[Aditya]

Thread moved out from the Assembly Line. Thanks for sharing!

[M A D over CARS]

Whoo!! That was a very good read on a moody Tuesday morning. A very detailed and beautifully written review. I like how you have documented almost all the aspects of your car ownership. Hope you write a similar ownership review for your tiguan,i10 and if possible the sold range rover as well!

Thanks,
Abie

[batladanny]

What an exhaustive review. Lovely! I was a fan of this generation Jettas and Octavias — understated, solid cars — and it's great to finally read an in-depth review of one

[Varun_HexaGuy]

What a thread, man! I'm sure I can't match up to your detail with this particular review. And for those wondering, the "BHPian" who has taken over this car is yours truly. I've finally managed to get my hands on the car a couple of days ago. The drive back to Hyd was uneventful.

The first drive with the Jetta was truly memorable and this is something that'd remain itched in my memory for a long time. Car was a bliss to drive on the highway. DSG was nice and responsive, so was the engine. Haven't driven the car pre-remap much (had driven another Jetta Mk5 PD MT before; but a very brief drive) but the remap surely has made it a well-rounded package. Car truly drives pretty tight for its age and BHPian poised2drive tried my car on the way back for a brief period. He was in all praises of how well the car drove for its age. Hoping to maintain her up to your standards and try clock the 1,00,000 km mark for you.

Here are some pics of Natasha (yes, that's what I've named her) from the recent trip:


Natasha with the support cars of the day; a Skoda Laura 1.9 PD TDI MT owned by BHPian asit.kulkarni93 while the Honda City i-DTEC is owned by BHPian poised2drive


Resting in her new house. Would take quite sometime before she can call it her home.


Washing off the muck which I'd accumulated across 3-states


All it took was a wash to get her shining


Post wash rituals = posting clean pics of your car

[Tgo]

Wonderfully written report with great amount of details.

I never knew the door design is so unique.

Have book marked the page to go through your DIY videos too. Always love guys working on their cars by themselves. You pay the price though, as the car throws up surprises which otherwise would be brushed under the carpet by workshop guys who are not as attached to each and every car they work upon.

I remember seeing this car for the first time on my college campus. It was a KL registered car which might have driven up to Udupi to pick / drop the kids to college. The car looked exotic back then in the mild drizzle and parked on a hill-top. It was the same shade as yours. The asymmetric tail lamp design is what caught my eye, then.

[sarfraz1997]

Great review. I loved reading the ‘story’ of your car. It’s very well organised and written, pictures are beautiful. Looking forward to reading more about your other cars.

[DieselAnna]

Great Review!
It takes time and patience to write down your experience with such a beautiful car. And you have achieved it brilliantly.

So nice to see a car exchanging hands within the forum itself. Goes to show that how much trust and faith we can have with our fellow members.

[poised2drive]

What a wonderful thread ! I am just awed at the love and interest shown towards your beautiful Jetta.

And all your attention and love was evident the second I got my hands on it.

It drove like a perfect German ; Roared and leapt forward like a Cheetah as you crank it, sprinted like a Gazelle to reach the 3 digit speeds and glided like a Falcon to maintain that speed , all the while sticking to the road like a Leech ( yes, I am a fan of Discovery & NG Channels) .

The ride was super compliant with a slick gearbox and meaty steering has an incredible feedback and joy to hold - especially at higher speeds. And it was impossible to believe it had been driven almost 1,00,000 Km .

Your heart must have felt heavy bidding adieu to it- all those memories and miles behind it.

I am sure your ride is in safe hands.

Originally Posted by Varun_HexaGuy

I'm sure I can't match up to your detail with this particular review.

.

And I am surer you can emulate the fluidicjoy's attention and love. Many congratulations on your Sweet Ride. You got a keeper there.

Originally Posted by Varun_HexaGuy

The drive back to Hyd was uneventful.

Oh please ! If driving on a truck infested road amidst an unbelievable cloudburst while the water , from the rains and speeding trucks, continuously splashing the Windshield , making zero visibility is not eventful, then a tsunami in Hyderabad should welcome you to make it eventful !

Originally Posted by Varun_HexaGuy

The first drive with the Jetta was truly memorable and this is something that'd remain itched in my memory for a long time.

It sure must have been a memorable one and must have given you goosebumps just like I got mine while I drove it .

Wishing you a long and peaceful ownership and million miles while looking forward for a share in those million miles.

Here are a few pictures from the "Takeover " Drive

Where the Cars met !


