[bajwasingh]

Originally Posted by druk75

I would definitely agree with your 2nd and 3rd options right away. Spot on....

But I do not think the Cruze is the best (read VFM) diesel car out there in that segment. Of course, its to each his own, but I feel if you are looking at FTD factor, solid build, space, good ride and handling, safety, quality interiors, (well, for me, the list would just go on and on and on... sorry) the Jetta it is. If you like lazy driving, cushion effect, mostly chauffeur driven, great FE, Altis is the one. Get the Fluence for the chicness, solid build, good handling, good economy, and if you want to feel unique. Cruze is a diesel rocket which you go for, if you want brute force, its like an untamed and powerful bear, difficult to keep under reins, but joyful at the same time, and if you are ready to handle the unforgiving clutch, average barking, turbo lag poor FE, and of course the small car feel once inside. Laura you would forget altogether, since there is the elder brother with whom you have peace of mind, (read no horror stories... yet) and a person capable of shelling out 15 lakh plus, wouldn't mind another 40k for the VW badge and the frills attached.

Just my opinion.... please feel free to disagree.

hi all druk 75 we all are free to giv e our opinion because it is a forum ,i agree with whatever you said about the cruze ,but as a cruze owner for the last 1 and a half year i would tend to disagree over the average braking and poor fuel economy comment the cruze definately does not have average braking infact according to teambhp review it has excellent braking and i can vouch for that please compare the braking times of the other cars mentioned , about the fuel econmy it is definately not poor it gives me around 11 in the city with ac on always and on the highway at about 120 kmph it give 14kmpl

[druk75]

Originally Posted by ethanhunt123

I drive a Cedia currently, so you can imagine my reaction to Altis/Fluence IMHO these are cars for my grand-dad, not me !!

Cruze is indeed a rocket - Poor FE doesnt matter as its a diesel and i am used to fuel sipping petrols, clutch is a issue but not too big, i didnt find lag annoying and i will be 100% on driver's seat with 95% only 2 people in the car so back space doesnt concern me.

Laura - Classy looking (as good if not better than Jetta IMHO), interiors are a grade above Jetta. Only issue is i dont want a DSG and MT has detuned engine. I dont think VW badge is worth 40k premium in India over Skoda and as far horror stories are concerned, touchwood but dealers in Blr seem to have a good reputation as well as peace of mind with Skoda Shield. Plus looking at pre-sale experience of VW dealers compared to Skoda dealers gives me far more confidence in buying a Laura over a Jetta.

Having said that, lets not crap this ownership thread with more OT discussions, Jetta is a fine car indeed and lets move our discussion to Jetta review thread !

Really respect your views regarding the Cruze, and didn't want to take the discussion any further, at least not here, as you rightly mentioned. Mods, please delete this post if you feel we are going overboard with this OT discussion. But since bajwasingh has shared his views as well, I thought it appropriate to respond.

About my opinion on the Laura. Since I have lived over a decade in Europe, and mostly during the period when Skoda was just taken over by VW, my views reflect the general regard people had for the marque at the time and since then. Skoda, like Seat is a mass market brand for VW. If you wanted a VW and didn't have the money, you went for a Skoda. VW was more reliable, better quality and much better kitted, more value and better resale value as well. Services were trouble free, quick and transparent. Believe me, I know all this first hand. People trust the Germans with their automobiles over there, and the Germans always delivered. When Skoda came to India, Octys were only taxis in Europe, and the Felicias and the Roomsters were people/load carriers. I know its just me here, but I just cant seem to clear my head of that brand image.

Agreed, a great deal has changed since then, and every company builds cars for a particular market. Skoda makes some wonderful cars for India, with just the opposite philosophy applied here. In India, their cars are more VFM, better quality interiors, loaded with extras compared to VW, though looks are subjective and I prefer the VW looks. But they haven't yet been able to build the credibility, the confidence of the buyer or reliability. (Here I have just formed an opinion from various stories doing the rounds, so I might be wrong). Neither have VW been able to do this to a great extent, but then, they have a legacy, a reputation that goes way back.

