2011 Jetta at 4500 miles - impressions

[Champ203]

Just made our first road trip with no city driving - 47.7 mpg!! 4 adults and all of our luggage including fishing rods through the pass thru in the center of the back seat.
Ratings on a 1 - 10 scale with 10 being the best.
Comfort 8
Braking 7
MPG. 10
Radio. 2 ( Bluetooth microphone for phone use is terrible, iPod adapter works most of the time - not happy with iPhone 4 other I-devices seem to be ok)
Noise 7
Drivability 7 (standard transmission, engine management and clutch have a mind of their own sometimes causing stalls). Having driven 500k+ miles in standard drive cars and trucks it's not the driver...
Happy so far.
Peace,
Don

 

[TDI_Timmy]

In regards to the radio my mic seems fine, but the voice activated leaves much to be desired. I just hold the home button on my iPhone 4 and use that voice control rather than the VW version.

What kind of issues are you having with the iPhone 4 and iPod connector in the glovebox?

I know what you mean about the drivability with the ECU shutting the engine if it even goes below 825RPM or something. Just takes some getting used it which I am sure you know. But, it is for a greater good - that being - to pass emissions and produce less NOx so it something we just have to deal with.

Glad you like your car! We have around 1300 miles on ours and just love it every day.

 

[Champ203]

Mic

When talking mic is picking up wind noise and whoever I am talking to can only hear about 2 out of 3 words. When playing music from iPhone it just quits working after 15 minutes or so.

 

[~Jb]

Figured since I am around the same mileage I would report as well. Using your same 1-10 Scale, 10 being the best.

Comfort 9 (the car is very comfortable to drive, I am the only driver of my car, so options like memory or major adjustments do nothing for me. A big winner for me is KESSY, I cannot even drive other peoples cars, I forget to lock the doors, hate looking for trunk latches, and I forgot how to turn a key!?)

Braking 10 (My JTDI is a DSG, so I do not use the brakes most of the time, the DSG does a very good job trans braking me in most situations.)

MPG 10 (of course a 10 I hit 5000 miles this Sunday night, I have averaged about 45 mpg, that's a couple of long state to state trips, but mostly daily driving around town via roads and freeways. My total cost in diesel to date for my 5000 miles driven is under $500.00 USD!)

Radio/Navi 7 (My Bluetooth microphone for phone works very well, despite being one of the most complained about feature. I am using my rooted Android phone with zero problems. iPod adapter - for me this is just meh, with my 2nd Gen. touch and the system lagged and froze up alot, plugged in my 5th Gen. nano and the system works flawlessly. I dont use sat. radio or CD player so no comments there. Sound is good with local radio and aux inputs. My biggest Pro of the 310 system is its amazing Bluetooth wireless sync with my phone! I stream Pandora, listen to Rhapsody, take calls, and fallow Google navigation all through the 310 system and steering wheel controls. My biggest Con of the 310 system, NAVI! it sucks! VW you suck at navigation, POI, control, calling from map, EVERYTHING ABOUT YOUR NAVIGATION SUCKS! I wanted KESSY, fogs, and steering wheel controls, this is the only reason I opted for it.)

Noise 7 (My only gripe is a little to much road noise, since my door seals were replaced, I can hear alot more tire and debris noise, but nothing to bad.)

Drivability 10 (I love jumping in the car and going, the torque is unreal for what I paid and the gas mileage I get! I was nervous about no rear independent, but The ride is great, freeways are smooth, light to light power to pass others, and after learning the DSG ways, unnoticeable turbo or trans lag.)


I said it before many times and I will say it again, for under $25k USD, this is the best car I have ever owned! This is my first diesel and as far as daily drivers are concerned, I will never again own a gasser!
Very happy with my local and purchasing dealership, they have been very honest and welcoming to all my concerns and questions and both have gone above and beyond the money I paid.




All and all happy at 5k, (now if we could just work on some of these VW enthusiast attitudes )

~jb

 

[marc77777]

Noise 7 (My only gripe is a little to much road noise, since my door seals were replaced, I can hear alot more tire and debris noise, but nothing to bad.)

~jb

Did you have the door seals changed due to the famous wind noise? Did this really make a difference?

 

[sydneycb]

Did you have the door seals changed due to the famous wind noise? Did this really make a difference?

I just had my drivers door seal replaced and it still sounds like I'm driving a convertible with the top down when I'm on the highway. Haven't been back to the dealer yet.
Mirror still whistles like a song bird. The dealer says they are aware of the whistle and are working on a fix.
Now the passenger side door panel has a bad rattle in it.
Love the car but have to get these few bugs worked out.

