2001 Volkswagen Jetta GLS TDI review from North America

Rear windshield had to be replaced because one defrost line was not working.

Original windshield wipers were streaky; replaced by dealer.

Temperature gauge has a mind of its own. Once a week or so, it decides not to work properly. Dealer tried three times to fix it without success. It is no longer under warranty and still doing the same.

The TDI is a fantastic car! Mileage is incredible. Everything I've ever read about the great mileage is understated. You can get 1000 kilometres per tank-full with 75% highway driving. You can get 900 kilometres per tank-full with 50%-60% highway driving. You have to fill the tank right up though. I cannot imagine ever driving a gasoline powered car again, especially since you can get diesel at easily one out of every two gas stations.

In the city the car is nothing to write home about. However, on the highway the car can fly. It has tons of torque and can accelerate from 100 km/h to 140 km/h as fast as any V6 I've ever driven. It'll blow the doors off most four cylinders. It is stable and quiet. It is a joy to drive.

There is no foul smelling diesel exhaust to deal with. The emission control systems cause the car to emit an exhaust that is similar to a gasoline powered car. You never need a block heater - it's not even an option!

The best feature on the car: the auto-up power windows for both driver and passenger (there is auto-down for both as well). It is great for drive-thrus or when you hit the basket weave to get on the highway. You just lift the button all the way and the window comes up by itself allowing you to have both hands on the steering wheel when you meed it most. Hard to believe more companies haven't copied this feature.

Another bonus is the high marks the car has for safety ratings.

Knock on wood, so far the car hasn't cost me a penny.

There is only one downside to this car: winter warm up. I really mean it - this is the only negative about this car. In the winter, you cannot turn the car on and let it idle for a few minutes so that you can drive away in a warm car. No chance. The car is so fuel efficient that at idle it wastes very little energy. That means that the car will not heat up at idle. You must drive the car for at least five minutes before it warms up. It is a pain. You must get heated seats to better endure these painfully cold few minutes.

Another cold weather downside is the initial exhaust smoke created on start-up. This is really just a minor annoyance, probably not worth mentioning. For the first few seconds after a cold start-up, you get the traditional diesel exhaust and smoke coming out of the muffler because the emission system is still cold. Within no more than 5 to 10 seconds this disappears and the clean exhaust begins to be emitted. It is an annoyance because when you get out to clean your car, you may still catch a whiff of that smoke in the air.