Any opinions on VW jetta 2003?

[Dumbledore]

My sister needs to get a car for 20k? Any suggestions? Thanks.

 

[WinkOsmosis]

Nissan

 

[ultimatebob]

Sure, sounds like a good idea to me! VW Jetta's are popular "chick" cars.

 

[TommyVercetti]

http://www.myvwlemon.com/

 

[Thegonagle]

Overpriced, sub-compact garbage is what I think a Jetta is. The Passat is the only VW that's even OK. Those start at just a little bit over $20K, and are worth every penny more than you might pay for a Jetta.

For a sub-compact, the Civic and Corolla are much better, and less expensive, choices, and for $20K, there are a lot of fine choices, such as an Accord LX, and so many others.

 

[Ryan]

Most nissan dealerships are willing to take a big hit if you buy one of their last 2003 Maximas. My local dealership has 3 leather clad SE models for around $20k, the MSRP is around $26k. Hell, you can even find 2002's for around $16-17k!!!1

 

[LittleWolf]

Originally posted by: Dumbledore
My sister needs to get a car for 20k? Any suggestions? Thanks.

Yeah Jettas are quite nice and luxurious compared to other typical Japanese econo cars in same range. Try and get atleast the 1.8T engine one. If possible get the GLI version. Excellent bang for buck.

 

[iamwiz82]

you can get 2002's for much cheaper, FYI. The local VW dealership has 10-12 Jettas on the lot that were corporate lease vehicles with super low mileage(1,000-8,000) that are dirt cheap, plus, because they are corp. leases, the original warranty still applies.

 

[Dumbledore]

Wow, I didn't realize that VW sucked a$$. I know most complaints are for 2002 and older but I'm hoping the 2003 are much better in quality.

 

[Rahminator]

Originally posted by: Dumbledore
Wow, I didn't realize that VW sucked a$$. I know most complaints are for 2002 and older but I'm hoping the 2003 are much better in quality.

For every person complaining on that lemon website theres a 100 satisfied costumers. After all, online you rarely see people praising stuff they've bought. Everybody just goes on when something breaks to rag on it. I've a 2000 Jetta GL and the only thing that broke was the hood when I rear ended a Jeep.

 

[vi edit]

Buy a year old, used Passat and an extended warranty for the same $$$.

MUCH better car.

 

[Gage8]

don't know if this means anything to you but Jettas had a full black dot for maintenance in consumer reports. They're supposed to be pretty bad in that area.

Other then that they look really cool!

 

[The Stigenator]

for 20K you can get a base model mini + options.. only thing you got to wait for delivery.

Sweet car..

Otherwise Toyota Prius (though wait for the 2004 model.. or you can get the 2003 for discounted)

How about a Ford Focus.. ZX5 or ZX3.. if you get this, try seeing if you can get the PZEV engine (160hp vs 130 in zetech). I personally want a ZX5 (top of the line premium model) fully loaded still comes to under 19K.

 

[yakko]

The Jetta is a good car. I wouldn't mind owning one myself once the airbags were removed. You can also get a base model New Beetle cheap and they are actually pretty nice even at base. My mom has a 2003 Beetle and my only complaint, besides it being an automatic, is the blind spots are hard to get used to after driving my 92 Jetta for so long.

 

[ultimatebob]

Originally posted by: Rahminator

Originally posted by: Dumbledore
Wow, I didn't realize that VW sucked a$$. I know most complaints are for 2002 and older but I'm hoping the 2003 are much better in quality.

For every person complaining on that lemon website theres a 100 satisfied costumers. After all, online you rarely see people praising stuff they've bought. Everybody just goes on when something breaks to rag on it. I've a 2000 Jetta GL and the only thing that broke was the hood when I rear ended a Jeep.

Yeah, it's hard to find a single auto maker that doesn't have a "This car sucks" web site associated with it. When people have problems with their car, they like to bitch online about it. Take those kind of reviews with a grain of salt.

