Faults:

Rear windshield had to be replaced because one defrost line was not working.

Original windshield wipers were streaky; replaced by dealer.

Temperature gauge has a mind of its own. Once a week or so, it decides not to work properly. Dealer tried three times to fix it without success. It is no longer under warranty and still doing the same.

General Comments:

The TDI is a fantastic car! Mileage is incredible. Everything I've ever read about the great mileage is understated. You can get 1000 kilometres per tank-full with 75% highway driving. You can get 900 kilometres per tank-full with 50%-60% highway driving. You have to fill the tank right up though. I cannot imagine ever driving a gasoline powered car again, especially since you can get diesel at easily one out of every two gas stations.

In the city the car is nothing to write home about. However, on the highway the car can fly. It has tons of torque and can accelerate from 100 km/h to 140 km/h as fast as any V6 I've ever driven. It'll blow the doors off most four cylinders. It is stable and quiet. It is a joy to drive.

There is no foul smelling diesel exhaust to deal with. The emission control systems cause the car to emit an exhaust that is similar to a gasoline powered car. You never need a block heater - it's not even an option!

The best feature on the car: the auto-up power windows for both driver and passenger (there is auto-down for both as well). It is great for drive-thrus or when you hit the basket weave to get on the highway. You just lift the button all the way and the window comes up by itself allowing you to have both hands on the steering wheel when you meed it most. Hard to believe more companies haven't copied this feature.

Another bonus is the high marks the car has for safety ratings.

Knock on wood, so far the car hasn't cost me a penny.

There is only one downside to this car: winter warm up. I really mean it - this is the only negative about this car. In the winter, you cannot turn the car on and let it idle for a few minutes so that you can drive away in a warm car. No chance. The car is so fuel efficient that at idle it wastes very little energy. That means that the car will not heat up at idle. You must drive the car for at least five minutes before it warms up. It is a pain. You must get heated seats to better endure these painfully cold few minutes.

Another cold weather downside is the initial exhaust smoke created on start-up. This is really just a minor annoyance, probably not worth mentioning. For the first few seconds after a cold start-up, you get the traditional diesel exhaust and smoke coming out of the muffler because the emission system is still cold. Within no more than 5 to 10 seconds this disappears and the clean exhaust begins to be emitted. It is an annoyance because when you get out to clean your car, you may still catch a whiff of that smoke in the air.

Faults:

I bought the car at night and didn't notice the rust spots all over the car. I took it back to the dealer the next day and was told that all white Jettas have this and it is from the factory in Mexico sitting next to the train tracks.

Next the interior lights went out.

The trunk latch broke and it wouldn't shut.

The power windows got stuck and wouldn't roll up or down.

The transmission is bad. It shifts by itself when going up hill, as in it pops out for a few seconds and then pops back in with a jerking thud (the dealer tells me its normal and that they can't fix it, after they had my car for 3 weeks in the shop)

The radio volume only works occasionally.

Everything has gone wrong with this car. The rust is what really makes me mad, but Volkswagen won't do anything about it. This car is in the shop at least once a week. The service people at the dealer I take it to know my voice on the phone! This is how often it is in the shop!

General Comments:

I regret buying the Jetta.

It costs way more than it is worth and I would urge anybody who is thinking of getting one not to!