2011 Jetta reviews in the WSJ

75r90rider

Veteran Member
Joined
Sep 6, 2010
Location
Midwest
TDI
quite a few diesels over the years
People are missing the big picture when they criticize VW for the 2011 Jetta.

VW is doing exactly what they need to be doing with the new Jetta. We used to get clubbed over the head with the same things day in and day out when people would cross shop us. Now, sure, the VWs had their advantages, and these advantages did appeal to about 10% of the population. The other 90% griped about rear seats that were too small for child seats (Jetta/Golf), high prices vs competition (all), have to run premium gas (turbos), inferior MPG to competition (non-diesel), inferior cupholders, etc. The average person didn't give a hoot about independent rear suspension, 4 wheel discs, or stability control no matter how well you explained the advantages of such things. You could give the best presentation and demonstration of what made VWs unique and worth the extra money in the world, and 90% of your prospective clients thanked you for your excellent demo, professionalism, and then went down and bought a Honda, Toyota, or Nissan.

We would have killed for a Jetta like this 5 years ago. To most of us on the sales floor, the MK5 was a disappointment at the time of launch. I remember attending the unveiling for our region in Chicago. The general reaction was lukewarm at best. Not what you want when your latest and greatest volume seller hits the floor. The MK5 did nothing to broaden the appeal of the Jetta to a wider customer base than the MK4. Sure it might have been improved We wanted a car just like this 2011 car back in 2005. You make money selling cars against Altimas, Camrys, and Accords, not having some boutique car that is 10% smaller than those guys, 10% more expensive, and perceived as 20% less reliable by the public. I haven't looked at sales numbers, but I'd be willing to bet that MK4 Jettas outsold MK5 Jettas in the US given a similar time on market, even though the diesels were much more widely available in the MK5.

VW may offend a few of us that are longtime owners and enthusiasts, but hey, they've tried to make money for years selling cars to us and it isn't working. They've basically lost their rear ends in the US financially over the past decade. So, time for a new approach, and this is it. I give them credit for finally seeing reality and doing something about it. If VW loses 25,000 hardcore fans and gains 100k new customers, they win. No point staying in the USA with so many product lines when your total sales volume is less than Toyota sells in Corollas alone. Think about that. Toyota sells more Corollas in the USA than VW sells Jettas, Passats, Golfs, GTIs, Routans, Eos, Tiguans, and Touaregs. Think of just the parts you have to stock to maintain all those different cars versus many fewer parts for that many Corollas. Think of how much service training you have to give techs to work on all those lines. The efficiencies of scale have to be huge for Toyota. You, as VW, have 2% of the US market and that many product lines? Makes no business sense. You have to do something to drastically increase your sales volume. If you tick a few of us off along the way, tough.

Think about how Honda built themselves up in the US. They really only branched into their other vehicles after the Civic and Accord were huge volume sellers. After the Civic and Accord were big, they add the CRV. After the first generation Odyssey flops, they radically redesign it to meet what the average van buyer wants, not what they decide the average van buyer should want (the VW approach). Sales of Odysseys skyrocket. After they have 4 volume sellers in the Accord, Civic, Odyssey, and CRV, they add the weird stuff like the Element and the Ridgeline.

VW needs to take the same approach, and they seem to be aiming for this. You get the Jetta decontented and depriced to compete with the Civic and Corolla. You then introduce a larger sedan specific to the US market that is cheaper than a Passat and more in line with American tastes. If I'm not mistaken they are doing just that. After you get that nailed down, you'd probably be smart to have a small SUV to compete head to head with the CRV, RAV4, Escape, Forester, etc. I think they'd even do well to have a Mazda5 kind of little van, or a full on Odyssey competitor (not a rebadge of a domestic van). Stuff like Touaregs and Eos are wastes of time, really, and take valuable resources that should be used on your core products. When you get really big in this country, like Toyota, then maybe you mess around with the Eos, etc.
 
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doctorclark

Member
Joined
Aug 23, 2010
Location
San Diego
TDI
2011 Jetta TDI DSG Sedan
People are missing the big picture when they criticize VW for the 2011 Jetta.

VW is doing exactly what they need to be doing with the new Jetta. ...
+1

I really like this post.

The appeal for most buyers will come from some of the points 75r90rider made, and I think VW will increase sales as a result.

