2008 VW Jetta 2.5L - 6 Speed Auto - Opinions Needed

[hightech]

I took a drive of the 2008 VW Jetta 2.5L - 6 Speed Auto and it seems pretty decent. I was thinking of leasing it for 4 years and 80K.

Does anyone have any thoughts about this car, and can also provide me with dealer cost for the Comfort Group Please?

thanks

[ES_Revenge]

I took a drive of the 2008 VW Jetta 2.5L - 6 Speed Auto and it seems pretty decent. I was thinking of leasing it for 4 years and 80K.

Does anyone have any thoughts about this car, and can also provide me with dealer cost for the Comfort Group Please?

thanks

Well you might consider stepping up to the 2.0T or GLI with DSG and more power, plus other options. :D But if that is more than you're looking to spend, the 2.5L with the 6-speed auto is still pretty good.

What were you driving now, it was a Camry right? What transmission does that have? The 6 speed autos of today definitely takes away from the luggy/laggy feeling of 4 speed autos of yesteryear, and this is even apparent in the City Jetta with the 2L engine.

I'm assuming since it's an 08 and VW has their clearance event going, you'll be getting a good deal as well as a good lease rate?

[hagbard]

VW has a clearance event?

[ES_Revenge]

VW has a clearance event?

Well yeah, I only hear the commercial on the radio like everyday... How good of a clearance event it is though, I have no idea... I usually just pay attention to the humour in the commercials not the actual deals/offers, lol.

[Felks24]

I took a drive of the 2008 VW Jetta 2.5L - 6 Speed Auto and it seems pretty decent. I was thinking of leasing it for 4 years and 80K.

Does anyone have any thoughts about this car, and can also provide me with dealer cost for the Comfort Group Please?

thanks

My brother has an '07 Rabbit 2.5 and it goes quite nicely. It's an amazing car for the money. The quality of the interior is second to none as well.

Well you might consider stepping up to the 2.0T or GLI with DSG and more power, plus other options. :D But if that is more than you're looking to spend, the 2.5L with the 6-speed auto is still pretty good.



Agreed, one of the biggest benefits of the 2.0T over the 2.5 is you get the DSG 6-speed auto trans. instead of the regular 6-speed tiptronic.

...and a modest 25HP bump for the 2.0T to 200HP from 175HP for the 2.5.

[hotweiss]

For me when I was buying a car it was between the Rabbit and Impreza, these two cars really are the two class leaders; I really couldn't consider a Jetta, as I have a dog. I drove the Rabbit and Impreza, and the driving experience made me buy an Impreza. Yes, the VW's are very nice looking cars and on paper the Impreza and Golf were almost identical. The thing is, once you got in the car and pressed the gas pedal, the Impreza was in a league above the Rabbit. What ruined the Rabbit for me was the 2.5i engine, it was to tame and it felt weaker than the equally powered boxer. And as a bonus, you get one of the best AWD systems in the world with the Impreza. Don't buy a car based on looks only, you'll get bored of the look soon enough. Drive the Impreza before making your final decision. Plus, VW has admitted to the quality issues Mark V Golf's/Jetta's experience:

http://www.drive.com.au/Editorial/ArticleDetail.aspx?ArticleID=57162&vf=12

[hagbard]

Well yeah, I only hear the commercial on the radio like everyday... How good of a clearance event it is though, I have no idea... I usually just pay attention to the humour in the commercials not the actual deals/offers, lol.

I don't do mass media. They don't say anything on their site.

[Felks24]

For me when I was buying a car it was between the Rabbit and Impreza, these two cars really are the two class leaders; I really couldn't consider a Jetta, as I have a dog. I drove the Rabbit and Impreza, and the driving experience made me buy an Impreza. Yes, the VW's are very nice looking cars and on paper the Impreza and Golf were almost identical. The thing is, once you got in the car and pressed the gas pedal, the Impreza was in a league above the Rabbit. What ruined the Rabbit for me was the 2.5i engine, it was to tame and it felt weaker than the equally powered boxer. And as a bonus, you get one of the best AWD systems in the world with the Impreza. Don't buy a car based on looks only, you'll get bored of the look soon enough. Drive the Impreza before making your final decision. Plus, VW has admitted to the quality issues Mark V Golf's/Jetta's experience:

http://www.drive.com.au/Editorial/ArticleDetail.aspx?ArticleID=57162&vf=12

You're obviously quite happy with your Subaru Impreza. It's nice to see someone genuinely be proud of what they drive. Question for ya though....

