Approximately two years ago, my wife decided that it was time to replace her ageing early model diesel Volkswagen Tiguan. She enjoyed the Tiguan and was convinced that she wanted something else similar, if not bigger. So, we found a tidy diesel Hyundai Santa Fe at an ex-government auction and bought it. Not my kind of car really, but we got it for a steal, so we were set for a few years of happy safe motoring for her (or so I thought). Less than five months later, she had decided that it wasn鈥檛 for her. We had a dog but no kids or anything at the time, and it was just too big and slow for her. She wanted something small (but not tiny), easy to park, and fun to drive. Enter the Volkswagen Jetta. I鈥檒l be the first to admit, the Jetta isn鈥檛 what came to mind when she listed her criteria for the next car.
In fact, a Volkswagen GTI felt like it would have been perfect. 15K max) that really did limit our ability to find a later-model GTI without a heap of kilometres on it. It soon became apparent that the Jetta was a much better buy second-hand. And with the biggest exception being the omission of the tricky front diff, it is almost identical to the equivalent year-model GTI mechanically, and has the benefit of an enormous boot. Seriously, it is bloody massive considering the external proportions of the car. We managed to find an extremely low-kilometre 2012 Highline (optioned with a sunroof and sat-nav system) well within our budget from a Volkswagen dealer in Brisbane, and bought it immediately. It is black, which isn鈥檛 my first pick of car colour, just because I鈥檓 extremely lazy and don鈥檛 like washing cars. But the black works well with the Jetta, as it helps hide the lines a bit, and I always thought the boot line looked a bit frumpy. The car drives extremely well.
Actually, a fair bit better than I was expecting, and the performance (while not mind-bending) is certainly sufficient both in town and on the open road. It鈥檚 actually quite a fun and revvy little car, and the gearbox (six-speed DSG) works well when you鈥檙e giving it welly. It even gives you little crackles and pops on overrun and when shifting. The gearbox can be a little jerky and slow when you are in stop-start traffic in town. This wasn鈥檛 a surprise to us, having owned a diesel Tiguan with a DSG in the past, but it鈥檚 definitely a more harmonious pairing with a petrol engine than the diesel was. The car is a little prone to skittering about a bit when you鈥檙e trying to get the power down (e.g. when you鈥檙e trying to do a quick start off from the lights). I鈥檝e never really taken the Jetta on a spirited drive on a tricky road, but I imagine you would get similar issues with understeer and grip.
I suspect (and have been told by those in the know) that the better front diff would help with this in the Golf GTI. As a little pocket rocket for driving around town, though, it is really good fun. The interior is very well laid out and comfortable, which is to be expected. The seats (leather, heated) are exceptional, but would benefit from perforations and/or a cooling function, as they can get a bit sticky on hot days. It is also one of very few cars fitted with a sunroof that my head doesn鈥檛 brush the ceiling. I love sunroofs, but I am 6ft tall and it is a huge pain in the arse that most cars with sunroofs don鈥檛 have the head room I require. As previously mentioned, the boot is massive, which is great, and even with my large frame in the front seat, there鈥檚 still room in the back for adults.
