Civic vs. Jetta or others?

[cookie96civic]

I forgot too.... Only problem is that the TDI doesn't hardly depreciate. I saw an 07 in town with 88000 miles for only about 3k less than new. I'm actually considering buying a Canadian one. They still have thru 2008 in the previous body style, for some reason I like it better than the current round nose chrome facia style. I'm not sure if they have TDI over there though...

[kir_kenix]

We bought a new jetta for the very same reason (2-3 year old ones cost nearly as much as new!). If your dealer still has any 2010's, they will almost certainly offer you the 0% financing option vs. buying a 2011. Girlfriend wanted a car that she could put 250k on and not worry about, and it was impossible to pass up the diesel.

I've heard some people complain on the net about reliabilty/expenses involved with owning a VW, but everybody I know that owns one have no such complaints. I think if we keep up on maintaince we shouldn't have any trouble running this car 10+ years. Every VW my family or I've ever owned had the body rust out loooong before the drive train went.

I will say that the automatic doesn't do as well on gas as we'd hoped. 99% of that is because she does the driving (turbo spools constantly, brakes hard, etc), and she does the vast majority of her driving in Omaha. Then again, the car isn't broke in yet, so it's hard to say exactly.

I'd go with whatever you like better. I have nothing against the Civic, its a solid car. They are well built and stay on the road a long time. I work in the autopart industry, and I can respect that Honda builds a solid car. We just chose the VW, and we like it.

[cookie96civic]

I decided with the civic. The Jetta is a great vehicle, probably a fantasy car for me. In reality, I have 4 kids and work 48 hours a week. I have learned that the TDI is somewhat of a project car. Blown turbos, thrown timing belts, fuel pump failures...etc. I want a simple all year car, start, go, bring it home and park it....everyday. I drive 40 miles a day, plus errands. The TDI would take some time to pay off. If I can get near 40 mpg I'd be fine.

[Arragonis]

Hmmm. We have had probably 5-6 TDIs of the 1.9 and 2.0 (105hp-140hp) variety with probably 400-500K of use between them over 8-10 years and have never had any of those issues. Poor maintenance may cause those - old oil, badly fitted parts etc. Find a nice independent specialist and you would be fine and save quite a load of cash.

EDIT - Specialist for the bits you don't spanner yourself.

I am considering a swap to Petrol though as I don't do motorways (highways) very often - but its going to be hard to miss the woosh when the turbo kicks in - in exactly the same way that VTEC doesn't

[robchalmers]

I'd go jetta every time, the mention of the star bolts are common to most euro cars and I've seen them on civics too. Dealer mainted jetta would be worth its weight in gold to me. like the civic, if you abuse it - it'll cost you.

done 100's of thousands in fleet vw diesels and never had a problem other than one aftermarket battery and a set of perished 15 year old spill off pipes on my polo.

interior too - I'd go dub
sound at top end revs???? civic wins that one!

[Arragonis]

Originally Posted by robchalmers

sound at top end revs???? civic wins that one!

The sound of 4 cylinders screaming ? Rob what are you thinking

[robchalmers]

the semi muted drone of th dub diesel over its peak range has nothing on the sound of a cammy jap screamer passing 8000rpm and going strong, especially a VTEC on a K&N with a stainless steel system.

a MB 6cyl CDI are a nice sound

but diesels have nothing on a V12 or even our w12

[Arragonis]

You are a racer though Rob - I love the sound of a TDI + turbo spooling and slowing at low revs myself - kind of full of potential and menace without really breathing hard.

Kind of like "you go over 1500 ? thats for wimps".

[robchalmers]

Only if it comes Darth Vaders asmatic inbreath everytime you squeeze the noisey peddle

[Arragonis]

<yoda>To the dark side the whistle turns you. </yoda>

(translation courtesy Yoda Speak)