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2011 Jetta Unveiling LIVE
squishmann
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That came out when Peugeots were considered conservative. It was also designed by Pininfarina.Maybe it's because we never got it, but I still think the Pug 406 coupe looks nice, even today.
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While being clean, minimalist, and understated, the iPhone and iPod before it is actually a very progressive, groundbreaking design. It's like an Eames chair. Minimalist, but so fresh you can't take your eyes off it. If the iPhone were a car, it would be maybe an original Audi TT.
There's nothing fresh about the Jetta. It's clean, minimalist, and understated, yeah, but it's got nothing original, unexpected, or rethought going on. It's a sedan version of every new car VW has released in the past two years, with the same slit-grilled front end, squared-off tails, and sharp creases. It's going to sell for the same price as a Cobalt, so let's not count our soft-touch interior chickens before they hatch, and "German quality" is average at best.
A car that slavishly replicates the design cues of every other car in the lineup to inoffensively handsome effect might be clean and well executed, and it might appeal to you, but it's not extraordinary...and its universal appeal isn't guaranteed or deserved.
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Average? If we're talking about interiors, IMO it's definitely better than in e.g. BMW E90 that easily costs twice as much and definitely on par with the Audi A4. I'm not saying this because I have a MkVI myself, I really am trying to be objective here. Knobs have real aluminum trim on them, materials feel great, design is great, grab handles and glovebox lid are damped, etc., etc., etc.
I guess what I'm trying to say is that the Jetta's attributes aren't super exciting designs in and out, but instead e.g. a great interior where everything is thought thru and feels and looks very high class and ageless. I like how my Golf looks pretty understated on the outside, but when I sit inside and drive it and for example go thru the USB memory stick with the radio, everything works just as I want it to work. There have been many great little things I noticed only over the first few weeks of ownership.
And I don't know what engines it will be introduced with in the States, but here the 1.4T base engine has received praising from every car magazine for its great torque and economy. I commute at 46 mpg with some traffic light stops and I've got 147 lb/ft at my disposal from 1,500 to 4,000 rpm. When doing relaxed driving I rarely feel the need to rev it past 3k and the car still goes along with the rest of the traffic without flooring it.
I guess I'm saying the Golf (much like the Jetta then, I guess) is all about content. The car doesn't offer anything exciting in its design (but still it looks good, IMO). But driving and owning it is where it shines.
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Yeah, I was talking more about these gaping mouth new age Peugeots.
And while probably more exciting, that's a busy design. Little rub strips all over the bumper, big one in the "mouth", the mirrors look like they're a bit droopy, etc.
Another good example of a much more exciting design is the Civic interior.
Some like it, but it just reminds me of those cheap Sony stereo sets that look like spaceships. And I'm afraid that design won't age very well, either.
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2,312 Posts
So does a car have to be extreme to be appealing? I think the more of the former, the less the latter.
Its appeal is deserved.
Its appeal is deserved.
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4,816 Posts
I am curious what you mean by "worst Jetta ever" because so-so styling aside, it is probably the most reliable Jetta ever made, judging by the extreme lack of complaints and because I owned one too and had zero issues with it.
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113,534 Posts
Are you just jealous that the MkV is actually reliable?
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113,534 Posts
I agree that the MK5 Jetta has much better reliability than the MK4 Jetta, but how many miles/years did you put on yours? I ask because I think true (relevant to the market) reliability stats only start after the B2B warranty is long gone (on modern vehicles) both in miles and age.
Why? Because that's when it goes from a hassle/annoyance to an actual cost.
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1,502 Posts
An amazing concept. Mechanical failure after years of use. Auto Makers should make a one year warranty like on laptops and say to hell with it, something bad is going to happen anyway after you've had it for a while.
I've already mentioned in one of previous threads, that if MkIVs were such reliability nightmares, you wouldn't see their resale prices staying at the same level as other cars of that class.
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34,065 Posts
I was talking about current VWs in general.
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24,318 Posts
But I think the fact that the new version of the NA 2.0 is not yet available is inexcusable. They must have known for over half a decade that a more fuel-economic base engine would be highly desirable in the US (and their hybrid and E cars are two to three years late, and will be too expensive in this base class).
For me, the question is: is it worth it to introduce the old engine now (some more base sales, some more showroom traffic due to low advertised prices) when VW will get ripped at all "enthusiast" web sites and magazines for delivering such a weak engine with relatively mundane fuel economy in 2010? Everyone will compare this engine to other existing base engines and the upcoming offerings from Kia, Ford, and GM - and it will fall horribly short. This is something a Chinese or Indian manufacturer could do when first introducing a really cheap car here - but VW? Maybe I am overestimating the effect of this, but I think the negative publicity for VW will outweigh what little bit of profit they will make for half a year or a year.
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5,379 Posts
I'm surprised it still meets US emissions. Consider this... my stock 1987 Audi 4000 quattro (which isn't all that "quick" by modern standards) will be able to outrun this new Jetta... that folks is progress. Meanwhile GM, Ford, and Chrysler are pushing to add modern direct injected engines to all their entry level cars. VW has been making and selling DI engines for years, yet they can't even put one in their entry level bread and butter car in the US?
VW likes to complain that they can't offer all kinds of different engine/transmission combination in the US due to the cost effectiveness of having to certify all of them. VW... why are are certifying this obsolete engine configuration (which will surely be more expensive to maintain due to its timing belt) alongside the 2.5L? You have a modern 1.8 and 2.0L engine configuration in the parts bin, use one of those! Speaking of the 2.5L, why hasn't it been upgraded to direct injection yet?
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24,318 Posts
I am sure it's a cost issue and also a reliability issue. It took them some time to get it right even in the 2.0T. VW pretty much discontinued the NA DI 2.0. They seem to like the turbo +DI combination, and DI in the anyway more expensive 6cyl engines.
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11,849 Posts
Key in, crank, crank, crank...
"Well, geez. I don't like this. TCL, you got a suggestion?"
"Hyundai!"
"Well, geez. I don't like this. TCL, you got a suggestion?"
"Hyundai!"
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