you want to track the car. I like the darker interior colors because I think they stay cleaner. We used to have one with beige interior and it was pretty filthy when we sold it back.

Hey, I just noticed that you are in NH. What dealer? I bought mine at Seacoast last march. In hindsight I paid too much and should have waited a year, but my car was/is mint condition. I love it and no regrets.

alext91 · Apr 10, 2019

KITEWAGON said:
I'd worry about condition more than mileage. The difference between 15k and 40k is pretty small to me. The car at 15k may have had lots of short trips and more wear and tear than the one with higher mileage. I'd go base model and skip the sunroof, especially if you want to track the car. I like the darker interior colors because I think they stay cleaner. We used to have one with beige interior and it was pretty filthy when we sold it back.

Hey, I just noticed that you are in NH. What dealer? I bought mine at Seacoast last march. In hindsight I paid too much and should have waited a year, but my car was/is mint condition. I love it and no regrets.

Thanks for the info! Is there any reason in particular you say to skip the roof? Just because of weight? I actually like to have a sunroof, mostly to keep my eyes on bicycles on top of the car, which is common for me. Rochester VW is where we bought my wife's car, and where I am going to go look. That's a good point about the mileage, I will likely look at a few, they have at least four JSWs with manuals. Seacoast is very close to me, I live in Nemarket. I've looked at a couple there but Rochester seems to beat them in terms of inventory and price. We also had a great low pressure buying experience with my wife's car.

kjclow · Apr 10, 2019

VW sunroofs are notorious for leaking. The panoroof seems to have even more problems, or more up keep.

alext91 · Apr 10, 2019

kjclow said:
VW sunroofs are notorious for leaking. The panoroof seems to have even more problems, or more up keep.

Gotcha, I was aware of the issue of leaking. Seems like maybe not so bad if you keep the drains clear? I wasn't aware of how bad these were relative to the average VW sunroof, that's good to know. Thanks!

KITEWAGON · Apr 10, 2019

I've heard good things about Rochester and they seem to have a nice inventory of TDI's coming through. I'm right between them and Seacoast, Seacoast just happened to have a car that met my specs.

I like normal sunroofs. The pano ones just scare me. For me, the enjoyment factor isn't worth the potential of being me really annoyed if it leaks or the shade breaks, or it creaks and rattles. As long as you enjoy the roof, it may be a worthwhile trade-off. I would think that loading things on the roof and the increased noise of roof racks would make you want to avoid the roof, but I can understand the appeal of being able to keep an eye on the bikes too.

Good luck with the car shopping.

alext91 · Apr 10, 2019

KITEWAGON said:
I've heard good things about Rochester and they seem to have a nice inventory of TDI's coming through. I'm right between them and Seacoast, Seacoast just happened to have a car that met my specs.

I like normal sunroofs. The pano ones just scare me. For me, the enjoyment factor isn't worth the potential of being me really annoyed if it leaks or the shade breaks, or it creaks and rattles. As long as you enjoy the roof, it may be a worthwhile trade-off. I would think that loading things on the roof and the increased noise of roof racks would make you want to avoid the roof, but I can understand the appeal of being able to keep an eye on the bikes too.

Good luck with the car shopping.

Thanks! I guess I will have to see what they have and keep my eyes out. Fortunately I'm not in a position right now where I need a car, so I have some flexibility in waiting on inventory. I may try to avoid the roof at this point. I guess the higher spec JSWs don't really have much over the base model ones in terms of equipment. Heated seats would be nice as would premium audio but it doesn't look like premium audio of any kind was an option on the JSW?

KITEWAGON · Apr 10, 2019

alext91 said:
Thanks! I guess I will have to see what they have and keep my eyes out. Fortunately I'm not in a position right now where I need a car, so I have some flexibility in waiting on inventory. I may try to avoid the roof at this point. I guess the higher spec JSWs don't really have much over the base model ones in terms of equipment. Heated seats would be nice as would premium audio but it doesn't look like premium audio of any kind was an option on the JSW?

