Doran Posted November 30, 2008 Share Posted November 30, 2008 We're looking into trading/selling our Volkswagen Westfalia (wah!!) for a more fuel efficient car. Fuel economy is key, for us, but we also need a car large enough for our family and the occasional extra kid or two. I don't want to buy anything that gets less than 30 mpg in town. A Honda Accord might be our next option. Just getting some real life feedback. :001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TraceyS/FL Posted November 30, 2008 Share Posted November 30, 2008 I had a Jetta 1.8t before moving to FL. i loved that car..... i love shifting gears...... The lady i sold it to promptly had her son burn thru 2 transmissions in 4 months. YIKES! If you are buying used - make sure you get it checked in that area. Maybe let the person you are buying from drive you in it first - test them, can they drive? LOL!! I'd buy one in a heartbeat! there are forums for everything - i used to hang out here. I want to hang out here again :D http://forums.vwvortex.com/zeromain?id=1 http://forums.vwvortex.com/zeromain?id=3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Buckin' Longhorn Posted November 30, 2008 Share Posted November 30, 2008 My dad had a VW Jetta Diesel. Best car ever. He drove it for 15+ years and even had it shipped overseas when he had to move for his job because he simply could not stomach driving any other car. It was a great car, and very fuel efficient. He used to drive us to grandma's house (6 hours away) and back all on one tank of diesel. I know because he'd brag about that ALL THE TIME. Dad is a trip. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miss Marple Posted November 30, 2008 Share Posted November 30, 2008 We have a VW Passat Wagon (not diesel, though). We love it, but it is rather pricey to fix - thankfully, dh is quite handy. I love the Wagon and find it has almost as much cargo space as my Suburban but so much easier to maneuver through those shopping center crowds. We would have liked a diesel, but this came available and was a good deal. It is the best vehicle we own for driving on ice (and we own 2 4-wheel drives). If you like the Jetta, I would say do it. BTW, my second son would love a Westfalia! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pam "SFSOM" in TN Posted November 30, 2008 Share Posted November 30, 2008 We're looking into trading/selling our Volkswagen Westfalia (wah!!) for a more fuel efficient car. Fuel economy is key, for us, but we also need a car large enough for our family and the occasional extra kid or two. I don't want to buy anything that gets less than 30 mpg in town. A Honda Accord might be our next option. Just getting some real life feedback. :001_smile: I wouldn't get diesel right now. But I love love love the Jetta. And I love love love the Honda. :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tap Posted November 30, 2008 Share Posted November 30, 2008 We looked at Jettas very seriously before we bought my Accord. Dh is a VW guy and he drives a Golf TDI. We have always had at least one VW in our driveway:auto:. The Jettas do get good mileage, but I didn't like how close your head is to the window glass. More of a closterphopic thing instead of a safety issue. Both cars have great safety ratings. I also liked the extra room in the back seat of the Accord. It is more spacious than the Jetta. We have long legged, tall kids so that was important to me. I prefer the Accord's cloth uposlstry to VW (we ended up with leather and I didn't compare that quality). I also like the way I fit in an Accord better. The arm reach to dashboard features is more comfortable in the Accord for me. I like the features like cup holders designs and position of radio (dh is behind the cup holder-so you have to take out the cup to change channels). All of these features my have changed now for current model years. I was looking in '03-'04. One thing I don't like about my Accord is that my breaks seem to squeak a lot. They aren't worn down, just noisy. My Accord (gas engine) gets about a real 22-24mph. I do a lot of in town driving and I drive pretty 'quick':D so I am not very easy on the mph. I think I have gotten a 26-28mph when I did a almost complete freeway drive on one tank of gas. I average about 300-330miles per 14gallon tank fill. The Accord seats are much more comfortable to me than they hard VW seats. Dh prefers the VW seats so I figure it is a personal preference more than anything. The kids absolutely prefer the Accord for trips. The Golf is a quite small for 3 kids (they are rarely all 3 in there at the same time) but it isn't just the space issue, they don't think the seats are comfortable either. My friend who had a Jetta Wagon loved it. PS dh and I were just talking yesterday about missing our old Westie :sad: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doran Posted November 30, 2008 Author Share Posted November 30, 2008 PS dh and I were just talking yesterday about missing our old Westie :sad: I've never really had a "thing" for a car, but I do for the Westie. I love that you're not so low on the road, that you sit above everyone else. I love that Westie owners have this unwritten rule of waving at each other when you pass someone else in one. I love that when we camp, we don't have to worry about tents and rain, air mattresses, and sleeping bags. We have real beds, and a dry space. But, we didn't camp at all this summer, and only once last summer...so, that's not a very good reason to hang onto a car that only gets around 17 mpg, and is costing us a fair lot in repairs. Pam -- why would you not get a diesel right now? And, does anyone know about sourcing out bio-diesel for these cars and how that affects fuel economy? