Team-BHP (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/)

-   Test-Drives & Initial Ownership Reports (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/test-drives-initial-ownership-reports/)

-   -   Less is More - VW Jetta Highline MT (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/test-drives-initial-ownership-reports/120140-less-more-vw-jetta-highline-mt.html)

What I like:

1: Depth of engineering - few but well thought out features

2: Linear power delivery, punchy diesel

3: Excellent driving position and ergonomics

4: Discreet, timeless looks

5: Capable, unruffled handling

6: Solid build quality



What I don't like

1: Not at plush as previous Jetta

2: Not as tactile, involving as my vRS and Vtec

3: Bit too clever - electronics interfere with what you want to do occasionally

4: Dim witted stereo selection, no bluetooth

Early April, I took the plunge and decided on a Jetta. Even I am very surprised!

My earlier comments posted around were "looked like a Vento", "does not look that much of an upgrade from the Skoda".

My policy of changing cars every 50000km was long overdue. I decided I needed to look into this and started the hunt in December. I was looking for

1: Good handling
2: Punchy performance
3: Good quality

New or secondhand were not the criteria. What were considered?

1: Skoda Yeti

This was on top of my list - handling, rough roads capability, good build quality, decent stowage room. It ticked all the boxes. Went to the showroom and although I liked the car, something was bugging me.

Went to Vinayak twice. First test drive went ok, performance was good but dull after the vRS (unrealistic expectation). It handled well but high centre of gravity dulled things. Driving position and comfort was not totally right. Okay, it is an SUV and you need to expect compromises.

What did it in was the quality of the interior. I felt the Octavia had a more solid if spartan dashboard. The beige hard plastic door pads killed it for me.

To double check if I was not being picky, I took fellow mod Viddy with me for a another test drive. I managed to get comfortable and more at ease but the interior still did not gel. Bumped into Androdev who mirrored my viewpoint during a test drive

2: Skoda Superb Manual

Was loitering at TAFE Hosur Road and looked at the Superb. It had loads of kit and with the attractive discounts, made a compelling proposition. Frumpy looks and its sheer length put me off as also potential resale

3: Skoda Laura TSI/ vRS - new/used

Viddy and I tested a used TSI Ambient. It had strong performance but this was a poverty spec model without fog lights, etc. I felt it was no upgrade. Again the interior quality is down a notch on the Octavia and it was too beige for me!.

The performance was strong but not eventful unlike my vRS where you feel the turbo kicking in. so 1.8 TSi was eliminated. Add to that the Laura is in the last year or so of production. I must also add that the build quality is not as good as the Octavia

What was the final straw was my experience with Vinayak which I will discuss when the time is right. So Skoda got a lower priority

Renault Fluence

An excellent car but no performance/ power. The interiors of this car sealed the fate of the Yeti since we literally jumped from the Fluence into the Yeti

BMW 320d

I could have stretched added with tempting financial packages but lack of space and spare wheel were deal breakers. We had difficulties putting 5 people in a 5 series so imagine what the 3 could accomodate. Add to that, the 3 is not too exclusive nowadays so prices will suffer sooner or later

Used 530d/ 525d E60

My ideal choice but none realistically priced

Used Audi A6 3.0T

This was in Delhi but local lifetime tax plus difficulty when selling it on took this out

Audi A4

CVT box whined me away

New VW Passat

I could have tried to stretch to a Comfortline but the beige interior is overdone The Highline black interior is the one to have. Also it is not involving and size is too big for me

Old Passat 1.8 TSi used

I enquired about one but it went for Rs 17 Lakhs. I might have been tempted even though it was big.

Old BMW 325 E46

This was a wild card for sale in Hyderabad, later hear that it had gearbox issues also old man and family have discouraged me from mature germans

Chevrolet Cruze

Lots of kit, performance but driving dynamics and finish let it done


Used Honda Accord

Many tempting propositions but beyond straight line performance, I was underwhelmed. Also there is a huge oversupply in the used car market


Hyundai Sonata

I wanted a car, not a sofa, also it is the automotive equivalent of having silver teeth

Not much else then?

The only car worth pondering was the VW Jetta. I had tested one in November and I was neutral about it. This was at VW Palace Cross. the salesperson there was very professional. I pondered on waiting for the petrol. I later found that a 1.8TSI will not be forthcoming and it would be the 1.4 TSI. I decided, with the budget coming and vw about to raise prices by 5%, it was now or never!