Shopping for these cars is simple because the options were basically nil. You have base (which has heated seats). Then you have Pano roof version. And you have Pano plus Nav. The Pano versions added 17" wheels and I think they added the KESSY keyless entry which I can take or leave. I had it on my GTI and have it on our Treg and its neat and works well, but also seems to cause us to lose track of the keys. And we've had the dreaded situation where the person with the key is no longer with the running vehicle (gets dropped off) and then the car is shut down and won't restart.

I had the RNS-315 nav unit on my GTI and I prefer the non-nav RCD-510 head unit slightly. I really couldn't trust the directions on the built in Nav.

Holy smokes, they have crazy JSW TDI inventory at Rochester. Wow. 30 cars, wow. But only 7 with a 6MT. I'd probably take the silver on black 2014, 6MT no roof if it was in good shape. But roof/no roof is a tough call if you like them. It might be a worthwhile item for you.

2014 will have a backup camera. I think it was an option on 2013 and none of the older cars will have it. I like the backup cam.

alext91 · Apr 10, 2019

KITEWAGON said:
Shopping for these cars is simple because the options were basically nil. You have base (which has heated seats). Then you have Pano roof version. And you have Pano plus Nav. The Pano versions added 17" wheels and I think they added the KESSY keyless entry which I can take or leave. I had it on my GTI and have it on our Treg and its neat and works well, but also seems to cause us to lose track of the keys. And we've had the dreaded situation where the person with the key is no longer with the running vehicle (gets dropped off) and then the car is shut down and won't restart.

I had the RNS-315 nav unit on my GTI and I prefer the non-nav RCD-510 head unit slightly. I really couldn't trust the directions on the built in Nav.

Holy smokes, they have crazy JSW TDI inventory at Rochester. Wow. 30 cars, wow. But only 7 with a 6MT. I'd probably take the silver on black 2014, 6MT no roof if it was in good shape. But roof/no roof is a tough call if you like them. It might be a worthwhile item for you.

2014 will have a backup camera. I think it was an option on 2013 and none of the older cars will have it. I like the backup cam.

Yeah! I looked a lot of them today, and ultimately landed on the fact that I want a 2014 non sunroof model as the only thing I would really want would be the 17" wheels but those can be found in the aftermarket easily. The silver car was a car originally from MA and had typical surface rust, and also had a few other things I wasn't fond of. Radio had been swapped before they turned it in and a couple of other cosmetic things. I've told them what I'm looking for and they're going to have their buyer look for something for me. Hopefully all the good ones aren't all gone! But yeah they had an entire row of just JSWs! It was really impressive!

MacTechG4 · Apr 10, 2019

I'm also planning to purchase from Rochester VW (I live in Somersworth), but it'll be at least another month before I can get out of my walking boot (Broken right ankle), Bimollelear fracture of both bones above the ankle joint, held together with pins and plates

Katherine has been great so far, very helpful

i'm looking for a MTX, either Golf hatch or JSW (are the MkVI JSW's tortion beam or IRS rear suspension?)

alext91 · Apr 10, 2019

MacTechG4 said:
I'm also planning to purchase from Rochester VW (I live in Somersworth), but it'll be at least another month before I can get out of my walking boot (Broken right ankle), Bimollelear fracture of both bones above the ankle joint, held together with pins and plates

Katherine has been great so far, very helpful

i'm looking for a MTX, either Golf hatch or JSW (are the MkVI JSW's tortion beam or IRS rear suspension?)

The MKVI JSWs are IRS. Yeah, I've had nothing but good experiences with Rochester! Ouch! Best of luck with a speedy recovery, and happy searching!

