My VW Jetta: Likes & dislikes after 12 years & 81,000 km

The 2.0L TDI engine is silent & smooth. I get a fuel efficiency of 8 km/l in the city & around 15 km/l on the highways.

BHPian speedracer recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

2nd January marked the 12th birthday of my precious German beauty: the Volkswagen Jetta.

This car is the best car I've owned to date with few to no problems except the occasional ABS sensors going off. In the past, I've owned a BMW 523i, Hyundai Elantra (currently being used alongside the Jetta), Toyota Corolla and the lovely HM Ambassador, but none of them was so easy on me. I remember sending my BMW to the service center every weekend for some or the other issue and ended up selling it at a loss after 3 years, but that's what you get when you buy a second-hand car.

Coming to my ownership experience, the Jetta was purchased for 19.99 lakhs on the 2nd of January 2011. This is the top model, the Highline, with the 2.0 TDI engine which is truly a magnificent beast. So far I've managed to clock 81k kms on the odo, with many more to come. My driving involves a daily 35-40 km commute to my business and the occasional Mumbai-Lonavala drives with the family on weekends.

Likes

• Silent and smooth engine with good fuel economy (gives 8 kmpl in the city and about 15 on the highways).
• Good quality and plush interiors with a wide range of features.
• Properly insulated cabin.
• Huge boot for luggage.
• Comfortable suspension that does not compromise on handling.
• Small steering wheel, weighs up nicely in dynamic mode.
• Automatic headlights and wipers are truly a blessing!
• Strong and sturdy build quality, as expected from a VW.
• 6 airbags.
• Quite feature-loaded - 8-inch anti-glare display with phone connectivity and navigation inbuilt.

Dislikes

(Keep in mind that this car is 12 years old and was way ahead of its time with all the features)

• No rear-wheel/ all-wheel drive.
• Strictly average sound quality from the 10-speaker system.
• Car is front-heavy. Can be easily felt at high speeds if the boot is empty.
• Gearbox is slow in the regular drive mode. Changes to fast shifts in the 'S' mode, however, you can take manual control with the gear lever or paddle shifters.
• I feel the paddle shifters are a tad bit small for my liking.
• Small horn is hard to reach and requires a hard press to work.
• Space is pretty good at the rear, however, a 3rd passenger would be uncomfortable due to the central hump.
• Alloy wheel design is nice but would've preferred bigger wheels.

Just wanted to share my experience with my baby. Attaching a few pics too, enjoy.

Here's what BHPian tilt had to say about the matter:

I know the feeling. Mine's only half as old as yours but has done a lot more kilometers and still feels as good as on the day I bought it.

Here's what BHPian AKSarkar1 had to say about the matter:

Thank you for sharing this occasion with us! IMHO this was one of the best overall offerings by VW in India. All cars age but not many age with grace, the ones that do are called great and that is the case with cars like the Jetta.

Wishing you many more miles ahead with this gem of a car, very happy to see that you have held on to it for 12 years! As a fellow VW owner, I too understand just how hard it is to one-up these cars.

Check out BHPian comments for more insights and information.