I decided on a Toffee Brown Comfortline. I was not keen on electric seats and thefact that I could upgrade the stereo later on was my line of thinking. Called VW Palace Cross. The salesman that I dealt with had left the organisation. The sales manager told me that the Jetta will take 3 months and ...thats it. No attempt to see/ keep you warm/ upgrade.

Thank you very much!!w

I had the card of a salesmen in VW Downtown called Zafar whom I had met when looking at the Jetta. I called him up. He was not sure on what was available but promised a call back which he did. He rang back to say thay had a manual toffee brown Highline but no Comfortlines which are due only in May. He then told me that with expected budget trends. the Comfortline would cost almost the same as the Highline when it comes and consider stretching my budget. I groaned while stretching so got a corporate discount and floormats. All in all I paid about Rs 50000 more than if I bought a Comfortline today.

I also visited VW Hosur road (yes they are the same). Salesman was offering a similar deal in another form but his knowledge and facts were up the pole. I managed to view the entire inventory list. I also found out that the only Jetta's for sale were all Highlines. 2 whites AT's and this car Plenty of Passats sitting in the yard. I decided to go with Zafar. He knew his facts and got answers for my questions. I took another test drive in the AT and found the car was responsive. I was not sure about the thrumming coming from the DSG box.

Put a deposit down and spent a few days getting the finance together. Come March 20th, the car was ready for delivery.

Delivery was promised at 3.00PM but the process stretched a bit since they needed to find the sales manager to formally hand car over. They were miffed that I had not brought my family along to pick up car.

Car was well presented. Everything was covered in plastic included steering and dash. I got all that removed. Only 38km on the clock whic reflected distance from stock yard and registration. Car was well presented and no demerits were found. I was introduced to the service head and customer relationship manager.

Zafar showed me all the car features and gave a thorough orientation. Once done and the sales maanger was located. The keys, flowers, chocolates and car was handed over.

Initial impressions of car were that it was smooth, refined but stiff. It needed to be used. After taking my family for a joy ride, I ended up storing it as I had a Skoda to sort out.

During the weekend, both cars went in to 3M. The skoda for a rejuvenation and the VW for paint protection and light sunfilm

Initial Impressions

I have been using the VW more regularly as I did not want to put too many miles on the Skoda. The car is a lot bigger than it looks. The length means I really need to find larger parking spaces. The mirrors are well sized and they fold.

Driving position is spot on. The electric adjustment does allow micro adjustments. I wish there was a memory setting.

Gear shift is precise but clutch is a bit heavy

The handling of the car is impressive. The car holds corners well. On the Shiradi Ghats, it was in its element. The rough road ability is tremendous, The ride height, coupled with short travel suspension ensures it never bottoms out. The ride is firm.

A drawback is that the electric power steering reduces a bit of the feel. The immense grip and lack of drama does dull things a bit though. No drama, no fuss.

Braking is excellent if lacking in feel

Space and stowage is good. the door pockets are large and central arm rest holds a lost. I wish there was a ticket holder as in the Skoda and the passenger seat drawers as in the Laura

Performance is linear, bags of usable torque. The biggest danger is that you go faster than you realize. Passengers realize this more than you.

Ergonomics are excellent, The stereo is a bit fiddly. Touchscreen needs to be stabbed to get a response and scrolling is slow and a big distraction. A tip is to plan your music and your route well in advance. Sound quality is quite good except at higher volumes when distortion sets in . A small sub and good speakers can improve on this but not just yet!




I did not care for the wheels on the white Jetta but in Brown, it contrasts nicely. They also do not get dirty and are easy to clean

Dislikes

As I mentioned, the stereo is fiddly if you have a voluminous collections

The lack of climate control will see you adjusting as and when

Too many fail safe electronic interventions. The parking lights do not come on if indicators stalk was on when car was switched off. The cruise control switches off when you change gear, especially required when climbing mild gradients.

4th, 5th and 6th gears are a bit high. I have only used 6th once on one highway

The car is tough

I drove it one day on 80foot road, indiranagar. A bike comes, swerves, rider falls off, bikes spins on ground and smashes into front bumper. The fog light fairing falls off else nothing except a slight dislodged bumper, a loose parking sensor and a few scratches. Biker was injured and had a split eyebrow


A coconut palm fell on car and left a 50 paise dia dent on car

Compared to the Skoda, the Jetta can munch miles, potholes, bad roads with ease. The strong midrange torque makes it less frantic thant the Skoda. I do miss the lusty turbo kick of the Skoda and the direct feedback, The pliant suspension and overhangs made the Skoda a handful on rough roads

The car has just completed a weekend to Bekal. We went via Madikere and it really steered through well despite the bundh. I averaged 17km/l. On return, I went via Mangalore, engine was worked hard to overtake gas tankers on the Shiralli Ghats. That plus spirited driving after Kunigal saw consumption fall to 13.