I'm relatively new to VW (in-laws are fans, I've never owned one), but after discovering TDIs from some friends talking about them I found these forums and have been lurking for awhile. I will be ditching my '99 Corolla for a 2011 TDI Jetta as soon as they hit the dealer's lots (in December?), and am really looking forward to it.

However, reading many of the reviews here and elsewhere, one could get a sense that the whole interior of the new Jetta is made entirely of cheap hard plastic, and that the exterior design is an anathematic travesty.

I'm cautiously optimistic about what my first impression during a test drive will be, but until then I'm taking a lump of salt for each criticism (or gushing adulation) I read: especially those dealing with styling or visual appeal.

BTW, thanks for everyone here ("haters" and non!) for this great source of information. I hope I can contribute to this community as I get more involved.
 

Oberkanone

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Feb 16, 2001
Location
NW Indiana
TDI
13 Jetta TDI Premium manual "gone"
People are missing the big picture when they criticize VW for the 2011 Jetta.
You make money selling cars against Altimas, Camrys, and Accords, not having some boutique car that is 10% smaller than those guys, 10% more expensive, and perceived as 20% less reliable by the public. I haven't looked at sales numbers, but I'd be willing to bet that MK4 Jettas outsold MK5 Jettas in the US given a similar time on market, even though the diesels were much more widely available in the MK5.

VW may offend a few of us that are longtime owners and enthusiasts, but hey, they've tried to make money for years selling cars to us and it isn't working.
I'm missing your point. Jetta is not supposed to be a Camry and Accord competitor, it is a competitor to Civic and Corolla and the Passat has been VW's designated CamCord competitor.

VWoA has not tried to cater to VW enthusiasts other than a special edition here and special edition there. VWoA had misread the market since at least the late '80s.
The only repeat VW buyers left are the diehard loyal VW fans due to VWoA's inept management.

VWoA can't even manage their service network well enough to correctly do an oil change.

Lower cost will sell more VW's, no doubt about it. Can VWoA handle the level of sales they have set as a goal? How long will they stick to their current strategy? When will they climb out of the basement for reliability?

Let's see how well VW is doing 10 years from now. I''ve been a glutton for punishment so far, I should have learned my lesson when I had windows fall into the door twice in one month, in January, in tropical Chicagoland.:eek: And to think I still miss that 2001 Golf TDI.
If it were not for my love of diesel I would have given up on VW.
 

IndigoBlueWagon

TDIClub Enthusiast, Principal IDParts, Vendor , w/
Joined
Aug 16, 2004
Location
South of Boston
TDI
'97 Passat, '99.5 Golf, '02 Jetta Wagon, '15 GSW
VW may be able to increase sales with a different Jetta, but the dealer network is still a very weak part of the equation. Toyota, Honda, and Subaru all do a better job of taking care of customers around here than VW does. If they're serious about growing, they have to look at the whole customer experience, not just the car and its price.
 

75r90rider

Veteran Member
Joined
Sep 6, 2010
Location
Midwest
TDI
quite a few diesels over the years
I'm missing your point. Jetta is not supposed to be a Camry and Accord competitor, it is a competitor to Civic and Corolla and the Passat has been VW's designated CamCord competitor.
Regardless of what VW has "designated" as the appropriate vehicles for customers to be allowed to cross-shop, I can tell you from experience selling VWs for 5 years that people frequently cross shop Jettas with Altimas, Camrys, and Accords. They also cross shop the Jetta with Civics and others. The Jetta has a unique market position in that it is kind of larger than the Corolla and Sentra sized cars but smaller than the Camry and Accord. Due to the relatively high price, though, even though it is smaller than the Camcords of the world it is frequently shopped against them as it stacks up against them in this manner.

The Jettas are kind of in between segments when you factor in size and price together. So, you get some shoppers from the other guys' above and below segments.

As far as Passats go, you did get some Accord and Camry shoppers, but also some higher line shoppers, people looking at Acuras, Infinitis, etc. Again, just like the Jetta, the Passat was kind of at an in-between segment due to it's european sizing and relatively high price.

Look at the Jetta line over the past couple of years. You could get a relatively base car, the whole way up to a car with power seats, nav, etc. You had a choice of engines including a turbo gas engine and a turbo diesel. The Corolla and Civic do not have this range of choice of options and powerplants. The Jetta therefore attracts shoppers from all over the size and price spectrum of the competition.
 

