Hi everyone,

Our 03 MCS is my daily driver. In few weeks, we'll be taking advantage of the "cash for clunkers" program to replace my wife's daily driver. Since the R60 will not be on sale here until early-mid 2010, we are inclined to purchase a new Jetta Sportwagen as our toddler mobile.

For the owners of MINI and Jettas, I would like to ask some questions:

1. We are inclined to get the gasoline version of the SportWagen, but wife wonders if it makes sense to purchase the TDI. Even though the mpg is better, the upfront cost of the TDI is higher as well. What is your opinion on this?

2. I've read number of reviews of the car, and it seems spacious enough to accommodate 2 adults + a toddler (car seat in the middle of the backseat) and the associated gear for trips, etc. Is it easy to get a kid in and out of the back seat?

3. My last car purchase was our MINI and it was an MSRP transaction. I would like to know whether there is any room for negotiations on the sticker price of a Jetta (not that I am good at negotiatinns)? I assume it would be more difficult to lower the price of a TDI, since there seems to be more demand for it with the higher mpg rating.

4. This is for the members who live in Southern California: Which dealer would you recommend for the transaction. Timmons in Long Beach and Commonwealth in Santa Ana are the two that we've considered so far...

Thanks for any help in advance!

 

Why not get a Clubman?

 

My wife has an 07 Jetta with the 2.0 turbo FSI engine. The car has great build quality, very well put together. Plenty of room in the front and back seats. The trunk is large for the size of the car. If we had to replace it I would go for the TDI, the Jetta TDI was the green car of the year for 2008, with that I dought there will be much wiggle room on the price.

She absolutly loves the car, you can't go wrong with that purchase, her car has 30,000 trouble free miles.

 

GET THE TDI NOW, YOU'LL BE GLAD YOU DID LATER.

 

Thanks for the replies. I appreciate comments from fellow MINI owners on this.

When we looked at the Clubman few months ago, the back seat access didn't look that great. I guess we'll have to go back this weekend, ask the nice sales people to see whether we can install our son's car seat in the back and do the "real" test drive in that case. As I mentioned in the original post, her car is going to be the baby mobile, so having easy in and out from the back seat, storage, etc are important points this time around; they weren't even an issue when I purchased my 03 MCS, because we didn't have a kid back then :D

We'll test drive the Jetta SportWagen after clubman to have a better idea.

 

hey, i'm not a Jetta owner (nor a Mini owner YET), however I am a VW owner and hang around the forums enough to help you a bit.

1) How long are you guys planning to keep the car? Do you have any long commutes? If you are keeping it for a while, or drive a lot, the TDI is definitely worth it. Don't even pay attention to the EPA estimates. Real world numbers are much better. Your other option is the regular 2.5L 5cyl, which is a decent engine. It makes good power, but average fuel economy.

2. I am not sure on this one. Best way to find out is to check out the car for yourself.

3. TDIs go for MSRP. Some might still have markup. They are very popular. There is not that much margin for VW dealers on Jettas as I understand. If your going for the 2.5L you should be able to get a little bit knocked off the MSRP, maybe even close to invoice?

4. The best thing you can do is register at vwvortex.com (largest VW community) and visit this thread http://forums.vwvortex.com/zerothread?id=2626985
One of the fleet managers from Commonwealth posts in that thread (username Derek@CommonwealthVW) You can ask him if they have the color/options you want in your Sportwagen and he can probably give you the best deal.

Good luck

 

One more thing... the facelifted Sportwagen is due for 2010 I believe. You might want to look into that. It looks a lot nicer in my opinion.

 

Thanks for the information k3v1n. Greatly appreciated!

 

The TDI is definitely a viable option and one to seriously consider. The diesel engine has completely grown up in terms of emissions and noise. Plus they are torquey and are fun to accelerate with. Diesel engines generally are much more durable and last way longer than their gas engine counterparts (stronger components to handle higher compression, diesel gas is a natural engine lubricant). Also, I'm not sure if this was true in all parts of the country but there was a point in time where diesel was running cheaper than regular gas.

Besides, the upfront cost of the TDI should also be offset somewhat by the $1300 tax credit the government is offering right now.

Personally I'm keeping my eye on the 2010 Golf TDI that should be coming out this winter, I'm assuming it will be a cheaper TDI alternative to the Sportwagen.

 

I have a 2005.5 VW Jetta TDI and love it!

It is NO Mini by any stretch of the imagination but it sure is nice! I managed to "steal" it off the dealers lot by going the "competition route". I emailed 20+ dealers across the country looking for their best deal on one. Mind you they had just come out but managed to snag one for an incredible price.

The TDI engine is simply amazing! Do NOT be put off by driving a diesel! Then engine is rock solid and has amazing torque! It rides VERY comfortably and is a super nice car.

As far as fuel economy.....We now have 70K on ours and I am averaging in the high 40s (48.9 mpg for 50/50 driving at speeds much higher than posted ). The engines have a long break in period that gives better MPG as they get driven. Another excellent site to go to is http://www.tdiclub.com/. Anything and everything TDI related can be found there!

Good Luck!