All in all, I made the right choice for me. Decent size, solid build, excellent driving dynamics and a fuel efficient engine. I do not feel shortchanged as I thought I would by I miss the sunroof!

Congratulations Ajmat. Fantastic color choice. Very nice placement of the team-bhp sticker as well.clap:

So you have sold off the vRS or planning to sell it off, I see you have given it for rejuvenation ?

Sorry to hear about the mishaps.

You have stuck to the safe 2.0 TDi, so I think you can be rest assured, that there wont any fixing required unlike the vRS.

Were there any extended warranty plans available for the JETTA ?

Little late to the party, but congratulations ajmat! Great color choice and rear-quarter-view looks very classy. Fellow Jetta owners will soon have an in-house expert at t-bhp!

I like the Jetta a lot, I only wish they gave xenons, climate control, sunroof to justify the highline trim. If VW decides to bring Passat-level equipment to Jetta, I would be very interested. The size of the car is just perfect for all occasions and I still miss my Laura for its practicality.

How do you find the boot coming from Octavia experience?

The good old government coming to the rescue of people who just can't make up their minds! I went through the same drill.

Too small to fix, yet big enough to make you go ouch! Wish you a happy 50K km on this car and more if you decide to keep it longer :)

I was waiting for you to put up this report.

Congrats on the car and I completely agree that this was the perfect car for you. Thank god you didn't get the Yeti. Upgrading from a vRS the Yeti felt a step down with poor interior quality and drive also wasn't the best.

The Jetta rocks in comparison. It's like glue stuck to the road with oodles of grip with a stiff suspension. The engine is effortless and can really pull. One hour drive on it and I had a smile on my face with the handling and performance.

The only drawback I saw was the slightly cramped footwell especially for bigger feet. Thankfully the clutch does not have the on/off action like the Yeti and is way smoother.

Interiors reek of quality. It may be down of features but feels way more solid.

If you had got this 3 weeks before you actually did, we would have reached Pawana faster, with better FE and a bigger smile across on our faces. :D

Congratulations ajmat on buying the car. I think yours might be the only other Jetta highline MT apart from mine on the forum.

It took me half an hour to relign the bumper. A parking sensor is dislodged but I could not figure how to remove bumper completely. I will let the experts do this later.

The vRS is being sold, you can find it in the classifieds. There were no extended warranties at the moment. Again, I do not have DSG so am not too anxious. I will keep the car for 5 years though.

I do not miss the Xenons too much, it has its limitations in the rain. Lack of climate control is not too much of an issue. I just need to tweak the settings now and then. I do find Swift Vxi have more effective a/c compared to the Zxi climate control. Again less electronics, the vRS heater does not work since the stepper motors stopped working. A 20k job!

I do miss the sunroof. Only cari n the price range was the Superb



Spot the difference, same engine, one crappy box and one person 10 lakhs poorer

The high top 3 gears means I still rev the engine a bit too much to enjoy mid-range. I did get 17 upto Madikere so imagine what we would have got going to Pawhna.

The pedal space is an issue. On the way back, I could not control the car well as I was wearng Crocs. I switched to normal shoes and we were motoring. Whereas in the Figo, I was perfectly okay in Crocs

Nice choice of car, Ajmat. I absolutely love the way this looks, especially the Audi like rear. Would love to check it out in person sometime. :)

how's the gearbox? the ratios? None of the showrooms offer a manual for a test drive.
Is it faster/slower/same as the vrs in terms of acceleration.

Congrats Ajmat! Very nice colour, IMO this one and the white look majestic on Jetta! Good that you took the plunge and went for the Highline. I like this car a lot but I sincerely think that it could have been priced a bit lower, Highline costs more than 20 lakhs OTR in mumbai and this makes it much beyond the budget I will have for my next car.

Sad to know about the accident, last thing one wants on a new car (infact even on the old car). Even slight misalignment becomes an eyesore.

Have a blast driving your new ride and keep us updated.