The gentle rumble under the brown station wagon鈥檚 hood brings back memories of not too long ago as I sneak its 6-speed manual through the gears. So, too, the way it accelerates down a highway on-ramp鈥攍ike warm maple syrup, the brown wagon moves substantially with just enough verve. From the driver鈥檚 seat of this 2011 VW Golf TDI SportWagen, the memories conjured up are good ones. The VW TDI engine earned accolades in the early oughts for the way it combined good power and docile manners with upward of 35 mpg no matter how you drove it. But there are reminders of the past, not the least of which is a thin line of dust coughed up through the air vents when I cycle the air conditioner. That鈥檚 because the brown diesel wagon I鈥檓 driving spent last winter confined to a dusty parking lot in the High Desert south of Colorado Springs, with Pikes Peak looming nearby. Thousands of other TDIs, ranging from Beetles to luxurious Audi Q7 crossovers, remain captive in massive holding facilities across the U.S.
Some are finally heading home, to used car lots鈥攕tripped of some of their pride. VW and the government worked out a fix that removes the software cheats and makes the cars fully compliant with 2011-era emissions standards. This Jetta SportWagen鈥檚 CarFax shows just one previous owner who made regular service visits to the dealership and always renewed the registration on time. After 89,000 miles of apparently reliable driving, this VW was one of hundreds of thousands bought back after it was revealed that the automaker intentionally and systematically cheated on the federal government鈥檚 emissions test. This Jetta TDI wagon was one of the first approved for repair by the automaker. The CarFax shows that it has been in inventory for 6 weeks, despite an uptick in TDI ads online today alerting shoppers that these tainted diesels are back on the road. This Jetta wagon didn鈥檛 sit on the dealer lot that long when it was new, but demand for TDIs greater back then.
VW bragged in a press release in January of 2011 when this Jetta鈥檚 original owner took delivery that 鈥?2 percent of Volkswagen models were sold with TDI Clean Diesel engines鈥?the year prior. It鈥檚 hard to imagine how that owner reacted when allegations first came out in the fall of 2015. VW鈥檚 buyback offer a couple of years later was generous. Owners received well above book value for their used diesels. I don鈥檛 know what this wagon鈥檚 owner drives today. 12,000, I could be this wagon鈥檚 third owner, since VW held its title for a few months. It鈥檚 a compelling offer. The Jetta shows few signs of use and I like its specification, a nice combination of brown metallic paint and a 6-speed manual transmission. Even the synthetic leather upholstery, which VW called Biscuit back then, holds appeal for the way it would hold up to our rambunctious terriers. I don鈥檛 have an unfixed Jetta wagon for comparison since few owners didn鈥檛 take VW up on its buyback offers, so it鈥檚 hard to draw a direct comparison. This Jetta feels solid and it accelerates smoothly. The dealership test drive takes me on the highway, where the trip computer shows 40 mpg for a few miles of cruising. Around town, there鈥檚 that same hint of lag I remember from when these cars were new. The 6-speed sneaks through the gears and the clutch feels good, almost new. The diesel engine sounds louder than I remember, but that鈥檚 probably because today鈥檚 diesels like the Ford F-150 Power Stroke I drove recently are several generations newer. And the F-150 costs double what this Jetta did. This Jetta is too old to qualify for VW鈥檚 certified pre-owned program, which stipulates cars are no older than 2012 and that they have less than 75,000 miles. The dealer has wagons that qualify in stock, but they鈥檙e more expensive.
We have two cradles in place with three straps. Two on our frame and one as our anti-sway. Now according to Yakima, these are thier zip strips. To release those strips, we're just going to push on the sides here and pull them out and we'll save this one here for last. Today, on our two0one3 Volkswagen Jetta, we're doing a test fit of the Thule Raceway Pro trunk-mount two bike rack. That part number is TH900onePRO. We already have our bike secured down. We're first going to show you how we do that, and then we'll go over some features. We have two cradles in place with 3 straps. Today on our 2013 Volkswagen Jetta, we're doing a test fit of the Rocky Mounts Roof Mounted Brass Knuckles Bike Rack. That part number is RKY1202. I already have that connected to our bike. We're first going to show you how we do that. We have a ratcheting strap here, we're just going to press the black button and lift that up.
That will release that back tire. This is actually adjustable along the length of your bike rack as well, so you can use that for different bikes that you may have. Then up at the front, we have a few different things holding this in place. We, again, have a ratcheting strap here. Today on our 2013 Volkswagen Jetta we're doing a test fit of the Inno Aeroblade Crossbars. The part number for our crossbars today is I9XB100-2, for our foot pack we're using INXS200, and for our fit kit, we're using INK590. We already have our front bar on, we're going to show you we put the back bar together. We've just got one foot pack left and then we'll load it up onto our vehicle. It comes with everything you see here. The only thing you'll really need to provide is a flat tape, or even a tape measure will work for that as well.
