[androdev]

Originally Posted by Sudden123

Given all this, Jetta it is.

Hey definitely good choice among the three cars you mentioned, also the best car in its class/price-range IMO.

If you really fancy owning A3, etc. I would say bite the bullet now and check any good deals on A4/3-series range cars. The reason I say is that you won't be able to upgrade from Jetta very easily. After owning Jetta, you will be forced to skip A4 type of cars next time leaving you to stretch till A6 type of cars. So in case you and your family enjoy owning a luxury brand, now maybe the good time :-)

In short by picking up Jetta, you are saying my next upgrade shall be A6 range car. It is a huge compliment to Jetta, btw - but if you feel the itch for a premium brand you are at a lower price point to experiment (relatively).

Happen to see your signature of owning Corolla Altis, proceed with caution :-)

Edit: Why do I recommend A4-range instead of A3? Luxury starts with space and comfort, that's why.

[Santoshbhat]

Originally Posted by androdev

Hey definitely good choice among the three cars you mentioned, also the best car in its class/price-range IMO.

If you really fancy owning A3, etc. I would say bite the bullet now and check any good deals on A4/3-series range cars. The reason I say is that you won't be able to upgrade from Jetta very easily. After owning Jetta, you will be forced to skip A4 type of cars next time leaving you to stretch till A6 type of cars. So in case you and your family enjoy owning a luxury brand, now maybe the good time :-)

In short by picking up Jetta, you are saying my next upgrade shall be A6 range car. It is a huge compliment to Jetta, btw - but if you feel the itch for a premium brand you are at a lower price point to experiment (relatively).

Happen to see your signature of owning Corolla Altis, proceed with caution :-)

Edit: Why do I recommend A4-range instead of A3? Luxury starts with space and comfort, that's why.

You hit the nail on the head Androdev. Once you own Jetta/ Octavia/ Laura kind of cars, its very hard to justify buying A4/C/3.

I always dreamt of owning a Bimmer 3. We have a Laura at home which replaced a Corolla. The 3 just doesn't make any sense anymore and I hate that. The Passat and Superb aren't really fun to drive and I will really miss the FTD factor of my modded Laura TSI. As the years roll by, so many other equations creep in. You are not just buying the car for yourself anymore!

Coming to the A6/5/E class, here again I don't know how practical these cars are with their long wheelbase, low GC, delicate underbody, no spare wheel kind of problems. And I hate SUVs , I am a sedan guy .

Its going to be a tough time come car upgrade time for me, the car loving, SUV hating, Laura owing, family guy, residing in Bangalore (the city of speed breakers).

[noopster]

Originally Posted by androdev

If you really fancy owning A3, etc. I would say bite the bullet now and check any good deals on A4/3-series range cars. The reason I say is that you won't be able to upgrade from Jetta very easily. After owning Jetta, you will be forced to skip A4 type of cars next time leaving you to stretch till A6 type of cars.

@Sudden123- please be careful taking advice from this guy- he set out to replace his Laura L&K with a Yeti or X1 and ended up buying the... Mercedes S350 of course! .

Seriously though, Jetta is the sensible choice. Fellow mod Ajmat has the 2.0 diesel with the 6-speed manual in that awesome metallic brown shade and it feels premium. Despite my own vote for the A3, it is the exact antithesis of a sensible car and the lowest trim definitely holds no "attraction" (talk about ironic variant naming!)

All the best and do keep us posted on your thought process.

[androdev]

Originally Posted by noopster

@Sudden123- please be careful taking advice from this guy..

Ha ha.. but seriously though for those who can afford it and are passionate about cars, a luxury brand is always tempting. Affordability is the key here, I don't know the OP well enough. If I was not driving Laura L&K that time, I would have been very impressed with a corporate edition of 3-series and got my kicks and exited with just some 30L write off. Since I had a Laura L&K, it was very difficult to find an entry level BMW/Merc,etc. car that was convincing enough to buy. I would expect most of the Jetta/Octavia highline customers to experience similar dilemma as mine. Mine was an overkill but I did it mainly because I imagined enjoying the car with the family which is working out exactly as I had hoped. The bills are yet to hit me hard but the craving has stopped

I did say "proceed with caution" :-)

[VeyronSuperSprt]

Having driven both (fairly extensively), just a short note of my impressions on the Octavia and the Jetta:

Octavia:

Engine: The Octavia’s engine although the same 2.0 TDI is a considerable improvement over the earlier Laura’s 2.0 TDI engine in that you can almost drive it like you can a petrol or you can ride the torgue wave if you are feeling lazy. There is no turbo lag worth mentioning either. The engine feels far more responsive than the Laura’s and overtaking in any situation is a breeze.

