bigdaddylee82
bigdaddylee82 Dork
11/22/14 3:12 p.m.

Anyone got the mid-model refresh, or driven one much yet?

Chances are our much, much loved '09 TDI is going to be totaled. Needs both left doors (yes doors, not just skins), left rocker, a fender, a wheel, and maybe some straightening, the brunt of impact was on the left B pillar/driver door. The driver seat and left side curtain airbag, and seat belt tensioner all deployed. It's got 101K and some change, miles on it now. I don't have high expectations for the estimate.

Anyway, SWMBO LOVES, I mean LOVES her Tdi, she calls him Tdi, pronounced Teddy. We've been lucky, or all the internet bad stuff is blown our of proportion, it has been dead nuts reliable, an excellent commuter, and pretty dang safe. This is the second major indecent the car has been in, in the last 11 months.

During the last incident we were burdened with a '13 SEL 2.5l Jetta rental for an abysmal 31 days while our Jetta was in the shop. Needless to say we had crossed the possibility of a MK6 Jetta off our list of future cars, it was so much less of a car than our MK5.

According to a lot of the other Auto Rags (How about a review GRM? Pretty Please? With sugar on top?) the '15 refresh is the car that VW should have released back in '11 when the MK6 came out. The '15 got rid of the cheap E36 M3ty interior in favor of the MK7 Golf/GLI interior, and they ditched the numb, uninspiring, beam rear and drum brakes for the multi-link GLI/MK5-esque suspension and discs across the model line. There's a few other minor tweaks on the '15 too.

I have some reservations about VW's new modular engine, the CBEA, CJAA, etc. family of common rail diesels are replaced with the EA288 for '15. Still a 2.0l common rail diesel, but allegedly all new. We were early adopters with the CBEA in our '09 and other than having to replace a cylinder pressure sensor, it has never missed a beat, so I may be worrying about nothing.

We will likely go drive a '15 SEL or SE TDI in the coming days, I was just hoping to get some 1st hand feed back from the collective.

  • Lee
bludroptop
bludroptop UltraDork
11/22/14 4:01 p.m.

2014 TDi Jetta Sportwagen is the droid you want.

Oh, and it's pronounced Tiddy, not Teddy.

bigdaddylee82
bigdaddylee82 Dork
11/22/14 4:23 p.m.
bludroptop wrote: 2014 TDi Jetta Sportwagen is the droid you want. Oh, and it's pronounced Tiddy, not Teddy.

I'm all about the Sportwagen, or a 4 door MK7 Golf TDI, she's not so much, and it's "her" car.

bigdaddylee82
bigdaddylee82 Dork
11/22/14 5:47 p.m.

IDParts "5 Minute Review" looks promising.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M37vRf0Id-A

Any chance these coming "Cool Website Updates" are finally going to allow video imbedding?

Cretinx
Cretinx New Reader
11/22/14 7:27 p.m.

They're giant steaming piles of turds, the real stinky type after you've been eating sauerkraut by the bucketload. Get a Honda.

bigdaddylee82
bigdaddylee82 Dork
11/22/14 9:53 p.m.
Cretinx wrote: They're giant steaming piles of turds, the real stinky type after you've been eating sauerkraut by the bucketload. Get a Honda.

Honda does not compute. We're Euor/Jeep snobs.

You're description is fitting for my experience with the '11-'14 MK6, I have I high, possibly delusional, hopes for the '15 refresh.

Travis_K
Travis_K UberDork
11/23/14 12:10 a.m.

If your car is totaled I know someone who might want it depending on location and price. They are looking for one of those engines to swap into a mk2 golf.

Ranger50
Ranger50 PowerDork
11/23/14 9:26 a.m.

You know I can still can get a "new" '13 models off the lot here....

SilverFleet
SilverFleet UltraDork
11/23/14 4:20 p.m.

I've been interested in TDI's ever since my friend inherited his dad's '96 Passat TDI Wagon a few years back, and I'm not even a VW fan! In my research, I've read that the 09's were one of the worst years for these cars, since they were the first with the new 2.0L and there were issues with the electronics and stereo/Bluetooth. The 2011-13 Jetta does have the cheap interior and the beam axle, unless you get the GLI or the Hybrid. The 2014/15 is the best of these because it's sorted and has the GLI/Hybrid suspension and nicer interior.

The SportWagons are a different animal. They are still based on the prior generation Jetta, but have a really nice interior, and many consider it to be a nicer car overall. Honestly, that's the only TDI I'd be looking at.

