[Mission_PGPX]

Hello all,
It is too late to write a ownership review on a car 2 years old but becoming a member after trying t-bhp membership for 2 years, it is never too late to pen down one.
It’s a long journey of about 9 months and will test your patience.

I was actually looking for a sedan in May - 2012. The budget had a cap of 1 million rupee (sound big aint it?). The cars considered were Honda city, verna and VW Vento. Somehow none of those impressed me with performance when comparing to my existing car, Hyundai GETZ. They all were falling in my 'need' but not standing up to my 'want'. I knew I wanted something exclusive and fitting my personality.

Since i was driving GETZ for 5 years, i needed a bigger and better engine. Getz has some 85 PS so was surely looking for something over 120 PS. Then I thought why not upgrade the Getz and make it more drivers enthusiastic. I learned about turbo boosters in cars, read a thread somewhere about turbo in getz which costs about 2 lacs, with suspension setup. After going through forums on t-bhp and other sites, realized that aftermarket turbo on petrol engine are not really worth it, considering the improvement in performance against drop in FE. So i was back to square 1. I needed a new car with a bigger engine and a diesel one. That was july-2012. The hunt was on and till now Jetta has not even made it to my mind, forget heart.

The new Jetta was launched in 2011 but I hardly spotted too many on road, so could never thought of looking for it. The search was now more on internet, and then one day I thought to read the review of new VW Jetta. I fell in love with this beauty the moment i saw photos on T-bhp review by Rudra-sen. Thank you Rudra Sir for the amazing efforts and photos. It has everything I wanted, diesel engine, 17-18 kmpl actual FE, 140 PS power and 320 Nm torque, 0-100 in just over 10 sec, loads of space. Then I was hooked on the thread. The prices were completely out of my budget but there is something called falling for. I usually fell for something or someone I can`t have at the time I fell. My research on internet was now on a crazy road, I started looking for international reviews and finally searched for most common problems and operating and maintenance cost as well. At that time, jetta shared the same engine with A4 and in higher tune to A6; I was getting more desperate to buy one. Few months before I didn't know what turbo-lag really is, how torque make a difference and now I was an educated customer visiting the showroom. So the decision to buy which car was taken, Jetta it was.

I visited the showroom. Saw the beauty in person for the first time and sat in the 8 way electric adjustable driver seat, looked in the IRVM and there was this huge grin on my face. What a feeling! Hey GOD, shower some money on me or tell this guys to help me buy this. I knew I will possess this someday. As they say every good thing has a price and this 2 L diesel beast has one too. The diesel jetta range in Ahmedabad starts with 17.22 lacs on road for trendline and goes up to 20.25 lacs for highline and guess what, the sales executive recommended comfort line which is at 18.85 lacs. After head tookever heart, I knew one thing for sure, I cant buy jetta, even trendline forget comfortline at this price level. I asked myself if given a deal, what`s my best I can afford and answer came to 15 lacs for any next car after doing all math on income and expense. I decided the day I get a deal around that 15 lac mark I will go for it.

Then came Diwali and I enquired about prices, I got 80 K discount for all the models in jetta from this dealer in Ahmedabad. I did the math about EMI and the best I can afford is 15 lac for a car. Jetta was still 1.2 lacs away from me. However, I visited the showroom, ofcourse they dnt have trendline in display and saw the comfortline for the first time ever. Price quoted was 17.95lacs for comfortline, SE wanted to sell comfortline only. Disheartened I came back, without brochure (they didn’t have one, what do they think, I can`t believe they think people can buy such expensive baby without even looking into brochure) but with a quote. It stayed on my table in office for few days and then vanished in eternity.

I got married. Funds (down payment) saved for car was now spent on luxurious honeymoon in Sheraton, Maldives.

Whenever we spotted jetta (very few to spot), I used to tell my wife, I will buy this someday and she used to respond, you can just say things, can`t actually buy this. That hurts a man ego. I used to keep my calm and wait for my day.

