Of the 16 cars I've owned, the Jetta TDI was one of the most satisfying. Hardly a high performance car, the VW was nevertheless a pleasure to drive. Roomy interior (at least up front) and a huge trunk made the car practical for every day and long-distance use. Its comfortable seats made long trips a breeze and 1,500 km one-day stretches were painless. Three Toronto - Tampa trips and many 1,000 + km non-stop trips never left me with any back pain or made me particularly tired. Strong brakes, precise steering and good grip made you relax behind the wheel and never fear bad road conditions.
The car's 100 hp engine didn't exactly produce great acceleration times, but its 177 lbs-ft of torque made keeping up with traffic effortless. The TDI has been excellent on fuel. For most of its stay with me, the car consumed under 5 l/100 km on the highway and under 6 l/100 km in the city. When we parted company after over 226,000 km the car still averaged 6,3 l/100 km in mixed driving.
The car also aged very well, showing few signs of wear and tear and retained most of its solid body integrity.
Fuel $15,000
Repairs $2,150
Maintenance $2,850 (including doubling up on VW's 16,000 oil change intervals and timing belt replacement)
Operating costs $0.08/km (excluding purchase price and insurance)
Well done VW and so long Jetta!
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