- Location
- Fruita, CO
Rigid, KC, and Baja Designs
Need a new commuter vehicle
- Thread starter Greg
- Start date
Evolved
Less-Known Member
- Location
- Your Mothers Dwelling
@Greg I may be hijacking your thread here but I will ask anyway. We started looking for a new commuter vehicle recently and a Jetta is in the mix. I found a good deal on a newer Jetta but have heard horror stories on VW electrical systems. The one we are looking comes with a 2 year bumper to bumper warranty plus a lifetime warranty on motor/turbo/trans (no electrical). Can I ask you a few questions (and any other Jetta owners)? What year is your Jetta, how many miles does it have, have you had any major issues with it and would you recommend a Jetta? We are looking at a 2017
anderson750
I'm working on it Rose
- Location
- Price, Utah
We co-signed with our daughter on a 16 Jetta tsi recently. It was higher mileage for the year but we knew the person we were buying it from and she had bought the car new. So far the car has been great without any issues. The only time we have anything was the annoying fact that we had to have a friend reset a service light with his scanner. Apparently the German engineering includes recommended service interval lights that do not shut off
D
Deleted member 12904
Guest
My 18 has 22k on it now and still averaging 39 mpg. I put snow tires on it last week and was thinking it would affect mpg but hand calculated it yesterday at 39.3 mine is still pretty new for problems but so far I'm super impressed with it for a cheap car. I travel a lot and have rented nearly every car in it's class and nothing I would rather own in that price range.
Evolved
Less-Known Member
- Location
- Your Mothers Dwelling
I too travel a descent amount for work and have had Jettas, Altimas and a slew of other cars. The only reason those two come to mind while writing this as those two were by far my two favorite rentals in that class. I have been looking at Maximas a little too.
- Location
- Grand Junction, CO
I love my '14 Jetta, it now has over 50k miles on it and I've owned it for 2 years at this point. Mine is the 1.8l turbo with a 5 speed. I haven't had any real issues at this point and really like driving the car, even more so now that is has an APR tune. It's quick & sporty, I average 35 MPG for the most part, if I keep my foot out of it.... but if I'm driving on the slower highways at 55-65 MPH, I get 40-45 MPG. Pretty impressive for a gas powered car, IMO. I've been able to get 500+ miles out of a tank of gas.
I did have something strange happen 2 weeks ago. My battery died (it was a Duracell Ultra, just over a year old) and I couldn't jump start the car with a fully charged battery jump box (NOCO). Not sure what was going on, but the car acted like the jump pack wasn't even connected. I had to leave the car and get a ride to NAPA and buy a new battery. That really didn't sit well with me, I don't like the idea that I can't jump start the car with a dead battery.
Also, I have a TPMS sensor that is bad.... I took it to a local tire shop for snow tires and asked them to fix the TPMS sensor. They said they couldn't, that it had to go to the VW dealer, which I find absurd. It was a Firestone, so I question their capability.
Other than that, the car has been 100% trouble free. I've considered trading it in on something like a mid-2000's 4Runner or Tacoma as a work DD and for the Wintery roads, but I hate to get rid of the Jetta because it's a great little car.
D
Deleted member 12904
Guest
My last car was a 16 Altima. Also a fantastic car. But when shopping for a new one to get one comparably equipt to the Jetta I picked up was about $6k more than what I was able to get the Jetta for. Infact I couldn't even get a base model Altima for what I paid for my Jetta.
Spork
Tin Foil Hat Equipped
- Location
- Saratoga Springs, UT
I've just hit 320k on my VW, I'm not sure what the electrical gremlins are referring to unless it's lights, about 5 years I had issues with my blinkers they kept doing the fast blink thing, I'd pull the bulb out look at it and it looked fine, put it back in and it worked. It would go a month than then happen again. I finally got a pair of needle nose pliers and pulled/bent the contact out so it connected better and I haven't replaced a bulb in 4 years now. I've got the 2003 beetle and the headlights suck to replace, I've heard they fixed that on newer models (just an access panel in the wheel well now).
The alternator on mine has a pulley with I guess a bearing or coupling that's supposed to allow movement I've replaced the alternator twice because the coupling has broken down and pulley separated from the alternator. http://forums.tdiclub.com/showthread.php?t=240917
90's VW's were notorious for electrical problems, even some early 00's depending on which plant they came out of. While I can't speak for the brand new ones as the newest i've owned was a 2009. The electrical issues are non existent now, though as you've heard the stigma still lingers.
Troop92
Well-Known Member
- Location
- Layton, UT
Maybe I missed it in previous posts, but have you considered an older RAV4 or CRV? Reliable, AWD, good on gas, relatively easy to fix diy.
Troop92
Well-Known Member
- Location
- Layton, UT
I guess that (above) misses the mark for "beefy" when it comes to potential wildlife encounters....
Evolved
Less-Known Member
- Location
- Your Mothers Dwelling
Noahfecks
El Destructo!
- Location
- Glenwoody Springs, CO
Greg, my jump pack wont recognize a completely dead battery either, some sort of fail safe. It can be frustrating
My wife had an 01 Jetta 1.8T when I met her, when it ran it was a fun little car, but it definitely had electrical gremlins. Towards the end it was burning through coil packs weekly
My wife had an 01 Jetta 1.8T when I met her, when it ran it was a fun little car, but it definitely had electrical gremlins. Towards the end it was burning through coil packs weekly
Homefryy
Active Member
- Location
- Salt Lake City
You reminded me that the NOCO I have has an override button for a completely dead battery. The unit automatically detects when its connected to a battery but if the battery is so dead it can't sense it then it won't let you turn on the power. The one I have has a button to override that and turn the power on no matter what so you better be sure it's actually hooked up properly.
I've got a NOCO as well, like Homefryy says when the battery is totally dead you have to hit the override. Maybe it was implied but when the battery is really dead the NOCO charges it rather than jumps it.
I got it for Christmas last year and have a friend that was having electrical problems with his (spare) truck that sat most of the week. I wanted to see what the pack was capable of jumping and told him to call be next time it didn't start so I could try it out. The battery was really dead and it wouldn't jump but we left it on for a couple hours and then were able to get it jumped after I figured out how to set the override.
I just wanted to plug the NOCO though. I got a fridge for my LX470 without a second battery and with that and my ham and other gadgets I ran the battery down a few times and had to get jumped. Regular cables are a pain and this unit is small and compact. I usually try to remember to charge it before a trip but even so it retains its charge well. Its so nice to be able to pull over and jump someone and be back on the road again in a couple minutes. I recommend everyone get a set. I believe this is the one I have, the GB40.
johngottfredson
Threat Level Midnight
- Location
- Alpine
Now you're in business! Game changer.... As in, the new game is going for points - turn your lights off and hit the gas. That ranch hand is the snow plow made for deerFound a beefy "cheap" Ranch Hand style bumper.... $800. It's big & fugly, but should take a hit.... I wish the edges of the grill guard were better attched to the main body of the bumper, but a welder can remedy that.
http://www.hdtruckware.com/chevrole...4_89/outlaw-traditional-chevy-only-p-393.html
