Test Drove Jetta TDI (Diesel), Subaru Forester, Subaru Outback

[SteveJobs]

elmo3,

What is marginal about driving segment leaders? (not TODAY, but in other days)
Which cars are not or above marginal to you? Mercedes, Acura, Lexus, Infinity, Rolls Royce, Bugatti, Ferrari, Maserati, Yugo?

[macphanatic]

I was interested in the TDI Jetta, until I brought this up to several colleagues who either own one or have a family member that does. All vehicles are less than two years old. It seems that all of them are having various problems with their Jettas. Electrical issues seem to be a common theme.

[Gareth]

Roommates Jetta TDI is rock solid, an '03, I think, with over 50,000 miles.

Of course, I find in general that VW's are either rock solid or plagued with problems, and you don't know which you'll get going in.

[incognegro]

a year ago, i was transferring a title to a used Geo Prizm at a notary.
the lady doing the work said someone in her family had a VW, and every visit to the mechanic was like $500... and it went often. she said it always needed the most expensive part out of the ones it could be.

apparently they're good for a few years, then all hell breaks loose.

[Grateful11]

I hear about problems all the time with Beetles but not as many with Jettas. I believe both
are built in Mexico so that should give someone a hint.

[SteveJobs]

The new rabbits are ONLY built in wolfsburg. That might also be for the jettas.

[M A V I C]

Jettas aren't sold in Germany, so I somewhat doubt that. Beetles were designed in CA and built in Mexico.

My understanding is the Jettas are based on the Passat. There's also the Pollo in Germany, I'm not sure if that's what the Golf is or not. I think the Pollo is smaller.

[Racer X]

Jetta quality on the whole took a nose dive with the variant that replaced the Jetta III design in 99 or so.

The loaded bigger-engined VWs were canabilizing Audi's sales, so the conspiracy theorists think they have started to cut corners, possibly driving more customers to the more profitable Audi models. When the choice is 26K for a fast loaded VW, or over 30K for a decent Audi with a small engine, many were picking the VW.


They can still be innovative and have a good design, but use cheap parts and have a mediocre build quality.

[Stephanie]

I don't have anything to add other than I love my little Impreza.