Handling: One of my biggest apprehensions with the Octavia was with respect to its size and the effect it would have in congested areas or the difficulty to squeeze through tight gaps. However driving the car proved otherwise as the car could be squeezed through tight gaps without batting an eyelid and tight overtaking situations could be executed extremely easily. In fact it feels smaller than the Laura and even the Rapid and far more nimble and that is a real advantage on the road.

Drawbacks: I do not think that it has the stability of the Laura, forget about the Jetta, as that is in a completely different league. High speed braking does not give you the confidence that the Laura and (though I hate to say it) even that of the Rapid! I believe that the slightly smaller sized tyre (for this power and size of car) with the revised suspension are the culprits and a proper tyre change should help clear this situation.

Jetta:

Handling: Have you ever driven a solid piece of rock before? If not, drive the Jetta, and you’ll know how that feels. Forget the Octavia, even the A4 and 3 series don’t come anywhere close in terms of rock solid stability. Only the E would come anywhere close. It’s stability is that good. Play around anywhere and with the current 2.0 TDI you will never lose control unless you’ve decided to fly off a cliff. The Jetta has also a very comfortable suspension and you could forget how the “thud” of falling into a pothole felt.

Engine: After driving the Octavia, the Jetta feels S..L..O..W. Yes, the extra 500 rpm of the Octavia along with the weight advantage makes it’s responses seem far better even though it may be the same 2.0 TDI. Acceleration timings show that the Octavia is 4 seconds faster to 140 kmph and that is substantial. The Jetta has to be driven like the earlier Laura and overtaking needs a lot more planning than the Octavia.

Drawbacks: The Jetta is not as manoverable as the Octavia. It is heavier and you cannot throw it around as you can the Octavia. Heck, you can never throw the Jetta around, it is after all a solid piece of rock. The Jetta is anything but nimble in comparison to the Octavia. The other drawback is the engine which certainly feels sluggish in comparison to the Octavia.

So there you have it between the Jetta and Octavia:

Octavia – Faster car, better handling,
Jetta – Rock solid stability, Comfort levels.

[GTO]

Originally Posted by Sudden123

I found the Skoda sales dealers very strange. They dont seem to show enthusiasm to sell the Octavia elegance for some reason. I had to chase them every time. They were hell bent on selling Rapid. Can you believe it? I though sales guys did upselling. May be their margins are more on Rapid?

Reason = Stock pileup. Octavia is an easy sell and Superbs don't come in high numbers. But Skoda dealers are sitting on a sizeable stock of old Rapids. Dealership management imposes hard targets to move these cars, otherwise gathering dust in the yard.

[Diesel_convert]

When I drove the Octavia, the immediate feeling was that of a car that feels chuckable. I think the steering rack is quite quick in that car.

A quick google revealed the jetta has 3 turns lock to lock vs the new octavia's 2.7.

The MQB platform has been receiving rave reviews for its handling prowess and is the current platform,the jetta's PQ35 is a decade old now.
I would strongly suggest the Octavia for that reason alone.

I would be vary of the Octavia's spares prices though.

[Shadowbane]

Originally Posted by Sudden123

Given all this, Jetta it is.

Good choice, but before you put your money down, do enquire if there are any Passats still lying around in their stockyard or if they can procure one from somewhere else, you might get it for a steal! If you do manage to get one, you'd have nailed the A3 v Octavia v Jetta debate.

[satya180]

If I were you, I would go fot the Jetta HighLine. Reasons being:

1) For me a badge, but interiors matter more. I would always choose a feature laden top- end variant of a car rather than the base variant of a bigger car. Interior accessories can be added later, but stock is stock.

2) A HighLine Jetta will always put a smile on your face and your passengers face (if it matters) thanks to the features and premium feel.