 

[isekii]

Originally posted by: The_good_guy
for 20K you can get a base model mini + options.. only thing you got to wait for delivery.

Sweet car..

Otherwise Toyota Prius (though wait for the 2004 model.. or you can get the 2003 for discounted)

How about a Ford Focus.. ZX5 or ZX3.. if you get this, try seeing if you can get the PZEV engine (160hp vs 130 in zetech). I personally want a ZX5 (top of the line premium model) fully loaded still comes to under 19K.

I like the mini

 

[jagr10]

I rented the jetta from a car rental place and it's actually more spacious than it looks. The pedals are alot different than most cars. They're so light and it takes a few days to get used to it. It's actually not a bad car. I thought it would be crap, but it wasn't. I bet your sister will like it. Try taking it for a test drive.

 

[LS20]

i love the new MK4 VWs... my friend has a GTI VR6 and the thing just feels twice as valuable as any other car in its class.. im sure theyre not the best performer but day-to-day its just so much better.. and i dont think your sister would be a speedfreak either. i wouldnt hestiate to recommend a jetta....

but this is for the 1.8 and vr6 with leather seats and inserts though... if youre going cloth might as well get a Protege

 

[ryzmah]

For 20k she can get a Mazda 6 - a terrific car.

A mini would be pretty cool too, and if you like how it looks a focus is a good option (I think they're ugly, but maybe that's just me).

 

[KevinH]

Originally posted by: Rahminator

Originally posted by: Dumbledore
Wow, I didn't realize that VW sucked a$$. I know most complaints are for 2002 and older but I'm hoping the 2003 are much better in quality.

For every person complaining on that lemon website theres a 100 satisfied costumers. After all, online you rarely see people praising stuff they've bought. Everybody just goes on when something breaks to rag on it. I've a 2000 Jetta GL and the only thing that broke was the hood when I rear ended a Jeep.

Fvck that. Read the JD Power reliabiltiy tests on the Jetta. It's a piece of sh1t...I own one.

 

[LS20]

as far as the reliability is concerned.. its a new car..it has a WARRANTY

my friend did have the common problem (window regulator--twice), but it was fixed by the dealer. the hassle is a small price to pay for a nice ltitle car

 

[Thegonagle]

How about this. . .

Take a look at what others are saying. (I particularly enjoyed "Ode to Jetta") Then decide for yourself. It seems like every other Jetta is little more than a small, pretty, $20,000+ toilet.

There are bad, and good, reviews for every car on that site, but for the love of Christ, this one's overall rating has been falling for a while now due to all the bad reviews. The Civic, for example, just holds its own at a bit above 4.

I really think that if you don't mind somewhat "bland" styling (according to others, it seems), Honda makes the best overall cars in the world when it comes to fun, reliability, clean emissions, fuel efficiency (V-6 notwithstanding), and value for that dollar that we work so hard for.

Toyota is probably second. They're plenty bland in the styling department (like I fscking care what somebody else thinks, it's my fscking money), but they've got quietness and ride comfort working in their favor over Honda, while sacrificing a bit 'o' fun. I'd be looking at Toyotas for myself if I had a nice, close, local dealership I could trust and was willing to give my money to. But because Rudy Luther Toyota in Golden Valley (MN) ruined my last Toyota, and refused to even be courteous about investigating what went wrong, let alone compensate me, I can't buy a Toyota. (Rudy Luther will never get another dime from me at any of his dealerships so long as he or I shall live.)

So, someone thinks that a new car warranty compensates for a lack of reliability, just because it doesn't cost money? That a little hassle is worth it to have a "nice" car? OK. You have a right to think that, but I have a right to disagree. $20,000 is a lot of money to almost everybody in the world. We all work hard. For all that money that a person spends on transportation, it should, theoretically, work right every single day, for at least 10 years or 150,000 miles. A little planned maintenance is one thing (you can plan for it), but constant inconvienience is a little too much to bear for something that you're simply not supposed to worry about. When it comes down to it, a car is just a car. For every moment that it's out of service, it's not a car at all. It's nothing. If that's OK with you, and you don't need a car, then by all means, enjoy your troublesome car under warranty. For the rest of us, well, we'd like to have some time to enjoy other, more entertaining things in life. Time is non-renewable, and therefore, invaluable. A reliable car buys us a little of that invaluable time.