The Customary Pose


The New Owner beaming with Joy


Honda from Hyderabad meets the German Twins from Pune while their respective drivers talking about them behind their back.

[Varun_HexaGuy]

Originally Posted by poised2drive

And I am surer you can emulate the fluidicjoy's attention and love. Many congratulations on your Sweet Ride. You got a keeper there.
.
.
Oh please ! If driving on a truck infested road amidst an unbelievable cloudburst while the water , from the rains and speeding trucks, continuously splashing the Windshield , making zero visibility is not eventful, then a tsunami in Hyderabad should welcome you to make it eventful !
.
It sure must have been a memorable one and must have given you goosebumps just like I got mine while I drove it .
.
Wishing you a long and peaceful ownership and million miles while looking forward for a share in those million miles.

Thanks a ton, man. Owe you one. If not for you, Asit and Amogh, the delivery wouldn't have happened at the first place. And speaking of the downpour on the way back, that was crazy. Probably the second time in my entire driving experience (which is quite short; under two years) I'd experienced something like this. Zero visibility made things tough but Jetta with all the lifesaving acronyms got my back on extremely worse surfaces. That aside, the drive was still quite uneventful

The drive, sure as hell, was memorable. The impromptu visit to the Naldurg fort was quite an experience. Or even the entire trip in general. Probably, the most memorable deliveries of any car that I've taken and will remain so, for a long time to come. Here's to many more drives with Snowolf and Natasha

[viXit]

What a beautiful thread man!
Truly a 5 star worthy ownership thread after quite some time. My exam prep has taken a back seat today because of this super gripping thread. We've had our Tata for close to 8 years and although they are poles apart in every aspect possible, I could relate to many of the emotions you describe. Owners that tend to do DIYs on their cars are very rare. Sometimes we are looked down upon, but little do they know about the pleasures of getting our hands dirty.

Loved the thread, man.

And Varun, congratulations on finally receiving the car! I know how excruciatingly painful your wait was

Can't wait to see this one in the flesh!
Happy miles! (pun intended)

[jithin23]

Read it in one go and rated 5 stars buddy! You sure are a VW loyalist with 3 VW's at home. The Jetta is a special VW and the way you have narrated your experiences about the Jetta over the past decade is awesome. The part replacements are mostly age related and the car still has its charm despite its age. Still VW's are too deep in terms of mods and that flexibility helps in keeping a VW for longer time.

Good to know that the Jetta uses a DQ250 GB. Does the 2015 Jetta use the same GB for its 2.0 TDI?

Enjoy your car as long as possible and till regulations force us to do otherwise

[Fateh Salim]

The last photo had so much more to it. The hazy blue color in the distance and the rain droplets are nothing more than the tears of a decade-long romance with the Jetta. I was very moved.
I also enjoyed the extensive photo collection. The post has a lot of attention to detail. I'm also relieved that it's in good hands now. Believe me when I say that I can envision her smiling beside her German sister.

[Varun_HexaGuy]

Originally Posted by viXit

And Varun, congratulations on finally receiving the car! I know how excruciatingly painful your wait was

Can't wait to see this one in the flesh!
Happy miles! (pun intended)

Thanks man! Finally, it happened. And yes, get your camera gear ready. We need to take some good pics of Natasha for a new thread. You'll have to wait till 16th of next month before you get to see her in flesh.

Originally Posted by jithin23

Good to know that the Jetta uses a DQ250 GB. Does the 2015 Jetta use the same GB for its 2.0 TDI?

Yes, the Jetta TDI Mk6 (2011-17 in India) used the same DQ250 gearbox alongside the 2.0 TDI which also made its entry at the end of Mk5 Jettas' lifecycle.

[TheGearBox]

Fantastic write-up! I love how you get hands on with your cars with various DIY mods and servicing.
I apologize for hijacking your thread but you stirred up some memories and I would like to share my own Mk 5 Jetta story here.

Background

Back in 2009, Dad was looking for an upgrade from his Opel Corsa 1.4, the car that gave him the German car bug. The Jetta had recently been launched and we were quite keen on it. However at the time there was no VW dealership in town. Dad happened to meet someone from the Bangalore VW dealership at a business seminar. He provided a brochure and a price list as well. The prices mentioned, along with the added cost of bringing the car over and registering it here made it an expensive proposition. Hence the option of the Jetta was sadly dropped.
The other cars considered were the erstwhile Honda Civic and Toyota Corolla Altis. Among the two, Dad was keener on the Altis as it was a newer model and the Civic had been around for a while.
I was more inclined toward the Civic myself. Despite being an older model, it was way cooler than the Altis which was quite boring.
All this while, I was still disappointed that the Jetta would not be a part of consideration.
It was as if someone had heard my thoughts and a few weeks later, we got news that a VW dealership was opening in town! This meant that the Jetta was back in the game!

