Does anyone have an opinion on the 2009 Jetta Diesels?
If it was me, I’d get the wagon version.
Never driven one before, but they do get pretty good fuel mileage. Just remember to fill up with diesel and not gasoline 
All the reviews like it. My concern would be finding a good dealer, VW dealer service has a pretty bad reputation. Ask around with your VW-owning friends.
Very frugal, but any fuel savings can be quickly gobbled up by expensive repairs if the vehicle is not maintained BY THE BOOK, and then some.
If you are not “car-smart”, I would not recommend this car.
If you want cheap, reliable driving, a Toyota Yaris, Honda Fit or Hyudai Accent will cost you a lot less per mile overall.
Maintaining these new smog diesels “by the book” erases any savings you imagine they provide…
But those cars wouldn’t drive as fun as a VW.
Driving frugally doesn’t mean it has to be boring
I find the Jetta TDI wagon to be an extremely attractive package, even though I’m not a VW fan. The price of diesel seems to have dropped dramatically of late. I wonder how long it will stay down.
I’d be concerned about the high price of maintenance/repair with VWs, but if I had to buy a car soon the Jetta TDI wagon would be on my short list.
I’d want to know about leasing because I’m not sure I’d actually want to own one. I’d want the option to walk away after three years or so, before it needed anything expensive.
Most of the leasing companies have gone out of business when the value of the returned vehicles plummeted and they were left holding the bag…Leasing ALWAYS results in a very high cost per mile figure…
A hoot to drive especially with either transmission. Very comfortable and substantial car that delivers excellent mileage. Not an appliance. Very unique with wagon offering.
What is your budget and view on cars? If economy get Hyundai, Mazda, Kia, GM etc used. If new go for Toyota or Honda as they are overpriced used.
This car is going to be high cost per mile no matter what, and will require following the manufacturer’s maintenance schedule to the letter, as you suggested earlier.
The leasing companies may have gone away, but perhaps VW will lease one. I’m not a fan of leasing, but if I really wanted a new VW I’d consider it so I wouldn’t have to own the car after the warranty period.
I have a 2002 VW diesel, but the 2009 is not the same engine.
As for maintenance cost, Every 2009 Volkswagen comes with Carefree Maintenance, including a no charge Courtesy Vehicle Check. That means regularly scheduled maintenance for three years or 36,000 miles, at no charge Well I would call that no additional charge over what you pay for the car. No one gives anything away.
Very frugal, but any fuel savings can be quickly gobbled up by expensive repairs if the vehicle is not maintained BY THE BOOK, and then some.
Well at least for the first three years that would not apply.
As for reliability I don’t worry. I have owned three VW’s two of the diesel and I have have very few problems. I also seem to recall a commercial from VW in the last few days indicating an award for reliability on at least one of their models. Sorry I did not listen carefully.
Frankly I have not seen what I would consider a meaningful study indicating that they do well or poorly in reliability. That said, I have not seen anything I would consider meaningful that would say they are reliable. My personal experience is far to small a study to be reliable.
Updated:
While I continue to believe that the studies are suspect (no matter which way they rate) CR rates the two models rated in my latest addition of their magazine at medium to better than average.
Joseph, it’s not so much the reliability, as the life cycle cost and longevity. VW diesels are driven by knowledgeable types who tend to be proactive. They willingly fork out money for maintenance and repairs, as required, and after 10 years usually don’t compare the figure with Honda or Toyota owners.
Consumer Reports tracks the incidence of repair and VWs have numerous “black balls”, indicting much worse than average repair costs. At that level 30% of owner report problems. As an eternal optimist, I know you put yourself in the 70% category of those who don’t have all those breakdowns.
The best way to convince yourself is to talk to 20 or so VW owners who don’t lie about their cars and can show you all their repair bills and then talk to 20 Toyota owners who can do the same thing. It’s not so much the diesel engine as the rest of the car that is so trouble-some.
Please read the post about the “Rediculous 40,000 Mainteance Service”.
Having said all that, I can make a VW diesel perfectly reliable for 100,000 miles by practicing predictive monitoring and pre-emptive replacement of components starting to fail. The reason I won’t do that is the exhorbitant cost and the bother. This is the 21st century, and cars should be reliable and cheap to run for at least 100,000 miles.
“Courtesy Vehicle Check” sounds like they just do a bunch of “checking” free-of-charge.
Are you sure that this really includes the fluids and filters for all of the scheduled maintenance for 3 yrs/36k?
If it really does include the fluids and filters, wouldn’t Courtesy Vehicle Maintenance be a better name?
If you want a transportation appliance then get a Toyota, Honda etc. If you want to drive a car with a good measure of personality including precise German style highway steering then consider a VW diesel. This steering feature seems to escape the awareness of the average car buyer.
Reportedly VW is improving their quality having been made acutely aware of their shortcomings. One of my recent Ward’s Auto World magazines has an article on that.
VW has a considerable following on www.vwvortex.com and www.tdiclub.com. The other brands apparently do not warrant such sites as far as I know.
VW uses 10k intervals. 40k conviently is the major one hence its “free” the first 36k which lines up with traditional US intervals.
Docnick,
I agree with everything you wrote, with the possible exception of your final opinion. I just don’t believe today’s VW’s come close to their reputation. However as I believe we both agree, There does not seem to be a set of really good numbers due to the nature of the question and human nature.
All makes and models tend to have different owner types and that makes any typical study suspect.
Other than to suggest that ALL makes and models appear to have greatly improved over the years, I think that is about as good as anyone can really do.
I have to note that Doc has presented well thought out informed opinions, as I hope I have as well. The fact that in the end we come up with slightly different opinions is not too surprising since they are opinions.