My only gripe with the wagon is that there's no option for HID's. The sedan doesn't have that option either (I think). Other than that, I'd consider one.

06HHR
06HHR Reader
11/23/14 4:36 p.m.

There's a brown manual Jetta TDI SportWagen with a manual that gives me a boner whenever I see it in the parking lot at work. I think that's your bogey, if the missus will go for a manual wagon

bigdaddylee82
bigdaddylee82 Dork
11/23/14 5:25 p.m.

I've read all the diatribe about the early common rail TDI, in my experience the unreliable claims are blown WAY out of proportion. Ours has never left us stranded, the only issue we've had was the cylinder pressure sensor (glow plug) mentioned earlier.

She's willing to test drive a Sportwagen, progress has been made. She started to come around when I told her how much more room there is.

I've come across a couple '10 Cup Editions that I'd love to have too.

bigdaddylee82
bigdaddylee82 Dork
11/28/14 3:23 p.m.

We've been in a '14 SE 1.8L TSI auto Jetta rental with 27K miles on it since last Tuesday. While I don't love the car, the TSI is a HUGE improvement over the 2.5l I5 that was in the '13 rental we hated so much. The transmission still sucks, it's always hunting for the "right" gear on hills, annoying and jerky when doing so.

Interior on the '14 is nothing to write home about, but there are noticeably fewer squeaks, rattles, and wind noise in the '14 SE we're in now than the '13 SEL we had last year.

We spent some time test driving some options this morning. We drove a '14 Jetta Sportwagen with sunroof, and a '15 Jetta sedan SE with connectivity.

While we like both, the Sportwagen won.

The "updated" '15 interior is basically the same as the '14 rental we've got, but has brushed aluminum instead of the black textured carbon fiber-esque accents. The '15 we drove had a nicer steering wheel, touch screen radio, and back up camera.

The '15 drives nice, the new EA288 2.0l TDI has 10 more horse power than the previous generation, but it's not enough to notice, it accelerates similar to our '09 that we're replacing.

The new EA288 requires urea, which isn't a huge deal but the added cost of the urea injection is only providing a %10 increase in MPGs. A bottle of urea every ~10K miles isn't a huge expense though, so the EA288 will probably be more economical than the previous TDI engine.

All that said, the Sportwagen is a MUCH nicer car, interior is nicer, cabin is quieter, seats are more comfortable, the gauge cluster/info center is much more upscale. The Sportwagen is a MUCH nicer car to be in, with a lot of features that aren't available without getting the highest trim level of the current sedan, if they're available at all.

We've decided on the Sportwagen, we're on the hunt now for a White on Cornsilk interior, TDI, DSG, Sportwagen with sunroof.

We've considered holding out for a '15 Golf Sportwagen, I got real excited when I read that there's going to be a 4Motion TDI Golf Sportwagen available in the USDM, but the 1st Quarter '15 estimated availability is now being called 2nd Quarter '15, and I've even read some predictions that there may not be a '15 model year Sportwagen (Golf or Jetta) available in the US. Another source said the 4Motion version won't be available until '16 as a '17 model year car.

We're not waiting that long, we need a car now, and SWMBO want's a Sportwagen, so we're after what we can get now.

92dxman
92dxman Dork
11/28/14 3:37 p.m.

Call me a weirdo but i'm curious to see how the newer Jetta drives with the 8 valve 2 liter motor.

bludroptop
bludroptop UltraDork
11/28/14 4:09 p.m.
bludroptop wrote: 2014 TDi Jetta Sportwagen is the droid you want.
bigdaddylee82 wrote: We've decided on the Sportwagen, we're on the hunt now for a White on Cornsilk interior, TDI, DSG, Sportwagen with sunroof.

Will you call Mrs. BDT and tell her that it is, in fact, possible that I can be right about something.

You will love the JSW.

bigdaddylee82
bigdaddylee82 Dork
11/28/14 6:51 p.m.

In reply to bludroptop:

Ha, if she's anything like mine it won't do any good she still won't believe you.

We loved our '09 sedan, and the Sportwagen is basically the same car in wagon form, so it was a pretty easy decision.

bigdaddylee82
bigdaddylee82 Dork
12/9/14 8:03 p.m.

We're Sportwagen owners!

2014, Candy White exterior, Cornsilk Tan interior, TDI (of course), DSG, Sunroof.

The dealer was very happy to be rid of me.

I can pick SWMBO up from the airport in her new car on Friday.

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