Guest Writer: From a 2004 Passat to a 2008 Jetta Review

December 31, 2007 – 8:30 am by Dan Volkens
Filed under Featured, Volkswagen Jetta, Volkswagen Passat

Guest article by Volksbloggin reader Jordan

Before this, I had a 2001 Jeep Cherokee, a 1996 Chevy Corsica, and a 1998 Ford Contour. Nonetheless, my lease was coming to an end in April, 2008, and had been looking around for possible new cars.

Just a few weeks ago, I received a letter in the mail from Livingston Volkswagen, in Woodland Hills near where I work, with three coupons: one for a “pull ahead” program where the last few payments on my lease would be “forgiven,” one for up to $2,500 off a new vehicle, and one for something else which didn’t apply to me.

Excited that I may have the opportunity to get a new vehicle early, I went down to the dealership and made an appointment to speak with a salesman a few days later. On Thursday, 12-6, I went in to the dealership and walked out with a new, 2008 Jetta. I won’t bore you with the details of the sales process, but I will make note that the dealership basically duped me into coming in — none of the three coupons ended up applying to me.

I originally wanted a new Passat, but apparently Volkswagen has moved the Passat “up” in their lineup, increasing the price and amenities included. Meanwhile, the Jetta has also moved up, and is now almost exactly the same size inside, not to mention the same price, as my previous Passat was.

First and foremost, I was impressed with the engine’s responsiveness. My Passat had a 4-cylinder turbo, which did quite well on the highway but was sluggish in city driving due to a 1+ second response pause from a dead stop. While it was irksome, I had learned how to deal with it. Meanwhile, the new Jetta’s five-cylinder, six-speed is sporty to the point of almost being jumpy. I barely have to tap the gas to have it pounce forward. As usual, the engine sounds a bit uncouth (same with my old Passat), but the triptronic manual shifting is fun, and there’s even a “sport mode” now that’s automatic, but shifts later and completely removes the top gear. As an added bonus, the triptronic now allows you to launch from second gear, which was not a possibility on the Passat.

Overall, there is a marked difference in the feel between the two vehicles. While the Passat felt like it was sitting right on the edge of being a luxury car, with a smooooooth ride, the Jetta feels distinctly sporty. At times, on city streets at medium speeds, I’m sometimes irked by just how much of the road I feel. In LA, this translates into a feeling of riding a horse, at times, whereas I never had any experience like this in the Passat.

The exterior, as everyone has remarked ad nauseum, looks a bit common. Yes, I’ll say it: there are strong similarities to the Corolla. Oh well.

A small thing I miss, which the Passat had, are the lights on the bottom-side of the mirrors which illuminated when you unlocked the vehicle. They were a nice touch that are missing on the Jetta. Meanwhile, a much-needed addition which did make it are mirror turning signals. I’m also impressed by the front-end bumper, which appears sporty, but is also apparently some form of adamantium; I’ve escaped unscathed from hitting smallish (but thick!) piece of plywood, and plowing into one of those intersections where the cross street arches up from a drainage conduit.

Inside, refinements abound over the Passat. The “leatherette,” (some form of vinyl faux-leather) is a suitable approximation, and gives the car a high-end feel. The seats are sturdy and strong, whereas the Passat’s often felt (as someone else described them) “floppy.” And finally, a fix for the nigh-unusable seat-back reclining handle on my Passt: the Jetta is equipped (on the driver’s side only) with an auto-seat-back, controlled with a small button.

The “mood lights,” are a nice touch, adding red LED lighting into the over-head console to illuminate the shifter. The rest of the interior continues the sporty theme, but doesn’t feel cheap. Heated seats on my edition are a much-appreciated addition, which I hadn’t expected, considering where I live. But even “leatherette” seats feel cold at 50 degrees around 6:00 am! Speaking of heat, the air conditioning and heating are much faster to respond now, owed to (according to my research on VW forums) the engine now automatically “revving” after a cold-start to get things moving.

Although the Jetta doesn’t have the neat little umbrella holders that the new Passat has, there are other small touches like cupholders in the doors which are nice, as well as the lack of an ashtray, but a nice-sized recessed tray in it’s place under the climate controls. Shame that there’s no coin holder in either that tray, or your elbow-rest, though. Speaking of the controls, they’re much more pleasing to use now with a smoother turn and also little “clicks” when you move the dial to each setting. I’m also glad they added a more intuitive interior-lighting system, which turns on overhead lights in the front AND back with one switch up front, whereas the Passat only turned on all the lights up front when you used a similar switch. The new glove compartment is much improved, with a nifty, separated slot for your manual.

My Jetta has a six-CD in dash changer with satellite radio and an AUX hookup (but NOT the iPod holster). Although the new radio is worlds above the old Passat’s, the Sirius Radio leaves something to be desired in terms of reliability. There have been more than a few times where I’ve run through patches of completely open-air where the signal mysteriously dropped repeatedly. I’m definitely enjoying the new changer, though, and the much more modern feel of the buttons and dials. I wish I could figure out how to use the MP3 data system, though — the manual says you can burn CDs with the track info on them, but despite quite a bit of time looking on the internet for how to do this, I’m at a complete loss. Apparently the VW engineers knew something that the rest of us don’t. I am impressed, however, with the “auto-volume” feature, which returns the volume to a sensible, quiet level if you turn the stereo off, and then back on.

The Jetta’s “helpfulness” category is a mixed bag in comparison to the Passat. One huge, much-loved new feature is a trunk that opens itself from the key fob. Whereas the Passat’s trunk would unlatch from the fob, I often had to struggle to open it. (I repeatedly complained to the service dept about the hydrolics being far too “stiff,” but they didn’t seem to agree.) The Jetta’s, in contrast, pops completely open from the fob, which has saved me a lot of bag shifting. On the inside, I’m thanking the VW gods for getting rid of the god-awful seatbelt warning they had on the Passat, which warned you if your belt was unlatched even when in park. On the Jetta, you don’t get a reminder until you go over 8 miles per hour (which is the same time the doors automatically lock). On the flipside, the Passat was great about reminding you the lights were on, with a constant, shrieking tone once the doors opened. The Jetta replaces this with a humble, quiet chime that seems like it’ll be easy to ignore when I’m in a hurry.

And finally, the last, best feature? No more premium gasoline! While the new Passat still requires it, the Jetta does just fine with good old “regular.” Hopefully, this’ll save me a few bucks every month.

Overall, I’m enjoying the new Jetta. It’s more fun to drive than the Passat was, but in a slightly more compact way — while not sacrificing any interior room. Refinements abound, while only some of the niceties of the Passat are lacking. I look forward to enjoying my new car until this lease is almost-up again.

Guest Writer: From a 2004 Passat to a 2008 Jetta Review
December 31, 2007 – 8:30 am by Dan Volkens