[vishy76]

What an absolute cracker of a review on an amazing car. This car and ownership reviews like these are very rare to come across.

The Jetta Mk5 has always been my first love inspite of the fact that I have a Mk6. There's just something else about this car that really sets it apart. Needless to say, I am even more besotted by it after going through this ownership review. I usually won't touch Mk5 Jettas with a barge pole owing to the fact that most have landed in the wrong hands these days, but I am quite sure the new owner had unparalleled peace of mind knowing someone like you had maintained it.

They often say cars aren't built the same anymore and I think the Jetta Mk5 is a beautiful example of the same. Something like this will never be built again. It really is time to cherish these machines for as long as one can

[car_guy1998]

What a review!

Seriously, this is one of the best ownership reviews I've ever read!

And, in spite of being a 12-year-old car, this Jetta looks good as new and aged well!

Kudos for your writing skills and your DIY's and for maintaining this car impeccably, fluidicjoy!

And, the new owner, Varun, must be lucky for purchasing this car from you!

And, especially, congrats to Varun for buying this well-maintained car, and can't wait to drive this beast someday!

This thread has inspired me a lot to look at a well-maintained pre-owned German Diesel AT car as the replacement for my City iDTEC, which will happen in the near future!

[swiftnfurious]

What a fantastic thread and you are quite passionate. It's a fact that a lot of vehicles can easily reach 1L Kms / 15 years of life if decently maintained. Somehow a lot of people think it gives problems anything more than 5 years.

A friend of mine who had a similar model mentions the quality is higher than the latest Jettas. Great thread and thanks for sharing.

[LEOMAN]

VOW, what an exhaustive and beautifully narrated review.Your love with your Jetta was truly inspirational.I wish even if can match half of your writing skills for my beauties would be great. So much time ,effort and love has been dedicated to this post.

[pugram]

Wow ! What a review with amazing level of details and DIY.

This model was my first love in this segment and I still have a soft corner for it. Built like a tank and looks infallible. But could not afford new one so moved on. 2nd hand ones were with too high kms on the meter, so did not click there too.

[W.A.G.7]

Wow! A nice, positive, detailed, and unbiased review of the Jetta. Awesome read on a Wednesday night. You've taken some great pains to keep the car in shipshape, and it really shows. It felt very nice to read a review that was not "bashing" VW / Skoda in any way. About the car - it was truly love at first sight for you. There's something about VW cars - you either love them or hate them, but you can't ignore them. I doubt if a Japanese or a Korean car would have given you so much ownership joy. Since the car is now with another Bhpian, I would wish him all the best for logging in more and more kilometers. But really kudos to you for maintaining the car in such a top shape. Very nicely written script too!

[naivedyanm]

Originally Posted by 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.

Congrats for the Jetta and that too from an owner who cared for it to the core. Hope you enjoy more happy miles.


Waiting to meet you in person and appreciate the beauty of Jetta!!

[Varun_HexaGuy]

Although a separate thread has been in the making for the Jetta, I'd like to post a few updates about the car.

Have clocked 8000-kms with the car since 27th June 2021. Car has seen it all and with each passing day, I've only appreciated how good the car has been. I couldn't have gotten a better car for the money. Mom and dad equally love the car. Dad, even more so. Dad has been in all praises of the car since the time he's driven it. Whenever he's back home, I barely get to drive the Jetta and am forced to ride shotgun or take the GT.

Although I'd bought a diesel purely for its fuel efficiency, this car has pretty much kept up my expectations. I'm averaging at 14-15 kmpl (mix of moderate to heavy traffic) in city traffic while I get 20+ kmpl on highways consistently. Highest has been 26-kmpl on MID with CC set at 80 across 190-kms (around ORR). Worst was 8-kmpl which was a result of hours of idling and peak traffic driving while dad and I were running errands for a week or so.

The car is loaded to the brim with features. Has all the features I need and thanks to Sujoy, have the RCD340G and 8K OPS which is definitely a boon. When I come to think of it, the upgrade from the Jetta is going to be a very tough one. Hence, would keep the Jetta for as long as possible and get another car alongside Jetta in the near future.

As we speak, the car is nearing 1,03,000 kms on the odo. Had breached the 1,00,000 kms milestone almost a month ago. I'd have been happier if Sujoy had gotten the opportunity to clock this milestone. This also meant the service was due. Had ordered all the necessary parts from a good friend who shipped the parts in less than 24-hours. Oil chosen was Castrol Edge 5W40 which complies with the VW 505.01 specification. Oil change was done at 1,00,930 kms and the car has run 2000 kms since then. I was planning for a DIY service on this. But hectic schedule plus laziness on my part meant I wouldn't have done it. Reached out to a FNG and got the job done in an hour flat.

As we speak, something big is happening with the car and hopefully my next update (esp. this one) is on my new thread.

Signing off with a few recent pics of the car

[Varun_HexaGuy]

Here's a sneak peak of what's brewing

[Varun_HexaGuy]

After close to ~ 2-months of time, effort and ₹₹₹₹ thrown at it, here's how Natasha has turned out. Still a few finishing touches left (new ORVMs are a pain to source for instance) but it's almost there.

For starters, the car has been completely repainted in Glasurit Base and Glasurit High Solids Clear. Finish turned out nice. The job was done at Krithi Car Care and a ground up thread on the Jetta is in the making and I'll cover all of it in detail. There's a slight bit of waviness on a couple of panels, but for the most part, panels turned out straight. I've asked the guys at Krithi to not polish the car to perfection since I plan to detail it in the future. So, there's orange peel that's obvious. But hey, I've got a significant part of clear coat left at my disposal which I can use to correct the paint in the future. Overall, for the paint job alone I'd give the guys a good 9/10. With some areas for improvement ofcourse. Also, the bug to play around with the aesthetics of the car had bit me, big time. The Mk5 Jetta unfortunately is a car where you can't do a lot. So after a lot of back and forth, I'd decided that I'd swap the alloys and call it a day. Chose the OE Atlanta alloys from the Mk6 which were actually available on the Mk5 outside of India (US and EU both). The alloys were picked up used and were handed over to the guys at Krithi for refurbishing them. I'd also decided to get the PPF done for essential parts like the front bumper, hood, mirrors, door edges and door handles.

