1998 Volkswagen Jetta TDI review from North America

Had the car two weeks and got into an accident, rear ended some idiot who stopped in the middle of an intersection because the light went yellow. Although the accident probably couldn't have been avoided I noticed the braking performance on this car is the worst I've experienced.

After the accident I found out how expensive VW parts are and how hard they are to acquire in my neck of the woods.

Repaired the front end and I am now having big problems with power loss. I think it might be because of the turbo, but I am not a mechanic and am only guessing.

The car comes with keyless entry and an alarm and when I bought the car "as is" I had to use the remote to unlock the doors otherwise the alarm activates. Also the key won't open the trunk anymore.

First diesel I've owned and it has some strange quirks when it comes to starting the engine from cold state. Lots of smoke and have to turn the key on and off 3 times, allowing the glow plugs to warm each time before the engine will start. Actually seems to start easier in the winter than in the summer.

As I mentioned before, the brakes are horrible on this car, but other than that it is the greatest car I have driven.

It was definitely built for the autobahn. It hugs the road and I love driving it at high speeds on winding roads.

Only 100 hp, but 173 ft*lbs of torque and 5 speed standard gives it great acceleration and powers up hills.

Great sound system with 8 speakers.

The greatest thing about this car is its fuel economy. I get 800 kms in the city on 55 litres of diesel and over 1000 kms on the highway if I keep the speed below 130 kph, which is hard to do in this car.

The trunk space is huge, excellent car for a gangster as you could easily fit 3 bodies in the trunk.

Not many cars I know of can rack up 533000 kms on the original engine and keep on ticking like this one does. Only paid $3500 CDN for it and was a great investment as I will save that in fuel costs in 2 years compared to driving my Monte Carlo.

One little fact you should know about VW odometers. After they reach 300000 kms, the restart from zero so beware if trying to buy one with "low kms" as it might have rolled and someone is not sharing that information with you.