My brothers' fiance is in need of a car. She's had her heart set on an '07 Jetta, until the dealer sold it out from under her. (After they called the dealer to say they wanted the car, fwiw) We're trying to find another one in the price range that's an automatic. We're shooting for the 2.5 engine. Any horror stories we should know about?
Second choice so far is a happyface Mazda 3, any bad there?
Any suggestions we may have missed? Must be from a dealer, with a warranty, smallish, 4 doors, automatic, economical, reasonably comfortable, safe, and with a max price of $14k including any extra warranty and etc. The gears in the heads of my brother and I are ruling out Cobalt, G6, Aveo, Caliber, general sucky American attempts at economy cars.
We've looked at Civic, Accord, Corolla, CRV, 3, 6, Impreza, Fusion, maybe a couple more I'm forgetting.
Local to where?
At the dealer here they start at 18-19k with a 115hp 2.0 and m/t...
Look at the last generation Elantra. 10yr/100k warranty, 136hp, 35mpg, 6 airbags. A CPO should run in the neighborhood of your pricing (possibly new if you don't mind a "stripper") and will have the full original warranty.
That or a Forte.
What is it about Jettas that women think they are such great cars? Hopefully the newer ones are better, but considering how much a Jetta resembles a Corolla, why not get the "original"? Especially since the Corolla is more....oops, I guess a case COULD be made that a Toyota is not any more reliable than a VW.
In my area (western Tn.) we have 4 Toyota stores, and 1 VW store in about a 100 mile radius. We have 3 Hyundai stores in the same area....hope she has a dealer with a VERY good service department nearby.
thestig99 wrote:
Local to where?
At the dealer here they start at 18-19k with a 115hp 2.0 and m/t...
wut 
Buy at another dealer
RoosterSauce wrote:
thestig99 wrote:
Local to where?
At the dealer here they start at 18-19k with a 115hp 2.0 and m/t...
wut
Buy at another dealer
I was just getting ready to post the same comment. Those are specs for the A3 and A4 base Jetta - think 1993 - 2005 Jettas.
If they are anything like 2002 Jettas, tell her to get something else. I had one, and it was the biggest POS I've owned yet. What a turd!
Remember, all new VW's come with a Free CEL. 
MDVDuber wrote:
RoosterSauce wrote:
thestig99 wrote:
Local to where?
At the dealer here they start at 18-19k with a 115hp 2.0 and m/t...
wut
Buy at another dealer
I was just getting ready to post the same comment. Those are specs for the A3 and A4 base Jetta - think 1993 - 2005 Jettas.
The 2011 jettas are available with the 2.0L 115 hp engine again. VW brought it back. It's relatively reliable and cheap to maintain. However it's based on pretty old technology at this point, and not very powerful. If you work on your own car, this is probably the engine you want. They are probably the easiest VW engine to work on. I would either get the 2.5L or 2.0L engine for reliability purposes. The "starting at $15,xxx" price you see on the commercials is for the absolute base model with basically no features whatsoever. I still have yet to see one of these, Vw is making VERY few of them. Most of the models I've seen for sale are in the high-teens to low-twenties.
The 2.0t FSI motors are pretty well built with alot of potential power to be made. There have been some issues with cam followers failing due to the intake valves gumming up due to the direct injection. The majority of those failures are due to bigger injectors and high pressure fuel pumps, which also die.
The 2.5 5 cylinders are a DOG. They get 4 cylinder power with 6 cylinder fuel mileage. No known problems, but not a very efficient motor IMO.
demonspeed wrote:
MDVDuber wrote:
RoosterSauce wrote:
thestig99 wrote:
Local to where?
At the dealer here they start at 18-19k with a 115hp 2.0 and m/t...
wut
Buy at another dealer
I was just getting ready to post the same comment. Those are specs for the A3 and A4 base Jetta - think 1993 - 2005 Jettas.
The 2011 jettas are available with the 2.0L 115 hp engine again. VW brought it back. It's relatively reliable and cheap to maintain. However it's based on pretty old technology at this point, and not very powerful. If you work on your own car, this is probably the engine you want. They are probably the easiest VW engine to work on. I would either get the 2.5L or 2.0L engine for reliability purposes. The "starting at $15,xxx" price you see on the commercials is for the absolute base model with basically no features whatsoever. I still have yet to see one of these, Vw is making VERY few of them. Most of the models I've seen for sale are in the high-teens to low-twenties.