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heather in Savannah Posted November 30, 2008 Share Posted November 30, 2008 Doran, we can drive 1000 miles on a tank and a half of diesel fuel. We do a lot of road trips, driving up to Canada and back, so having a very fuel efficient car was paramount for us. Even with the higher cost of Diesel fuel, the fact that we get so many more miles to the gallon makes it still a good buy. My hd is currently searching for another TDI Diesel VW to replace the regular gas VW we have, as he is so convinced they are the best thing on the market....better than hybrid vehicles....now that's a whole other discussion :001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jenny in Atl Posted December 1, 2008 Share Posted December 1, 2008 We are on our second VW diesel. First was a Golf and now the Jetta TDI. Dh called the first, God's Car, since it lasted for over 300,000 miles. I believe the car rotted away from the still working engine in the end. We have had the Jetta TDI for nine years now, with very few problems. I believe the newer ones are even better. Still gets great mileage and drives like a sports car. :auto: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happygrrl Posted December 1, 2008 Share Posted December 1, 2008 We love our '06 Jetta TDI, but I agree to check out the VW forums. Even the new cars still have some of those VW quirks, but since we are VW folks we just live with them. We get great mileage, the front seats are the roomiest we tried (though our 3 very tall for their age kids feel cramped in the back when they all ride together). The trunk space is amazingly large... I once fit in 8 non-stackable chairs and a stool as well as a spare tire and a full grocery load from Costco using the trunk and back seat! The thrift store shoppers (where I bought the chairs) were all making bets that I couldn't do it! My husband converted our '85 Synchro to diesel (replaced the old gas engine with a newer Jetta TDI engine), and it was harmed mostly due to using 100%bio. The older engines can handle it (it supposedly runs well in older Mercedes, for example) but the newer engines have such fine tolerances that the car won't do well. This is why the warranty expressly requires that you use no more than 5% bio. This is controversial, I know and VERY disappointing, but true (my husband hobnobs with some guys in the know). Bio is a great idea, but needs more work to become a good option. Some of the newer bio formulations (not the right word, but I am sleepy!) seem more promising, but they are still in the lab and testing phase. Anyway, we have a new TDI engine in the old van, and stopped using more than 5% bio in both the disel vehicles. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doran Posted December 1, 2008 Author Share Posted December 1, 2008 We love our '06 Jetta TDI, but I agree to check out the VW forums. Even the new cars still have some of those VW quirks, but since we are VW folks we just live with them. We get great mileage, the front seats are the roomiest we tried (though our 3 very tall for their age kids feel cramped in the back when they all ride together). The trunk space is amazingly large... I once fit in 8 non-stackable chairs and a stool as well as a spare tire and a full grocery load from Costco using the trunk and back seat! The thrift store shoppers (where I bought the chairs) were all making bets that I couldn't do it! My husband converted our '85 Synchro to diesel (replaced the old gas engine with a newer Jetta TDI engine), and it was harmed mostly due to using 100%bio. The older engines can handle it (it supposedly runs well in older Mercedes, for example) but the newer engines have such fine tolerances that the car won't do well. This is why the warranty expressly requires that you use no more than 5% bio. This is controversial, I know and VERY disappointing, but true (my husband hobnobs with some guys in the know). Bio is a great idea, but needs more work to become a good option. Some of the newer bio formulations (not the right word, but I am sleepy!) seem more promising, but they are still in the lab and testing phase. Anyway, we have a new TDI engine in the old van, and stopped using more than 5% bio in both the disel vehicles. Thanks for these pointers, especially about the use of bio-diesel. I had no idea. We would probably be getting something in the 2005-06 range, but it all depends on what we find for what price. Much older than that and the mileage ratings go way down. What are the VW quirks you have learned to live with? Driving the Westie for 6 years doesn't seem like a place for comparison, because the car is so old it's hard to tell what are things are quirks and what things are just plain worn out! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happygrrl Posted December 2, 2008 Share Posted December 2, 2008 What are the VW quirks you have learned to live with? Driving the Westie for 6 years doesn't seem like a place for comparison, because the car is so old it's hard to tell what are things are quirks and what things are just plain worn out! I think that the quality control is low in the US factories. Our problems have been small: bubbled paint on the gear shift, trunk latch worked intermittently and the steering wheel squeaks when you turn left. All of these things have been graciously fixed (for free) by the dealership, so we really don't mind. I know folks, though, who would be angry at the inconvenience of having it go to the dealership so often. Me? I am so thankful to have an hour or two to read magazines and enjoy free beverages in the quiet dealership that I am *looking* for the next problem! (I am just kidding. Sorta.) So, it seems like some people get great 06 Jettas, and others get some that are... quirky. I still like it better than my friends' Hondas and Toyotas. The interior compares to higher price-rage cars, IMO, both in comfort and design. And it is hard not to smile as we pass the gas station... even with diesel being higher per gallon we can drive hundreds of miles on a tank. I think we get 38-40 miles to a gallon, and that is with speedy drivers, up many hills, usually with heavy loads. (We pull a trailer when going on vacation). Oh! Another thing- diesels are much louder than other cars. It's quieter than our van, so I don't mind, but do listen for the road noise when going on your test drive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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