Pros and Cons of new 1.4 tsi Jetta

[Allergic2BunnyEars]

I was really tempted to purchase the new jetta because of its style and price, however I did some extensive research an was shocked about the problems that this model was plagued with around the globe. How is it that these European cars are rated so high in European countries, it is that they are more knowledgeable than us when it comes to maintainence, or do we get third grade vehicles, with inferior replacement parts?

Reviewers don't review cars long term hence this thread. I don't believe in the third grade parts thing by region. If you dig deep enough as you have you'll see it's a global thing and some European owners do in fact have similar complaints.

[metalgear2095]

It's possibly a maintenance and capacity problem down here.

[aaron17]

Let me keep my pair of Renaults and the 5er yes.
What I am reading here is frightening.
I see that our VW are sourced from Mexico. Are the VWs in Mexico experiencing issues?

The Jetta is assembled in the Mexico plant and shipped worldwide. Same VW components though that are manufactured in various countries.


It still seems the user experience (among Tuners anyway) is fairly mixed. Are some Jetta's problematic? No question. Are all Jetta owners having the kingskid Golf Lemon situation? Doesn't seem so. Ask el Bunny.

Based on the information available here, I hesitate to call it unreliable compared to similarly priced vehicles due to the fact that there aren't any other 70+ pages of Pros and Cons threads with this much information and user feedback for Corolla, Elantra, Cerato,etc or any locally available vehicle for that matter.

Name of thread is pros and cons. I usually post pros over the last few years. Here is my con right now:

Spanner icon on dash blinking alternately with the gear number Carnival Wednesday. Scanned car with vcds and got an error stating "hydraulic pump - play protection." The only thing in this car with a hydraulic pump is the mechatronic unit. Popped bonnet and looked at mechatronic unit and noticed fluid leaking. Car was driving normal but flatbedded it up to BA. Mechatroninc unit has to be replaced. Cool and calm as ever BA calls to say that the mechatronic unit is $23,000 and politely ask me to pay half before they place the order. Eventually they requested goodwill for me after I paid $1000 cuz I really eh feeling to pay $23k on a part that is known to have issues. So the car is parked up at BA awaiting a new mechatronic unit which will take weeks to get here. At BA I met a woman whose PCY Jetta had two mechatronic units replaced under warranty. I hadn't been to BA in a while. I must say things have changed quite a bit in little over a year in terms of number of vehicles for repairs. Will keep yall posted on the outcome as per usual.

Jaguar anyone?

Sorry to hear that....guess I am on a ticking time bomb as well....

[drchaos]

I wouldn't write off vw. Recently read a blog from a us based vw tech and his advice was to never buy a a German brand that was manufactured outside of Germany.
The tiguan and gti and I think some of the passats are German made rest are 3rd world. Have only heard good things about tiguans and golfs.

[drchaos]

As a side note I think all jetta owners need to have a meeting. We need to form a group, we also need to get consumer affairs involved and we need to write VW to ask for a 10 year transmission warranty. The problem has not been solved and after the 4 years of good is will is up and the mechatronic units fails again we do not want to have to be paying 23k for a part the world knows is defective ba should also be part of this process. BA is not responsible this is clearly a design flaw from vw. We need to point fingers in the right direction

[neexis]

I wouldn't write off vw. Recently read a blog from a us based vw tech and his advice was to never buy a a German brand that was manufactured outside of Germany.
The tiguan and gti and I think some of the passats are German made rest are 3rd world. Have only heard good things about tiguans and golfs.

I've heard this before, but it was really in reference to US assembled German cars.
I can say from first hand experience that US VW (Passat) and Audi (Q5) vehicles are different from what we get down here in terms of build quality (interior plastics, etc) and ride quality.

[carluva]

As a side note I think all jetta owners need to have a meeting. We need to form a group, we also need to get consumer affairs involved and we need to write VW to ask for a 10 year transmission warranty. The problem has not been solved and after the 4 years of good is will is up and the mechatronic units fails again we do not want to have to be paying 23k for a part the world knows is defective ba should also be part of this process. BA is not responsible this is clearly a design flaw from vw. We need to point fingers in the right direction

Good point but wishful thinking.... I doubt at all that owners of the 200 or so vws sold every year in trinidad will be able to make a dent in corporate vw for these mechatronics units.