So I said, peace of mind. And as I said before, I and most of my peers wouldn't any day mind paying a bit more just to have the VW gracing the front grill rather than a Skoda badge. For that matter, in East Europe even Audis were considered 2nd rung to VW for sometime from the mid eighties to mid nineties. I had an Audi 80 and happily changed it to the Passat at that time. I do not know too much of automobile history or its evolution, and these are purely my views based on personal experiences and that of friends. So kindly excuse me if I do not echo popular sentiments.

And like you mentioned Ethan, touch-wood, the VW dealers here in Cochin are very gracious and forthcoming. Hope it stays that way for the After Sales Service as well.

Originally Posted by bajwasingh

hi all druk 75 we all are free to giv e our opinion because it is a forum ,i agree with whatever you said about the cruze ,but as a cruze owner for the last 1 and a half year i would tend to disagree over the average braking and poor fuel economy comment the cruze definately does not have average braking infact according to teambhp review it has excellent braking and i can vouch for that please compare the braking times of the other cars mentioned , about the fuel econmy it is definately not poor it gives me around 11 in the city with ac on always and on the highway at about 120 kmph it give 14kmpl

Being an owner of the Chevy Aveo for the last 5 years, my first choice once I decided to move a rung up the segment, was the Cruze. Counting on loyalty bonus too. FE IS an issue as it was on the Aveo as well. Americans do not build frugal cars. Maybe they will henceforth. The figures you mention say it all. The company claimed FE is way to ambitious and astray of the actual FE. And if you consider what the competition in the segment offers, the FE is poor. Another point to note is that, I had quiet some time at hand to decide on a car, and (maybe I still got it wrong, only time will tell), I had taken extensive Test Drives under different conditions of all the cars I mentioned in the C+ segment. And the views are my own and from my experiences. I have not taken the braking distance figures of all the cars and compared them on paper, but I did compare them on road. I wont rule out the fact that the Cruze given to me badly needed a brake overhauling, but the SE sitting next to me said this was the "superb braking" the car offers. Again no offence to the owners of the Lauras and the Cruzes and the Fluences and the Altices, but I had to find negatives and zero in on one car. So I may sound biased.

I hope we can now stop this OT discussion here and not spoil this wonderful ownership thread Aurum has created for his Jetta. I definitely am not going to further respond to this. Moderators, please delete this post of its not fit to be here. My apologies to Aurum, and anybody else who felt offended.

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[Aurum]

Originally Posted by silverblue

Slick looking Jetta. Very unique color. Congrats!

Thanks, silverblue.

Originally Posted by ethanhunt123

I wish i knew the answer First couple of weeks, the answer i was getting was - NO TD car sir ! Then next couple of weeks - Sir, we are not sending outside showroom for TD. Then when i land up at the showroom - Sir, car has gone out/in workshop, please schedule a TD by calling up. When i call up to schedule, the lady always takes down my number and tells me someone will call me back, but no one does. Sometimes - Sir we only have a AT for TD, no MT yet; will take 2-3 months to get a MT for TD.

I finally sent a stinker to VW through their website yesterday morning and got a call from VW Downtown in the evening - lady says she will call me today morning and schedule a TD.

Either the 3 dealers are sharing one car for TD or they have only AT for TD or they dont think it's worth the effort to give a TD of Jetta. Anyways thanks to the attitude of the sales guys at VW, Jetta has slipped to the bottom of my shortlist.

Thats a bit unfortunate. Mumbai seems to have a better set of dealers, who are nice at least when they are trying to sell the car. Now that the car is sold, its anyone's guess.

Sorry guys, have been missing from action for the past couple of weeks. Busy weeks, a short trip abroad and illness, all put together, meant that the car got some rest, and so did my T-BHP trips.

Its been just above 900 kms so far. All city driving, and mostly weekday rush-hour traffic. No long trips yet.

