Jetta FSI Turbo

[Lima]

Does DSG have hormones?!

[dilbert_rocks]

Wary of taking the plunge...

Thanks for the kind words guys.

Definitely a disappointing thing to happen to a brand new car but I was impressed with the service from VW. They were clearly pretty embarrassed.

Hmmm...

I am seriously considering purchasing a Jetta (TDI or T FSI), but I have read some worrying reports about poor reliability (VW in general) and high problem rates (like 33% have something go wrong in the first 1000km - incl squeaks / rattles). It strikes me that I might be gambling with $50k?!

I'm after some objective user feedback - though most people here seem to be happy. I haven't driven one yet.

Any clues on costs of servicing and parts? (is it 10,000 or 15,000km services)

Also, any good / bad experiences with dealerships in the SEQ area?

From a hopefully "happy" future VW'er

[brackie]

Welcome and caution

Welcome to our forum! Be careful when you read statistics. "Something goes wrong in first 1000km"... is very open ended. Lots of people are nit-pickers and will return to the dealership with silly requests for repairs/replacements that others wouldn't even notice. So it's a good idea to get a statistical breakdown of the fault types before making a judgment. Also, be sure to target the country in which the problems were encountered and take into account the quality of the dealers concerned. IMO VW cars are no more unreliable than any other and probably more reliable and better constructed than most.

There's been a lot of discussion on this forum regarding service intervals. Do a search on this forum and read it as you'll find it interesting, particularly regarding TDIs. My TDI goes in for it's first service next week and @7500km it hasn't missed a beat, has no rattles despite being driven on rough, twisty, hilly country roads, and gets better with every km.

[bitsurfr]

Jetta pre-delivery checklist

I've joined the VW club and ordered a Jetta Turbo FSI over the weekend

I'd like to get a list of things I should check when taking delivery of the vehicle (in particular, those functions that have to be set by the dealer as my car doesn't have the multifunction function 'plus' display) and so far I have:

- make sure automatic locking after takeoff is turned on;
- make sure automatic kerbside function when reversing for passenger side exterior mirror is turned on (left mirror dip);
- driver door open on first click of unlock (does this mean all the other doors will need 2 clicks to open? Actually, what is the purpose of requiring 2 clicks to open?)
- have only order regular NSW premium plates, not the wide Euro style ones, so I have asked the dealer to remove wide black felt backing underneath the rear plates.

Any help is appreciated

[anarchycamp]

Hmmm...

I am seriously considering purchasing a Jetta (TDI or T FSI), but I have read some worrying reports about poor reliability (VW in general) and high problem rates (like 33% have something go wrong in the first 1000km - incl squeaks / rattles). It strikes me that I might be gambling with $50k?!

I'm after some objective user feedback - though most people here seem to be happy. I haven't driven one yet.

Any clues on costs of servicing and parts? (is it 10,000 or 15,000km services)

Also, any good / bad experiences with dealerships in the SEQ area?

From a hopefully "happy" future VW'er

There has been a few reliability issues reported on this forum and other forums but as with most things, people usually only kick up a stink when things go wrong, therefore you hear more about the problems rather than the good things (even though there is a lot of love going on generally ).

If anyone was able to get the REAL stats comparing VW reliability to other manufacturers I would say they would rate quite well...cough Holden...cough cough cough

[neil]

I've joined the VW club and ordered a Jetta Turbo FSI over the weekend

- have only order regular NSW premium plates, not the wide Euro style ones, so I have asked the dealer to remove wide black felt backing underneath the rear plates.

Any help is appreciated

Hey Bitsurfr

Can you let us know what the rear number plate looks like when you get
the car.
I have a jetta on order and have selected the slim line plate, however
after seeing a few with the felt backing still exposed I thought I might go
for the euro plate, but if the felt is removed and it looks ok I will stick with
the slim line.
Keep us informed.

[blur32]

Try having three Alfsa Romeos in a row...you will never, ever criticise another car again for being unreliable....even a Korean one!

Nearly 15000k's up on the R32 on rural NSW roads (almost as bad as Sydney roads) and driven hard....no dramas (other than known factory ones: front suspension, rear left tail light, all fixed under warranty and are now perfect), no rattles (even with the added vibration of the new exhaust) and everything stil opens, closes, turns on & off and is still there (definitely not italian then)

Just do it!