What you owners of vw should do is to inform others potential buyers so they won't make the same mistakes we've all made and have had to pay for dearly, either financially or due to inconveniences.

Ba is a conduit and they are constrained by whatever vw throws at them. IMO the sale of vehicles such as vw shield stop in trinidad and let vw of the way of daewoo, seat or that obscure Russian brand lada. All those vehicles were massively unreliable and for whatever reason, their sales were stopped. BA should stop the VW sales.

[j.o.e]

^^^ seems a bit harsh...mostly Jettas failing

[cinco]

Tbh from you guys experiences it seems ba is doing a fair enough job with handling the issues. Just saying if it was ss you all would have been still waiting on parts and paying double the repair costs

[jhonnieblue]

Yup people don't realize the stress those Audi and KIA giving too.
Vw isn't unreliable. And they aren't a brand going away anytime soon. So.stop hating

[Morpheus]

Ok........taking the Jetta off my list of possible next vehicle.

[tr1ad]

Still wouldn't mind one, but I'm partial to manual

[carluva]

Tbh from you guys experiences it seems ba is doing a fair enough job with handling the issues. Just saying if it was ss you all would have been still waiting on parts and paying double the repair costs

Btw, BA is half owned by SS but you're right... They do handle as fair as they can but as I have always said, the are constrained as they are an agent for VW and with a small number of vehicle sales in a year, BA don't really have any clout with VW. When I sold had probs with my car BA treated me good and even tho the car was out of warranty, I got a courtesy vehicle.

The problem I had is that after owning my VW for 36 months , of that it was parked up at for repairs (excluding routine services) for about 4 months. That me being out of the car for more than 10% of the time. For a 300k luxury car with advanced technology that's quite unreliable. When I sold it it was working fine and I hope that the current owner has it working good too... Would hate to think its giving problems.

Point is the VWs are massively unreliable and while ppl allude that the gti and tiguan are not problematic that's only 2 models sold in trinidad. The bora was a problem, the jettas are problem and some passats too. Far as I'm concerned there should be strong laws against companies who (knowingly) sell new cars with known problems and no real solutions. In my experience owning vehicles, I've only ever bought new and have bought 6 new cars so far in my life and the vw was the only one I sold for fear of experiencing reliability issues later on. Speaking only for me, I will never buy a vw again and possibly any euro vehicle. I'm sticking to the japs.

[Allergic2BunnyEars]

[drchaos]

Wow carluva, some serious VW hate there. Thing is as bunny always says these cars are made by men..... to be fair problems can crop up at any time with any manufacturer, just this time carluva you get bite. Also VW is not a luxury brand, brand stands for "people's car" they compete with the upper end mid grade Japanese brands, Mazda and Honda are examples.
I think BA should be commended from the treatment I hear you guys getting. Out of warranty courtesy car ... pshhh try asking Toyota or SS for that.

[j.o.e]

Courtesy car? Toyota and Mazda don't give courtesy cars because owners don't have downtime *poke* *poke*
Sorry i had to..... but it's true

[drchaos]

Mazda's don't have problems? My cousin recently bought a new mazda 3. 2 months into ownership the stock brake pads are cutting into the rotors. Ss ignored the problem and eventually took them a month to acknowledge. Apparently it's a global issue and no fix so yet. So he was told the new set of rotors will probably start cutting again. Oh yes and car was down for 2 days.

[neexis]

Wow carluva, some serious VW hate there. Thing is as bunny always says these cars are made by men..... to be fair problems can crop up at any time with any manufacturer, just this time carluva you get bite. Also VW is not a luxury brand, brand stands for "people's car" they compete with the upper end mid grade Japanese brands, Mazda and Honda are examples.
I think BA should be commended from the treatment I hear you guys getting. Out of warranty courtesy car ... pshhh try asking Toyota or SS for that.

guess he wasn't a vw carluva

Agree with you hear... like any machine cars are prone to mechanical failure. Take for example the Toyota Corolla I had.. fair share of trouble @j.o.e

[carluva]

Wow carluva, some serious VW hate there. Thing is as bunny always says these cars are made by men..... to be fair problems can crop up at any time with any manufacturer, just this time carluva you get bite. Also VW is not a luxury brand, brand stands for "people's car" they compete with the upper end mid grade Japanese brands, Mazda and Honda are examples.
I think BA should be commended from the treatment I hear you guys getting. Out of warranty courtesy car ... pshhh try asking Toyota or SS for that.