Well I stand corrected. I will say that the old 8 valve engines are relatively bomb proof, but they are terribly underpowered for a car that weighs that much!
Audi put a turbocharged version of the 5 cylinder in thier new Quattro Sport show car. I think it was rated around 350HP.
Far from the sump in the stock Jetta though.
I would buy the Mazda in a heartbeat.
I know jack about the Jetta. I was somewhat interested in a used GLI or Mk. V GTI but I've heard horror stories about how costly they are to repair.
I got a rental 2010 Mazda3i sedan (2.0L/auto) when my MS3 got a wheel bearing replacement/alignment. It's kinda sluggish (manual-shifting mode helped a little), but it handles pretty well and the interior is nice. I didn't have the car for long but I've heard the 2.0L cars get about 29-30mpg, which is a bit behind the curve. The older 04-09 Mazda3s are pretty reliable cars, and since the 2.0L is a carry-over to 2010+, it's a known quantity. I don't know much about the 2010+ 2.5L but I haven't heard of any major problems with it. FWIW I haven't had any issues with my '07 Mazdaspeed3 aside from the aforementioned wheel bearing.
EDIT: Something I forgot to mention: Do your homework on the dealership! Many Mazda dealerships are known for refusing warranty work for the littlest details they can find. I'm lucky that the dealership I bought my MS3 from doesn't mind my modifications. A Mazda dealership closer to my house actually refused to work on a buddy's car because it had yellow Lamin-X on the fog lights.
Yeah, there was no real complaints on the 3 other than possibly a slight lack of oomph. Then she fell in love with the Jetta. If they were to get the 3 it would be serviced at a local dealer that my brother does a lot of computer work for and knows the owner pretty well, so that wouldn't be an issue. They once swapped a blown amp out of his car into one on the lot, replacing it under that cars' warranty.... but anyway.
I believe Kia/Hyundai products have been ruled out.
Sounds like a CPO '08 Saab 9-3 might be in the cards. Would fit pretty well with his '06 9-3 Aero, or the rest of the Saabs in my family lol.
I'd say they have an obligation to honor Mazda's warranty unless the modification is directly related to the problem. If it's not warranty work, that's their choice.
In other news, I can't believe VW brought back the 2.slow. :facepalm:
Bobzilla wrote:
Remember, all new VW's come with a Free CEL.
Mine didn't, I feel cheated.
The 2011 Jetta is a new redesign, so the longer term reliability etc. is not yet known. They did decontent the car (rear drum brakes, interior etc.) to drop the sticker price a few thousand dollars over the 2005-2010 models.
I don't know of any specific issues with the 2005-2010 models, but you may want to peruse the VW enthusiasts website to gain some more info.
http://forums.vwvortex.com/forumdisplay.php?142-Golf-V-amp-Jetta-V
I have had a 2001 Jetta VR6 Automatic since new, and it has been a pretty reliable car for me (currently at 188K miles)
Datsun1500 wrote:
The issue with the Hyundai is only the 1st owner gets the 10/100K warranty.
Not with the CPO's. Even if you don't get the longer warranty with the CPO, you still get 5/60 B2B.
thestig99 wrote:
We're shooting for the 2.5 engine. Any horror stories we should know about?
If the engine had regular oil changes, nope.
If it was dealer-serviced, or worse, maintained to dealer-esque service intervals with non-synthetic oil, don't buy.
This goes for pretty much any modern engine, BTW. Extended-service intervals are a scam that plays to people's tendency to be thrifty in the short term. Of course, if you throw away your car every three years like a good consumer, it's not a problem. (AKA: if it's an OHC engine with a timing chain, change your damned oil every 3k or 5k if you use synthetic!)
RoosterSauce wrote:
In other news, I can't believe VW brought back the 2.slow. :facepalm:
VW's been fighting upcontenting. This is one way.
And it's great, I think. They can sell a $199/month car that doesn't have an engine that will blow if maintained like a $199/month car tends to be "maintained". No timing chain to flap around and stretch and drop guides like the 2.5, no problems with intake port/manifold coking like the 2.0 FSI...
In reply to Knurled:
Maybe they should just put a 350 in it.