MacTechG4 · Apr 10, 2019

One thing I *KNOW* shouldn't matter or concern me, but it does, is....
is there *any* reliability or build quality differenes between the Golf hatchbacks that are built in Germany (VIN starting with VWxxxxx) or the JSW built in Mexico (Vin starting with 3xxxxxx)

Theoretically, both vehicles should be built to VW standards no matter what their port of assembly, but I remember years ago when the Jetta sedan got a reputation as the "cheaper" quality vehicle, that some claim was due to it's country of manufacture (Mexico)

I'm assuming there is no difference in quality/reliability/build quality, as they all have to pass VW QC standards...

oilhammer · Apr 11, 2019

Point of final assembly is not an issue.

FWIW, the Puebla Mexico plant has been building Volkswagens since the 1950s. They have been awarded Volkswagen's internal QC accolades many times. They felt so strongly about their abilities to assemble cars, that they not only assemble cars there for export and sale back in Germany, but they were also chosen to be the ONLY plant to build the New Beetle in 1998.

They also enjoy a very happy and strong workforce, as they offer a job that is of a very high standard for the Mexican worker, everyone there speaks a common language, and have similar backgrounds. Many, many workers there are 3rd and 4th generation Volkswagen employees.

The German plants are often full of Turkish and other former Eastern Europeans of varying backgrounds and languages, and the jobs there are not as sought after by Germans... so many Wolfsburg assembled cars are not actually even put together by "Germans" the way you think.

Besides, in any modern plant with modern cars, much of the work is automated anyway. The person pushing a button or pulling a lever needn't have some special "German engineering" skillset in order to do his or her job adequately.

To your original question:

Avoid the pano roof if you can.

There is technically no "A6" or "MK6" wagon, they are just facelifted A5s, although there is not much difference between the A5 and A6 anyway, the wagons went straight from A5s in 2014 to the A7 in 2015. I would look for condition more than mileage. I would also take a look at the thread I made on buyback cars and checking them out thoroughly, especially underneath.

MacTechG4 · Apr 11, 2019

Cool, thanks for the info, I saw some footage of the Puebla plant in the VW "Annie" video on YouTube (Classic Beetle restoration), and the work they did on that restoration was *AMAZING*, extremely high quality work, I have no issues with Puebla produced cars

so the only "downsides" I see remaining on the JSW are the "Leatherete" seats (easily solved with a seat cover), and the lack of "flappy paddles" on the DSG (easily solved by a manual transmission)

so, a manual JSW with seat covers and no pano roof, a nice set of Carhartt seat covers...

or a manual Golf, either way

alext91 · Apr 11, 2019

oilhammer said:
Point of final assembly is not an issue.

FWIW, the Puebla Mexico plant has been building Volkswagens since the 1950s. They have been awarded Volkswagen's internal QC accolades many times. They felt so strongly about their abilities to assemble cars, that they not only assemble cars there for export and sale back in Germany, but they were also chosen to be the ONLY plant to build the New Beetle in 1998.

They also enjoy a very happy and strong workforce, as they offer a job that is of a very high standard for the Mexican worker, everyone there speaks a common language, and have similar backgrounds. Many, many workers there are 3rd and 4th generation Volkswagen employees.

The German plants are often full of Turkish and other former Eastern Europeans of varying backgrounds and languages, and the jobs there are not as sought after by Germans... so many Wolfsburg assembled cars are not actually even put together by "Germans" the way you think.

Besides, in any modern plant with modern cars, much of the work is automated anyway. The person pushing a button or pulling a lever needn't have some special "German engineering" skillset in order to do his or her job adequately.

To your original question:

Avoid the pano roof if you can.

There is technically no "A6" or "MK6" wagon, they are just facelifted A5s, although there is not much difference between the A5 and A6 anyway, the wagons went straight from A5s in 2014 to the A7 in 2015. I would look for condition more than mileage. I would also take a look at the thread I made on buyback cars and checking them out thoroughly, especially underneath.

