Pros and Cons of new 1.4 tsi Jetta

[Allergic2BunnyEars]

The American Jetta doesn't have the 1.4 TSI engine as an option. The fuel economy figures were taken from the vw uk website and are imperial.

The premium fuel we have here is recommended for the engine. Octane number of super is too low for it. Octane number of 95 is what it needs.

[nemesis]

wrt this thread I still don't understand how everyone disagreed with my initial comment. Haha. Recent events again have shown me no different!

[rawCpoppa]

I wouldn't say everyone...

What recent events you referring to?

[nemesis]

Not much of an event for anyone else really. Just a personal experience. Fuel pump quit at 18kkm. Not foreign used, properly maintained etc. Wha you go do. Seems it was a manufacturer defect but no idea if the dealer will deal with that stuff here. Anyway, not waiting on them, getting the part myself. Just think I've never seen anything like this before in my personal experience. As I said before, people just have different experiences I suppose.

[Allergic2BunnyEars]

I've been reading about high pressure fuel pump failures on the TDI Jetta in the US with low mileage. I think VW even had a recall too. Might be worth your while to check dealer on it due to the low mileage even though the pumps should be different (I'm guessing) for diesel vs gas.

[nes123]

could this be related to the US's piss poor fuel causing it?did the article give the suspected cause?

[rawCpoppa]

The recall is for the fuel injector leakage in tdi engines and is a manufacturer's design flaw. The hpfp issue is still being investigated so the cause isn't clear. If it was the fuel the issue would affect many other manufacturers but so far it just seems to be vw.

Haven't really heard of a widespread tsi issue though with respect to the hpfp...

[nemesis]

Mine isn't VW. Researching it seems 40k recalled in US. 150k pumps sold worldwide. Warranty was extended to 10yrs on the part worldwide after the recall...so maybe I'll get some support from the dealer on this. Maybe.

[JETTA1000]

for those who didnt know there two types of TDI engines made by VW
pump duse (unit injector) there is no high pressure pump apart from the primer pump in the fuel tank
2006 Touareg 2.5 TDi is pump duse which so far has been able to handle trini diesel
there are a number of them around going strong
nice thing there is no timing belt maintainence free gear train

also 1.9TDI american and uk version there are about 4 variants
in this engine there is one central injector pump which can be rebuilt easily
and has a vnt turbo very reliable engine i have seen a 150000 miles plus on these
engines still runing strong

and there is the New common rail 2.0l TDI and 1.6tdi engine which will
available in trindad next year 2013 the 2.0tdi had problems with the High pressure fuel pump failing
because of lack lubricity of the fuel in some states it was a very few affected cars from what i read

i know there are a few tiguan diesels in trinidad 2.0 common rail doing around 60 000 miles or more with no problems with the trini diesel


alternately there were a few Hyundai santa fes (diesel) that had fuel system failures that were fixed under warranty by the dealer

there isnt a car manufacturer out there that makes the most perfect trouble free car
there must be room to make mistakes from which a better design will emerge

[NorStar2K]

for those who didnt know there two types of TDI engines made by VW
pump duse (unit injector) there is no high pressure pump apart from the primer pump in the fuel tank
2006 Touareg 2.5 TDi is pump duse which so far has been able to handle trini diesel
there are a number of them around going strong
nice thing there is no timing belt maintainence free gear train

also 1.9TDI american and uk version there are about 4 variants
in this engine there is one central injector pump which can be rebuilt easily
and has a vnt turbo very reliable engine i have seen a 150000 miles plus on these
engines still runing strong

and there is the New common rail 2.0l TDI and 1.6tdi engine which will
available in trindad next year 2013 the 2.0tdi had problems with the High pressure fuel pump failing
because of lack lubricity of the fuel in some states it was a very few affected cars from what i read

i know there are a few tiguan diesels in trinidad 2.0 common rail doing around 60 000 miles or more with no problems with the trini diesel


alternately there were a few Hyundai santa fes (diesel) that had fuel system failures that were fixed under warranty by the dealer

there isnt a car manufacturer out there that makes the most perfect trouble free car
there must be room to make mistakes from which a better design will emerge

True dat. I know of 2 that were bought by the same company that's down cuz of the fuel pump. A 3rd is operating with a blown HID bulb and fog lamp. Nil replacement at the firm. WTH? Bulbs? Nil stock of a consumable like a bulb?! I hope the firm willing to pay for the inevitable ticket(s) for blown bulbs that company's going to get.

[Allergic2BunnyEars]

Placed d order for this car since october. Salesguy says delivery in December...then turned to January ...now I hearing FEBRUARY 2012

wdmc

[Habit7]

^^^I dont think its N&M to blame, most car companies right producing exactly what they need and demand is tight. A small market like ours in not a priority for them.

