Filed under: We made a rather large purchase on Thursday. We bought a 2009 Volkswagen Jetta TDI “clean diesel”. You see, the lease is almost up on our Saturn, but we were going to wait to purchase one when we used up the miles. However, there is a 6-9 month waiting list in this area for the TDI. We were on the list, but we anticipated using up the lease’s miles in a couple of months, and we didn’t really want to be without a second vehicle for a long time (Wanda and I have chronic tardiness issues in the morning, so carpooling yields mixed results). We were looking at used TDIs, but you don’t save much on buying a used one because of supply issues, so we thought it would make sense to buy new (even thought we vowed never to buy a new vehicle again, we seem to keep failing that resolution).
Apparently, Van Dyn Hoven Imports had an extra one come in, and they called people on the list to see who wanted it, first come, first serve. It was probably a naughty purchase because we’ll have 3 vehicles for a couple of months, but at least I’ll have a car right away when I use up the Vue. It’s white, which we generally don’t like as a car color, but the Jetta doesn’t look too bad in white, so we pulled the trigger.
Driving it is like making sweet love. It’s a turbo-charged diesel with a lot of torque, so it’s pretty zippy. It also gets in the low 40′s for mileage on the highway. Satellite radio, in-dash 6-disc changer/mp3/aux input, V-Tex upholstery, seat warmers, bluetooth, moon roof, and standard smugness upgrades. They recommend oil changes every 10,000 miles (which I wasn’t aware of), and we get free maintenance (oil changes, etc) for 3 years. And for those who care, it meets Tier 2/Bin 5 emission standards.
I wish our Saturn lease was up…
We also saw the new Volkswagen CC hotness while at the dealer, which makes Bryant Gumbel look like Malcolm X. Too bad they don’t make a diesel version for the U.S. (yet).
I’ll never buy another Volkswagen again. Our Jetta, while fun to drive, is filled with proprietary shit that makes any and all repairs cost a lot more than they would on non-VW vehicles. To top it off, the morons that work at normal fix-it places will almost assuredly break your vehicle by using the wrong parts (to save money), so you’re best bet is to pay the premium and bring it in to a VW specialist. Perhaps things are different now, but from my brother-in-law being a VW mechanic (in Chicago, unfortunately), I’ve come to know this is how VW’s are made. Sad, it’s a fun car otherwise…
P.S. Awesome on the oil changes, VWs use a proprietary oil filter that adds minimum $20 to any oil change…
Of course, I’m shitting on your parade, so I apologize, and I hope the car treats you well…
No apology necessary – I appreciate honest opinion.
Yes, I’ve heard much of what you have said about VWs (my brother-in-law used to own one and had similar problems; he’s an autophiliac). Though we always bring our vehicles to dealers/specialists (we like it done right the first time and are willing to pay for it), we’re not fans of paying extra for something unnecessary. In the end, though, we really like our VW and are willing to deal with the extra grief/expense. Also, they recommend oil changes every 10,000 miles, so we’d have to get them less that a third of the time of a standard gasoline vehicle.
Fun != cheap, I suppose. One could argue that a Mustang or Charger is more fun, however, I think this vehicle more appropriately matches our level of smugness.
I love German engineering, but as Travis mentioned the repairs are expensive, and because so my wife won’t let us purchase.