The steering was refurbished and door pads were redone.The central air conditioning duct has to come from Germany (long wait periods for the parts with these VWs is a thing for me now). Once that's done, the interiors would be free of broken/missing trim pieces. After going through a ton of Mk5 scrapped Jettas, I found quite a few missing bits and now finally my car is near completion.

Next up, the annoying creak from the front end has to be sorted. This only comes for the first drive of the day/drive after a long break (say >3-hrs). Pretty certain it's the front ARB bushes that have aged. My options are:
1.) To replace the bushes but finding these is a pain and I'll have to settle for the bushes from Laura etc (slight variation in size; 20.95mm for Mk5 Jetta vs 21mm for Laura)
2.) To replace the entire front ARB. This is gonna cost a bomb. But is a long term fix. Gravitating towards this only. Yet to finalise though. Will do soon.

Signing off with a few pics for the viewing pleasure


This was taken on the D-Day. Had picked up the car early in the morning and headed straight to my college.



At Autopia for an interior deep clean and a rinseless wash


With fellow BHPian ViXit's Safari Storme


Finally home after ~ 2-months of being in the bodyshop






Yours truly with the car. Picture Courtesy goes to BHPian ViXit again. P.S: don't mind the bottle of lemonade in my hand

[sangam_mm93]

Looks great, happy (s)miles Varun

[TheHelix0202]

One year later, any updates, Varun?

[Varun_HexaGuy]

Originally Posted by TheHelix0202

One year later, any updates, Varun?

Hey man,
There's a lot to update about the car. But I'm just too lazy to do it. Here's a brief still to keep you updated on the car. It's been exactly an year since the repaint was carried out. Apart from that, I just kept on using the car quite regularly. However, one fine day the dreaded (but expected) warning flashed. The gear indicator (PRNDS) flashed. Referring to an issue with the gear selector. After a fair bit of analysis (mostly DIY, courtesy of VCDS and no thanks to the ripping fancy garages of Hyd), I narrowed it down to a worn out clutch pack (which was confirmed by the garage later from whom I got the clutch pack replaced). Got the original VW clutch pack alongside the LUK Flywheel and got the DSG fluid and filter changed as well.

14,000+ kms since the clutch pack replacement, car has been driving good. Touchwood. Apart from this, the car didn't see any running whatsoever from the month of March to May. I was busy travelling with the family (read a roadtrip) all through March and April. I got the clutch pack replaced around the same time (saved me a bit of downtime) as well. June was no different. Was busy with another vacation in Goa followed by my return. After I was back, I also ended up with a 5'er home. Around the same time, oil change was due in the Jetta. While I was headed to the FNG to hand it over for an oil change, a freak incident took place at a client meeting. I'd parked the car in the basement and left for my meeting. By the time I was back, someone brushed through the entire left hand side of the car. Had to get the entire left hand side repainted for no fault of mine. Thanks to this, half day affair ended up becoming a two week sojourn.

27th June 2022, Natasha and I celebrated our first anniversary together. However she was still at the bodyshop. Anyways, she was home on the 29th. Did a customary puja since my grandmom wanted to get rid of nazar which Natasha was garnering offlate. Post that, I've used the car a fair bit. But the usage has been erratic. Having multiple cars at my disposal doesn't help either (cars that I pickup as a part of my trade, I use them quite often to keep them running as well). Despite that, car did see a respectable mileage. What didn't help the case further was the highway running being split between this and the 5. Eitherway, from last December to this December, the car has clocked 20,000 kms which isn't bad.

Need to sort out a few bits (very minor) in the upcoming service which is due now. Current odo is well past the 120k kms mark. Hoping to see the 150k kms mark by the time she turns two because my running, starting from 2022 is going to go up a fair bit and going forward, this will be my only car.

Apart from the usual bits, the car has been quite reliable and I don't have to think twice before doing a long highway drive.


Attaching a pic for your viewing pleasure from the recent TLC sesh:

[TheHelix0202]

Thanks for the quick update, cheers and drive more!

[Varun_HexaGuy]

Been too lazy to update the thread. Primarily, there was nothing really to update. She's just performing flawlessly while munching miles at a relatively slower pace now.

Completed 2-years of ownership recently on the 27th of June and clocked 45,000 kms in the time that Natasha's been with me (would've been more if I hadn't gotten the 5-series). Did a roadtrip from Hyd-BLR-Goa-Hyd in the month of March. With five onboard, luggage for all of us, she could accommodate it all. And she performed flawlessly all through the trip.

Since I wanted to spruce up the car for the 2nd anniversary, I finally decided to bite the bullet and get the OE Bi-Xenons for the Jetta to complete the final piece of the puzzle.

Mechanically, there's nothing really that the car needs attention at the moment. She drives tight. Got a new set of tyres (MRF Perfinzas) around March just before my roadtrip. Got the service also done around the same time. Next service is due this month. Only component that hasn't been changed otherwise is the steering rack. Might have to end up doing that up in 20-30k kms from now (showing a few signs of wear, not too obvious).

Signing off with some pics for your viewing pleasure.


2-years up!


Parked at work.


On a ferry en-route Dewar Island, Goa.


#parkedingoa


And finally, the OE Bi-Xenons which I've been waiting for since ages are finally here. Should go on the car once the ancillaries come in.