I went to check one out (window shopping) a couple of weeks ago, and the only thing that really turned me off was the interior. Namely, the seat fabric looked cheap at first glance. How do you find it is holding up? How are the maintenance costs as compared to the usual suspects?

Also, I much preferred the dashboard materials on the Impreza to the almost "toy-ish" looks of the Matrix, and my wife commented that she liked the looks of the previous generation of Matrix interior better than the current one.

Thread = Hijacked. Sorry!

[crunchiespg]

You're obviously quite happy with your Subaru Impreza. It's nice to see someone genuinely be proud of what they drive. Question for ya though....

I went to check one out (window shopping) a couple of weeks ago, and the only thing that really turned me off was the interior. Namely, the seat fabric looked cheap at first glance. How do you find it is holding up? How are the maintenance costs as compared to the usual suspects?

Also, I much preferred the dashboard materials on the Impreza to the almost "toy-ish" looks of the Matrix, and my wife commented that she liked the looks of the previous generation of Matrix interior better than the current one.

Thread = Hijacked. Sorry!
subaru's interiors are built to last.. sure they arnt the nicest, but they are durable and will last forever..

[ES_Revenge]

Plus, VW has admitted to the quality issues Mark V Golf's/Jetta's experience:

http://www.drive.com.au/Editorial/ArticleDetail.aspx?ArticleID=57162&vf=12
So VW admits to some issues with the MkV and Subaru quietly puts larger paint protection film on the low rear quarters/rockers to "fix" paint issues and Subaru comes out on top? LOL.

[hotweiss]

You're obviously quite happy with your Subaru Impreza. It's nice to see someone genuinely be proud of what they drive. Question for ya though....

I went to check one out (window shopping) a couple of weeks ago, and the only thing that really turned me off was the interior. Namely, the seat fabric looked cheap at first glance. How do you find it is holding up? How are the maintenance costs as compared to the usual suspects?

Also, I much preferred the dashboard materials on the Impreza to the almost "toy-ish" looks of the Matrix, and my wife commented that she liked the looks of the previous generation of Matrix interior better than the current one.

Thread = Hijacked. Sorry!

As far as maintenance is concerned, it's no different from any other AWD car. You have to change your oil every 6,000 km's, differential fluid at 72,000 km's, the timing belt (new long lasting) at 168,000 km's, etc...

The seat fabric is fine. I really don't know what else I could possibly say about the fabric...

The reason why I really like the Impreza is because of the AWD. When ever I take it to the mountains or drive it on snow, it's a whole different world with this car. Just think about it, for the same price you get one of the best AWD systems in the world. Plus the boxer emits a sound that doesn't make you feel like you are driving a small 2.5 L engine, and yet it only burns 7 L/100 km (after adding in synthetic oil) on the highway.

[Emancipated]

As far as maintenance is concerned, it's no different from any other AWD car. You have to change your oil every 6,000 km's, differential fluid at 72,000 km's, the timing belt (new long lasting) at 168,000 km's, etc...

The seat fabric is fine. I really don't know what else I could possibly say about the fabric...

The reason why I really like the Impreza is because of the AWD. When ever I take it to the mountains or drive it on snow, it's a whole different world with this car. Just think about it, for the same price you get one of the best AWD systems in the world. Plus the boxer emits a sound that doesn't make you feel like you are driving a small 2.5 L engine, and yet it only burns 7 L/100 km (after adding in synthetic oil) on the highway.

Why didn't you get a Forester? Same price range $25k, more cargo and same 170HP engine.

[thirstyrobot]

VW has admitted to the quality issues Mark V Golf's/Jetta's experience:

http://www.drive.com.au/Editorial/ArticleDetail.aspx?ArticleID=57162&vf=12

Quote from article: "He admits the previous car suffered from an over-complicated design, which made it hard to build and prone to problems.

“In a sense the design of the Golf Mark V was rather complicated. It was designed by development engineers without taking into account the construction process,” he says.

“If you have a complicated build process then you are more vulnerable to [problems].”

Most of those engineers are no longer with the company.


----


Yikes.

[gilboman]

Quote from article: "He admits the previous car suffered from an over-complicated design, which made it hard to build and prone to problems.

“In a sense the design of the Golf Mark V was rather complicated. It was designed by development engineers without taking into account the construction process,” he says.

“If you have a complicated build process then you are more vulnerable to [problems].”

Most of those engineers are no longer with the company.


----


Yikes.


VW from MKIV and MKV were horrible to fix and do anything cause it's so damn complicated. for the MKV want to change your headlights? you need to change a damn control module. Want to change you stock stereo? best way is to get a $100+ harness.

