Team-BHP - Volkswagen Jetta : Test Drive & Review

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Originally Posted by Tanveer_2558 (Post 3854155)

Exactly, And to top it all, I am not only worried about whats causing the issue, But also about how would the service centre handle it, The last time they took 10 days to find why am i getting the airbag error on the instrument cluster, Which i already knew after a scan that the right hand side crash sensor had gone kaput.

Have you tried getting the alignment checked Tanveer? I had read some where that if the Caster/Camber is off, then the centering system of steering gets affected. Your car is too new to be facing any issues with the suspension, have a look at the wheel alignment before handing your car to those stupid VW workshop people.

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Originally Posted by coolboy007 (Post 3854212)

The thing is the car drives perfectly, the issue is only while taking a complete left or right U turn, thats when the steering is slow to come back to center and then i have to manually again turn the steering, I will try and upload a video tomorrow, There is no noises from anywhere, The car even drives in a straight line if i leave the steering.

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Originally Posted by R17 (Post 3853519)

Its about a passive safety issue - the body structure of the car. And as much as I want to believe that the cars have similar safety (prospective Jetta buyer here :) ), unfortunately, thats clearly not the case.

I apologise for posting without links - hate when others do that, but it's been a hectic few weeks. If you want to search for them, my only sources for auto reads are Road & Track, Car & Driver and occasionally, Jalponik, and I mention these specifically because they're the only ones bookmarked on Flipboard on my iPad. If you want to verify something, you only need to search through those.

I read the VW statement about same safety capabilities in one of those rambling think pieces that are so common on R&T and C&D. It was about testing, and not about VW per se. I did a quick 2 minute search on both before this post, and I couldn't find them, but am sure if you search through Google instead, and spend enough time, you will find that article.

~~~

But more importantly, we need to address the issue at hand.

Since I don't have verifiable data (and inclination to search for it within my current schedule), bear with me for a few moments as I try to assuage your concerns:
1. Either we have the European Jetta, or the US Jetta. In either case, it stands to reason, given the focus on safety in both these markets, that both cars will be similarly safe, if not equally safe - you can attempt a comparative analysis of the Euro NCAP vs. US IIHS, but that then becomes an academic debate, and pretty much pointless. So, let's assume that if you get a current variant of the Jetta as sold in one of these two markets, you should be happy, in which case, the real question is, did we get the US / European body structure as is, or did VW pull a Maruti Swift on us.

2. Without ascribing any altruistic motives, let's assume VW is happy to make their cars less safe in India to make more money per car sold. Unfortunately, making a chassis cheaper (because it's less stiff / weaker) is also very expensive in sunk development costs, since it requires extensive testing, both in the lab and in the real world. Given the fact that, the VW Jetta has, in it's history in India, perhaps sold in fewer numbers than what Swift sells in a month, there is no way the math works for VW to even attempt to make such an effort.

3. Also, something to consider is that even their mass-market cars (Polo, Vento) score similar to their international counterparts in testing - their lower stars come only because of fewer electronic aids in the base variants - it stands to reason that VW hasn't attempted this even in their cheaper cars, where the math may actually work towards such cost saving.

Therefore, in my humble view, a belief that the Jetta in India may have a weaker structure than the one in the US / Europe (as may apply) does not sit well with the economics of car development, and therefore is a misplaced view.

So, if I were you, I'd stop worrying, negotiate a good deal, and buy that Jetta forthwith. :) I hope the ramblings helped :thumbs up

Just got a call from someone from a company called "Nelson Company" in Pune, asking to meet for sometime to get feedback on the Jetta's performance overall :eek:

This is the first I have heard of this and am not sure if this is backed by the dealer or VW for that matter. He wanted to come see me at my place for the survey, which should take 30-35 minutes to do, he said! Why would I waste better part of an hour, welcoming some stranger into my house, to give feedback about my Jetta to someone I do not know at all, whats the incentive?

Any other owners got the same call, or is this probably a clever attempt to sell me some accessories/insurance etc?

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Originally Posted by harryputtar (Post 3859851)

Never got any such calls, Apart from the usual feedback calls from the company asking for feedbacks over the call only! I don't think you should entertain anyone like this. The name, "Nelson Company" Itself sounds fishy to me. lol:

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Originally Posted by harryputtar (Post 3859851)

I'm presuming this is AC Nielsen. It's a globally reputed market research company, one of the largest on the planet. The people actually conducting the surveys are usually pretty basic, so no wonder you didn't get a better spiel.

I will tell you my experience with the Jetta DSG. On the quality front, especially for a car with 26.* Lacs Onroad in Bangalore the quality of some of the components in the cabin is bad!

My business partner bought this car about two months ago and I get to drive it quite a few times in a week for about 50kms every time. In just a week after buying the chrome trims around the gear lever came out! A weird vibration from the door panels started, which later turned into a loud chatter over bad roads! A Music system with a mind of its own! The system switches from Radio to Bluetooth music all on its own whenever it feels like with absolutely no input from anyone inside the car!

The suspension is basically noisy in action over bad patches ! Not something that you would expect from a car in this segment!

Can some owners comment on the FE of the DSG? it's turned into a pain for us as I have never seen a double digit figure normal city traffic !

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Originally Posted by KTM_aravind (Post 3860502)

Things are wrong with your car friends car, Get the noises and the music system checked, I have not faced any such issues with my jetta highline, Apart from the thud noises over potholes which also isn't there if you take it slow, Is surely not a deal breaker, Also when its multilink, No car is perfect and compromises have to be made at some places, 26 lac for DSG? Minus the amount with taxation and registeration etc, Specially in bangalore where the cost is higher, MT highline costed me 20.75 for the facelifted jetta back in 2014 (With bixenons etc) here in Mumbai.

Looking at the pictures and the amount of people protesting about bangalores traffic, I don't think any car would be able to give you double figure FE in such traffic conditions, My MT returns me above 10-11 easily in city traffic here in Mumbai!

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Originally Posted by KTM_aravind (Post 3860502)

Can some owners comment on the FE of the DSG? it's turned into a pain for us as I have never seen a double digit figure normal city traffic !

I have never experienced any of the problems you have mentioned in my HL DSG. The audio system behaves just fine. There has a been a couple of instances where I had to restart it when it would not connect to my phone but that's about it. No Rattles either.
I drive mostly in Bangalore traffic and the worst FE I have got is 11.36 (Tankful to tankful method). If the traffic is normal (you keep moving albeit slow with the occasional signal stop), I get somewhere around 14 kmpl. I drive with very light foot in D mode and I am in 5th gear by the time I hit 50 kmph.