On one adventurous Saturday morning, we decided to go to Lonavla, have lunch, and drive back. We got as far as the bridge to Navi Mumbai before we decided that the traffic wasn't worth it. We changed our plans to Matunga (S. Mumbai), lunch, and back. I swore I heard the Jetta cursing under its breath on the drive back home.

Of the 900 Km, its been a 60:40 split between me and my driver. I'm not sure that its the best thing for a car to have two drivers, but I'm hoping that being an automatic, the impact of varying driving styles is lower. Having said that, both of us are similar in driving style. We prefer a more laid-back approach within city at least.

Highlights so far:
- It is a joy to drive, even in rush-hour traffic! I use the Bandra Worli sealink everyday, which is where the car is most at home. You can almost feel the car relaxing as it goes faster, and the brakes bite beautifully. You have to do something really stupid to scare occupants in this car. (Like leaving the seat belts around your two year old's car seat loose, causing it to keel over just when you think you've done a beautifully tight corner. Guys, I've already got a earful for this, so please excuse.)

- The gearbox is divine. When you push the pedal a bit hard, the initial downshift has a slight delay, almost like the car is asking you, "are you sure you want to do this?" Once you say yes with your foot acting as your mouth, she gives it to you. She downshifts, pushes you back in your seat, and then upshifts to sixth in practically no time when you are in D. In S, it keeps you at the back of your seat for longer. Longer lasting pleasure.

- Please check the tyre pressure after you take delivery of the car. I have made repeated comments about how the low-speed ride is a bit stiff. I now know that this was purely because of the 41-42 psi pressure in the tyres on the TD cars and on delivery. Reducing the tyre pressure to 34 significantly reduces the feedback to your cheeks. If I dare say, it feels a bit Jap... No, I dare not say it.

- the average mileage so far is 12 kmpl. This is mostly city rush-hour, so I expect it to (read, hope it will) improve. I had a bit of a scary moment when I filled her up the second time. The first time was just out of the dealer. No problems there. The second one was close to my house. Immediately after filling, when I started the engine, it started vibrating like I remember the old Indicas doing. For a couple of days, the vibration was bad enough to make me feel nauseous. (I probably felt sicker because it was happening to the car). It gradually felt like it was coming down, or maybe I got used to it. As soon as I had finished a third of the tank, I refilled it at a more trusted place, and the car feels better now. Its just a hum as it should be, though I always have the creeping feeling that it was even quieter earlier. Now I'm not sure if a large mid-city pump like Patel Auto will mess with the diesel, but I'm not going there again.

- The boot is huge, and the slot from the rear seat into it is very useful. Keeps the inside of the car clutter free, while giving you the flexibility to access the baby bag when you need it.

- The music system is pretty good. I probably had low expectations. I have been hearing all kinds of music on it and it comes out trumps. The touchscreen UI is a bit underwhelming once you have used modern smartphones. Less responsive, and more laggy than one would like.

- The car doesnt have footwell lights, as far as I can tell, or I dont know how to turn them on. I think the earlier Jetta had them. Noticed that when I saw VW2010's thread. I dont really miss them, but would have been nice to have.

- The red backlight is beautiful at night, especially on the steering wheel. Everything useful is very thoughtfully lit up. There are a couple of LEDs in the roof near the goggles holder, that point downwards towards the gear shift. Not sure what they do.

- There is a slight creaking behind the rear seat on the rear shelf, which I am still to find the source of. I first thought that it was the lid of the ISOFIX car seat hooks, but now that I have closed those properly, there is still a bit of creaking I hear.

- I have asked the building car wash wallas not to wash the car daily with water. Its usually a daily dry rub. They always leave marks on the windscreen. On weekends, its washed with water, and inside.

- I find myself relying a bit on the parking sensor nowadays, though I always tell myself its a bad habit.

