New Das Auto!!

[chickenwafer]

Well, purchased a new car today! Honestly this has been in the works for a while. Wanted to upgrade the old Protege to something newer, safer, nice, more powerful, etc.

It's a 2006 VW Jetta (MK V) GLI Edition, 6-speed, 2.0L FSI turbo motor. Heated Recaro leather seats, factory DVD in-dash GPS navi, dual zone auto climate controls, 18" alloys with brand spakin' new Continental all seasons, etc.

It packs 205bhp stock, but with an APR Stage 2 tune, intake and dp I'll be pushing 270fwhp and 323 ft-lbs at the wheels. A true sleeper! But for now I'm just enjoying the car and driving it, plus, this car is VW Certified Pre-Owned, so I got a 2-year warranty thru VW on it, so I might have to wait for any mods haha.

Obligatory cell phone pics, taken in the parking lot of Noodles & Co right after we bought it haha:



I'll get some better pics up soon!

[~Barn~]

Nice lookin' VW.

[dommo_g]

Seems like with the Jetta, you get a lot of car for the money. Never have seen a fast one though, modded or not

[chickenwafer]

^I agree, it is a lot of car for the money. Features and amenities like an Audi but for $10k less.

It's not really "fast", but it will surprise you. I'm no stranger to fast cars and this GLI surprised me when I put my foot down. Has the most punch from 3k to 5k rpm, after that it's done. 270fwhp and nearly 330ft-lbs at the wheels (after I do some mods) will be quick enough for my daily haha.

[Learjet45]

Nice looking car! Minus the wheels Not a fan.


Now I challenge you to - and yes I'm completely serious - not mod this in any way shape or form. For at least the 2 years of the warranty.

[speedjunkie]

^Dave might accept your challenge, as long as he never changes the oil or performs any other maintenance himself. Because while he's in there...

LOL.

Nice car Dave!

[GR-8]

Nice! Contrast!

[erod550]

Nice car. My wife's last car was an 02 Jetta 1.8T and it had quite a bit of pep. The turbo really makes a difference at altitude. Her current Impreza is rated at only 10hp less and nearly identical weight and it is soooo much slower due to being NA. We just had too many electrical gremlins in the Jetta so it was time to trade it in.

Forget not modding the car just because of the warranty. Those mods are easily reversible, well, except maybe the downpipe which will probably be a pain. But still you can always go back to stock if you have to take it in for warranty work.

[mOOsE]

We just had too many electrical gremlins in the Jetta so it was time to trade it in.

That's the story of every Jetta I have seen. Sister in-law has one that has so many random electrical failures that I am positive it's possessed lol.

My advise with VW.... The power of Warranty Compels You!

[erod550]

Yea, nearly every time you would slow down for a light, the power would start dimming and almost drop out completely. Headlights, interior lights, everything would just dim and the car would almost stall. Charging system test showed the alternator was ok. We took it to the dealer, they told us it was the battery. Battery was less than a year old and had passed tests. We tried to tell them that wasn't it.

Spent a grand and gave them the car for over a week and they told us it was fixed. All they did was replace the battery and some vacuum lines and other unrelated maintenance type stuff. Less than a week later it was doing it again. It was out of warranty and we just didn't want to keep dumping money into it for them to try to figure out what was wrong so we traded it in to that same dealer (Heuberger) without telling them the issue was still occurring.

I still miss it. Heated leather seats, cool blue lighted gauges, lots of fun to drive, outrun most other cars in its class easily thanks to being boosted. But the Impreza is a beast in the snow and has been super reliable so far. No major issues at all, knock on wood.

[D Walker]

Same experience, and once they get to that point they become maintenance sluts, always in the shop for something. My advice with anything VW/Audi is not to own it out of warranty! Ever!

[chickenwafer]

Haha, I will probably do an intake at the least, plus window tint. Like others said, the intake is easily removable pending any warranty concerns.

I did a lot of research on this car before I bought it. I test drove plenty of cars and I really tried to get an MS6 or MS3 but I couldn't find any in my price range and the miles I wanted (tall order, I know). Electrical issues seem a thing of the (not so distant) past with newer VDubs.

Biggest/most common issues with this car is the cam follower on the HPFP needs to be checked every 15-20k miles and possibly replaced ($50 part), and then there is the carbon build up issue. Since this is a direct-injected 4-cyl the theory is there is no fuel mixture to wash/clean the intake valves, so carbon builds up and can cause havoc. Luckily I have the warranty so it seems like the carbon issues strike between 65k and 85k miles, which is covered with my warranty. So if it happens and gets fixed under warranty, I don't have to worry about it for quite a while longer.

Every car has it's issues tho, and I felt the Jetta GLI struck the perfect balance between the luxury, sportiness, and price I was after. Went to breakfast this morning with the seat heaters cranked and HID lighting up the road, really nice!

[erod550]

Definitely a major step up from a 20 year old Protege.

[Huzer]

Nice ride...it's interesting how many Mazda people tend to gravitate towards (or away from, in tut's case) VW/Audi.

[speedjunkie]

Spent a grand and gave them the car for over a week and they told us it was fixed. All they did was replace the battery and some vacuum lines and other unrelated maintenance type stuff. Less than a week later it was doing it again. It was out of warranty and we just didn't want to keep dumping money into it for them to try to figure out what was wrong so we traded it in to that same dealer (Heuberger) without telling them the issue was still occurring.

I think I would have been so giddy just with sticking them with the same problem they claimed to fix and charged me $1k for CLAIMING that it was fixed. That's some BS. That part right there made me grin LOL.

...and then there is the carbon build up issue. Since this is a direct-injected 4-cyl the theory is there is no fuel mixture to wash/clean the intake valves, so carbon builds up and can cause havoc.

Water injection??...lol.