 

[anotherTDI]

i went on a 600+ mile trip as well last week and was fully loaded with 4 people and a full trunk.

i was amazed that the heavy load had very little impact on mpg. we cruised with AC on at 75mph and easily got 42.5 mpg according the computer.

 

[TDI_Timmy]

When talking mic is picking up wind noise and whoever I am talking to can only hear about 2 out of 3 words. When playing music from iPhone it just quits working after 15 minutes or so.

There could be something wrong with the mic, might talk to dealer about that.

Do you have a case on your iPhone? Just thinking that it isn't getting a great connection or the connector moves of the dock connector as you are driving.

 

[anotherTDI]

as far as noise goes with seals around the windows, as i have said before, at least in my case the offending buffeting was coming from the rubber c-channel that cups the upper part of the window. you can mold/bend the rubber c-channel with your fingers to make it cup the window tighter. this is all i had to do to eliminate 90 percent of the noise.

while it is not as quiet as my buddies new JSW TDI (most excellent door seal design) i find it acceptable. give it try. FWIW if you caulk the mirror i doubt seriously VW make an issue out of it if they come out with a redesign.

 

[marc77777]

I just had my drivers door seal replaced and it still sounds like I'm driving a convertible with the top down when I'm on the highway. Haven't been back to the dealer yet.
Mirror still whistles like a song bird. The dealer says they are aware of the whistle and are working on a fix.
Now the passenger side door panel has a bad rattle in it.
Love the car but have to get these few bugs worked out.

Welcome to my world!!

My driver door had a vibration in it, dealer actually got this one fixed. It was a screw or rivet that wasn't properly installed. All I know is they had to rethread and put a new screw.

 

[JBKM]

Just rolled 2000 miles in mine. Love to drive it but somethings DO drive me nuts. That danged whistle, some of the fit and finish on the inside could use better quality. My dash/gauge cluster area rattles at times and needs pushed on to quiet it down. Wind noise is pretty bad (new weather stripping may help).

Love the drive though. Great fuel mileage as well. All in all pretty happy with the purchase.

 

[mwayner69]

I must have just gotten a good one. I don't have any rattles or excessive noises in mine. The voice control on the bluetooth is annoying at times, but that could be my accent. I've got 1600 miles on mine and am enjoying the slight improvement in fuel economy over the truck I traded in (15.5 vs 40 mpgs). My first tank was 35 mpgs which still has me wondering if the dealer actually filled it up all the way. Anyhow, I'm very satisfied with mine as well.

 

[Diesel_Mike]

Just went through my 1st tank full of fuel, went 484 miles with an average of 37.2 MPG. All city driving.
Now for the 1-10 scale.
My dash/gauge cluster area also rattles at times and needs pushed on to quiet it down.
Driver side mirror has the standard whistle noise, Can't stand it!
The driver side door also has wind / road noise from the door moulding.
Today when I pulled the car in the garage, I turned the car off, and the duel cooling fans began to run, I assume it was to cool the engine down but the engine was not that hot. It smelled like something was burning. The dealer ship said I should bring the car in at 1000 miles to check everything out. I might not be able to wait if the engine cooling system is not running properly.
Other wise the car runs great, handles well, have not had it over 60 MPH yet. I like to let things break in first.
Anyone else have the fans running after you shut the car off.
2011 Jetta TDI, with NAV.

 

[mo_focus]

Got 22500kms on mine so far

Here is my 5cents!

Comfort 9, car feels great on the higways and its very smooth. I only drove it for about 2 weeks on my 17' wheels, i've been on the 16"snows eversince. Soon i can tell about the ride on the 17's.
Braking 10 , i;ve done couple of very hard brakes, it all went great, didnt loose controls.
MPG 7, i'm coming from the 02 and 06 TDI's so its not that great yet, but on the other hand this car does have 50 more hp and very close fuel consumption.
Radio/Navi 8, Nav is not that great, i mostly use it for time management and its not good at that eitter, i'm happy with the radio, mostly its on one station weeks at a time, once i get out of the city i use the ipod 120G classic, no issues, no delays.

Noise 5, i still have to take the car to get the door seal done. hoping that will fix the driver side noise, but i also know there is an issue with the mirror as well. when i have the window down i do hear a loud howling from the mirror.

Drivability 10 love the drive. Like it better then my wife's golf DSG, i mostly do highway drives so manual is great. Power is great and if you do speed limit the fuel economy is great as well, but that much power is asking to be driven hard!