Then came 22nd feb, my birthday, I took a day off to spend with wife with nothing to do. Trust me this "nothing to do" activity is quite relaxing as I usually plan. Spend entire day lying in bed and watching some TV, lying lazy. Evening we planned to go for dinner. The restaurants in my area are always overcrowded and having waiting period after 8 pm. So we were ready by 6 pm but it was too early. Anyway we decided to just roam around and have dinner without waiting outside atleast today. We passed by this VW showroom and I told wifey to visit it and see my dreamgirl. This time SE was very much interested in my enquiry, may be a wife factor. Surprisingly, they had one black trendline on display and for the first time I was looking at trendline jetta. He showed all the features, in which I was least interested, all I wanted to know was the current offer if any. When I enquired, he took us to a separate room, giving some premium treatment, asked for tea, coffee or cold drink. Then I asked, the million dollar question. What`s the current price and discount you can offer? He as usual, gave 80 K discount upfront quoting 16.4 lacs for trendline. Then I thought to shell out some more discount and played my trump card, trust me ppl, this really works. I said "Hamna check aapu to ketla?", what`s the price, If I write a cheque right now? He got excited and started working on his calculator, and after few anxious moments showed me the calculator screen, it was showing 15.30. Now I was clean bowled. He mentioned the offer is only till feb end for clearing the nov-2012 stock at dealers stockyard, meaning he had the car ready for delivery. Took a deep breath and whispered to my wife, "honey, we are buying this one".

Took his quote of 15.3 on paper, this time with brochure and told him to revert back for test drive within a day or two. Wife was angry we spent so much time on things we can`t buy but she didn’t notice the excitement and adrenaline in my blood. I started doing math once again. Spoke to dealers in other cities, I work in baroda and that dealer came for test drive during lunch. First time I drove my dream car and man what an experience. I just never wanted to stop. Put a proposal to parents as well. First time wife took it seriously and learned that I am out of my mind. Do we really need a car this expensive, considering we already have 2 hatchbacks in the parking? We can spend that money on some other investment like buy a second house etc. In conclusion, no one could digest the thought of spending so much money on a vehicle (anyway I was going to take loan ), but I was determined. However, I never neglected their reasoning. 2-3 days passed but were horrible and sleepless nights. I couldn’t sleep for 3 nights dreaming only about possessing this beauty. That’s when I realized how much in love I was with `sasha'. Being gujju, I wanted to make sure I am buying this at the least possible prize in Gujarat at least. I called another dealer in Ahmedabad and played the famous competition trick. Told him I am getting 15 lac quote with X dealer with 2 yrs extended road side assistance and all accessories, can you beat that? Let me know if you can come even close or I will book in baroda. Trust me guys, you have to bargain for every penny when buying a new car. My trick worked, he quoted 15.15 for the same package. My hunch and trick worked.

Today was the day when everything turns into your favour. Wife called and said, since I have married you, I am with you in all your pagalpan. Go ahead. Now the question, which color? I wanted toffy brown, wife wanted black. I took half day off and visited the stockyard, just to realize that black and brown both somehow looked bit smaller to candy White. Also dark colors need more maintenance to look at their best. So it was candy white, fortunately they had white trendline in stock. I visited stockyard to take a look at candy white trendline, took photos of VIN number and checked on t-bhp for manufacturing details. It was nov-2012 manufacturing and this was feb 2013, just 4 months old, I was ok with it.

I called the SE who quoted 15.15 lacs at my home at 10 pm on 28th feb, fill the order form and mentioned whatever he committed on phone (accessories plus 2 yrs extended roadside assistance) in the order form itself and gave a booking cheque. He confirmed the delivery on 4th march, since the car was in ready stock. I also wrote the VIN number in order form, so that I get the same car and avoid the fear that dealer might sell it to someone giving better money than me and keep me waiting for months. Such cases have happened and I didn’t want to take any chance after coming this far. Finished all the paperwork with bank and scheduled the payment before or on the delivery day.

