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Volkswagen confuses me...

vi edit

vi edit

Elite Member
Super Moderator
Tinkering around with the idea of getting rid of our somewhat aging Malibu in the near future before my luck with GM strikes and a pile of stupid repairs start trickling in.

Went to the car show this weekend looking into high MPG, family friendly commuters for my wife to drive to work and take the kids into school. She's got a 15 mile each way drive that is almost entirely highway.

Looked at the Mazda CX-5 (cool car for the $$), Hyundai Elantra (great back seat room for a car it's size), Prius V (again, surprising room), and the Volkswagen diesel lineu (Golf, Jetta, Passat).

Comfort wise, all of the VW's were the best. But what really confused me was the shocking difference in interior and options quality that the Golf provides that the Jetta and Passat do not. The Golf may as well had an Audi logo on the front. The Jetta on the other hand was a low rent, econobox that has fallen far from the "class +1" standard that it used to maintain. Same thing for the Passat. It's HUGE. But materials, options, and just attention to details are lacking.

The Golf had not just a sliding, but also articulating armrest for comfort of any driver that was also nicely padded. The Jetta had some nasty rubbery armrest that was fixed in place.

Options on the Golf (tech package gets you HID's, Dynaudio, ect) that you can't get in the Jetta or Passat.

And price wise it's just wierd. The Passat is a MUCH larger car but it's only like a $1,000 more than a similar or less optioned Golf.

It's just a very bizzare hodgepodge linuep of cars in between various states of refresh. I absolutely love the fit and finish of the Golf, the bolstering on the seats, and the options, but really want the space of the bigger back seats in the Jetta or Passat. And price wise, there's not much of a reason to go with either of them over a Passat unless you want the fit and finish of the Golf or the smaller size of the Jetta.

😵
 
Have to step up to the GLI to see a difference in the low-rent Jetta. And then your over $25K with options.

Hold off for the Ecoboost Ford Fusion that arrives in Sept. The Elantra hatchback arrives in August.

No love for the Ford Focus, very European in feel with premium materials?
 
if the passat wasn't crap, it would be an a4. from what i saw years ago, there was very little between them, except the passat was amazingly underpowered.
 
I think the whole Volkswagen Group is confused now. I'm waiting for the low priced Porsches to come out in the next few years 🙂
 
Fmr12B said:
No love for the Ford Focus, very European in feel with premium materials?
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Want to love the Focus, but the back seat in that thing is laughable. I wouldn't even put my 4 year old back there. Go look at an Elantra seating space or a Jetta and then look at a Focus. They are like 2 classes bigger. No way I would be able to get a rear facing car seat in the back of them.
 
Current Golf = designed/developed for European market
Current Passat/Jetta = designed/developed for North American market

Unfortunately VW has learned their lesson on selling cars like the Golf here and has started making North American vehicles for North American tastes. That means cheap interiors, cheap suspensions, and cheap motors (for the most part). The plus side to this is that we will likely see improved reliability to the Jetta/Passat. The negative is that we will likely have few VW cars in America that come close to Audi compared to what we used to get.
 
Some legit gripes here, though I found the last gen VWs and the Golf have lots of parts that while refined, break too damn easily.

The cheap engine and underpowered passat criticisms are pretty ridiculous.

The Audi A4, the passat, the jetta, they all use the same 2.0T FSL engine, unless you are talking about the shitty 2.5 base engine in the VW, which is intended for people who dont care and are just buying the car for looks.

A Jetta TDI is still a damn nice ride. The sportswagen is unchanged from last gen (they just updated the sedan). But even the new sedan isnt as bad as it gets panned for. The engine is superb and the interior isnt as bad as the reviewers say. Its still better than the crap that most of the American makes get away with in that segment.
 
i'm in the process of selling my 2nd VW (2003 GTI 20th AE) and am done with european cars. they are way too unreliable once you start putting miles on them.

i have really enjoyed this car though.
 
I know what I'm getting into with a VW. I had a 2000 Passat and a '97 GTi VR6. The Passat was the best car I ever owned. The Gti was the most interesting. Neither of them had a fraction of the problems any of my GM cars have had. And they both were much more comfortable, enjoyable and overall nicer vehicles. I'll put up with a higher chance of quirks for a more enjoyable and better performing car.

I also was interested in the 4 cylinder Camry SE's. $22k gets you a decent looking large, well handling and equipped sedan that will pull 35MPG on the highway.
 
As someone that's actually owned a bunch of VWs (2008 GTI, 2010 Jetta TDI) yeah you're right. The newer ones are meh compared to their predecessors.

If there wasn't a VW badge on my GTI/Jetta on the inside then no one would have thought it was one, just about everyone I took for a ride was like "Wait...this is a VW?"

If you want something fun to drive in the segment, the Focus with the sport handling pack is pretty bang on close.

The Passat is pretty decent though, I'd probably consider that if I was in the market.
 
I guess it is a matter of opinion. I sat in a Golf and Jetta sedan immediately after each other, and although I could find quality differences in the interior when I looked - I honestly wouldn't care much if it was my car. Especially if there is a big difference in price. Compared to the doom that car magazines have written, I thought the "decontenting" was pretty mild, and a good place to save money. Granted, it was just for 15 minutes at a dealership.
 