[ES_Revenge]

VW from MKIV and MKV were horrible to fix and do anything cause it's so damn complicated. for the MKV want to change your headlights? you need to change a damn control module. Want to change you stock stereo? best way is to get a $100+ harness.

Nonsense. If you need to change headlight bulbs there's no need to change any control module. :confused: Also, even changing to factory xenons (from halogens) on the MkV cars is not that hard. For example on an A3, you don't need to change the headlight module going from halogen to bi-xenon, so I don't know what you're on about. (You would need to add a module if you wanted the auto-levelling to work with swapped xenons, but you don't need to change anything except coding and wiring.)

Also you don't need a $100 harness to change the stock HU either :rolleyes: You can use one but you don't need one. And this is the case for many cars these days, not just VWs. Many signals (such as the head unit's turn on/off signal) are handled by CAN bus or similar, in many makes and models. You can easily get signals that are provided by the factory HU via CAN bus, from circuits elsewhere in the vehicle. The $100+ harnesses make things easier, sure, but they certainly aren't necessary.

[ah_long]

hey, everyone, the OP is just leasing for 4 years..

reliability should be the least of your concerns as the warranty covers your lease period...

I have a rabbit 2.5l.. (150hp version)
it's peppy, quiet, and solid.. no problems so far (45k on it).. i leased it for 4 years as well...

the new 2.5 (170hp) should give you better highway accel.. it's not bad to start with tho...

interior is nice... ride quality is better than any civic/corolla... can't comment on the comparison with the impreza..

btw.. the 2.0t would give you a better gas mileage.. but it takes premium tho...

[hotweiss]

Why didn't you get a Forester? Same price range $25k, more cargo and same 170HP engine.

The new Forester wasn't released when I was buying my Impreza...

[gilboman]

Nonsense. If you need to change headlight bulbs there's no need to change any control module. :confused: Also, even changing to factory xenons (from halogens) on the MkV cars is not that hard. For example on an A3, you don't need to change the headlight module going from halogen to bi-xenon, so I don't know what you're on about. (You would need to add a module if you wanted the auto-levelling to work with swapped xenons, but you don't need to change anything except coding and wiring.)



the OP was posting about a MKV jetta, and the article above was about the golf/rabbit. and for those cars, to go from halogen to HID you need the highline module. You cant just put in the housing and HID without the highlinge module. auto leveling is another thing altogether.

[kv12supercharged]

I have had a VW Jetta 2.5L since 2006 and engine wise it has been flawless.

Quality issues refered to in that article due to "Complicated design" pretty much refer to the 1.4L TFSI for European market. The 2.5L engine for the North American proved to be very reliable.

Only quality issue I've had is a mismatched doorcard. I found out after 2 weeks of owning the car that the rear left doorcard of my Cloth interior was leather, I went back to the dealership and it was replaced for me.

The Mark V Golf/Rabbit have had issues with ice buildup on the bottom corner of the driver's door causing it to bend when it's opened. However this issue is fixed for 2007+ and those with this issue recieved a free fix and a permanent solution to that problem.

Both the 2005.5-2006 2.5L MKV Rabbit and Jetta recieved one recall to cut off a tab on the windshield fluid holder which rubbed against the fuel line, it was a potential hazard with no recorded cases of incidents. This issue was fixed by removing the tab.

**So, what should you get?

2.5L 150-170hp - Most Reliable of the bunch, takes regular gas, acceptable fuel consumpion. Not as fast off the line but it's still quick. 2005-2006 models have lots of low end torque at 150hp rated, 07+ torque was more evenly distributed rated at 170hp. This engine is found in the Jetta and The Rabbit

2.0T/ 2.0TFSI 200hp - Mostly reliable, some have more problems then others, takes Premium Gas but suprisingly good consumpsion for a car of it's power. It's fastest of the two. Halfway through 2008 2.0T was upgraded to 2.0TFSI this engine is found in the GTI, GLI, and Jetta 2.0T

2009 TDI 140hp - I don't know much about this engine but it has won so many awards, only availible in the Jetta. However if it ever comes to North America in Rabbit form this would sell even better.

***Three Transmissions

5 Speed Manual - Simple, most can attest it's the best. avail on all models.

6 Speed Tiptronic - Manual owners call it a slushbox... but it's actually pretty smooth for an automatic, almost no lag in Tiptronic mode. Avail on all models

DSG (Direct Shift Gearbox) - It's double clutched and it can shift faster then most, The R8 and Veyron has it as well. If you can afford to add this option and it's $900 service bill around 65000km then be sure to check this box. Availible only on GLI/GTI/R32

***Cost to service

It's recommend to keep a good service schedual on a VW if you take care of it will last for a very long time.