Delivery day experience: Took a day off on delivery day. I took the print of t-bhp checklist for PDI. I wanted to do thorough PDI check and be there during original VW accessory fittings, had a fear that dealer might give cheap aftermarket to save money since I bargained too hard. As suspected, the workshop had not received body cover in the list of accessory. I left the workshop at 5 pm and told SE that I will not take delivery if this item is missing, no commitments for tomorrow or day after. The delivery was scheduled by 7 pm from showroom about 15 kms from workshop. We reach the showroom, car was ready and getting polished. Wife did the pooja and photo session. SE explained the features once again. I was asked to sign paperwork and some more drama. No paper for 2 yrs extended roadside assistance?? They don’t offer separate 2 yr roadside assistance on jetta, there is no such product, it has to be bought with extended warranty, which was not available that time. I was fuming and refused the sign the papers. They offered service vouchers for 3K and I denied. I gave them option to give me a full tank diesel, I am a certified pakka gujju. This was error by SE and they have to pay for it. I knew the fact that they needed me to sign the papers to complete the sales process and once I sign them, they will never listen to me. My advice to all, never ever sign the delivery papers in a hurry to take your ride home. After half an hour of discussion and my denial to sign the papers, SE made many calls to senior people and finally they agreed to give full tank fuel. They didn’t have a choice. I signed the papers and handshakes and took ride home. We went for dinner at 9 pm, appreciating the beauty and accomplishment of a dream.

I decided to name it , "Sasha", although she is german I named her a Russian.

First impressions and my likes:
1) Sheer Elegance in exterior design, the Audi-sh rear look. I feel the look is never aging, no matter how many times I look at "sasha", every time I fell for her from different angle. I don’t think I can ever get tired by the looks

2) Elegantly designed interiors, the vanity mirror lights, the way glovebox opens (in slow motion), the spacious door pockets, the way air vents click and close- open, attention is given to details. The best NVH levels, you hardly notice you are driving diesel till about 2800 rpm. However goodyear NCTs are noisy for sure, need to change now to Michelin.

3) The most important part, the heart of "sasha", 2.0 TDI. it gives you power at your toe tip no matter what speed you are driving. VW rightly mentioned in brochure "your right foot is going to be very grateful." details on this later in my long drive report.

4) It has manual AC but works amazing at fan speed of 2 in scorching summer, when I am driving alone I keep it just on 1 and shut all the other vents.

5) The suspension, some say its stiff but I find it perfect considering the speed you will usually drive. I remember on one of my drives to diu, I drove above 80 on the roads with patchwork done and potholes left at places and nothing comes inside the cabin. That was a newbie, now can`t do it.

6) Class leading safety features, 6 airbags, ESP, ABS with brake assist, EDL & ASR, Auto Hill hold function (very useful but need to learn to use it, no switch for it, the brake itself works, once you are on an ascent and you come to complete halt, then even if you release the brake pedal, car will not move for 2 sec, which are enough for pushing the gas pedal). It has all four disc brakes and guess what, I saw an example of part sharing while cleaning "sasha" one morning. The disc brakes have four rings of Audi marked on it… yuppie…

7) Huge boot space and VW has provided small aircon vent in boot as well as in glovebox, So if you fold rear seats one can actually sleep inside on a bed of 3` x 6`.

8) Doors can`t be locked from inside, except child lock for rear door, lovely safety feature. The lock unlock switch on driver side door closes door from outside, best for females travelling alone…

My dislikes:
1) Actually not much that I really dislike but just few points I would want to ask VW. How much money could you really have saved by not providing back seat centre armrest, closable goggle holder(like the one in higher varients) and Auto dimming (if not auto folding) ORVM? This is something such a big car must have no matter what variant. I hope these are there in upcoming Passat Trendline :P

2) MID asks to shift to 6th around speed above 80 kmph, however on shifting it lacks the punch until RPM reaches above 1600. So the sweet spot is to keep engine revving around that 1600 rpm mark in order to avoid that 1-2 second lag. This behaviour i have observed while driving in full load i.e. 4 adults and 2 midsized bags.

3) Door rattle: I have observed this after complete 2-3 hrs of highway cruising and then entering in city. The sound was taken care during 2nd service however within 6 months its back.

4) Auto ORVM: I have observed and even VW service centre guys acknowledge that while adjusting left side mirror (or right side), both the mirror moves in the direction you want one to move, then you have to readjust the other one again. Not really sure if anyone observed this. VW service centre guys acknowledge this problem sighted by other owners as well but no clue on resolving this.

5) Lack of proper OEM upgrades: When new jetta (with LED DRLs and projector headlamp) was launched, i wanted to upgrade through dealer only, but they have just one answer (Sir, trendline me possible nahi hai..) Not possible in trendline. Makes me feel guilty of owning the cheaper version.

