That certainly is a very interesting grill.....

We have a 2009 TDI and it's been great so far (Uncle has the same car and he has no complaints either) Personally I dislike the suspension which feels quite bouncy but then again you need to look at what I'm using for a comparison basis :)


I like the comparison you made to the C-Class.....I think Mercedes needs to do a better job of having more options as standard on the C in order to better compete with the competition.

I don't consider a C class a real Mercedes-Benz, therefore I would have to own this VW in lieu of any C. However, I don't think I'll be owning a VW anytime soon, even though VW makes a pretty awesome diesel. Enjoy!

BTW, what did you have to give for the car? Or if you don't feel comfortable divulging, what did it list for? Is it an AWD, or FWD drivetrain? Thanks.

This car with DSG has a base MSRP of just over $26K. Add to that the sunroof, body kit, winter mats and trunk liner, NAV and Ipod interface, plus all of the various and sundry charges and the total MSRP is around $32,400. I paid invoice which is about 6% under that number or around $30,600.

This is certainly one of the costliest Jettas around, but I figured I wanted something a little different and it's still a lot less than I would have paid for a Mercedes...even a used E class would have been around $30K.

I've only put around 60 miles on it so far but the trip computer is showing a solid 40 MPG - and none of that was really highway driving. The short distance I took it on the highway had the instant reading around 46 MPG.

Thank you for the frank information.

It took my wireless connection a few minutes to download the pictures - that is one sharp & good looking car! The best one I've seen thus far from VW. Excellent color combination you ordered - I might add. It's hard to argue with A) new and B) 40 to 46 mpg, and C) $30K!

Does the car have AWD?

I would cross-check the on-board computer's computation of your mpg by clocking manually 3 or more tankfills.


A used '06 CDI sedan with low miles (25K or less - what i want) has seemingly become very scarce or gold. Unreasonably priced. I've been trying to find one on a national scope on Cars dot com and AutoTrader dot com. Naturally, I would prefer the I6 configuration engine versus the later model V6.....

Unless I find a 2006 CDI gem of a sedan, and because of the body change from the W211, I believe I might as well wait for a soon to be released W212 diesel sedan becomes a couple three year old unit, and they've taken the initial depreciation hit.

All of the diesel Jettas in the USA are FWD - not sure if they make any in 4Motion (AWD) in Europe. The car does have active stability control, as well as brake assist included and the stability control can be shut off.

Hp/torque figures?

0-60 time?

The stock TDI is 140HP, 236 Ft-Lbs of torque. 0-60 time is supposed to be about 8.5-9 seconds. That's about the same as my old E300 after I chipped it.

The US version has lower power than the euro because of all of the emission controls needed to make it "clean" and 50 state legal. In Europe the same engine is putting out 170HP and can be chipped over 200.

I also forgot to mention you get a nice federal tax credit for buying one too ($1300).

I can't get over how big it is...looks to be approximately the same size as my old '96 Passat tdi. I like the seat material, which appears to be similar to what they used to fit onto the old first-gen Sciroccos.

To be quite honest I can't even tell the new Jettas and the Passats apart.....

I parked it right alongside our C300 and it is very close to the same overall length. According to the written specs it is 179.3" overall length and its width is 70.1". The C300 is 182.3" and 69.7". Wheelbases are 101.5" for the VW vs 108.7 for the M-b, so even though the VW's overall length is only 3" shorter than the C300 its wheelbase is 7" shorter.

In terms of feel, the two cars feel very similar, as I said, there really isn't a lot of difference between them IMHO.

Keeping the C in the garage when the roads are wet or worst is likely the most significant benefit of the VW. This past winter was the first time in many years I did not change over to snow tires on my E320 because it never left the garage when the white stuff was in the air. The VW is much more fun (and no worries) to drive in the snow!

I believe the C is a leased car from what I recall anyway.

dieselgeek.com has proper aluminum skid plates that will protect the engine.

Yeah, I am doing some research on that now. I also think VW makes one which is steel and I might go that route.

Our C300 is a 4Matic and is very good in the slop even with the all season Michelins which Mercedes supplied with it. Joe is right, that car is leased so I am not too concerned about it being exposed to sand and salt...we won't be buying it next year when the lease is up.

But, I was very impressed with the way the little MK IV Jetta I had this past winter did in the snow...every bit as good as the 4Matic - but it did have 4 snow tires so it wasn't an apples to apples comparison.