Thanks! Good info, I will look up your thread. I looked at the 9 cars they had on the lot, and most of them were from the northeast, and had a fair amount of surface rust on most of the components underneath. I thoroughly inspected the car we purchased for my wife (2015 Golf TDI) and this car looked like it had just rolled off the assembly line, as it was originally from VA. Not sure where it was stored but it didn't show any surface rust on any components. Granted, I'm looking at older cars which may have sat for a bit longer. But I'm definitely going to be wary of what I purchase, and I've told the dealer I have looking that that will be the case. Definitely going to avoid the roof if possible, but if there is one with a roof in much better condition, I will likely go for it.

kjclow · Apr 11, 2019

I'll add to OHs comments on assembly plants. We sold our 11 Golf that was assembled in Germany back to VW at around 30k miles. We still have the 10 JSW that was assembled in Mexico with about 140k miles. There was no difference in fit and finish that we could detect. The only difference I can detect after 9+ years of ownership is that it appears Mexico did not use the Takata airbags.

alecw81 · Apr 11, 2019

MacTechG4 said:
so the only "downsides" I see remaining on the JSW are the "Leatherete" seats (easily solved with a seat cover)

I actually really like my cornsilk V-Tex seats.

Everyone assumes they're leather til I tell them they aren't.

They don't get as hot as leather either, and they're quite easy to clean and keep clean.

alext91 · Apr 11, 2019

alecw81 said:
I actually really like my cornsilk V-Tex seats.
Everyone assumes they're leather til I tell them they aren't.
They don't get as hot as leather either, and they're quite easy to clean and keep clean.

I have to agree with you here. My wife's 2015 has leatherette seats and we're quite fond of them. She recently spilled coffee on one of them and it was quite easy to clean up! We haven't had the car in the summer yet, so I can't say if they stay cooler than leather, but we certainly like them!

kjclow · Apr 12, 2019

It's hard for me to compare. The V-tex in my JSW is black. The leather in my Ram is beige. Guess which one is cooler?

oilhammer · Apr 12, 2019

I prefer cloth anyway. You won't burn anything in the summer, nor will you freeze anything in the winter.

kjclow · Apr 12, 2019

Since I typically wear pants in the winter, I don't usually worry about freezing anything.

oilhammer · Apr 12, 2019

Winter in NC is not nearly as cold as some places.

kjclow · Apr 12, 2019

I grew up north of you, so fully understand how nice NC winters are.

KITEWAGON · Apr 12, 2019

alext91 said:
I have to agree with you here. My wife's 2015 has leatherette seats and we're quite fond of them. She recently spilled coffee on one of them and it was quite easy to clean up! We haven't had the car in the summer yet, so I can't say if they stay cooler than leather, but we certainly like them!

Also, if you happen to still own the car in 10 years the leatherette will likely still look like new. While the leather will be worn, stretched and otherwise unslightly. I am in the pro-leatherette over cloth camp. But I'd still take the leather interior that I had in my loaded 2012 GTI.

alext91 · May 6, 2019

Still looking! Looked at a very promising car on Friday, but the dealer was not willing to move enough on price. 2014 JSW Pano 6MT from the south (NC) rust free, with 38k, non-CPO and they wanted $14,600. Just too much when there are other cars for the same or less that are certified. I'm expanding my search beyond VW dealers, which may be somewhat of a gamble, but considering the TDI warranty, I don't think I have too much to be concerned about.

MacTechG4 · May 8, 2019

Seems like this thread is becoming a gathering place for Northern New England TDI owners.... maybe we could get our own little TDI-Fest going at a nice road destination or restaurant...

for roads, I nominate Smuggler's Notch Road in Stowe, Vermont (search YouTube for videos of driving SNR, it's an amazing, scary road

) or Shore Road in York Beach-to- Ogunquit Maine

Shore Road would be near some nice seafood restaurants in Kittery, York, and Ogunquit, I'm more familiar with the Kittery and York areas, plus there's a great meeting location at Kittery Trading Post, good, central location, easy to find right off Rte 1 and I-95