 

[sydneycb]

Just went through my 1st tank full of fuel, went 484 miles with an average of 37.2 MPG. All city driving.
Now for the 1-10 scale.
My dash/gauge cluster area also rattles at times and needs pushed on to quiet it down.
Driver side mirror has the standard whistle noise, Can't stand it!
The driver side door also has wind / road noise from the door moulding.
Today when I pulled the car in the garage, I turned the car off, and the duel cooling fans began to run, I assume it was to cool the engine down but the engine was not that hot. It smelled like something was burning. The dealer ship said I should bring the car in at 1000 miles to check everything out. I might not be able to wait if the engine cooling system is not running properly.
Other wise the car runs great, handles well, have not had it over 60 MPH yet. I like to let things break in first.
Anyone else have the fans running after you shut the car off.
2011 Jetta TDI, with NAV.

Your assumption is incorrect. You are hearing the Diesel Particular Filter(DPF) doing a regeneration. I beleive it uses hot exhaust gases to burn off the particles captured in the filter. It is outlined in the manual. Read up on it.

 

[Fatboy8]

When playing music from iPhone it just quits working after 15 minutes or so.

Is that via BT?

If so, I've found that when using BT, if I have both BT and Aux input enabled, I lose my BT connection. Don't know why. After I disabled Aux input, I haven't had one problem with it.

May work for you, but YMMV.

 

[Champ203]

Just to clarify....

I have the lesser of the 2 radios without Nav or Voice Recognition....

iPhone 4 quits working when using the cable in the glove box. I will try making sure that the cable is seated completely and not interefered with by my cover...

Thanks,
Don

 

[Michael...Smith]

I can handle what little wind noise I have. What drives me nuts is the little squeaks and rattles coming out of the dash.

They seem to come and go with variations in temp. Some disappear and some show up.

 

[C&H]

Just went through my 1st tank full of fuel, went 484 miles with an average of 37.2 MPG. All city driving.
Now for the 1-10 scale.
My dash/gauge cluster area also rattles at times and needs pushed on to quiet it down.
Driver side mirror has the standard whistle noise, Can't stand it!
The driver side door also has wind / road noise from the door moulding.
Today when I pulled the car in the garage, I turned the car off, and the duel cooling fans began to run, I assume it was to cool the engine down but the engine was not that hot. It smelled like something was burning. The dealer ship said I should bring the car in at 1000 miles to check everything out. I might not be able to wait if the engine cooling system is not running properly.
Other wise the car runs great, handles well, have not had it over 60 MPH yet. I like to let things break in first.
Anyone else have the fans running after you shut the car off.
2011 Jetta TDI, with NAV.

My fan comes on too after a 30 mile drive but not if I drive around for a few miles. At first, I thought it's unusual but I am used to it as I come in the garage and never to bother to check how long it stays on.

 

[DrftrTDI]

No need really to take it in. The fan cooling is most likely part of the regen. Search the forums for "regen" and you will see LOTS of posts about it. Completely normal - as most people here would tell you.

 

[xtu1963]

I am about to hit 5000 miles so I thought I'd chime in.

Comfort 8 It's pretty comfortable. Leatherette seats are nice. Seating position good. My only gripe is that darn center console armrest. Once you jokers mentioned it, I can't get it out of my mind.

Braking 10 My JTDI is a DSG, so I do not use the brakes most of the time, the DSG does a very good job trans braking me in most situations.

MPG 10 What can I say, the TDI has more than met my expectations. I do mostly city driving but have been averaging 33-35 MPG. On a couple of longer trips with less stop and start I was in the high 40s. Compared to my V6 Challenger, I'm saving a boatload of cash on fuel.

Radio/Navi 5 This is my biggest problem with the Jetta. What could have been a great stock radio was hobbled to make you buy the Navi version for $2K more. The fact that you can't even see who is calling on the tocuhscreen (or MFD) is inexcusable. This will be replaced.

Noise 6 Not bad except when you go over big bumps or potholes and then the noise from the solid rear axle scares the bejesus out of me. Also the overhead console was rattling something fierce. VW put some insulation in their and it helped, but still annoying on really bumpy roads.

Drivability 8 I am comparing this to my Challenger, which was a pretty fun car to drive, but I think it compares well. For a 140 HP car, it has get up and go. The torque is insane. Basically the same as my Challenger, which had a 3.5L engine and weighed 750 pounds more. I will wait for a final verdict after the winter.

Overall I am happy with my purchase, though I think in the end the dealer hosed me on the price. With all the dealing and my trade, I really don't know what I paid for the darn thing.

 

[Roos85]

I am about to hit 5000 miles so I thought I'd chime in.