IndigoBlueWagon

TDIClub Enthusiast, Principal IDParts, Vendor , w/
Joined
Aug 16, 2004
Location
South of Boston
TDI
'97 Passat, '99.5 Golf, '02 Jetta Wagon, '15 GSW
Accord and Camry have a pretty broad range of trim and both offer both V6 and 4 cylinder engines, and Toyota also has the Hybrid. That's a pretty broad range. I believe you can get leather on both the Toyota and Honda, not available on a Jetta AFAIK.

I've owned a Camry (back in the 90s), two Corollas, a Previa (bar none the best minivan ever), even an MR2 Spyder. Toyota makes great cars. But I prefer German ones, and so do other buyers, obviously.
 

TwoTone

Veteran Member
Joined
Sep 30, 2005
Location
DMV
TDI
05.5 Jetta (sold)
75-
Nice post. I think VW is in a tuff place. We bought our Jetta for 3 reasons:
1. The features for the price
2. Just a funner car to drive
3. TDI since we used to have a long commute

Now lets be honest, most people buying a car in this price range today don't car about 2.

VW is having to match the others, so number 1 as an advantage is going away.

So what does VW have left? The reliability is at the bottom of the pack, so if someone is shopping for a car what is left to distinush itself to get the sale.

Now, lets talk post sale. The dealer network and service departments in general, are horrible. They can't even get the type and level of oil right in a TDI. What happens as the market share grows and the horrible reputation VW dealers have becomes more widespread?

Part of what made Toyota and Honda grow were reputations for treating customers well, VW's rep is far from that.

I don't know how many times we sent customers, who were just outside of warranty, back to the Toyota and Honda dealers and they got help, whether full coverage or 50/50 etc...

The HPFP issue just proves VW isn't ready to step up to the plate on customer service.

In short, VW needs to do a lot more than just cheapen its cars to sell more.
 
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doctorclark

Member
Joined
Aug 23, 2010
Location
San Diego
TDI
2011 Jetta TDI DSG Sedan
http://www.prnewswire.com/news-rele...9-increase-for-september-sales-104154053.html

Might be working?

I'm kind of dreading the dealer/service thing--I've already decided that I'll try out the nearest TDI-club recommended service shop (drive up to Irvine from SD) instead of just hoping the dealers know what their doing.

Hopefully with the increased sales will come a realization that all these new customers need to be taken care of!
 

Oberkanone

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Feb 16, 2001
Location
NW Indiana
TDI
13 Jetta TDI Premium manual "gone"
funnier?

75-
Nice post. I think VW is in a tuff place. We bought our Jetta for 3 reasons:
1. The features for the price
2. Just a funnier car to drive
3. TDI since we used to have a long commute
In what way is your Jetta funny?
 

motoblue

Veteran Member
Joined
Oct 31, 2008
Location
New Jersey
TDI
2010 Golf DSG
http://www.prnewswire.com/news-rele...9-increase-for-september-sales-104154053.html

Might be working?

I'm kind of dreading the dealer/service thing--I've already decided that I'll try out the nearest TDI-club recommended service shop (drive up to Irvine from SD) instead of just hoping the dealers know what their doing.

Hopefully with the increased sales will come a realization that all these new customers need to be taken care of!

Let's hope so on it forcing improvements with dealer service.

The monthly sales figure doesn't break down how many of the Jetta sales were the V platform. Since the new ones didn't start showing up until the 22nd or so, one would assume a lot of the Jetta sales (and Golf, GTI, Tiguan, and sportwagen figures) are the 2010 models being cleared off the lots for the 2011s.

Coincidentally, yesterday morning I saw a Jetta VI on the street. Black SE, I think, as it didn't have the foglights. But I had no problem telling it apart from the Kias and Toyotas clogging up the roads.
 

El Dobro

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Joined
Feb 21, 2006
Location
NJ
TDI
2017 Bolt EV Premier, 2023 Bolt EUV Premier
While I was at the dealer, picking up my car again, for the airbag light again, I had a chance to look at the the new Jettas.

When Audi started using that distinctive grill, I took notice and liked what I saw. I got a kick out of the VW's when they went with a big grill and bought one. When I saw the new Jettas, it just didn't do anything for me. For some reason, it kinda reminds me of an old Toyota Celica.
 
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