2005 Volkswagen Jetta TDI review from North America

Well, this car has had its fair share of issues, and some have been resolved, but some are still causing some problems.

At about 2,000 miles that car started to intermittently idle rough when stopped at red-lights and stop signs... you could feel the shaking through the steering-wheel, clutch, and brake pedal. This is yet to be resolved and has caused the next two mentioned problems.

At 20,000 miles the transmission mount finally broke after a week of the car idling rough and VW saying that the car was fine and that they "couldn't replicate the complaint in shop." The whole tranny had to be replaced due to the mount, and this was covered under warranty.

At 36,000 the car began a more casual rough idle again, and this lasted about a week (again with vw saying the car is perfect), and this time a rattle developed. The rattle turned out to be the flywheel, and I'm not sure if a piece had come off or what, all I know is that the flywheel, pressure plate, and clutch were replaced... covered under warranty.

The major issue now is that there is still a rough idle and the car smokes (diesel carbon) more than it is supposed to... now, before you send me nasty comments about diesels and their carbon, I know as a man with a diesel (and automotive) background that this much smoke is abnormal and VW admitted this when the flywheel was replaced, but did nothing with this problem. The excessive exhaust was reported at 2,000 miles with the idle. I have 11 more months of power-train warranty, and this is a known problem, so I'm hoping it gets resolved in the coming months.

At 16,000 miles the led turn signal on the passenger side mirror went out. VW looked at it and "fixed" it, but upon pick-up, it didn't work and had to be completely replaced again.

The door panel on the passenger side front door has a rattle in the armrest that has annoyed me, but hasn't been fixed as VW has looked at it 2 times and can't seem to find it.

I'm not a fan of the service department at my VW dealership, and when my flywheel was an issue, I called the VW CARE center (look under customer service on the VW website) and they listened to my complaint and assigned me a case manager who oversaw the repairs and diagnostic on my car. This was a patience saver, and I really appreciate the assistance I received from the case manager... so if you have an unresolved problem or are not getting the answers you seek, call the VW CARE center.

I give the car some credit as I received the car as a gift the summer before I turned 16, and it is still with me and I am 20. It has been a decent 4 years and few months, and although the car has presented some problems that are not satisfactory, the car has never left me stranded. The car has seen several states and some lead-footed driving, and the lowest fuel economy has been 29mpg... the highest economy was recorded when I was traveling back and forth to college my freshman year and that was 58 mpg. My usual average is between 42 and 48 mpg and I do NOT follow the car's fuel mileage computation as it reads between 3 and 9 miles high.

The car isn't excessively quick, but what can you expect from a 1.9L 100hp diesel. There is a lot of torque and the car is still fun to drive and handles very well. If you want more acceleration, there are chips and stage two turbos out there, but I use the car to commute at this point; I have a Mustang GT and Chrysler LHS (Among other cars as my father collects classics and special interest vehicles) at home if I want something with better acceleration and thrills.

I would recommend Bridgestone tires as the Michelin tires that came on the car didn't last very long, but I attribute this to the tire squealing that a 16 year old boy will do from time to time.

All in all, the car came at a decent price... I think the MSRP was $22,000 U.S.D., but we paid a little over $19,000 for it. It came with all the power options that I had wanted: sunroof, auto climate control, leather, and an impressive audio system. The looks of the car aren't amazing, but it isn't ugly for sure, and it is agreed that the German's have more style over the Asian Corolla and Civic.

On a side note, I wish the trunk was a little bigger, and that the back doors had bigger openings, as some things just won't fit in this car that fit in my Chrysler (but the Chrysler is a LHS and is a large sedan and not an entry level sedan). Also, the seats could be more supportive, as the lumbar adjustment doesn't seem to do much, and there should be two "pumps" on the 2-way power seat to control the front and not just the back of the bottom portion of the seat.

Also, I have lost 2 center caps on the rims as the plastic "teeth" on the caps broken overtime in winter and the caps were lost... not the biggest deal, so oh well. My only annoyance with the car is the warning system for windshield washer fluid and low fuel... flashing yellow warnings on the center display get old really quick.