Sometimes the best option is to rent a car when you travel. I knew that for this trip I wouldn’t have time to properly review a car, so I didn’t even bother trying to ask for a press mobile. I wouldn’t have been able to do it the justice of a proper review. Yes, rental is the best option for this trip, this time. This was a two day turnaround trip to go see my mother for a surprise birthday visit. My step-father and I had made the plans and I’d be flying in for the weekend to surprise her. Flying out of Reno on Friday morning, landing in O’hare a few hours later, and flying back on Sunday in time for work on Monday. It’s an exhausting trip, but it was worth it to see the surprise on my mother’s face when I greeted her to her celebration.
While I was taxiing the runway, my wife was making arrangements with Enterprise for me to have a “Jetta or similar” waiting for me when I arrived at the rental counter. When I arrived, I presented my reservation number and they walked me out to the lot to select a car. They said “All we have in the midsize class right now is a Kia Soul and a VW Bug”. I’m sorry, but are either of those actually considered midsize? I look over a few spots and see a Jetta, so I point it out to the nice young lady helping me and say “What about that one?” She swiftly replies that this Jetta is a “Premium midsize”. Um… If my reservation says Jetta or similar, shouldn’t I get a Jetta if there’s one available? She wanted to upcharge me another 10 bucks a day for the privilege of driving the car I’d had on my reservation. I don’t understand rental companies or their stupid rules. She acquiesced and I got my Jetta at the reserved rate. Here we go, Chicago to Southwest Michigan and back in two days. Join me, will you?
Because I was in Chicago, and only a few minutes away from his lovely abode, I had to make a stop in to see Eric Rood and his monsterous new LeMons car (I’ll let him tell you about it in his introductory post, but suffice to say, it’s awesome-awful AWEFSFUL). I popped in for lunch, and said hellos and goodbyes and got on my way with a full stomach of RC Cola, crinkle cut fries, and meatball sub [SO VERY MIDWEST!]. The jump onto the highway wasn’t too bad in the Jetta, what with its turbocharged 1.8 liter screaming away underfoot. I thought that the car’s power was certainly adequate, and accelerating onto highway onramps happened in relatively short order. The transmission is listed as “tiptronic”, but maybe I’m wrong in that it felt like Volkswagen’s DSG without the flappy paddles. This gearbox did not feel like a torque converter box, but perhaps I’m wrong. I didn’t hate it, but I really would have preferred a stick in this car.
Upon getting in the car, I noticed that it was pretty comfortable, even for my quite large frame. I really liked the cloth seats and how supportive they were for a base model cheap seat. The footwell was pretty good for my long legs, and the center console didn’t invade into my knee space as much as most cars do these days. HVAC controls were simple knobs, which I liked. The steering wheel was comfortable and stylish, with a little bit of tactile squish to the material. The armrests were in the right place for me, and both the center console and the door were comfortable enough to rest an elbow on for a good long relaxed drive. Unlike some cars I’ve driven recently, this car was VERY easy to hook up the bluetooth to. It took seconds, and I was playing some of my own music from my phone. When you’re driving long distances, there’s nothing more annoying than losing the signal of a radio station, especially when you’re driving unfamiliar highways. A good bit of spotify, and my phone on bluetooth made that a non-concern. In this day and age, I would have liked a car with a nav screen and a rear view camera, but for a rental car, this was good enough.
As good as the interior was for a rental, it was the suspension and tires that let this car down a lot. These continentals felt very soft and they squirmed around a lot doing very little to inspire confidence. The sidewalls felt soft, the tread moved around a lot, and the suspension was wallowy. For a ‘normal’ person, I could see why suspensions would be tuned like this, but for me the car was hardly predictable or easy to place. It wasn’t bad on the highway, but once I got onto the backroads of Southwest Michigan, things got a bit sketchy. I am confident that some sportier suspension tuning and some wider wheels with better tires would absolutely transform this car. Volkswagen does sell a “Jetta Sport” with pretty much everything I would want (including a rear view camera and nav screen) for only 20 grand, but I have yet to drive one. If it’s as good as I think it might be, I could probably be convinced to purchase one. Seems like a nice buy.
During my trip, I was forced to drive a few hundred miles of highway, and 50 miles or so of non-highway. As a highway cruiser, the Jetta did a damn fine job. It was comfortable and quiet and pretty frugal on the fuel.
The Mk6 Jetta is coming to an end as the MK7 is introduced, but this car is still very pretty. I like the angular look of the front, and the lighting just looks crisp and works well with the bodylines. For a midsize sedan, it’s one of the most attractive out there this side of the Mazda6 (what a beauty that is…).