As I said, I had decent experiences with BA and I do commend them. As for VW being luxury, I think they are marketed as that in trinidad. Maybe not the jetta but certainly the passat, which is what I had. Any car is prone to mechanical failure, agreed, but there are consistent repeats of the same problems with the VW mechatronics and clutch judder. When manufacturers such as toyota or honda acknowledge there is a problem, at least the fix usually solves the problem the first time. How many ppl have had to replace multiple mechatronics units? It's on that angle I mean that there should be strong laws. Anywhere in the world, if a place is selling food that consistently makes customers sick, health laws will shut down that place. It should be the same with VW who are selling cars with faulty components and still getting away with it.

When I was having probs with my car, I called consumer affairs division and alerted them to VW bulletins and recalls on the MU worldwide. While the woman did not seem technically inclined, she was more than happy to assist and make a call to BA for more info. I didn't take it further tho cause I was exploring my options and soon after I sold the car so it's not my problem anymore.

[drchaos]

Interesting that you mentioned Honda ... Did you know that Honda has started to use dual clutch transmissions in their hybrid fit and vezel? Did you know that these are 7 speed dry dual clutch transmissions( not the same used by VW). Did you know that there have been over 5 recalls thus far for these transmissions in Japan and they continue to have problems? Did you know that Honda bosses even said they are going to take pay cuts for their continued screw up with this DCT?

[carluva]

I did not know this, but no need to throw a hissy... Seems like dct are a buss technology to stay clear from then.. But hear this, at least honda bosses are acknowledging their company's screw ups... haven't heard anything similar bout the vw bosses, but I do stand corrected on that. All vw ever says is its oil.

[metalgear2095]

Mazda's don't have problems? My cousin recently bought a new mazda 3. 2 months into ownership the stock brake pads are cutting into the rotors. Ss ignored the problem and eventually took them a month to acknowledge. Apparently it's a global issue and no fix so yet. So he was told the new set of rotors will probably start cutting again. Oh yes and car was down for 2 days.

2 days or 6 weeks...hard choice

[Allergic2BunnyEars]

Mazda's don't have problems? My cousin recently bought a new mazda 3. 2 months into ownership the stock brake pads are cutting into the rotors. Ss ignored the problem and eventually took them a month to acknowledge. Apparently it's a global issue and no fix so yet. So he was told the new set of rotors will probably start cutting again. Oh yes and car was down for 2 days.

2 days or 6 weeks...hard choice

There is no need to be defensive. That's the point of this thread.

Dct isn't a buss tech. It's like throwing all slush box automatics under the bus because one type have trouble. The main issue is the dq200. End of story. The other variants other the vw umbrella do not have anything remotely close in terms of issues. No issues with the 6 and other 7 speed DSG found in other Audi and VW vehicles.

To imply that brake pad issues are remotely close to tranny issues would be to bury one's head in the sand. I would take 2 days over weeks anytime.

How the manufacturer/dealer deals with the issue is the most important factor so I'll keep posting details of my experiences in this thread.

[neexis]

I did not know this, but no need to throw a hissy... Seems like dct are a buss technology to stay clear from then.. But hear this, at least honda bosses are acknowledging their company's screw ups... haven't heard anything similar bout the vw bosses, but I do stand corrected on that. All vw ever says is its oil.

Na man... what about the recalls a couple years back in China, Russia, etc. Only difference here like you said is that we're too small to really make a dent in VW's global sales to really affect them. If our consumer laws were anything like China's, that sheit would absolutely not fly. Remember when the DSG issues started in China, VW had to sort that out under orders from the government.

That will probably never happen down here... sad reality of being such a small market.

I really like DCT's.. I just think this dq200 model is a shitty version of it. Can't see myself going back to regular slushbox auto. Haven't driven a CVT yet that I liked... meh

[metalgear2095]

Mazda's don't have problems? My cousin recently bought a new mazda 3. 2 months into ownership the stock brake pads are cutting into the rotors. Ss ignored the problem and eventually took them a month to acknowledge. Apparently it's a global issue and no fix so yet. So he was told the new set of rotors will probably start cutting again. Oh yes and car was down for 2 days.