[Allergic2BunnyEars]

I hear yuh eh. I more vex with d sales rep. He was lying right thru bout expected delivery. I wish his commission could go to another rep now oui.

[[X]~Outlaw]

I'm considering this vehicle myself. Currently all my maintenance and mechanical repairs myself (Local 2004 NZE corolla), mainly because I don't trust anyone else to work on anything I depend on.
I was wondering how practical is it for me to do the same on this vehicle.

I also read some instances in the UK where the DSG gearbox started making a clunking sound and the dealer told the owners that this was normal and basically they had to live with it. Any kind of clunking sound drives me insane! Has anyone here experienced/heard of this problem locally?

For the current owners, how is the handling out of the box?
Any quirks/problems with the 1.4tsi engine?
How is the rubber trim and plastic parts holding up in local conditions?

[Allergic2BunnyEars]

Have the car about 2 weeks now.

It's my first car purchase. I have the service software the mechanics at the dealer use and it has basically all the steps you need to maintain the car. If you familiar with maintaining your own vehicle I believe this would be an easy one for you to do on your own as well. Easier if you have the service manuals. The DSG we get is the dry clutch one where you don't have to worry about adding tranny fluid. So basically you would be doing oil and filter changes. DO NOTE: DSG repairs aren't usually done. Either the clutch pack is replaced or the Mechatronic unit is replaced entirely. Not sure how comfortable you are in this regard. Part replacement should be easy via the internet. I have come across helpful sites and basically you search well enough you'll be able to get what you want.

Two issues I have which boils down to one: the DSG does make a rattling noise on gear change with the windows down and music off. Subtle but it is there. The sales rep says it is due to the dual mass fly wheel used by VW. I have googled this and seen multiple thread hits for the same rattling noise from the DSG but so far it doesn't seem to signify a problem with the DSG. I'm doing mor eresearch on this at the moment. A friend of mine has the previous model Jetta with the same 7 speed DSG which has the same rattling from day one of his purchase but no performance degradation. I'm not really worrying about the rattling sound.
CLUNKING however is a different matter. No clunking from mine. Clunking seems to be issues with DSGs from 2010 go back. Still researching this one as well.

2nd and more irritating issue at the moment: Interior noises. Again windows up, AC on, slow down for a corner and creaking noises can be heard from possibly the door trim and maybe B pillar. The dealer acknowledges this is not normal and will be addressing this at the first complimentary service. I suspect the trim hasn't fully been put in place in some areas or became loose but I have been too busy to really investigate. Plus I would like to see how the dealer handles the situation.

Annoying noises aside I love this car. The engine is smooth. Noisy at full throttle but which 4 piston isn't. Fuel economy is great depending on driving style. I'm still in the break in period for the car and I have seen fuel economy reach 9L/100 km (55 litre tank) and it is still dropping as the car breaks in further. This in a hilly area like Sando mostly. If you in PoS the car would be easier on gas too. The car would be alot faster than the corolla you are thinking of replacing and possibly would have better fuel econ too. In fact I would place this car faster than most cars in its price bracket (civic, corolla, lancer 2.0gt)) and even some more expensive euro vehicles (b7 and some b8 audi a4, bmw 320i) too. Car can pretty much hold its own against vehicles with displacement up to 1.8 turbo or 2.4l non turboed.

Handling out the box...I haven't thrashed the car. Some corners taken at speed in an A33 Cefiro had tyre squeal but none so far with this car. The ride is firm but not harsh. Torque steer can occur at times. Haven't induced understeer yet so don't know the limits of the vehicle. So to me it handles better than a 9 year old A33 Cefiro but can't tell you how it would compare to your Corolla.

Long term I can't say how the interior will hold up. The materials don't look cheap and don't look like the plastics that will discolour in future but who knows. Will post pics of interior at later date. Any other questions feel free to ask.

[[X]~Outlaw]

Nice review Allergic2BunnyEars. I spoke to a sales person today regarding the DSG rattling and he did confirm its normal. I don't think it would be an issue to me as you said you only hear it with the windows down and music off, since I never drive with the windows down.

I have an idea about the trim noises you are talking about..is it like a squeak? We have a focus wagon (2010) and the interior makes the most annoying noise when you slow down for a corner, I have also noticed this on my co-workers Focus sedan (2008).

I have a sales person bringing the vehicle for me to test drive tomorrow morning so I'll post up my thoughts on it after I check it out.

[Allergic2BunnyEars]

The trim noises are short squeaks and creaking noises like if plastic isn't seated right. I tried pressing about on the door trims but nothing would budge really. The car to me is so much fun to drive though that the creaks add character lol. Nevertheless I want them gone. I'm beginning to think the interior noise thing might be a euro car fact. None of the japanese cars I've driven ever had them. Old or new.

when you test drive make sure to try it in both manual and sport mode. Also test drive with music off for a bit. I didn't so maybe that's why I didn't notice the interior noises or maybe that vehicle just didn't have any.