A regular service is about $99 give and take
A milestone service (ie. 50000km) cost $350 and up.

***To answer some questions

To change a headlight bulb takes less then 3 minutes without tools on a halogen spec MKV Rabbit and Jetta. If it takes more then 5 minutes then please don't touch the car and take it to the mechanic.

Changing the HID bulb takes a bit longer but it's the same concept.

Only if you wanted to add OEM HID projectors you will need to upgrade the control modules.

OEM HID projectors are about $1500
and the Control Modules are $350
That $100+ Harness price depends on where you order from.
Plus you need to know someone with VAGcom to reprogram the computer.

So what if you want the OEM HID projectors on your Rabbit without all the fuss? Buy a 2009 Rabbit with the Sport/Tech package and it comes will all this stuff installed and more for a significantly lower price.

Drop in HID kits takes less then half an hour to install with simple tools, however there will be lots of hate if you install then into your reflectors becuase this causes lots of glare, so if you want drop in kits at least get a set of projectors for MKVs prices follows.

E-bay angel eye projectors for Rabbit and Jetta - $180-$225
Manual leveling OEM Projectors without leveling motors or bulb - $650
Drop in HID kit - Theyre everywhere starting at about $150
On harness needed and it's plug and play.

There's huge community support for VW's at vwvortex.com if you start reading into this... and if you ever have to fix something you will find it's easy enough to do it yourself with the right tools.

So far I am very happy with my 2.5L, it's fast enough as a daily driver (No, I'm not keeping track of my lap times between home and work or home to the mall) And it's reliable, The interior is the best in it's class. Huge VW community in Toronto lots of support. A good selection of mods all round if you wanted to get into it.

I hope my article helps anyone who is looking into getting a Rabbit/ Jetta/ GTI/ GLI.

[ES_Revenge]

DSG (Direct Shift Gearbox) - It's double clutched and it can shift faster then most, The R8 and Veyron has it as well. If you can afford to add this option and it's $900 service bill around 65000km then be sure to check this box. Availible only on GLI/GTI/R32
Jetta 2.0T (non-GLI) should have this as the "auto" trans option too, no?

Also the R8 doesn't have a dual-clutch gearbox, it has a single clutch automated manual as an option, hence the name "R-Tronic" instead of "S-Tronic" (Audi's trade/brand name for DSG). R8 also has a traditional manual as the base transmission, of course.

Veyron does have a DSG though one should note it varies a great deal from the PQ35 transverse FWD/Haldex AWD cars with the same-name transmission. They are both double-clutch automated manuals, but obviously the trans in the >$1 million supercar is not the same thing.

As for the "$900 service bill around 65,000km", I'm not sure where you heard that nonsense from :confused: DSG requires a fluid/filter change around then, but it's nowhere near $900. The fluid ain't cheap but it's not $900 either. Otherwise provided your mechatronics doesn't fail out of warranty (which is insanely expensive btw), the DSG is no more maintenance/cost than a regular automatic.

Finally, you're about 5 months late to the thread ;) :P

[kv12supercharged]

Jetta 2.0T (non-GLI) should have this as the "auto" trans option too, no?

Also the R8 doesn't have a dual-clutch gearbox, it has a single clutch automated manual as an option, hence the name "R-Tronic" instead of "S-Tronic" (Audi's trade/brand name for DSG). R8 also has a traditional manual as the base transmission, of course.

Veyron does have a DSG though one should note it varies a great deal from the PQ35 transverse FWD/Haldex AWD cars with the same-name transmission. They are both double-clutch automated manuals, but obviously the trans in the >$1 million supercar is not the same thing.

As for the "$900 service bill around 65,000km", I'm not sure where you heard that nonsense from :confused: DSG requires a fluid/filter change around then, but it's nowhere near $900. The fluid ain't cheap but it's not $900 either. Otherwise provided your mechatronics doesn't fail out of warranty (which is insanely expensive btw), the DSG is no more maintenance/cost than a regular automatic.

Finally, you're about 5 months late to the thread ;) :P

I realized I was 5 months too late after I hit post LOL.

Thanks for the clarifying the DSG deal. the $900 service for DSG was qouted by the service guy at the dealership. I don't have DSG but I asked them just for my own info, and that was what I was qouted for.