- There is a MID setting which adjusts the ORVMs symmetrically. The way it works is that if you adjust the right mirror, it symmetrically adjusts the left. I was really confused about this the first few days. I have now figured out how to switch away from that.

Thats all I can think of right now. Overall, I'm loving the car more every day, and am just looking for an excuse to drive. Interior pictures this weekend, God promise!

[Aurum]

Here are the interior pics that have been pending for some time.

The super comfortable good grip steering wheel. You can feel the quality when you hold it. The phone button doesnt work. The bottom left button be used to pause the audio system. Still no sign of the bluetooth accessory.


Took this photo just when you twist the key. The MID is in some kind of display transition between the Welcome sign and normal display. A lot of the dashboard lights are on, which go off in a second. The ECU is doing some checks, I guess. The dials sweep when you start the car.


The Captains seat. Very good thigh and lumbar support. Still keep tinkering with the settings on height, back rest and steering column to get the right laid-back feel. With the weather in Mumbai these days, leather/ leatherette is not my favourite seat material.


The rear bench space. This is what really sealed my decision. Its why I didnt buy the last gen Jetta, and one of the reasons the Laura falls short for me. The lights on top are individual for each user.


The 3D mats for the Laura fit the front footwell pretty well. There is also little chance of the mat getting stuck under the throttle pedal. Rudra's point on the lack of dead pedal space is bang on. There isnt enough space for a large foot like mine to rest on.



At the back, you can see that the 3D mats are a bit small.


The centre column. It is angled ever so slightly towards the driver for easier access to controls. Theres a small dot sensor/LED on the top right of the stereo (you cant see it in the snap). Have been wondering what it is for. Those two black things you see in the bottom right are some super cheap sun screens I bought on the road. The ACC isnt there, but the current switches are of good quality. While on this topic, I have noticed that the outside temperature sensor errs on the slightly higher side. its shown me 40 deg C in the last couple of days when I'm sure it musnt have been more than 36 or 37. Not sure how an ACC on this thing would work.


The optical parking system. Its pretty good. I am starting to rely on it a bit, though I keep telling myself I shouldnt. The volume of the stereo reduces when reverse gear is engaged.


The red backlight on the buttons is beautiful. I like it simply because its different.


There are these two red LEDs on the top, which shine down on the gear stalk. Guess its for lighting at night.


The lighting switches. You see the headlamp levellers on the left. According to the manual, there are some models with auto headlamp levellers, which dont need this switch.


There are lots of small things I have missed. The rear cup holders, AC column, boot etc. which I hope to cover later. Feel free to shoot questions.

[Aurum]

This might be useful for new or prospective Jetta owners. Went to the workshop today and had a look at the mobile touch adapter kit that comes as an accessory (for around Rs 14k) for the new Jetta. Its the touchscreen one that you can see on this link.

Volkswagen Zubehör.*Mobile calls with all your senses.

From what I understand, it serves most of my needs:
- It is bluetooth connected, for both phone and music
- It is integrated with the stereo, and so incoming calls etc. should automatically mute the music
- You can see your phone book on the touchscreen, and dial directly from there

The one thing it doesn't do is connect to the phone button on the steering wheel. There might be an ugly wire to the dashboard as well, which connects to the touchscreen. The mic looks pretty discreet.

I think I will probably go in for this one sometime next week. The workshop guys have never installed this before, so my car is kind of a guinea pig. Hope they don't screw it up.

The whole setup appears to be a VW modified version of the Bury CC-9060.

CC-9060-Plus_Manual_EN.pdf

[druk75]

This looks like the bluetooth adapter kit I saw at the showroom. It too cost 14 k. But this does not connect to the steering wheel switches. So it just works like any after market blth kit. Still would love to have it. Do post your experience with it, once you install it.

[Aurum]

Originally Posted by druk75

This looks like the bluetooth adapter kit I saw at the showroom. It too cost 14 k. But this does not connect to the steering wheel switches. So it just works like any after market blth kit. Still would love to have it. Do post your experience with it, once you install it.