Thank you for reading.
I will upload the interior pics in due course...
Finally some pics on delivery day:
Tyre being polished. Extremely satisfied?? With the car, hell yes…

[Mission_PGPX]

Drive experience:
Though I was impressed with the test drive itself, but your first drive is always special after taking the delivery, and I never got a chance to test drive the manual jetta, it was automatic only. So just after getting the tank full diesel and signing formalities done, took "sasha" on SG highway for a ride. I wanted to check everything ( I remember when I took the delivery of my GETZ the speedo needle wasn’t working).

I read in T-bhp reviews that u can take it from 30-100 in third gear and thought to experience that. I wasn’t thinking about run-in period of a car (I am stupid, deadhorse). Saw the open highway and floor the pedal, the turbo gave a kick of a life time. my first kick. It really does 30-100 in third gear. 0-100 is actually possible under 11 secs. I am impressed.

Then came the opportunity to test it on expressway. ODO was showing 400 kms and I couldn’t resist myself to take it to office (I work in baroda and commute everyday) one morning. The expressway was open and empty, decided to floor the pedal in sixth and check how much it can take. I knew I had one of the fastest machines on road in indian conditions. You cant drive for hours in such speed in india, god knows why people buy supercars in india. I read about engine run-in period after this drive and couldn’t sleep for days, worrying about engine life. Surprisingly, VW showroom or workshop people never informed me about this run-in period, I still wonder if it really exist with today`s technological wonders.

My usage pattern is normally 80% highway and about 20% city driving, and for such usage i think i found the best machine in the market for the kind of money i spent. The stability, the handling and silent and comfortably cooled spacious cabin combined with safety features makes this car a perfect highway cruiser. Monthly usage is about 1500 kms, which is mainly to office(240 kms to and fro). The highest mileage i have achieved in 4.5l/100 kms (~22 kmpl) cruising at speed 110 kmph, which is too good consider a 2 L TDI engine.

the acceleration: Power is always at your right foot. The best operating point is at 1800-2000 rpm in sixth gear, "sasha" shows 110-120 kmph, meaning utilizing only 60% of engine power. If you want to accelerate from here just floor the pedal and it starts moving the needle smoothly. If you have to brake to 80 kmph and then overtake, shift to 5th and overtaking is a breeze. Cruising at 120 kmph is so effortless that I felt its moving at some 80-90 kmph. I must say NVH levels are very well maintained for a diesel car.

The road presence is felt specially on expressway while cruising at 100-110. She has this "got bhp??" sticker on her right rear bumper and "Live to drive" on left rear. I find people actually take it seriously and give a stare but many times i get respect as well when given sides without even blinking the dipper.

For city driving one can easily drive from 30-100 in third gear, but u have to downshift to second if u fall below 30, as they say never drive with half-clutch to improve clutch pad life.

Brakes: This is something I love in "sasha" the most, even more than the acceleration it gives. All for disc brakes combined with ABS with brake assist & ESC give you the confidence at driving this girl on high speeds, but my wife always tells me this " You have Jetta , the people behind you don’t ." You have to be careful while sudden hard braking, because there are chances the vehicle behind you may not be able to stop and may bump in your rear bumper. I remember once I had to brake from 120 to 60 within few seconds and in some 40-50 meters, I slowly pressed the brakes and I felt as if some angel is stopping the car, without feeling any jerk or nervousness.

Suspension: During my drive to diu, there was a bad stretch of about 80 kms. Initially I drove very carefully and below 60 kmph. Then I read that suspension is made stiff for better handling. I raised her to 60 and I was in for surprise, everything was filtered. The patchwork on road and some small speedbreakers, potholes everything. It gave me more confidence for sure. I can explore places in this beauty.

Fuel economy: For my first expressway sprint, it gave me 5.5 l /100 kms meaning just over 18 kmpl. Then on cruising at 100-110 kmph it lowered to 5.2 l/100kms meaning 19.23 kmpl. Even in city it never gave anything less than 17 kmpl about 5.8 l/100 kms. It has a tank capacity of 55 ltrs so you can do Ahmedabad – delhi with just one full tank.
Overall, I am highly impressed and proud owner of "sasha".

Now, I am planning to take "sasha" to heaven on a ride of over 4000 kms.

3800 kms and driving on. I love you "sasha".

[Aditya]

Thread moved from the Assembly Line to the Initial Ownership Section. Thanks for sharing!

