[Sam.k]

I am thinking of buying a used VW Jetta,preferably the older veriosn MK5 due to its safety features with 8 airbags,the DSG gearbox and the the price bracket.(6-8 lacs).I would like to know how reliable the DSG gearbox is and and the costs involved to replace its DMF(Dual Mass Flywheel)and clutch if any.I am being told that the DSG box can last anywhere between 1.5L kms TO 4L kms and can be very expensive to service if it breaks down.Any light on this would be much appreciated.

[reverse_gear]

Originally Posted by harryputtar

a) Do we go at a fast-enough speed (30-40 kmph) so the Jetta kind of glides over the potholes? (I have read on the forum though that there is a danger of tyres being affected or even damaged)
b) Do I do what I used to do with my Santro, almost come to a stop and gently cross the potholes. I have never quite achieved that peaceful crossing on these roads though, I have just come back with jarring thuds in most cases. I tried this a number of times with my Jetta today too and came back with the same output.

Have to go slow over potholes or bumps. Potholes can especially be harsh on tyres. If they are sharp edged and deep potholes, you should ideally slow down completely before reaching the pothole, but release your foot off the brake when going over the actual pothole edge. Braking on the pothole itself is probably not a good idea - apart from the tyres, you will also be lowering the underbody and increasing chances of scraping the bottom of the car.

This is the approach I have followed with all my cars, not just the Jetta.

[ddis_dude]

+1 to what reverse_gear has said above - its better to slow down to a halt when the roads are especially bad. I usually do that with all my cars - but the Jetta is fully capable of just gliding over potholes as I found on the way from Chitradurga to Hampi. While the car did not technically have any issues as such - I could clearly tell that the wheel alignment was off on the way back from Chitradurga to Bangalore. Was accompanied on the trip by a fello TJET owner and his car showed the same symtoms.

When the VW guys looked at my car - they said it was OK, not bad. They also confirmed that the tyres were in good shape and were not wearing out etc.

There was a slight steer of the car to the left and now after the service - the car moves dead straight when I let go of the steering. You may also want to be careful about damaging your alloys - I found quite a bit of noise on google around how "solid" the alloys of the Jetta are.

Apologize for the delayed response on the ding-in-the-alloys issue and thanks for all your help and viewpoints - helps quite a bit.

1. I have attached a picture of my rear wheel with the small ding. Once again the folks said it was really minor and that in the rear - it would make negligible difference to the dynamics. This used to be my front-left wheel.

2. I finally got a chance to play around with the jet on a relatively empty stretch of NICE road and the car does seem to handle fine at high speed. However, I notice that when fully loaded - 5 full sized adults plus a child plus around 50-60 kgs of luggage, high speed is not very confidence inspiring (to my senses). Wonder why that might be? Am in touch with the folks wat VW regarding this. This was with 36psi (as suggested here) - the VW folks had left the car with 30psi all-round post-service.

3. My car has done about 10k now and the road noise seems to have increased quite a bit. I thought 36psi might bring it down a bit - but that has not helped either.

Will post updates about anything I hear from them in the next few days.

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[mav2000]

I have a few queries on my jetta, which is now around 7 months old. I hope you guys can help.

1. The corners of the running board seem to have water marks on them. As it is a white car it can be easily seen. Is this normal?
2. A little of the rubber coating on the side view mirror hinge areas seem to be coming off. Again, is this normal?
3. I seem to be hitting speed breakers a bit too easily. Specially when the car is full. I usually maintain around 32-33 psi all around.

[graaja]

Originally Posted by mav2000

1. The corners of the running board seem to have water marks on them. As it is a white car it can be easily seen. Is this normal?

Yes. This happens. After washing the car, if you open the doors, you will see water dripping from the corner of the rubber beadings of the door. This water, if not wiped, will result in marks on the running board. This is what I do: After washing the car, give 5 minutes to let the excess water to drain, open all the doors and wipe off the remaining water from the door sills and the door rubber beadings. Shut the doors and wipe off the water dripping from the corners on the running board.

OT, the same issue is present on the VW logo on the front as well.

[ddis_dude]

Originally Posted by mav2000

I have a few queries on my jetta, which is now around 7 months old. I hope you guys can help.

1. The corners of the running board seem to have water marks on them. As it is a white car it can be easily seen. Is this normal?
2. A little of the rubber coating on the side view mirror hinge areas seem to be coming off. Again, is this normal?
3. I seem to be hitting speed breakers a bit too easily. Specially when the car is full. I usually maintain around 32-33 psi all around.

(2) seems to be happening to me too - but its relatively small - so, I have not bothered much about it.

(3) - this was my biggest fear when buying the car and I was told by multiple people that because of the rear-independent suspension, the car wont bottom out. I fully endorse this view now having faced quite a bit of this myself. The car never bottomed out - not even once! There are a few times that a squeak or a drag sound is heard over speed-breakers, but this is the rear-wheel mud-flap rubbing against the speed-breaker and not the car body/chassis. When I stopped by VW for the service a couple of weeks back, I made it a point to take a look at the car from the bottom when it was raised and I could clearly see that there was nothing to indicate the car bottoming out. There was one very minor scratch on the front under-chassis and I kind of know when that one happened as well - but it was a bad "reverse-speed-bump" - road lowered on both sides with the center having a bit of a protrusion. Even when it happened, I was surprised I had not heard a louder thud. My 2c.

