New Jetta!

Joined
Apr 13, 2013
Messages
9,246
Location
FL, USA
We have been casually looking for a replacement car for my wifes 2014 VW Jetta SE for a couple of months now. The first serious contender was a 2017 Accord LX. We ended up backing off of that particular one due to more wear than either of us wanted on a car we would be making payments on. I continued to look for used Accords (new is out of price range, and the current 10th gen has it's own set of issues anyway), but used are few and far between. When I first started looking a couple of months back it wasn't uncommon to see used 2017 Accord LX models going for $15K-$16K with 30,000-40,000 miles. Now you are lucky to find a base LX with 40K miles for under $17,000 regardless of condition. The used car market stinks!

Fast forward to the beginning of last week. I found a 2017 Ford Fusion SE with appearance package and only 13,000 miles equipped with the solid 2.5 4 cylinder. They were only asking $16000. The pictures looked good besides one curbed wheel which I decided I would have replaced since the car was priced so aggressively. We ended up driving 2 hours yesterday to go test drive it only to find out the front end was littered with spots where the clear coat had etching due to bugs not being washed off in time. We test drove anyway to get a feel for it and we both thought it was acceptable. We just couldn't get over the paint damage, so we passed. They showed us a hybrid model while we were there, it was also in poor condition (by our standards) and also had clear coat etching!!! Ford, what is going on with your paint?

Since we were already 2 hours away from home and felt defeated we decided we may as well check out other lots in that area. My wife has always loved her VW's (as have I, despite their quirks and problems) so I figured it wouldn't hurt to see if we could at least take a look at the current model Jetta. I called up the closest VW dealer and they said they had only 2 Jetta S models on their lot. The sales manager told me they were offering $1000 off new Jettas and $3500 off new Passats. They only had 1 Passat on the lot and it was black, so that was out. Besides, I'm not a fan of the new Passat styling anyway. Once we got there we saw both S models, one in white and one in Silk Blue Metallic. We have always liked the Silk Blue color so we requested a test drive. Both the wifey and I liked it so we decided to talk numbers. Long story short we were able to get $3000 off MRSP and a fair trade in offer on her 2014 Jetta SE. So as of last night we are the proud owners of a new 2020 VW Jetta S with the driver assistance package in Silk Blue Metallic.

The last picture is a small part of the Fusions front bumper showing clear coat etching from bug damage.
 

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Last edited:
Run til the end of warranty, repeat. It sounded like you were unhappy enough with the issues the other one was having this is a bit of a surprise.

Hope for many years and miles of trouble free driving!
 
Nice color..
First of March this year I took my son shopping for a used car for him and ended up buying a new 2019 Jetta SE at a very good price for myself lol. My wife still doesn't understand how that happened. I really like it. Solid handling, good interior room and great gas mileage. I've only put 3k miles on it in 6 months so I probably didn't need it but the price and 6 year 72k mile warranty was something I couldn't resist.
 
I ended up with a current model year Jetta for a rental the last time I was in Texas.

I was especially impressed with the fuel economy. It returned nearly 40 MPG, despite regularly driving 80+ MPH (I love the speed limits around Austin). Engine had adequate power and the transmission calibration was good.

I wasn't so impressed about the low oil message I received on my second day with the car. It was down a full quart.

The only other item I remember noting is the auto-stop system. Not quite as refined as other automakers and it was really aggressive at re-starting when there was any movement coming off the brake pedal.

I didn't think it was a bad car at all, especially for what VW is asking on price. Congrats.
 
Our Honda's back bumper was clipped by another driver a few months ago, so we had a 2020 Jetta for a few days courtesy of his insurance company. Wife and I both liked the Jetta. Quiet on the highway, decent torque from the turbo 1.4, nice ride and handling. I would definitely take a second look if we were in the market.
 
congrats! ours is one of the favorites in the family. have 40k on it in less than 2 years.
I love the blue color of yours. as far as oil consumption on the rental: mine uses zero oil - I presume that, being a rental, it got abused during and after break-in. once mine was broken in properly, and once it's fully warmed up, it does not get babied!

I like the fact that I can buy 2 Jettas for the price of one CUV. uses less gas too.
 
congrats! ours is one of the favorites in the family. have 40k on it in less than 2 years.
I love the blue color of yours. as far as oil consumption on the rental: mine uses zero oil - I presume that, being a rental, it got abused during and after break-in. once mine was broken in properly, and once it's fully warmed up, it does not get babied!

I like the fact that I can buy 2 Jettas for the price of one CUV. uses less gas too.

Good to hear, but aren't the oil consumption issues tied to the 2019+ 1.4 TSI?
 
Run til the end of warranty, repeat. It sounded like you were unhappy enough with the issues the other one was having this is a bit of a surprise.

Hope for many years and miles of trouble free driving!
Hoping for better service out of this one. We loved the previous car and have a love for VW that made it hard for us to leave the brand. Maybe it’s a curse lol. I told myself I wasn’t going to get another VW, but ended up settling for the 1.4 as it doesn’t have a timing chain. That was a one of the factors in deciding to trade the previous Jetta with the 1.8. Wonderful engine, but it looks like VW still is having issues with chain “stretch” and I didn’t want to have to deal with that problem. We were staring to experience symptoms that lead me to believe that may have been one of the next problems we would have experienced.
 
Not sure if the new vw's have the wiper blades tucked up under the hood. If so there is a funky "park position " that alot of VW owners are unaware of.
 
Not sure if the new vw's have the wiper blades tucked up under the hood. If so there is a funky "park position " that alot of VW owners are unaware of.

When I bought a new GTI, the salesman taught me how to do it when he went over the car with me.
This goes for Audi's and VW's.
44 second video.
 
Hoping for better service out of this one. We loved the previous car and have a love for VW that made it hard for us to leave the brand. Maybe it’s a curse lol. I told myself I wasn’t going to get another VW, but ended up settling for the 1.4 as it doesn’t have a timing chain. That was a one of the factors in deciding to trade the previous Jetta with the 1.8. Wonderful engine, but it looks like VW still is having issues with chain “stretch” and I didn’t want to have to deal with that problem. We were staring to experience symptoms that lead me to believe that may have been one of the next problems we would have experienced.

Replacing the timing chain is a very expensive repair. I've always felt VW and Audi's 10K OCI is a bad thing for the timing chain.
I owned a 2013 GTI and did 5K OCI's and my wife put a ton of company paid mileage on that car. I sold it to my brother with 166K on it.
The car still has the original timing chain and turbo. I doubt the timing chain would be in good shape if I followed the 10K OCI per VW.
 
Replacing the timing chain is a very expensive repair. I've always felt VW and Audi's 10K OCI is a bad thing for the timing chain.
I owned a 2013 GTI and did 5K OCI's and my wife put a ton of company paid mileage on that car. I sold it to my brother with 166K on it.
The car still has the original timing chain and turbo. I doubt the timing chain would be in good shape if I followed the 10K OCI per VW.
Yes, 10k really is too long an OCI for the TSI. I always did 5k OCI on it. The early build 2014 1.8tsi had a bad timing chain design that VW updated mid 2014. Ours had the original part. We had rough idle, low idle, and even once a stalling issue where it was difficult to restart the car. All are indicators the chain has stretch. Knowing the chains are prone to stretch in the early 1.8 TSI’s I didn’t want to hold on to it much longer. Which is sad because we loved the car.
 
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