2004 Volkswagen Jetta TDI Wagon review from North America

First cold start problem was yesterday, at -20 Celsius (that's 4 below Fahrenheit). Funny thing is that the previous day it was much colder: -27 Celsius or 20 below Fahrenheit) and it was a regular start in cold weather, as it has been for 3 winters in the Canadian Rockies. But yesterday, it took 4 or 5 tries for it to turn over, then it was very very slow to get fuel.

I drove for about 10 minutes through town at 30 to 40 km/hour, then 5 minutes at 70km/hour, then another 20 minutes on the highway at 90km/hr, and the temperature gauge was still very low and barely any heat was coming from the engine. So I turned around for home, not feeling like driving in the dark on the highway for another 100 km to the city. On the way back home, it took another 10 minutes for the temperature gauge to rise to 80, and it didn't hit 90 until the car had been running for almost 45 minutes.

Any pointers?

Otherwise, I LOVE my Jetta.

Fuel efficient, nice to drive, great on the highway, which is where I use it almost exclusively, and it just feels like a quality car. I'd have a hard time driving a Ford wagon after being spoiled in VWs for the last 20 years!