[oxymoron]

Very elaborate review with excellent pictures
I fail to digest, how can an expensive car be launched without ACC? I presume an ACC will not cost more than 1-1.5 lakhs, now somebody buying a premium car would not care for 1-2 lakhs here or there but would love to have all features in his/her car.
Also, I being an avid car watcher has failed to recognize Jetta on two occasions while driving, so it translates into lot of commoners eventually confusing it with Vento which is not acceptable for somebody spending 15 Lakhs+.

A deal breaker for me atleast.

[drmohitg]

Originally Posted by oxymoron

Very elaborate review with excellent pictures
I fail to digest, how can an expensive car be launched without ACC? I presume an ACC will not cost more than 1-1.5 lakhs, now somebody buying a premium car would not care for 1-2 lakhs here or there but would love to have all features in his/her car.

Every car is a balance of a lot of things. No other car comes with 6 airbags in the base model too with Esp, hill descent control and the likes. Add 1.5L for the ACC to any of the model and it loses out big time on the VFM tag. I doubt it will then find any buyers. If VW would have given the ACC they would have given only 2 air bags. So basically its a balance thaT the company tries to achieve.

Ofcourse I would have loved the ACC but not by paying another 1.5L over the current price. And ofcourse will choose Airbags any day over ACC.

[nishantmohan]

I guess vw thought a jetta with all the missing interior features will become a proper shrunken passat, then there would be no difference between the two (in the indian customer's mind).

[mohandasnikhil]

Originally Posted by drmohitg

Hmm this is strange now. I thought that it will be the same across the country. Anyways thats a huge difference since I was asked to deposit 1.5L. Why VW Why?
What is the period for your car? Even I am booking White comfortline.

I paid 1.25l as the booking amount to Tornado Motors i.e VW in Santacruz. I'm getting a Relfex Silver Trendline, and its available off the shelf. So I guess the booking amount and waiting period completely depends on the dealer

[nicedude]

Oops I guess my last post was lost in transmission.The delivery period was quoted at between 25 days to a month, so fingers crossed . And like Nikhil said the booking amount is entirely the dealers prerogative I guess , VW not being involved.

[PPS]

Originally Posted by mohandasnikhil

I paid 1.25l as the booking amount to Tornado Motors i.e VW in Santacruz. I'm getting a Relfex Silver Trendline, and its available off the shelf. So I guess the booking amount and waiting period completely depends on the dealer

Heard the on-road price in Mumbai comes to around 16.3lakhs, is that true ? Also any discounts,freebies,etc , i know its a new launch so hard to expect freebies but the bookings for this car have not really taken off hence asking.

[mohandasnikhil]

Originally Posted by PPS

Heard the on-road price in Mumbai comes to around 16.3lakhs, is that true ? Also any discounts,freebies,etc , i know its a new launch so hard to expect freebies but the bookings for this car have not really taken off hence asking.

Well I bought it on COMPANY REGISTRATION, so it is costing me 17.5l onroad (all inclusive) as per the Perfoma Invoice. But I'm getting my Insurance done outside, which is saving me 8k. Also the dealer assured to "throw in" some accessories worth around 10 to 12k. I still need to bargain in for the AMC and Extended Warranty, which someone in VW Group hinted at being a "good idea" if you are buying the New Jetta
Even though the New Jetta is maybe not selling much yet, the dealers are prohibited from giving any discounts.
I was just happy to get delivery in a couple of weeks in my choice of color.
The Mumbai East dealer told me he has 1 car of the old model Jetta, and was offering 60k off it. I was expecting atleast a couple of lakhs off!

[Abhi_Automobile]

Originally Posted by smartcat

Comments on the interior quality of the new Jetta are fair enough. Reason for that being the old Jetta has nicer quality materials.

Now the Altis has slightly better quality materials than old Corolla. And if the upcoming 2012 Civic has poorer quality materials than the current Civic, expect the same criticism that the new Jetta is getting.

So when Jetta's interiors are criticized, its not in comparison with Altis or Civic, but with the old Jetta. We expect newer cars to be better than older cars in all the departments!