[jb747]

(other than known factory ones: front suspension, rear left tail light

What's the story with those faults? My R32 is on the boat....

[DaveMack]

What's the story with those faults? My R32 is on the boat....

Yeah but ... you'll probably drive it a bit slower than Blur.

Dave

[BarneyBoy]

Welcome tofo17 - you picked a nice model.
Thought about the Jetta myself (love the boot, too) but it would've been too long for my car and the trouble & strife's to both fit in the driveway.

I had a warning light come on in the first 600ks (the engine outline light). I was halfway between Melbourne and Adelaide with the car refusing any more than 3000rpm (limp home mode). The Stealer said that it was traced back to a faulty aircon sensor.

It seems that this is a similar fault to what some others have experienced. A reset was all they could do, and 3,000ks later, all is well.

Anyway, enjoy your Jet!

[blur32]

Yeah but ... you'll probably drive it a bit slower than Blur.

Dave

jb747: will pm you. And there are plenty of threads around re: this

DaveMack: what are you implying? I am a respectable, law aviding citizen.....

[tofo17]

This thread is a little old now, I've had the car since February and have now done over 8000km. Besides the initial problem things are going very well and I still love it. It's been APR'd and has the Carbonio CAI. Soon to have the APR downpipe and stage II tune. A recent very wet track day (GTI drive day) let me explore the performance envelope and left me very impressed... particulaly with ESP which, despite some pretty ham fisted driving kept me in a straight line!

My wife had our first child last week and so the Jetta is now doing family duties (the reason I got a Jetta and not a GTI). I've got to say that the large boot is a god send, eating up prams, travel cots and the like with plenty of room to spare. And of course, I feel safe in the knowledge the car has excellent passive and active safetly to keep the little fella (and us) safe!

I still love how this car exudes class. My sister has a Honda Accord Euro, which is a great piece of kit, but the Jetta just feels more expensive.

The most telling comment? For me, a serial car swapper, there is still nothing on the market for the price that I would rather have.

Cheers,
tofo

[DaveMack]

jb747: will pm you. And there are plenty of threads around re: this

DaveMack: what are you implying? I am a respectable, law aviding citizen.....

Nuttin' much, Blur. It's just ... how do you get a nickname like ... BLUR?

(Summat to do with SPEED, I'll wager.)

Dave

[moguzhan]

my jetta is probably one of the most recent on here as its only got 2000kms.

from experience, the first 1,000kms - the car wont breathe or open up so you cant really "thrash" it and its getting broken as you can smell the rubber burnin, tyres wearing away until the first 500 and removing the sealent on them, etc etc.

the car is a bit more "open" as it will let you gas it and it'll breathe and takes off nicely.

the cd player is not mp3 compatible unless you get 08 model.

i havent had any problems with it except someone smashed the drivers side window and stole the gps that was on the dashboard, so i had to replace the window other than that its a real nice smooth ride.

it needs a tighter suspension as it over steers in the turns but that can be fixed with a sway bar.

thumbs up from me.

[bitsurfr]

Hey Bitsurfr

Can you let us know what the rear number plate looks like when you get
the car.
I have a jetta on order and have selected the slim line plate, however
after seeing a few with the felt backing still exposed I thought I might go
for the euro plate, but if the felt is removed and it looks ok I will stick with
the slim line.
Keep us informed.

I picked up my jetta yesterday. So far I'm all

The dealer did a good job of removing the black felt, can't see any remnants of it. So no problems for those who just want regular premium number plates instead of euro ones.

I also got the weathershields. However, they are simply mounted on the door by being stock over the chrome trim. This seems to spoil the side view of the car. VW should make the top of the weathersheilds chrome so they don't spoil the profile.

I have the auto door lock programmed to turn on at 15km/h. However, I have noticed that if I drive away, then stop/slow down to less than 15km (eg coming to a stop at traffic lights), when I drive off again the door locks seem to try to arm again after passing 15km/h again. This happens every time and you can hear a quiet (not as loud as the initial deadlocking of the lock) "click - click" sound on the driver's side. Not sure if it's suppose to be like this so might have to check it out with the dealer. Any one else notice this?