I had to share my excitement! I got my 3rd Jetta today!

[Emilio]

Big congrats!!!!

[olstyn]

That's awesome! Good for you! I like the VW's; they're great cars and hold up very well. I don't know that I would ever drive one, as the small amount of masculine pride I have remaining, lol! Good for you and that's a sharp looking car!

That's an easy hangup to get around - buy an Audi instead. A3 = Golf/Rabbit with nicer interior, A4 = Passat with nicer interior and (IMO) better exterior styling. Also, it's more common to find the Audi versions in 4WD/Quattro, if that's important to you, plus they tend to have a slightly sportier suspension setup than the VW equivalents; firm but not uncomfortable.

All praise aside, however, be aware that VW/Audi cars can be expensive to maintain and repair. I had a simple coolant leak cost me $600 this winter. ($100 or so in parts, $500 in labor because the parts that needed changing are apparently a royal pain to get at, taking several hours of labor taking apart other stuff before you can access them.)

[dragonboy4578]

Great looking car. I really love the vw's. I think the color looks great on it also.

[SlitherinSisters]

All praise aside, however, be aware that VW/Audi cars can be expensive to maintain and repair. I had a simple coolant leak cost me $600 this winter. ($100 or so in parts, $500 in labor because the parts that needed changing are apparently a royal pain to get at, taking several hours of labor taking apart other stuff before you can access them.)

That's definitely true, but IMO it's totally worth it. The two major things I've done to my [old] Jetta that is 11 years old with 162,000 miles was AC and coil packs/spark plugs. Both very expensive, and I wouldn't have done the AC, but my mom wanted it done since they were buying it, so she paid for it. That car still has the same engine, same transmission, same clutch, same turbo. It has no rust on the body, I live in Iowa with lots of salt on the road, and I didn't drive it nicely...it has a turbo what can I say Oh, and the whole front end was creamed by an old man a couple years ago causing 4k in damage! I'll defend VW any day!

Great looking car. I really love the vw's. I think the color looks great on it also.

Thank you! You have great taste in cars I'm glad you like the color! It's growing on me.

[olstyn]

That's definitely true, but IMO it's totally worth it. The two major things I've done to my [old] Jetta that is 11 years old with 162,000 miles was AC and coil packs/spark plugs. Both very expensive, and I wouldn't have done the AC, but my mom wanted it done since they were buying it, so she paid for it. That car still has the same engine, same transmission, same clutch, same turbo. It has no rust on the body, I live in Iowa with lots of salt on the road, and I didn't drive it nicely...it has a turbo what can I say Oh, and the whole front end was creamed by an old man a couple years ago causing 4k in damage! I'll defend VW any day!

Impressive that a clutch would last 162K miles - you must have been pretty gentle with it and/or just been lucky.

Funny, the coil packs were a recall and therefore free on my A4. Seems odd that VW wouldn't do the same. Of course, on the other hand, I've had to do a fair amount of other stuff on it that was expensive in the time I've owned it. Rear brakes a while ago (pads *and* rotors), doing the fronts at my next service, T-belt, vac leak, coolant leak, it all adds up. That said, I do love my car, even though whenever it comes time to fix it I hate paying for it.

Lots of little stuff has gone wrong with it, but OTOH, it has never stranded me. I guess it depends on how you define "reliable" whether it is or not. It sometimes feels like I'm always paying to fix it, but it always gets me where I'm going.