Originally Posted by ethanhunt123

Probably because Altis is in a different consideration set ? Altis with its low powered engine is primarily for chauffer driven purpose, while Jetta's audience is more towards self driven where people compare it to Laura which has top notch interiors. BTW Cruze is also criticized for not so great quality plastics.

PS: Personally I feel all Toyota's sold in India have not so great interiors when compared to competition - Liva, Etios, Innova, Corolla, Fortuner

Yup! Agreed. Even I found the interior quality a step down from the last gen Jetta. I also agree that the Laura's interior quality also feels a noth above the Jetta.

All I am trying to say is that barring Laura, the Jetta's interior quality is still the best. So, over all, a car that a has a lot of class leading attributes comes second best in one parameter. Surely, that's ok, isn't it

Although I understand the tbhp enthusiast perspective, when most of us say that the interior quality is 'not good', it gives an impression (to some of us who may not have seen the car yet) that it is not up to the segment standards. While in reality, the Jetta's interior quality is definitely better the segment average.

For sheer interior quality though, I too will pick Laura. BTW, I was also impressed with the interior quality of Renault Fluence (only the petrol version though). In case you didn't know, it is one of the 'premium' (sick and tired of hearing this crap from manufacturers) offering that is still sold in the Indian market

[lamboguy]

Originally Posted by PPS

Heard the on-road price in Mumbai comes to around 16.3lakhs, is that true ? Also any discounts,freebies,etc , i know its a new launch so hard to expect freebies but the bookings for this car have not really taken off hence asking.

Yes you have heard correct. The Trendline pricing OTR Mumbai individual comes to 16.29 Lac. The Comfortline costs 18 Lac. There are no freebies offered sadly, atleast not when i had booked 10 days ago!

By the way, the August sales figures are out and VW has managed to sell 319 Units of Jetta vis-a-vis 109 units in July. I gues these figure seems reasonably good considering its placed as a C+'+' segment car.

Originally Posted by Abhi_Automobile

All I am trying to say is that barring Laura, the Jetta's interior quality is still the best. So, over all, a car that a has a lot of class leading attributes comes second best in one parameter. Surely, that's ok, isn't it

Although I understand the tbhp enthusiast perspective, when most of us say that the interior quality is 'not good', it gives an impression (to some of us who may not have seen the car yet) that it is not up to the segment standards. While in reality, the Jetta's interior quality is definitely better the segment average.

Totally agree with you here! Inspite of the "inferior" interior quality of the New Jetta, I still believe it surpasses the interior quality of most of the Japanese! (I am not talking about the styling though... *ciVic* cough * cough * !)
In fact I would like to give an example from a layman's perspective. On sitting in an Altis, my mom said, "Beta from inside this is just like our City. Only a bit bigger".

[Musicmaker23]

Firstly, Rudra, great review. I frankly am not very impressed by the looks of the car. They bear too much of a resemblance to the outgoing model. But, you managed to make them look great in the pictures. And yes, I like the new wide-angle lens

Originally Posted by drmohitg

Every car is a balance of a lot of things. No other car comes with 6 airbags in the base model too with Esp, hill descent control and the likes. Add 1.5L for the ACC to any of the model and it loses out big time on the VFM tag. I doubt it will then find any buyers. If VW would have given the ACC they would have given only 2 air bags. So basically its a balance thaT the company tries to achieve.

Ofcourse I would have loved the ACC but not by paying another 1.5L over the current price. And ofcourse will choose Airbags any day over ACC.