[Amarendranath]

Better late than never! Felt good reading your thread. Hearty congratulations buddy!!

I agree with every line that you had written. A couple of upgrades here and there and you'll have a completely loaded car. When I say loaded I mean the safety kit as well.

Enjoy driving sasha! Wish you many miles of safety and excitement. Please upload more pictures.

[Mission_PGPX]

She completed 38150 on ODO during my 2 day visit to my hometown in valsad. During my return journey to ahmedabad, i noticed vibration around 110 kmph, i believe this is due to the tyres wearing out. I went to my trusted tyre dealer and get them checked, he said still 3000-4000 kms life is there but i have to bear with the vibrations and increased tyre noise. I am thinking not to take any more risks and go for replacement. I need help here from other jetta owners, if they can throw in their experiences about first tyre replacement. Which ones should i go for? I am thinking to stick to stock size, but definitely not goodyear, purely because of noise issue, otherwise in my 26 months of ownership and 38000 on ODO, having travelled from ahmedabad all the way to jammu and kashmir, i have to admit, NCT5 didnt gave a single problem, not a single puncture, no sidewall bulges, nothing.

A quick snap of Sasha with famous valsad Alphanso:

[mav2000]

Personally I went with the pirelli p7 tyres and have been very happy with them so far. The cost for the michelens was a bit higher, so didn't go for that

[Turbo_asd]

Congrats on acquiring a tank sir!
The Jetta is an absolutely gorgeous car and the deal you got makes it an irresistible buy. Audi reminiscent looks et all... oh if only the people in my household stopped calling it a Vento that give worse mileage
Could you upload some pictures of the interiors as I too have never seen the insides of a Trendline?
Wishing you many more lovely miles with the Jetta!

[graaja]

Originally Posted by Mission_PGPX

...I am thinking not to take any more risks and go for replacement. I need help here from other jetta owners, if they can throw in their experiences about first tyre replacement. Which ones should i go for? I am thinking to stick to stock size, but definitely not goodyear, purely because of noise issue,...

I would suggest you go for Michelin Primacy 3STs. They have very good grip and very silent as well. Based on the advice given by many TBHP'ians, I change the stock NCTs to Michelins immediately out of showroom. They are very silent and very grippy on highway speeds.

iliketurtles, another Jetta owner had some issues with Pirelli P7's. Check out his thread. But it could be a one off issue.

So, you could choose between P7s or 3STs.

[Harsha89]

Hello Mission_PGPX, Many Congratulations on your acquisition of THE BEST driver's car in the sub 40L class. I too own the same car but in the Comfortline trim. Regarding your choice of tyre upgrade, I would suggest either Michelin Primacy 3 ST (OR) Continental Premium Contact 2. I use the latter in my car and it is an amazing product. Grip levels are fantastic and the side wall is a bit firm which lends it great poise during high speed maneuvers. There is a mild firmness to the ride due to the firm sidewall but nothing serious. Regarding the Primacy ST, I've read many positive reviews and they will definitely be softer than the Continental. So go for it if a softer ride and a bit less Road noise is desirable for you. And once again, the Continental CPC2 are not an inferior set of tyres, they are imported (The Netherlands) and are an equal match for quality with Michelin. Hope that helps ☺

[Mission_PGPX]

Originally Posted by graaja

I would suggest you go for Michelin Primacy 3STs. They have very good grip and very silent as well. Based on the advice given by many TBHP'ians, I change the stock NCTs to Michelins immediately out of showroom. They are very silent and very grippy on highway speeds.

iliketurtles, another Jetta owner had some issues with Pirelli P7's. Check out his thread. But it could be a one off issue.

So, you could choose between P7s or 3STs.

So last weekend i visited 2-3 dealers in ahmedabad for michelin P3ST. INR 9800 per tyre was quoted the lowest, however i observed one disheartning fact. All the dealers have tyres manufactured in latest sep-2014, 3914 mentioned on tyres. That means tyre is already 8 months old. I am gonna have to read on T-bhp forums about whats the max time after manufacturing to buy a tyre? any idea anyone?

[Nilay]

Hello Mission_PGPX
First of all congratulations.
I found your story very interesting and passion for VW jetta reflect in your words. i am going to buy my new car and will be confused between XUV500 and Jetta (trendline). i am little worried about spare parts & maintance cost of jetta. Tell me your experience for same.