Dunno where you test driving but if you stop on a hill know that the vehicle holds the brakes for you for a couple seconds after you take your foot off then tries to engage the clutch. If the hill is too steep it will roll back after trying to engage the clutch a 2nd time.

Any particular reason why you selling the corolla?

[[X]~Outlaw]

Allergic2BunnyEars I'm not selling the Corolla....I don't think I ever will. Apart from it being my 1st car, it has given me trouble free service for the last 8 years (220k Km). The only major thing I had to do with it apart from regular maintenance is change front cradle bushings, shocks and A/C evaporator. No one has ever worked on that car besides me so I have quite a close connection to it lol!

I'm actually shopping around for a second car (wifey will get to use the corolla) and to be honest when I first saw the Jetta it wasn't even on my list to look at especially since at a glance all I saw was 1.4L engine. I had no idea we were getting the 160HP twin charged engine at that price. Other cars on my short list are the Cerato Koup and the Elantra. The Jetta power train package just blew my mind though.

The only thing I'm really really concerned about is the durability/reliability of the DSG gear box. I've read quite a few problems that could only be fixed by replacing the mechatronic unit, which cost between 2k-3k pounds lol!

My interior is literally show room perfect (I have never driven with the windows down and there are always seat covers on the car) however my aunt's Bora same series (PBT) interior is horrible! All the fabric inserts in the doors has totally just hanging loose. I don't know if issues like this has been addressed in the newer VW's but I am very particular about little things in vehicles and something like that would cause me to throw a fit!

[Allergic2BunnyEars]

Mk4 jettas (Bora) were rubbish down here. That's basically cars from 10+ years ago. Tranny issues and interiors that couldn't stand up to the heat. Mk6 jettas and mk5 ones as well were built with the tropics in mind. I have friends with mk5s and they have no complaints.

I am still wary of the dsg but I really couldn't bring myself to drive a cvt tranny or spend money on a current corolla or civic at this point. Too slow. Too boring. I myself wasn't looking at VW either but when I really put in the research around the 200k to 260k price bracket it was the only vehicle to stand out apart from the lancer gt. dsg tech is still relatively new but most of the problems seem to be for older models. I took a gamble and well hopefully it works out.

I'd eventually like to do the maintenance myself on this vehicle but I'm not experienced. Starting small with a few mods: changing steering wheel and lower grille.

You should ask the dealer to order the manual if you are really wary of the dsg. Worth a shot even if at first they try to play hardball. Problem is you would be in for a long wait if you ordering something off the lot.

[Habit7]

Autoboxes are the transmissions of the future. Better fuel economy and performance. But it's basically actuators and pneumatics changing gears and applying the clutchin a manual transmission so you might expect overtime the soundproofing of the operations would diminish even if there is any.

[Allergic2BunnyEars]

Small update. Highway run Pos to Sando I enabled cruise control for the first time and set it to 100kph.

Surprised to see the fuel Econ figures for the trip: 6.5 liters per 100 km. switched to mpg (English units) and saw 41.9 mpg for that trip. Wtf. Engine eh even finish break in yet.

[[X]~Outlaw]

Sweet! I test drove the car Friday and absolutely loved it! The cabin is quite and it feels so solid on the road. I was amazed at the acceleration for such a tiny engine and there was just the slightest hint of engine noise. I was also very pleased to be able to talk to a sales person that actually knew about the car they were selling, all my questions were answered intelligently.

The pictures don't do it justice though, it looks so much better in person.

[MG Man]

nice fuel economy but I regularly get that with our 8 year old 206 station wagon, which runs a 1.6 and weird french transmission ;p
not as fast as your veedub but still....

[Habit7]

41.9 UK mpg is really 34.9 US mpg which is normal for my Mazda and Fiat. But 100kph from sando hard for me to do, I might average a 110kph. But that CC is surely cool though.

[Allergic2BunnyEars]

... Mk6 jettas and mk5 ones as well were built with the tropics in mind. I have friends with mk5s and they have no complaints.
...

So amm about that no complaints...Friend Mk5 Jetta DSG mechatronic unit konk out just so. Replaced under warranty but still. No warning. Part replaced with like for like. Car is only 18 months old. It's only one story so dunno if it will be a trend with others in future.

[nemesis]

I think the random parts just going is a common thing with those cars. Doh study it, you will have issues, but they may not be exactly the same.

[Allergic2BunnyEars]

Thanks...I think haha.

common as in euros or common as in VW?

[nemesis]

From that country in particular, VW tends to have that a bit more. Still, I'd expect it to have improved with newer models. Only time will tell.

[Habit7]

Euros are more complex than other manufacturers, especially electronically. So the chance of failure is greater, hence the lower reliability. We all have to live with it.

[nemesis]

It's worth it most times though.