Comfort 8 It's pretty comfortable. Leatherette seats are nice. Seating position good. My only gripe is that darn center console armrest. Once you jokers mentioned it, I can't get it out of my mind.

Braking 10 My JTDI is a DSG, so I do not use the brakes most of the time, the DSG does a very good job trans braking me in most situations.

MPG 10 What can I say, the TDI has more than met my expectations. I do mostly city driving but have been averaging 33-35 MPG. On a couple of longer trips with less stop and start I was in the high 40s. Compared to my V6 Challenger, I'm saving a boatload of cash on fuel.

Radio/Navi 5 This is my biggest problem with the Jetta. What could have been a great stock radio was hobbled to make you buy the Navi version for $2K more. The fact that you can't even see who is calling on the tocuhscreen (or MFD) is inexcusable. This will be replaced.

Noise 6 Not bad except when you go over big bumps or potholes and then the noise from the solid rear axle scares the bejesus out of me. Also the overhead console was rattling something fierce. VW put some insulation in their and it helped, but still annoying on really bumpy roads.

Drivability 8 I am comparing this to my Challenger, which was a pretty fun car to drive, but I think it compares well. For a 140 HP car, it has get up and go. The torque is insane. Basically the same as my Challenger, which had a 3.5L engine and weighed 750 pounds more. I will wait for a final verdict after the winter.

Overall I am happy with my purchase, though I think in the end the dealer hosed me on the price. With all the dealing and my trade, I really don't know what I paid for the darn thing.

How do you not know what you paid for the car? No disrespect but how can you know where your hard earned money is going... Why do you think you got hosed?

 

[JettaTDiPA]

Thought I would throw my 2 cents in
Ratings on a 1 - 10 scale with 10 being the best.
Comfort 8/9
Braking 9
MPG. 9
Radio. 9 I don't use phone when driving- with satellite radio I don't have or need ipod - so I rate solely on radio itself.
Noise 7 - not bad- long trip might become irritating
Drivability 8- sometimes seems a little loose on hard turns- might be, might be just my perception
While I have had some issues- I love the wagon.
3300 OD

Each tank FE gets a just a little better than the prior- last tank was just under 40mpg- maybe 1/3 is highway- rest is in town or country roads.

Just made our first road trip with no city driving - 47.7 mpg!! 4 adults and all of our luggage including fishing rods through the pass thru in the center of the back seat.
Ratings on a 1 - 10 scale with 10 being the best.
Comfort 8
Braking 7
MPG. 10
Radio. 2 ( Bluetooth microphone for phone use is terrible, iPod adapter works most of the time - not happy with iPhone 4 other I-devices seem to be ok)
Noise 7
Drivability 7 (standard transmission, engine management and clutch have a mind of their own sometimes causing stalls). Having driven 500k+ miles in standard drive cars and trucks it's not the driver...
Happy so far.
Peace,
Don

 

[Savageman69]

^^^wrong section

 

[kendamn]

Just turned 5k. Overall love the car. Came from a4x4 so mileage and noise are much better. Breaks are great. Handles well and feels solid. No squeeks rattles or trim problems. Downside, center arm rest sucks. Driveability rates a 1. Delay in throttle response, turbo kicking in to hard, 1st gear wiplash in parking lots. IMO This has nothing to do with economy or enviro. Its just VW not correcting the programing before they put them out the door..

 

[740GLE]

let me guess, DSG?

 

[Blackstack]

500 miles on mine so far. DSG, no moonroof and standard radio. Center arm rest sucks. *** The whole center console is 4-6 inches too far back. I'll eventually make something because I cannot live with it. Don't care for the cruise control switches but they're not terrible. After driving my wifes Saturn Outlook any cruise control controls will be inferior. Other minor complaints, center rear view mirror could be mounted higher, not crazy about the left/right rear view mirror control. Back seat head rests are already pulled out because I haul my small children in the back seat is all. Love the torque and have zero complaints about the DSG so far. When in stop and go and slow traffic thought I have been switching to sport mode. Seems to make sense to me for the break in too to avoid lugging the engine. All in all I'm happy so far as long as I can average 40 something in my 130 mile daily commute once it's broken in.

 

[Deftones]

Comfort 8
Braking 9
MPG. 10
Radio. 8
Noise 7
Drivability 8 (6 speed shifter is a bit sloppy but not terrible)

Overall this car is great and I am really happy with it. MPG is unreal on this thing. I give a strong 9!

 

[mo_focus]

45000k, love it! i would just add HID's, full cluster and buttons on the right side of the wheel and i'm done!