By the way i am also from Valsad.

[Mission_PGPX]

Originally Posted by Nilay

Hello Mission_PGPX
First of all congratulations.
I found your story very interesting and passion for VW jetta reflect in your words. i am going to buy my new car and will be confused between XUV500 and Jetta (trendline). i am little worried about spare parts & maintance cost of jetta. Tell me your experience for same.

By the way i am also from Valsad.

hey nilay,
thanks for dropping by. your confusion can easily be cleared if you prioritize your requirements. You are looking at a two completely different segments SUV vs sedan. I would suggest you identify your usage, if you are gonna be offroading quite a lot or gonna travel typical rural roads then XUV makes more sense. However even for that i would pick duster AWD. sorry

But if you are looking for understated styling which stands class apart combined with solid tank like build quality and a highway cruiser to travel on indian highways, book jetta, no second thoughts. Ground clearance is 159 mm, which is sufficient enough to drive on most part of the nation. I remember while returning from my kashmir road trip through mughal road, there was a landslide after peerkigalli. They cleared one section of the road by filling sand and boulders. The trucks, sumos and other heavy loaded vehicles passed pressing the softsand parts and leaving their path almost undrivable for jetta. I had to pass through them, told my wife to take a walk and slowly landed in, amazingly passed the entire surface without touching the belly even once.

Also i think the longer drives in such sedans are less tiring compared to SUVs because of low centre of gravity. The ride is much more stable combined with low NVH levels, makes unthinkable possible. I remember the start of my road trip i covered 1055 kms in 14 hrs from ahmedabad to hanumangarh and still had enough energy left to party in the hotel.

Regarding spare parts and maintenance cost, my jetta is serviced twice. I dont recall the exact number but the first service bill was around 12800 in oct-13 and second one was 18300 in sept-14 including a door dent paint and repair (which costs 7000 for jetta). Considering the segment and size of the car with 2L powerplant, i think such bills are really really low. I have heard Vento service costs around 11000, u can judge based on that.

hope this helps.

PS: My farm is in achavani, near khergam.

[Nilay]

ok.
I am usually travelling on highways mostly on NH8 stretch of Valsad to Bombay & Valsad to Gandhinagar so my basic requirement is fast and safe transportation. My initial lists were Vento TDI, Rapid TDI, Polo GT TDI but i recalculated my budget found it to 15 lacs bracket still not enough for jetta TDI trendline but after reading your passionate story the JETTA bug hit me again finalized my choice to jetta. what really hampered me to buy jetta is its expensive spare sparts. while i checked XUV500 spares and it is on par with maruti swift and other hatchbacks which tempted me to opt for XUV500.

I drove XUV500 and driveability of M-hawk engine was amazing. it was easily cruising at high speeds and NVH was really low in cabin.

And here is the CLIMAX
Now XUV500 has FE of 12-14 KMPL while jetta has 17-19 KMPL so maintenance wise XUV500 is cheaper but on fuel consumption wise jetta is cheaper and in between my confusion lies.

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[dingolphie]

Originally Posted by Mission_PGPX

She completed 38150 on ODO during my 2 day visit to my hometown in valsad. During my return journey to ahmedabad, i noticed vibration around 110 kmph, i believe this is due to the tyres wearing out. I went to my trusted tyre dealer and get them checked, he said still 3000-4000 kms life is there but i have to bear with the vibrations and increased tyre noise. I am thinking not to take any more risks and go for replacement. I need help here from other jetta owners, if they can throw in their experiences about first tyre replacement. Which ones should i go for? I am thinking to stick to stock size, but definitely not goodyear, purely because of noise issue, otherwise in my 26 months of ownership and 38000 on ODO, having travelled from ahmedabad all the way to jammu and kashmir, i have to admit, NCT5 didnt gave a single problem, not a single puncture, no sidewall bulges, nothing.

A quick snap of Sasha with famous valsad Alphanso:

Mate, absolutely with you on following your dream(Car). I would however, advise you against parking under Mango trees. The sap can leave bad scars on the paint in some seasons. Hope my painful lesson benefits you and other.

[Mission_PGPX]

Thanks for sharing. Yeah I experienced that and so I always apply Collinite 845 coat before going to hometown. It protects the paint to some extent and works for short duration of 1-2 nights stay.