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11 years and 94,000 km in a MK5 Volkswagen Jetta

9th July 2021, 13:14 by Chirag Moro

It’s been one of the finest teachers, and has introduced me to all of the traits that I now seek or look out for in a new car. It has spoilt me beyond limits, by offering me simple yet elegant features, whilst always cocooning me and my family.

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Introduction

This write up is all about the car which induced me into the car culture. It’s been one of the finest teachers, and has introduced me to all of the traits that I now seek or look out for in a new car. It has spoilt me beyond limits, by offering me simple yet elegant features, whilst always cocooning me and my family.

It’s funny I had to wait a good 8 years, till I could finally feel this beast for myself, and so it’s only fair, I take you to the very beginning. This is how immaculate the car was when it was factory fresh. The cameras on our phones were not so good as they are today, but this photo still manages to capture the true elegance of our Heavenly Blue metallic Jetta.

I was a Team-BHP reader even back in 2009, when I was 10 years old and I really loved the level of details on the official reviews on Team-BHP, but I could never find a review of this vehicle then, and I’d love to take this chance, to write a little about this beautiful car which has been my ship for just shy of over a decade! I'll try my best to recollect most of my moments with this car, since it really is a special one for me. It happens to be the first car I've officially owned, and it'll always be special, since it's been a beautiful companion.

Likes

Robust build quality standing tall even 11 years later!
High quality interiors.
Supreme stability at high speed.
Confident and glued to roads.
Ultra safe car :- 8 Airbags, ABS, ESP, Front and Rear Disc Brakes
Fuel Efficient Diesel Engine.
Feature Loaded by 2009 Standards :- Cruise Control, Auto AC, MFD, Auto Headlamps, 8 Speakers, Rain Sensing Wipers,
Fantastic, enthusiastic and reliable DQ250 Wet Clutch DSG Gearbox.
Simple, elegant design language.
High retrofit potential.
Massive Boot Space with a Spare Alloy.

Dislikes

1.9 TDI PD Engine is not the most refined.
Stock Power felt a little lacking - Now Remapped!
Heavy steering to drive around the city.
No Bluetooth Module.
No Parking Sensors (Outgoing Laura had 8 Sensors)
No Sunroof (Outgoing Laura had it)
Low Ground Clearance.
Rare Volkswagen Spares are expensive, often hard to procure.
Mixed Volkswagen After Sales Support.

Purchase Details

Why A New Car

My father drove a 2004 Honda City, GXI CVT, which was a comfortable and enjoyable city car. However, it was plagued by low ground clearance, for which we’ve paid dearly quite a few times, considering Pune roads were barely as good as the roads we are used to today. Enroute a trip to Mumbai in 2009, we were rear ended by another car on a flyover and the rear of our Honda City was nearly done for.

A 2004 GXI Variant was bare bones safety wise, and luckily, my sister and I were belted up, and nobody was hurt, but looking at the sight of our Honda City, which was 5 years and 72000kms old, my father was not comfortable at getting the vehicle repaired, and back then, most of his colleagues would end up changing vehicles at the 5th year mark anyway, with the hope of preventing obscene expenses (since I was a kid back then, and my father is the guy who likes to sit and drive, and trusts the service guys to do their thing, we had no idea if this was a bad decision).

Cars Considered

Thus, began the hunt for a new car. We started looking at most of the popular sedans back then. The Corolla Altis was a top consideration since it was comfortable, spacious, had a decent feature set with Dual Airbags and ABS, Automatic AC etc. A reverse camera was very low on the priority list back then. There was nothing wrong with the Toyota Corolla, but the 1.8L Petrol CVT just lacked that agility. The Civic was also considered, but quickly ruled out due to an even terrible ground clearance compared to the City.

Somehow, a huge discount on the Skoda Laura 1.9 TDI caught my dad’s attention, and he began enquiring about it in his circles. Luckily, a fellow doctor had been using it for a few years and gave a really positive impression about the vehicle, especially the build quality and fuel efficiency but he was quick to inform us about the terrible dealer support which he was facing back then, and it’s no secret that Skoda dealers have been notorious in their early years. Pune barely had a steady Skoda dealership, as quite a few had been published in newspapers for termination of dealerships. Another friend who was using a Passat, suggested driving to Mumbai to have a look at the newly launched Jetta, but we gave this opportunity a pass, since there was no news of a Volkswagen dealer for Pune then.

We were strongly considering the Laura, and it was very well kitted. To my fascination, it also had a Sunroof and 8 Parking Sensors, and it was easily trumping the Corolla when it came to the equipment on offer. We soon came to know that the Laura was being discontinued and was going to be replaced with a Facelift, and that was the reason the dealerships were offering healthy discounts of 2-3L rupees on their Laura. My father did not want to buy a car which was being discontinued, because he was worried about the terrible support we had heard about. He was instead, interested by the Skoda Superb, which was longer, and felt more comfortable and luxurious, but it was way beyond our approved budget, and so the wait was on.

Dealership Experience

It was then that an opportunity knocked at our door and we heard that Volkswagen had appointed a dealer in Pune, Vidyut Motors, Shivajinagar as Volkswagen Pune, and so we enquired and they were already ready with their first lot of Jettas for sale. Again, since it was a new dealership, there was no designated test drive vehicle and my dad drove the dealership owner’s personal Jetta. I remember the test drive only vaguely, but I recall that we needed to have two test drives, to get the boss’s approval, you guessed right, if it was my mom. My mom fancied the Beige interiors and my father liked the Heavenly Blue Metallic shade. The newbies at the dealership promised us Heavenly Blue Metallic in a Beige interior, but shortly after the vehicle was received, we were told that the Heavenly Blue Metallic was not offered with Beige, but with what Volkswagen called an Anthracite Leather upholstery. This just shows the level of unpreparedness by the sales team, and my mother was not impressed since we had a much better experience with Kothari Hyundai, who were prompt to tell us the details of every variant. A few years later though, I frankly don’t blame Volkswagen since they have just too many things to worry about internally. In fact, I have a strong hunch, not everyone even knows the next thing they’d be doing with feature additions and what not, so with all due respect, the sales team should be spared this obligation.

Delivery Day

I accompanied my parents to the dealership where our beautiful new car, our first German steed was ready waiting for us. The basic rituals were completed and here’s a picture from a decade ago, where I was given the honour of holding the keys. A big thanks to my father’s student for dropping us to the dealership. It was a very special day for all of us, and I still remember it very vividly.

Attaching a few photos of the delivery day and the feel of the keys in my hand sure seemed to delight me. I was also given the honour of breaking the coconut, before we drove out shortly. You can tell how non-existent the Volkswagen facility was at the time of delivery, from the construction work going on in the background.