3) The A3 will give you the prestige of owning an Audi. But only at the cost of living with the fact that despite being a luxury car owner, the car is smaller, has lesser features and will be more expensive to maintain than the Jetta. It will always feel like a compromise.

4) Even thought the Octavia has the MQB platform, I ruled it out purely on the basis of service quality. A few of my friends own Skodas and each service is a new horror story.

If a badge is all that matters, go for the A3. But if you want to enjoy our car with a smile on your face every time you drive it, the Jetta is for you.

[AirWind]

The 2.0 CL at 19L is a real VFM and I'm planning to get one soon... and
1. Laugh at the 21.5L Jetta HL
2. Giggle at the 22L Octavia Ambition and
3. Grin at the 29L entry level A3

[Kanboy]

VW group of cars are marred with problems from tiny Diesel High Pressure Metal pipes bursting to CR systems giving up, and how can we forget the famous Air Conditioning problem in which the compressor has to give up every 60,000 kms or two years in any of the group cars. After driving my Jetta for a lakh kms in 3.2 years am quite over the badge and Reputation stigma. Now i look for durability as, when any of these parts give up we need to wait at least for 2 weeks for our cars to be given back due to non availability of fast moving parts, which are called in from Pune. VW group may make durable cars for the World but they are an utmost failure in India as they have very expensive to maintain, and if something goes wrong you are without a vehicle for a very long time. I feel like a fool for going in for a bigger engine over the Corolla, . But 1 thing for sure which i can highly vouch for. Man they are simply awesome to drive hands down...at any speeds that car will not make you feel out of control, or uncomfortable.

[animeshb]

I feel that the A3 is not really in the league of the Octavia and the Jetta. It's significantly smaller and is quite expensive when you want all the features. I have a 2 year old Laura TSI which I really wish to retain and will soon be in the hunt for another car to replace my 6.5 year old Ford Fusion 1.6. I can't really look beyond a top specced Octy TSI at around 25L at the moment unless Octy RS comes in soon. It does feel a bit stupid to own two generations of the same make though!

With all Skoda ASS horror stories (and also Ford) - I on the other hand have had a good experience till now - no overcharging, promised when delivered, etc.

[Passiautonate]

Congrats with Jetta- I must congratulate and say it's a balanced choice among the alternatives.

As your daily run is 90Kms you need all the niceties to keep it as pleasurable as possible. Also you can always move to back seat (chauffeured) when feel like. Not sure you could have got the best of both Worlds in A3.

All the best!

[Axe77]

Originally Posted by VeyronSuperSprt

Jetta:


Engine: After driving the Octavia, the Jetta feels S..L..O..W. Yes, the extra 500 rpm of the Octavia along with the weight advantage makes it’s responses seem far better even though it may be the same 2.0 TDI. Acceleration timings show that the Octavia is 4 seconds faster to 140 kmph and that is substantial. The Jetta has to be driven like the earlier Laura and overtaking needs a lot more planning than the Octavia.

So there you have it between the Jetta and Octavia:

Octavia – Faster car, better handling,
Jetta – Rock solid stability, Comfort levels.

Originally Posted by GTO

Between all 3, I'd buy the Jetta. The VW feels better built (the MQB platform is cheaper & lighter) and has that multi-link rear which leads to superior ride & handling. Of course, my choice is specific to the 2.0 diesel which is fast, torquey and fuel-efficient.

Can anyone shed more light on this please? I haven't driver either.

In terms of engine performance and speed, is their really such a wide difference between the Skoda and the Jetta that the latter feels slow? If this is true, then my vote would go to the Octavia. If the difference is nominal, I'd pick the Jetta.

In terms of looks, I'm also a big fan of clean timelessly styled cars (no fluidic for me). I think the Jetta looks great and the Octavia even better. Plus the notchback boot really appeals to me in terms of its usability.

Needless to say, I wouldn't touch the A3 unless I was specifically looking for a premium AND compact car.

[Sudden123]

Originally Posted by AirWind

The 2.0 CL at 19L is a real VFM and I'm planning to get one soon... and
1. Laugh at the 21.5L Jetta HL
2. Giggle at the 22L Octavia Ambition and
3. Grin at the 29L entry level A3

Hi. can you clarify which car are you referring as 2.0 CL?