Having driven both the vanilla Golf and Jetta, for the life of me I can't figure out why the Jetta is the cheaper of the two. They call the Jetta a compact but it's a mid-size IMO. A lot more car for up to $6000 less. Especially if you opt with the 2.5L I5 engine. There's nothing on the Golf that really warrants the price premium. At the price they want for some of the better packages, you might as well just walk over to the Audi dealer.
 
I have a 2000 Jetta VR6 and really like it. Gobs of power, fun to drive... The only thing I'd change is the interior door fit and finish and the car is slightly too narrow. Two big guys rub shoulders and you'd be hard pressed to fit 3 kids in the back seat.

I'd like to get a 2005 or 2006 but just don't have the cashola right now for it.
 
VW just wants to be cheaper, period. Interestingly enough, as everyone else is improving their interiors and trims, VW is letting their's go.

I also don't think the Golf 'looks like an Audi'. It's not that great (not bad) but definitely nothing special.
 
Yeah, the Jetta really is a big car. It's probably close to the size of the Ford Fusion in interior space...if not even bigger. And the trunk on it is huge too. It's basically what the B5 Passat was in space. The new Passats are just monstrous in size. That back seat was cavernous. And there is really no price difference between the Jetta and the Passat...for the money I may as well just upsize unless I intentionally want the smaller car.

It's just bizzare because for years the Golf was the cheap clunker of the VW lineup. Now it's the upscale high tech offering.

As for other cars mentioned...I *WANT* to give Ford my money for a Focus, but the space just isn't there. I test cars by putting the driver seat in my seating position and then trying to climb in the back. If I can't fit, then getting a car seat or sticking a four year old back there with legs kicking the back of seat just isn't going to fly. The back seat of the Focus is horribly small.

No on the Cruse. I'm not giving GM another dime. Too many problems with them over far too many years and different models. Not touching them again.

No on the Mazda 6. I've had a Mazda 5 and a Mazda 3. And had a "new" 6 for a week long rental. It was 'meh'. Much more appealing, more comfortable, and economic cars out there.
 
And I just really wish Mazda had their diesel over here for the CX-5. That's like the perfect combo...small little SUV with great space and handling...40+ MPG and a lot of spunk from 300+ ft/lbs of torque. Gimme that for $26k and I'm happy.

I just wish they'd flat out confirm it was coming with a hard ship date and pricing.
 
mmntech said:
Having driven both the vanilla Golf and Jetta, for the life of me I can't figure out why the Jetta is the cheaper of the two. They call the Jetta a compact but it's a mid-size IMO. A lot more car for up to $6000 less. Especially if you opt with the 2.5L I5 engine. There's nothing on the Golf that really warrants the price premium. At the price they want for some of the better packages, you might as well just walk over to the Audi dealer.
Click to expand...

Admittedly I have only driven the Golf GTI here in the States, but I have driven a whole mess of Golf's over in Europe and I have driven both the old and new Jetta as rentals or relatives cars. The new Jetta is not nearly as nice to drive as the Golf. I admit that the 2.5L might be partly to blame for my dislike of the new Jetta, but it is just not as nice a car as the Golf. The ride is not as sure or well damped...and obviously every other engine I've sampled in the Golf has been leaps and bounds better than the 2.5L.

All of that being said...if I just needed to buy a cheap commuter car with a decent amount of space...the Jetta is a pretty good deal and I think it looks good as well.
 
vi edit said:
And I just really wish Mazda had their diesel over here for the CX-5. That's like the perfect combo...small little SUV with great space and handling...40+ MPG and a lot of spunk from 300+ ft/lbs of torque. Gimme that for $26k and I'm happy.

I just wish they'd flat out confirm it was coming with a hard ship date and pricing.
Click to expand...

Agreed...I'm really hoping that is available once we get back. It would fit my wife perfectly.
 
PricklyPete said:
I admit that the 2.5L might be partly to blame for my dislike of the new Jetta
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Why in the world would anyone willingly opt for that 2.5L engine? Everyone knows its garbage. The 2.0T is a great engine. Excellent mix of performance and economy.

For the guy looking at cars right now, my advice:

2013 Fusion Hybrid
2012 Camry Hybrid
2012 Jetta TDI
2012 Passat TDI (kinda bugs me that you have to pay for dealership fuel additive every 15k miles though)

Camry SE (4 cyl) gets heavy competition from sonata/optima. It's a bigger car aimed more at comfort. But it does get excellent mileage and @200hp it isnt that slow.
 
PricklyPete said:
Really...why is this? I assumed it had the same system as the Jetta...aren't they the same engine/output?
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From what I've read they tweaked it a bit in the Passat. Better intercooler and the urea filtering works different. I read 10,000 miles you need to change it out. I guess in bulk the stuff is around $10 per service. I think autozone has it in self change kits for around $20.

Also most accounts say that the Passat TDI gets better real world milage than the Jetta/Golf and the DSG transmission works much better.
 
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