2 days or 6 weeks...hard choice

There is no need to be defensive. That's the point of this thread.

Dct isn't a buss tech. It's like throwing all slush box automatics under the bus because one type have trouble. The main issue is the dq200. End of story. The other variants other the vw umbrella do not have anything remotely close in terms of issues. No issues with the 6 and other 7 speed DSG found in other Audi and VW vehicles.

To imply that brake pad issues are remotely close to tranny issues would be to bury one's head in the sand. I would take 2 days over weeks anytime.

How the manufacturer/dealer deals with the issue is the most important factor so I'll keep posting details of my experiences in this thread.

Actually it was a defense against a defense. lol

[kingskid]

Let me keep my pair of Renaults and the 5er yes.
What I am reading here is frightening.
I see that our VW are sourced from Mexico. Are the VWs in Mexico experiencing issues?

The Jetta is assembled in the Mexico plant and shipped worldwide. Same VW components though that are manufactured in various countries.


It still seems the user experience (among Tuners anyway) is fairly mixed. Are some Jetta's problematic? No question. Are all Jetta owners having the kingskid Golf Lemon situation? Doesn't seem so. Ask el Bunny.

Based on the information available here, I hesitate to call it unreliable compared to similarly priced vehicles due to the fact that there aren't any other 70+ pages of Pros and Cons threads with this much information and user feedback for Corolla, Elantra, Cerato,etc or any locally available vehicle for that matter.

Name of thread is pros and cons. I usually post pros over the last few years. Here is my con right now:

Spanner icon on dash blinking alternately with the gear number Carnival Wednesday. Scanned car with vcds and got an error stating "hydraulic pump - play protection." The only thing in this car with a hydraulic pump is the mechatronic unit. Popped bonnet and looked at mechatronic unit and noticed fluid leaking. Car was driving normal but flatbedded it up to BA. Mechatroninc unit has to be replaced. Cool and calm as ever BA calls to say that the mechatronic unit is $23,000 and politely ask me to pay half before they place the order. Eventually they requested goodwill for me after I paid $1000 cuz I really eh feeling to pay $23k on a part that is known to have issues. So the car is parked up at BA awaiting a new mechatronic unit which will take weeks to get here. At BA I met a woman whose PCY Jetta had two mechatronic units replaced under warranty. I hadn't been to BA in a while. I must say things have changed quite a bit in little over a year in terms of number of vehicles for repairs. Will keep yall posted on the outcome as per usual.

Jaguar anyone?

They are monsters how the HE'LL THEY GO TELL YOU PAY $23000 AND THE F'ers know that part is faulty . Is time we assembly outside BA.

[carluva]

Ditto those comments. I never had to pay for my clutch and MU but I woulda been pooping concrete if I had to fork out $50k plus. It's sad that these cars have no resale vAlue and u have to pay more than the value of the car to keep it on the road. I sold my car and made a loss, yes, but in the greater scheme of things, i probably would have been unable to sell that car today or made an even greater loss. The dq200 is the focus of this thread and it's a really problematic tranny that costs ppl $$$$$$$ to repair and moreso it's a safety hazard. The first time my MU started to fail, I was driving round 60 on a main road and the car started to buck and slow down and I was thankful that no one was behind me or they would sure hit me. Quite terrible. In Australia, the transport commission there have vw in court bc a cars MU failed and cost a woman her life. In trinidad we paying out we tail and nothing else happens. *stupes*

good point on china. If we had any kinda laws like dat here vw would be in a diff game, but we are to small a market.

Cvt is totally different and made more for economy not "performance" like dct so it's up to the consumer to determine his needs. All I'm saying is that vw in trinidad don't auger well and bc of my crappy experience I'm not buying a vw again and any euro. Only way I'll take one is if I'm given one as a company car and even if I have that opportunity I'll probably not take a vw.

[drchaos]

I still want a new golf gti

[Pointman-IA]

Quick question: Are there any manual Jettas?

[Allergic2BunnyEars]

Only foreign used.