As rental cars go, this is probably one of the better ones I’ve ever had. My last couple were a Yaris and a Versa and both were utter garbage. This one at least felt like a car. A real car. One with seats for seats instead of cardboard for seats. One with a gearbox and an engine instead of a hamster wheel and a box of K’NEX. It was quiet enough to hear the stereo, and it had power enough to make the car move at reasonable speed. It was easy to tell that this car was intentionally decontented, but it was still a damn fine piece of machinery. That new Jetta Sport is calling my name. I might head down to my local dealer to give one a test drive. The Mazda3 has been giving me fits lately, and a new sporty-ish car with BT connectivity might be the answer. Not a bad price, either. Its got to get a stick, though.
[All photos ©2015 Hooniverse/Bradley C. Brownell, All Rights Reserved.]
Rotten Rental Car Review: 2015 Volkswagen Jetta 1.8T
About
-
As someone who has driven the backroads of SW MI, It doesn’t take a Jetta to make them sketchy.
(Mostly Berrien county for that joke)
Grew up in Kalamazoo and spent my summers in Bridgman/Sawyer.
Did the drive from O’hare to Sawyer in a Hyundai Sonata in March. I would have preferred a Jetta.-
I’m a Hickory Corners boy, went to Gull Lake Public Schools for 2nd-12th, went to KVCC for “High School for big kids” and transferred to Western Michigan University. My parents now live in Gobles right off the Kal-Haven trail. Beautiful area, but terrible roads.
You’re right, there are some REALLY sketchy roads out in that area. I actually ran into some flooded areas on my way home that were extra sketchy.-
That’s funny. I biked from Gull Lake to South Haven on the KalHaven trail (and the KRVT for a few miles) in July.
My parents are south of the island on Gull Lake, I grew up in Portage though, went to Portage Central. My mom taught at Western, but is now working in Kalamazoo public schools.
So I know the exact roads you are complaining about and yes, they are awful.-
…and this must be why I thought PotbellyJoe was Bradley Brownell for the first month or two I wrote here.
-
Haha, never met. But we may have to do “Hoon night at the Gilmore” in the future.
-
I practically grew up at the Gilmore. Our old house was maybe 4 miles from the museum. I’d bike down there to check out car shows before I even had a license.
I love that place.
-
-
-
-
-
And if you buy one, a simple set of 1″ drop springs for less than $300 (plus labor) transforms the car instantly.
I’ve driven a 1.8T Passat (solid engine even in the larger package), I’ve driven a 2.slow Jetta w/stick around town (plain, competent, but I was okay with that, I just wanted something smaller and just a little cheaper), and a 2.5 Jetta (love that engine, didn’t love the fuel economy) I in theory am completely on board with a 1.8T Jetta.
Except they also build the Golf.
Also, honestly, I take no issue with a radio lacking screens. The Jetta’s visibility is decent enough the camera’s not really needed, and I’m happy with maps and phone gps and such. Don’t need the cost or complexity.
I already mentioned this on FB, but I had one of these recently and was impressed by how much they’ve improved since they were first launched. No more flaming hot leatherette seats, the interior doesn’t smell like oatmeal anymore (which I think was from the leatherette). Comfortable ride. The only odd things I didn’t like were that the sport mode on the transmission no longer seems to do anything and the steering seemed to give less feedback. Oh, and the console did intrude on my right knee in a kind of annoying way, but maybe it’s made for longer legs. I’d still go Golf again, if I were buying, but I’d need to see if they’ve figured out a way around American hot weather destroying their interiors in only 5-6 years. It’s funny that you mentioned the Mazda3, because we’ve considered replacing our Rabbit with a new 3. But I’m still waiting to see if they launch a Mazdaspeed version.
-
I hate driving my Mazda3, but its the old one, a 2009.
It’d be 100x better if it were a stick. Unfortunately it’s autotragic. I let the wife drive it, because it’s the most reliable car we own, however…-
Yeah, I’d probably get the new one, also with a stick. My wife loves VW, because her family has always bought them, but the Rabbit has been expensive to maintain in really odd ways. Even if I bought a new Golf, I’d go manual and teach my wife to drive it. The Rabbit had a recall on the automatic. It still cost over a grand to fix. I feel like every time the dealer is involved, it’s a thousand dollar fix for anything, and these cars only seem to agree with OEM parts. But, then again, I have bought all of the extra tools that the VW requires, so who knows. At least we have no car payments right now.
