[rohitm]

Fab review . Clearly a better car than the outgoing Jetta.

Skoda are you listening, i want a 140bhp Fuel Map on my Manual Laura!

[Raosaheb Desai]

Great review of not so great car.
VW praises its new DSG box (improved compare to old version) but response to kick down at speeds above 80 seems lethargic. Feels same as our laura DSG.
No xenons even in fully loaded version is surprising.

[ghodlur]

Rudrasen,

Thanks a lot for those wonderful pics, they made my day. As usual expected a crisp and detailed review and got one. Particulary liked the shark finned antenna, lookes super cool.

Does Jetta provide the competition to the Skoda Superb then? It seems Laura cant dent this one.

[suhaas307]

Classy, understated, subtle, are some of the words that pop into my head when I look at the new Jetta.

It looks a lot like the Vento, especially from the front. Even the bumper-air-dam styling looks like a carry-over.

VW should have offered the Jetta with some more features though. The lack of auto-climate-control is a huge surprise, especially when it's available on the cheaper and lesser Vento.

And what's stopping VW from offering goodies like a sunroof, ACC, etc, at least on the Highline? I don't get it.

EDIT: Thank you Rudraji, for those fantastic photos and a great review! Loved the wide-angle-lens photographs!

[v.anand]

Awesome review. It took long to come, but definitely woth the wait. Thanks to Rudra Sen, the pictures in this review are the best among all TBHP official reviews IMO.

About the car, I had a look at it in the showroom and found the looks a bit of a disappointment. There is too much Polo/Vento on the outside with the similar looking front and same door handles. Being a Laura owner the interiors are a huge let down apart from the space at the back. The old Jetta had lot more felt lining than Laura in all storage cubicles and this one has them a lot less. It was those little inconspicuous things which made the interiors a special place, in spite of the boring looking design from the pictures. Laura has soft touch panels on the front door trims and like rightly pointed out, Jetta feels hard. Even the front and rear arm rests and opening to access boot from inside look and feel cheap. Overall, it unfortunately lacks the plushness one generally associates with a mid-premium VW. Its always a given that VWs drive well and no disputing that aspect with this car at all.

The new Jetta is certainly a good addition to the segment but need to see how it works selling alongside its close cousin Laura.

[jacksons]

Great review with neat and crisp pictures. Climate control missing in upper segment car than Vento, can't digest. otherwise looking very decent car.

[xingamazon]

Rudra / GTO.

Really great review written with very good detail. Thanks for the review.

Question: The accelarator seems to be connected from underneath is that right, I did not see any connection from the top of accelerator peddle. Is that right?
Was it same way for the older model?
If that is the case how is play of the accelarator, does the angle differ if its connected from bottom?

Observation: It is one to have a "Design Elements" for your car. One recognizes the Ford's Kinectic Design elements very nicely.
But this is taking the Design elements to its hilt extent of hating it. You just cant copy paste a design elements for all the cars, looks err odd.

[avisidhu]

Great review Rudra/GTO. Overall the new Jetta seems like a decent enough package.

Unfortunately, VW doesn't seem to have realised what goes in a customer's mind in India while purchasing a premium vehicle. For each instance where a customer decides not to buy this vehicle, VW should ask whether resemblance with the Vento was a factor. They will be surprised, very surprised.

[Santoshbhat]

Thanks for review and the wonderful pictures.

VW will not hear the end of similarity of the looks with the Vento! The design itself is otherwise brilliant. Those clean sharp lines will never look dated and will age very well.

The fact that the centre storage does not serve as an armrest is a little disconcerting. Same with climate control. Mid-segment and higher car owners are used to these things and not having one can tilt the purchase decision in favour of the competition, what with so many choices available.

Those black seat belts look very ugly on the all beige interiors.

Good overall package. Skoda, you better watch out.

[SkyWalker]

beauty of a review Rudra!
Looks like a great car, too bad the price is on the higher side, despite evident cost cutting.

[shuvc]

Thanks ! Was looking forward to this review.

I like the looks of this version. Looking similar to the Passat/Vento is much better than looking like and Indigo ! Also it's now more 'proportionate' than the prev version. The rear tail lamps still remind me of the old-old Accord. The current family look is a tad bland. For eg, the prev gen Passat looked more 'aggressive'.

Is the spare a full size wheel/tyre?

Btw, in the variant comparo with other cars, should not the Renault diesel be listed as an entry level variant?

[lamboguy]

Awesome review! I just hope I can even come close to this when i write my initial ownership review of the New Jetta when it gets delivered to me this month! Photography is amazing!!

Just a musing though (please excuse if it sounds stupid),

The Engine Specs of the new 140PS TDI power house of the Jetta are identical to those of the Audi A4 2.0 (attached). But my question is, is the real life performance even comparable between the two VW Group babies?

(Data picked up from carwale(dot)com and verified from Jetta and Audi A4 e- brochure)

[nik_kapur]

Thanks for a wonderful review as always guys. The car is indeed awesome, but with some crucial features like ACC and Bluetooth missing, im tempted to go in for a Cruze. The Cruze update due in Diwali will get a Bluetooth im told by a dealer. When one spends 20 L, one is looking for all the comfort features i believe and no ACC is a disgrace.

The car may be a much better drive than the cruze, but how many people are enthusiasts really? I am but i guess 90% of the buyers arent and they will appreciate features more than handling. Besides, how does VW explain having ACC on the vento and not the Jetta? No other car in its class or even classes below come without the option of ACC.

[S350L-E240]

Wonderful review Sir, How have you been? Its been a few years we last spoke, coming to the car I have a 1.9 TDI DSG previous generation Jetta, and believe me a lot has been spoken about the new car not having plastics of high quality, while they may feel rough, they are a lot more durable compared to the Jetta I have, trust me some of the soft touch materials have now started peeling off in cracks, and now it's all white under it.

I would much rather prefer the new plastics which will last longer than to make me smile for the first time I get the car.

I think this is the best car in it's segment, features may come and go, but it's the entire package of engine / dynamics / gearbox / safety / appeal / over all experience that matters a lot more then not having the ACC or Memory seats. Yes opinions differ but none of the omissions are worth not buying this car for,

10/10 for the review.

Regards,

[Jaggu]

Excellent review and brilliant pictures as usual. Am a big fan of this understated look, wish it had projectors and some LED's in it to give it the "bling" effect also.

Regarding the leatherette seats, is it VW going eco friendly by any chance?