Test drive experiences

VW Jetta
The Jetta test drive happened first. The sales people promptly arrived with a silver 1.6 petrol demo car. The experience was very good. I did not have a driving license at the time so my presence was limited to the passenger seat. The car was built like a tank and had a lot of presence. I saw a lot of heads turn on the road to take a second look as we passed by. We proceeded to the service center which was still in the process of being set up. The showroom was not yet ready so all operations were taking place from the service center itself. We switched over from 1.6 to take a look at the diesel model. This was a black 1.9 TDI with the DSG. The engine had decent pull and the gearshifts were barely perceptible. We were not really looking for a diesel car but decided to keep an open mind anyway.
There was also a Passat demo car present which the staff lured us into taking for a spin as well. Wow! Loads of rear legroom, acres of wood and leather all around the interior. However, it was beyond our budget and not considered beyond a quick ride.

Honda Civic and Toyota Corolla Altis
Both these cars were driven back-to-back one evening after arranging the test drives in succession. First was the Civic. In one word: cool. The blue backlighting of all the displays, the sporty design. The Civic was truly years ahead of its time and would have been worth considering even today. Too bad Honda couldn’t create the same with the 10th generation model.
Next, we drove the Altis. The Toyota dealer had sent three sales reps for the test drive! All three of them had to squeeze into the backseat with Dad driving and me being the front passenger. The interior was quite plain, especially after just seeing the Civic. Dad also seemed to echo my thoughts and felt the same in the driving experience as well. The sales team in the backseat was also unable to give us a definite delivery schedule and that really put us off the Altis for good.

Final decision
It finally came down to the Jetta and Civic. There was not much deliberation here. The Jetta was the one. We booked a 1.6 Trendline in Reflex Silver and it was delivered in another three weeks.

Living with the car
10 years with the Jetta were quite uneventful. It had a pretty light clutch and slick, slick gearbox. The steering was pretty heavy and a bit of a chore to use in town. The car itself didn’t give much trouble over the 10 years we had it. The relatively minor issues we faced were:

• • Power window winders going kaput
• • AC vent switches breaking
• • Sagging headliner

During the initial 2-3 years, the level of service given by the dealership was quite exemplary. However, the dealership changed hands after that and things went a bit downhill from there.
As the car approached the 10-year mark, things started to get more serious. The clutch slave cylinder was showing signs of age and was in need of replacement along with some other part replacements. An approximate expense of Rs 60k would be required to keep the car running. Upto this point, we were not really thinking about a new car and we would have gone ahead with these repairs had it not been for the lethargy of the service center in ordering the new parts. Their dilly-dallying made us force our hand and we ended up buying a new car, while selling the Jetta off.

While the VW may have discontinued the Jetta in India, it still remains a halo car. Great value for money, especially in the used car market. I would love to get hold of a Mk 6 if I ever get the chance.

[asit.kulkarni93]

You really waited for the car to be handed over to Varun to complete the write up?

It always feels good when a well kept car changes hands in the known circle. This Jetta is lovely. The first experience I had with this gen was in 2009. In Bahrain, a friend’s dad had the MPi and I always wondered in the sea of sunnys, Corollas and civics, why on earth would some Indian buy a Jetta? Well he was an enthusiast.

I drove this car in the city and to itkal, I have the following observations-

1. I was never a fan of this design but I saw it frequently and it has grown over me.

2. The DQ250 makes it extremely exciting and frugal. The remap makes the whole package sweeter.

3. The 16 inch rims and yokos give a good balance of ride and handling.

4. CarPlay is pure bliss. All the upgrades on the car are spot on and it doesn’t feel outdated at all.

5. Idk why but it’s as noisy as my 1.9 TDi Laura before the remap.

We as enthusiasts need to preserve some good cars. These cars are built to last and if we keep in mind that these were 15-20L rupee cars back in the day, the upkeep cost will not pinch a lot. On my way to Itkal, both me and Amogh(my brother and also a Bhpian) were ripping both the Laura and the Jetta. The high speed stability, FE & confidence that these cars inspired was phenomenal. Attaching a few pics of the car-