EDIT: air pressure matters. Dont know why VW recommends 30-32 for our cars. With this pressure I also faced more of the mud-flap scratching (never a body rubbing). But for reference - the TJET uses the exact same tyre as ours and the recommended pressure for Fiat is 36. Some more folks here too suggested using 35 and that works slightly better - but like I said above - its only the mud-flap.

[Contrapunto]

A question to Jetta owners in the forum. What are the typical service costs of a Jetta? And what are the costs of typical spares that owners need to pay?

[reverse_gear]

Originally Posted by ddis_dude

EDIT: air pressure matters. Dont know why VW recommends 30-32 for our cars. With this pressure I also faced more of the mud-flap scratching (never a body rubbing). But for reference - the TJET uses the exact same tyre as ours and the recommended pressure for Fiat is 36. Some more folks here too suggested using 35 and that works slightly better - but like I said above - its only the mud-flap.

Recommended air pressure that VW has pasted on my DSG is 33 all round with 2 passengers and 36-43 (front-rear) at full load. Not sure if your variant or tyre set has a different recommendation.

[mav2000]

43...wow that seems way to high. BTW, thanks guys for answering the questions. The car scrapes only whne at full load. When I am alone its a non issue.

I maintain around 32-33 on all four wheels, maybe I should look at 35?

[reverse_gear]

Originally Posted by mav2000

43...wow that seems way to high.

Yes seems to be quite high. But that's what VW's recommendation is. You may want to check if it's any different for your variant.

[graaja]

Hi All,

The 1 year/15k KM service is coming up for my Jetta. I have fixed an appointment for Monday next week.

I was thinking about adding some accessories to the Jetta.

1. Door sill protectors
2. Rear spoiler
3. Chrome tip for the exhaust

I enquired with my dealer and he says none of these are in stock and will have to be ordered. He does not have information on pricing as well.

Has any fellow Jetta owner(s) fixed any of these accessories? Can you give some information on pricing and source?

Thanks in advance for all the information.

[harryputtar]

Originally Posted by reverse_gear

Have to go slow over potholes or bumps. Potholes can especially be harsh on tyres. If they are sharp edged and deep potholes, you should ideally slow down completely before reaching the pothole, but release your foot off the brake when going over the actual pothole edge. Braking on the pothole itself is probably not a good idea - apart from the tyres, you will also be lowering the underbody and increasing chances of scraping the bottom of the car.

This is the approach I have followed with all my cars, not just the Jetta.

Thanks for the input reverse_gear. I have been trying this since you posted, and can definitely feel a world of difference in how the Jetta now handles the bumps and potholes. Will keep coming back to the forum if I have more queries!

BTW I am looking for recommendations on a cover for the Jetta, so if anyone uses a cover they think is worth buying, please do point me in its direction. I have the Jopasu car duster now and thats keeping the car looking spic and span for the moment.

[300 KMPH]

Originally Posted by harryputtar

HI Forum members,


How to handle really bad roads (normal and ghats) on a car like the Jetta

a) Do we go at a fast-enough speed (30-40 kmph) so the Jetta kind of glides over the potholes? (I have read on the forum though that there is a danger of tyres being affected or even damaged)
b) Do I do what I used to do with my Santro, almost come to a stop and gently cross the potholes. I have never quite achieved that peaceful crossing on these roads though, I have just come back with jarring thuds in most cases. I tried this a number of times with my Jetta today too and came back with the same output.

Any inputs will be really appreciated forum, any other tips for getting the best out of the Jetta would be really helpful as well. I love my car and want to treat it right!

Regards

Hello there! I have a April 2013 Vento and a close friend also has a March/May 2013 Jetta in Nasik. Our cars have hit potholes number of times at high speeds. The Jetta is doing somewhere around 60,000 kms where as my car is at 53,000 kms. Both cars have strong suspension. No niggles at all. Only keep an eye on wheel alignment. One of my vento's tyres had worn out cuz of ignoring it. But going slow over potholes is a good practice. Jetta has got good GC. Won't touch down anywhere until you go off road.

Btw, no need to slow down on undulations!

[AirWind]

I ordered the door sill protectors and chrome (actually flame blue) tip from Aliexpress and found it low cost and good too (not cheap). But it takes sometime to arrive by post (delay @ customs). If you want a OE look, the Laura or Superb exhaust tips would fit well but very expensive.

Originally Posted by graaja

Hi All,

The 1 year/15k KM service is coming up for my Jetta. I have fixed an appointment for Monday next week.

I was thinking about adding some accessories to the Jetta.

1. Door sill protectors
2. Rear spoiler
3. Chrome tip for the exhaust

I enquired with my dealer and he says none of these are in stock and will have to be ordered. He does not have information on pricing as well.

Has any fellow Jetta owner(s) fixed any of these accessories? Can you give some information on pricing and source?

Thanks in advance for all the information.

[graaja]

Originally Posted by AirWind

I ordered the door sill protectors and chrome (actually flame blue) tip from Aliexpress and found it low cost and good too (not cheap). But it takes sometime to arrive by post (delay @ customs). If you want a OE look, the Laura or Superb exhaust tips would fit well but very expensive.

Hi, Thanks AirWind for the information. Could you please share the product links in AliExpress for the door sill protector and exhaust tip? Did you install them yourself or got it done in a garage?