You're right, it does not connect to the steering wheel. However, there should be a couple of differences from aftermarket bluetooth kits the way I understand:
- This shouldn't hog the aux input port, so that should still be available. The connection will be internal.
- This should be well integrated enough to mute/ pause the current audio when a call comes through. Not sure how aftermarket kits handle that.

Apart from that, it is pretty much the same, I guess.

BTW, I'm talking about the aftermarket ones which don't void your warranty. The ones which do, even integrate with the steering wheel.

[DeKay]

Hi Aurum,
Does you jetta have a hydraulic type boot which pops open all the way up automatically when you pull the button for the boot release? I had checked out a jetta comfortline a while back and it had that feature, but then today, I just returned from a VW dealership and checked out a DSG, but it didn't seem to have that feature.

Note-What I mean is, NOT a hydraulic, LIKE a hydraulic.

[Aurum]

Originally Posted by DeKay

Hi Aurum,
Does you jetta have a hydraulic type boot which pops open all the way up automatically when you pull the button for the boot release? I had checked out a jetta comfortline a while back and it had that feature, but then today, I just returned from a VW dealership and checked out a DSG, but it didn't seem to have that feature.

Note-What I mean is, NOT a hydraulic, LIKE a hydraulic.

No, DeKay. It doesn't. Its only the latch which releases. You still have to pull up the lid yourself. The last gen comfort-line may have had that. I did test-drive that, but don't remember this particular feature. VW2010 or vb-san are probably best placed to tell you about the last gen Jetta.

[Aurum]

I stand partially corrected on this Dekay. On my car, you have to nudge the boot lid slightly and then it goes up all the way. Apparently, you shouldn't have to. Will be getting this checked.

[DeKay]

Originally Posted by Aurum

I stand partially corrected on this Dekay. On my car, you have to nudge the boot lid slightly and then it goes up all the way. Apparently, you shouldn't have to. Will be getting this checked.

Yes, I definitely think you should get this checked. Because, I clearly remember the boot popping open all the way up when I test drive the comfortline. Do keep us updated and wish you many happy miles with your car

[Akki_5]

Originally Posted by Aurum

There are these two red LEDs on the top, which shine down on the gear stalk. Guess its for lighting at night.
Attachment 831102

Yes, that's for ambient lighting at night.
You could see this thread for more info on VAG cars: http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/long-t...g-vag-com.html

[shashank.nk]

Aurum congrats on your Jetta, excellent choice of colour! Jetta truly is a very good car, sat in one yesterday and was impressed with the rear seat space. We almost decided to trade-in our Octy for the Jetta AT but then sense prevailed, and its now postponed.

Will stay glued to your thread, especially on how the DSG does in the long-run.

[vkaul1]

Originally Posted by Aurum

This might be useful for new or prospective Jetta owners. Went to the workshop today and had a look at the mobile touch adapter kit that comes as an accessory (for around Rs 14k) for the new Jetta. Its the touchscreen one that you can see on this link.

Volkswagen Zubehör.*Mobile calls with all your senses.

From what I understand, it serves most of my needs:
- It is bluetooth connected, for both phone and music
- It is integrated with the stereo, and so incoming calls etc. should automatically mute the music
- You can see your phone book on the touchscreen, and dial directly from there

The one thing it doesn't do is connect to the phone button on the steering wheel. There might be an ugly wire to the dashboard as well, which connects to the touchscreen. The mic looks pretty discreet.

I think I will probably go in for this one sometime next week. The workshop guys have never installed this before, so my car is kind of a guinea pig. Hope they don't screw it up.

The whole setup appears to be a VW modified version of the Bury CC-9060.

Attachment 832410

Hi Aurum first of all let me congratulate you for your excellent buy. I had been following your thread & am also now a proud owner of a Highline AT - albeit in black colour.

Did you finally get the bluetooth adapter installed?

[DeKay]

Aurum,
Have you experienced any creaks or rattles in your car?