Rs.1.5L for ACC makes me wonder how much my i20 would've cost without it, even taking into account the difference in segments; that figure's an overestimate

I guess the general idea that fellow bhpians are trying to convey is that there're a lot of features that VW could've used to differentiate between the different variants like hill-start, front parking sensors, leather seats, media options, DSG etc. But anyone who spends upwards of 10L on a car would not like to miss out an ACC which at this price-point should automatically become standard. This is also in addition to the obvious changes in quality of several parts that've been mentioned in the review, which compounds the grouse against the variant formulations.
I think overall with the new Passat & Jetta, the company seems to have gone backwards a bit with the package and styling

[sumitmitra]

I did a test drive of the Jetta Highline today and I must say was quite dissapointed with the car. Though the quality of the interior material is good, it definitely is not what you would expect from a 20 Lakhs car. I also was unhappy with the ride over rough road surfaces - I feel my current Grande Punto does a better job in absorbing the bumps over bad surfaces. The lack of a USB jack on the Comfortline and climate control across the models is unforgivable. I am in the market for a car in this category and I am slowly veering back to the Skoda Laura, although I was having great expectations with the Jetta.

[drmohitg]

Originally Posted by Musicmaker23

Rs.1.5L for ACC makes me wonder how much my i20 would've cost without it, even taking into account the difference in segments; that figure's an overestimate

That figure came from the post above that I quoted. The whole idea anyways is to convey the message that all is not wrong with the car and its still good VFM. Yes I call it that because I value safety at the top of things I want in my car. Having said that there is no way to justify the absence of ACC. As you have said too, it must be standard in a car in this segment. I as a potential buyer is most disappointed with this decision. But if I have to choose between the ACC and 6 air bags etc, I will happily choose the latter!

I guess the general idea that fellow bhpians are trying to convey is that there're a lot of features that VW could've used to differentiate between the different variants like hill-start, front parking sensors, leather seats, media options, DSG etc.

But isn't it nice that they loaded up the base variant with all those safety features too? Thats the variant which will get them maximum sales. We always criticized car companies for providing even ABS and 2 airbags only in the top most variant. Many people might not have the budget to go buy that top variant. In such a situation they are left with a car without having the above. With this move VW has ensured that all variants get almost everything. And if you actually sum up the feature difference between the models you will realise that it does add up to that extra 1.5L price difference. All in all I will again repeat that its a very balanced car and the only thing I would have loved or desired would be ACC. That would have made the car perfect. But ya if the addition of ACC pushes the prices still north then I doubt it will find buyers anyways.

[lamboguy]

Originally Posted by Rudra Sen

Other Points:

- Thanks to the 6th gear (both transmissions), the ARAI fuel rating is a high 19.33 kpl (Manual) and 16.96 kpl (DSG Automatic)[/i]

From what I know, ARAI figures are usually on a higher side. If that is true, what is the FE that i would be looking at in real-life city driving conditions for the manual one?

[ethanhunt123]

Originally Posted by sumitmitra

I did a test drive of the Jetta Highline today and I must say was quite dissapointed with the car. Though the quality of the interior material is good, it definitely is not what you would expect from a 20 Lakhs car. I also was unhappy with the ride over rough road surfaces - I feel my current Grande Punto does a better job in absorbing the bumps over bad surfaces. The lack of a USB jack on the Comfortline and climate control across the models is unforgivable. I am in the market for a car in this category and I am slowly veering back to the Skoda Laura, although I was having great expectations with the Jetta.

Atleast you got a TD. I am still waiting for one close to a month after the car was launched. Only one dealer out of 3 in Blr have a car for TD, and its always "out for TD". Even the Hyundai dealers for me a Verna TD for a car that has a 6 month waiting list.

While the 6 airbags and VW badge is trying its best to attract me to it, the dealer attitude and lack of even a TD is pushing me away.

[mohandasnikhil]

Originally Posted by ethanhunt123

Atleast you got a TD. I am still waiting for one close to a month after the car was launched. Only one dealer out of 3 in Blr have a car for TD, and its always "out for TD". Even the Hyundai dealers for me a Verna TD for a car that has a 6 month waiting list.

While the 6 airbags and VW badge is trying its best to attract me to it, the dealer attitude and lack of even a TD is pushing me away.

Well VW Dealerships are now known for a Terrible Sales Experience. In the latest JD Power Survery for Sales Experience, VW was ranked 2nd last. Surprisingly Skoda was ranked 1st.