Local seafood restaurants i'd recommend;
Bob's Clam Hut (right next to KTP)
the Weathervane (Across the road from KTP)
Lobster in the Rough (York)
Newicks
The restaurant next to the Nubble Lighthouse (most photographed lighthouse in New England) which is on the way to Shore Road
The Goldenrod (Short Sands Beach), in the summer they make salt water taffy with fresh Atlantic seawater, and the taffy pulling machines are in display windows, running all summer
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YYSdUKfmtp8

alext91 · May 8, 2019

MacTechG4 said:
Seems like this thread is becoming a gathering place for Northern New England TDI owners.... maybe we could get our own little TDI-Fest going at a nice road destination or restaurant...

for roads, I nominate Smuggler's Notch Road in Stowe, Vermont (search YouTube for videos of driving SNR, it's an amazing, scary road ) or Shore Road in York Beach-to- Ogunquit Maine

Shore Road would be near some nice seafood restaurants in Kittery, York, and Ogunquit, I'm more familiar with the Kittery and York areas, plus there's a great meeting location at Kittery Trading Post, good, central location, easy to find right off Rte 1 and I-95

Local seafood restaurants i'd recommend;
Bob's Clam Hut (right next to KTP)
the Weathervane (Across the road from KTP)
Lobster in the Rough (York)
Newicks
The restaurant next to the Nubble Lighthouse (most photographed lighthouse in New England) which is on the way to Shore Road
The Goldenrod (Short Sands Beach), in the summer they make salt water taffy with fresh Atlantic seawater, and the taffy pulling machines are in display windows, running all summer
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YYSdUKfmtp8

I like this idea! Hopefully I can actually get a TDI again soon!

I suppose I could always steal my wife's for a bit!

S1C EM · May 9, 2019

alext91 said:
Gotcha, I was aware of the issue of leaking. Seems like maybe not so bad if you keep the drains clear? I wasn't aware of how bad these were relative to the average VW sunroof, that's good to know. Thanks!

Well, this is concerning. The one I'm picking up on Saturday has the pano (which I also want). Now I'm a little concerned about leaks. I assume I can get it fixed if a leak develops, but I hate to have that issue first just to get VW to do anything about it. I noticed the inside edge of the seal was brown in color when I test drove the car yesterday, i assume from it sitting. Seems to be intact, though. When you shut the doors, you can see it shake. That's kinda scary.

I'm pretty sure they aren't going to budge on doing anything with it if it isn't leaking.

alext91 · May 9, 2019

S1C EM said:
Well, this is concerning. The one I'm picking up on Saturday has the pano (which I also want). Now I'm a little concerned about leaks. I assume I can get it fixed if a leak develops, but I hate to have that issue first just to get VW to do anything about it. I noticed the inside edge of the seal was brown in color when I test drove the car yesterday, i assume from it sitting. Seems to be intact, though. When you shut the doors, you can see it shake. That's kinda scary.
I'm pretty sure they aren't going to budge on doing anything with it if it isn't leaking.

So you did make a decision on the car? Nice! Congratulations! I wouldn't worry too much about it. I think as long as you keep them clear they should be fine. There are also DIYs out there on how to clean them. Isn't your car CPO anyway? Shouldn't be an issue to have them fixed if anything arises.

S1C EM · May 9, 2019

alext91 said:
So you did make a decision on the car? Nice! Congratulations! I wouldn't worry too much about it. I think as long as you keep them clear they should be fine. There are also DIYs out there on how to clean them. Isn't your car CPO anyway? Shouldn't be an issue to have them fixed if anything arises.

Yes, I'm going with the brown one! I'm excited to get it! I just worry about leaks causing rust and/or mold growth in the headliner and under the floor carpeting, if it gets that far (which it seems does happen). Not to mention, unsightly headliner damage. It is CPO, so I know they'd have to fix it, but not sure if they would also replace a stained headliner, too. Or anything else damaged as a result of the leak, for that matter. I have asked them to check it before I pick it up and clear the drain lines. We'll see what they say. They didn't want to budge on the DSG service (and it's $500 with them). They claim that it's checked as part of the CPO inspection and since it's not actually due yet, they won't do it.

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