</rant>

 

[Dumbledore]

Okay, so my sister and I both test drove the VW GLS 1.8T and I must say it wasn't all that I thought it would be. I'll admit, the style and quality seemed to fit the hype but the acceleration was very sluggish. It seemed to take a couple seconds for the engine to recognize that I had pressed the gas pedal. So then we decide to test drive the Passat. The Passat had a great interior and exterior and I give it great style points but again, the take-off acceleration was unresponsive until seconds later. One thing I might add is we test drove automatics. I asked the salesman why the cars seemed so sluggish he even agreed that the automatics can be slow off the starting line. I'm sure the manual transmission would have been faster but my sister preferred an automatic.

So next we went to the Mazda dealer and test drove the Mazda6s with the V6 engine. And I must say, thats a nice car!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! She liked it. So after hours of negotiating we agreed on the price. Next we went to the finance dept. and they gave her an interest rate of 8.25%. We were expecting around 4% She has great credit but she a new college graduate and starts her new job in July. Even though she has good credit she didnt have much established credit. So we decided to decline the offer and now were just going to shop around for interest rates.

 

[RGN]

Originally posted by: Dumbledore
Okay, so my sister and I both test drove the VW GLS 1.8T and I must say it wasn't all that I thought it would be. I'll admit, the style and quality seemed to fit the hype but the acceleration was very sluggish. It seemed to take a couple seconds for the engine to recognize that I had pressed the gas pedal. So then we decide to test drive the Passat. The Passat had a great interior and exterior and I give it great style points but again, the take-off acceleration was unresponsive until seconds later. One thing I might add is we test drove automatics. I asked the salesman why the cars seemed so sluggish he even agreed that the automatics can be slow off the starting line. I'm sure the manual transmission would have been faster but my sister preferred an automatic.

So next we went to the Mazda dealer and test drove the Mazda6s with the V6 engine. And I must say, thats a nice car!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! She liked it. So after hours of negotiating we agreed on the price. Next we went to the finance dept. and they gave her an interest rate of 8.25%. We were expecting around 4% She has great credit but she a new college graduate and starts her new job in July. Even though she has good credit she didnt have much established credit. So we decided to decline the offer and now were just going to shop around for interest rates.

Hello? 1.8T? as in one point eight liters? your suprised its sluggish?

 

[Dumbledore]

Originally posted by: RGN

Originally posted by: Dumbledore
Okay, so my sister and I both test drove the VW GLS 1.8T and I must say it wasn't all that I thought it would be. I'll admit, the style and quality seemed to fit the hype but the acceleration was very sluggish. It seemed to take a couple seconds for the engine to recognize that I had pressed the gas pedal. So then we decide to test drive the Passat. The Passat had a great interior and exterior and I give it great style points but again, the take-off acceleration was unresponsive until seconds later. One thing I might add is we test drove automatics. I asked the salesman why the cars seemed so sluggish he even agreed that the automatics can be slow off the starting line. I'm sure the manual transmission would have been faster but my sister preferred an automatic.

So next we went to the Mazda dealer and test drove the Mazda6s with the V6 engine. And I must say, thats a nice car!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! She liked it. So after hours of negotiating we agreed on the price. Next we went to the finance dept. and they gave her an interest rate of 8.25%. We were expecting around 4% She has great credit but she a new college graduate and starts her new job in July. Even though she has good credit she didnt have much established credit. So we decided to decline the offer and now were just going to shop around for interest rates.

Hello? 1.8T? as in one point eight liters? your suprised its sluggish?

Ummm, Yes, I was suprised. I mean it's 1.8 TURBO!! It just took a long time to take off..but once it did take off..it accelerated well. And just bc it has 1.8 liter engine has nothing to do with acceleration.