I am about to purchase a used car, need a wagon and heard that this may be a good choice. I have not had the best of luck with a 2003 Subaru Outback although I maintained it well, (headgaskets last year, now burning oil suspiciously). I would drive this car into the ground and had hoped for many more than 123,000 miles.
Test drove a CRV but they seem expensive for what you get. Any helpful ideas appreciated. Someone tells me Click & Clack don’t like Jetta’s, but I can’t find any conversations via search on this site.
I have found what appears to be a good Sportwagen, it comes up clean in accident reports and still has some original warranty. I would take it to a mechanic @ a VW dealer for safety check before purchasing.
How many miles on the '10 Jetta? Check “Consumer Reports” for some repair data on the "10 Jetta as a used car. I think you’ll find it to be either average or below average.
Personally I don’t care for VW auto transmissions. VW recommends that the fluid in these transmissions never needs to be changed, but the transmissions don’t seem to last very long. VW auto transmission failures before the car even reaches 100K miles are pretty common. And, an new auto transmission can run $2000+ dollars.
If this particular car has a manual transmission I’d give it a “thumbs up” but with an automatic transmission - for me it is a thumbs down.
Identafix says there is a moderate problem with the oxygen sensor, and its a bit over $200 to fix. Other than that, there are no significant problems. If you follow recommended maintenance practices and change the auto trans fluid every 30,000 miles, it should last a long time. I imagine that this Jetta probably has 40,000 miles or so on it. I’d change the auto trans fluid immediately unless the previous owner can show a recent receipt for it.
Unless they have released some updated survey results, Consumer Reports rates the reliability of this year as average assuming it’s a TDI and a 5cyl is slightly above average (i’m looking at the April auto issue) The people i’ve met with these wagons wouldn’t buy anything else (the TDI is in the majority of the ones around here) if everything checks out and you bring the maintenance up to date if needed you should be fine.
I own a 2010 Jetta Sportwagen with the 5 cylinder gas engine and a manual transmission. It has 100k miles and has been trouble-free (NO repairs). I agree with the earlier post about VW automatic transmissions being problematic. My girlfriend had a Jetta automatic and the trans failed very early.
I really like my car. It’s roomy and zoomy. My only complaints are mediocre fuel economy (28-30 mpg), A/C controls are somewhat annoying to use, and there’s only one power outlet for charging phones, running kids’ electronics, etc. Minor annoyances. It’s nice to drive on long trips. The cargo area is huge. Mine is the base Jetta S, and it’s very well equipped. I would recommend it.
I have a friend and a neighbor each whom also had to rebuild the motor prior to 150 k on their early 2000 Subbies. Each car has thier own weaknesses it seems. Cars that have better reputations overall, will cost more. Count me with the rest in avoiding VWs. All used cars are crap shoots. I have had the fewest problems with Hondas and Toyotas. They are still not trouble free. Toyotas seem to eat brakes and some Hondas may have trans issues when worked too hard.