-
-
I’d chalk the whole vinyl thing up as more proof why VW does (proportionally) a fair bit better in Canada than the US – our MkVI had cloth from the start, on all trims. I won’t say I regretted picking that 2.5 from the National Emerald Aisle in Austin, but I’m very happy it was late April instead of summer.
Nice review BB.
Exactly how frugal w fuel? I’m an uber driver and the “Golf Sportwagon” as they call it now looks pretty good, but what is the mpg?
-
I spent 80% of my trip on the highway, and I got somewhere in the mid 30s. I think the trip average was 34 or 35. That’s not bad in my eyes. Heck, my Mazda3 only does 26 on a good day with a tail wind.
“base model cheap seat”
Ahem, that’s a PREMIUM base model cheap seat!
I’ve actually considered test driving a 1.8T jetta or golf. Now that the Jetta is back to independent rear suspension and they finally have a competitive engine. I recently read they’re replacing the 2.SLO base engine with a direct-injected 1.4T (150 hp) that’ll get similar mileage. Depending on the price point, it may be worth the wait.
http://media.vw.com/release/1037/
It’s crazy how easily these cars with a base price of $17k can exceed $25k. Mazda eliminated the SV (special value) trim for 2016, so the base price of the mazda3 essentially just increased by ~$1k.
I sincerely hope the reliability has improved, it’d take a few hours with a therapist before I can consider setting foot in a VW dealership (or service department) again.
What year is your Mazda3? I test drove a 2015 a few months ago and it was spec’d at 39 or so highway. In 2012 or 2013 the highway mileage jumped by 10 mpg. I liked the Mazda3, but the timing/economics weren’t right.
-
Yeah, I have the old one with the 2.3 liter. It’s pretty godawful.
The new Skyactiv gets super mileage.
Strangely enough, we ended up buying a lease-return 2012 Jetta TDi last year largely on the basis of ones that we had driven as rentals. It’s turned out to be an excellent car, both in commuter duty and on long drives.
My only gripes are that it was from the absolute height of VW’s decontenting campaign on these cars, which means hard interior plastics, no leather option (in the US – but Canada had it), and a beam rear axle. However, it’s well screwed-together, comfortable, returns very good overall fuel economy, and starts, stops, steers, and handles quite nicely despite the not-as-nice-as-I’d-like rear suspension.
I really can’t speak as to the tyres: ours came with some 245/45R17 Falken Azenis almost-rubber-bands riding on what I think are anthracite Passat rims. That said, compared to whatever was on the rentals, they’re definitely grippier and exhibit a lot less sidewall squish in cornering. Too-comfortable rubber off of the lot seems to be a common theme amongst other owners if comments on the various forums are anything to go by.
Reliability has been excellent. The only two things that it has been back to the dealer for (other than scheduled services) were a shifting issue with the DSG a couple of minutes into warming up from stone cold (solved with a reset and reflash of the transmission software) and a rear driver’s side door seal whose clips refused to hold the seal in place after about six months’ ownership. Both were corrected without issue and under warranty.
Frankly, over the 16,000 miles that we’ve put on it, we’re having a hard time figuring out what to do in another couple of years when the bank no longer owns it – do we just hang on to it forever and run it until it’s done, sell it to someone looking for a decent runner or something for their kid to go off to college in, or trade it in on whatever its then-current equivalent is and start over?
For as much as I’m typically not a fan of modern cars, it’s made quite an impression. One footnote: get the 1.8T or TDi. The 2.0 is known as the 2.slow for a reason, and 2.5s are surprisingly thirsty without the overall grunt to justify the dipsomania.
Here we are a couple of months into 2017 and these former rentals are popping everywhere very cheap to buy, around $12k with under 40k miles and remainder of factory warranty. What the article got wrong is that in 2014 VW stopped with the “Beigekreig” and added independent rear suspension back and for 2015 improved the interior as well. The only thing truly de-contented was the leatherette seats from normal SE’s for the rental fleet, but I’m hearing now they are bad anyway..
To make these truly sporty driving, all you have to do is change out the springs for some 1″ drop ones for $300, add a $600 APR tune which adds like 60HP and 95TQ and voila, instant sporty sedan! OK, you should probably upgrade the motor and pendulum mounts too, and maybe a limited slip front diff, but that can be done down the road too.
-
“OK, you should probably upgrade the motor and pendulum mounts too, and
maybe a limited slip front diff, but that can be done down the road too.”
No, upgrade these at the same time. You’ll thank yourself when the engine doesn’t pivot into the radiator followed by dropping out onto the roadway after that one final OMG-TOO-MUCH-POWER launch.
For reference, I am saying this as the current owner of a 2012 Jetta TDi.
Leave a Reply