Hey guys,

Im new here, do not know too much about the VW's, never even had one before, but i am interested in looking for an older Jetta as my daily driver.

What i am looking for may sound simple, but its harder for myself to decide upon. I heard all about the reliability of the Jetta's, new and old, but which one is the one that is the real deal? I know the diesels provide excellent fuel economy (which is very important to me at this time as well) and are very reliable. But how about the gasoline 4 cylinder motors in the older Jetta's? I see that the 2.0L provides great gas mileage, but how is the reliability, do they last when taken care of, or do they need constant attention and money? Whats the deal with the 1.8L gas motors?

Once again, the more reliable and fuel efficient, the better it is for myself.

Thanks.

 

Hey Striker,

Welcome to the forum! My take on the whole reliability/gas mileage thing is this...

My first Jetta was a 4 cylinder gasoline JLIII, I think about a '98 or '97 (it was when the body styling was still more squarish, if you know what I mean). It was the most freakin' reliable car I've ever seen. I literally had over 200K miles, and the only thing I had done was oil changes, brakes, tires (of course) and belts/hoses ONCE. It was still on the original clutch!!!! I loved that car. (To give a fair picture, almost all of those miles were highway miles). By the way, got about 33-34 m.p.g. on the highway.

My next (and current) Jetta is an '01 TDI (turbo-deisel). I get about 36-40 m.p.g., city, and over 45 highway (about 500 miles to a tankfull!!). So, all good, right? Well, this one hasn't been quite the reliability champ my JLIII was. I still love the car, but there's been a couple of expensive repairs (see my post on General Tech) that have sort of dimmed the luster. However, it drives great, and I've spent about $45 on gas so far this month.

I guess I would tell you that you're probably going to want to have some cash available for repairs if you go with ANY high-performance car (turbo, etc.). If you are a little light on available funds, go with a simple gasoline engine.

Just my opinion... Get one and enjoy!

 

Thanks for the advice. It looks like that will be the route i will go. Either the 1.8L or the 2.0L. The question is, which is a better all around motor. Oh and no hi performance stuff here, just a daily driver, thats all.