2012 Volkswagen Jetta consumer reviews

New 2012 Jetta Sportwagen is a great vehicle. Getting about 43 MPG in mixed driving. Interior and technology featuires are beyond most vehicles in this class.

I bought the 2012 VW TDI w/Premium (DSG) in January of 2012. It currently has 6,000 miles. Exterior: 8 The exterior styling on this car is very nice. It looks a lot like an A4 which is definitely good for me when I?m meeting clients. The only problem is that the clear coat scratches VERY easily. Surprisingly the windows scratch too, despite using microfiber and a single pass/two bucket method of washing and waxing. Interior: 6 Bland but intuitive. You will never get lost in the cockpit. Everything is exactly where it should be. My one complaint here is that the interior is poorly assembled. It rattles like crazy, especially when you play music, even at low volume. The plastic covering the gauge cluster scratches easily, even with light dusting. The shifter is made of plastic (covered in pleather) and creaks when moving it. No place to hold coins. I now use a coin purse in the center console. Comfort: 8 The seats are pretty good, but not nearly as good as the support I got in my old car (or even it?s big brother, the Sportwagen). Legroom is one of the high points, I?m a big guy and I fit a lot better with this car than with the Asian cars I tried. My clients also told me that they were pleased with the comfort in the back as well. Despite the relatively good comfort inside, when I get out of the car after driving around town, I feel jittery and stressed out. This is mostly due to the poor transmission performance. Performance: 5 On the freeway (speeds above 45mph), the auto-manual transmission is a dream. No noise, tons of torque, smooth shifting, great control. On the street (15-40mph) it gets pretty jenky. When the car is cold and moving slowly, it is very difficult to control. It will literally buck like a bronco unless you have it in manual or sport mode. Even after it is warm, the problems don?t end. If you attempt to coast at slow speeds (>30) the transmission will immediately downshift in an attempt to slow the car down with your engine, it?s extremely annoying. When coming to a stop, the car will make an extra little jerky shift that feels like a bump, EVERY TIME. Coasting downhill, the transmission will upshift too early causing the RPM to spike to 2500. Going uphill the transmission downshifts too late, again keeping the RPM higher than it needs to be. If the automatic shifting issues aren?t bad enough, on the street the transmission gives off a lot of vibration and noise. Poor transmission aside, the car takes corners very nicely and as I mentioned earlier, the torque is pretty fun. Fuel Efficiency: 10 The fuel efficiency on the street is overhyped. You will be lucky to get 25mpg traveling between stoplights. It gets a little bit better on longer stretches of street where I average 32mpg. Freeway efficiency makes up for any shortcomings in the city. Even on short trips, 48 mpg is routine. If you go on a long trip, I have gotten it up to 61mpg going 60mph. I?m not sure you can do any better without going with a small car or hybrid. Reliability: 3 After just 900 miles the car broke down in a parking lot I was stuck there for 4 hours and it needed to be towed to the dealer. After fixing it, the car worked again, but continued to have intermittent starting problems through winter. The starting problems went away with the warmer weather, but I shudder to think about what will happen when winter rolls through again. The trunk hinge broke after just 2,000 miles. The radio needed to have the software reset after 3,500 miles, the headliner and one of the cosmetic door moldings came loose after 4,000 miles, and a wire came loose and was hanging from the bottom of the car after 5,500 miles. Get the picture? If you buy, make sure you get as much warranty as you can. Last Impressions: With a $26,800 sticker on the model I got, I?d say this car is not worth its asking price. My last car had a sticker that was $10k less and it was a much higher quality car. Granted, this car has a lot of extra goodies like a touchscreen radio, Bluetooth, iPod inputs, a unibody design, a diesel engine and better handling that all drive the price up. I cannot help but be disappointed with the complete failure on some of the basics like ride quality on the street and even worse the car literally not starting and falling apart after less than 5,000 miles. For a modern car, this is completely unacceptable. I expected more from such a highly touted car company like Volkswagen.

My new car, the VW Jetta Sportwagen TDI is fun to drive, easy to park, has lots of cargo space and is comfortable to ride in - but best of all I'm getting great gas mileage! Got 50 mpg the other day on the freeway!

To my surprise, the GLI doesn't give up anything passing on the backroads compared with my 350+ V8 muscle car. Although it's not a drag car, it's much faster than expected, and the suspension tuning is perfect - great feel without harness. Shockingly, average fuel mileage is almost 30 mpg, and I'm certainly no hypermiler... After shopping several more expensive manual transmission sedans, I concluded the GLI was in a class all by itself...it's a great car that happens to be a good value - can't go wrong here!

Love the handling, the power even at highway speeds, generally a well designed car, and I average 40 mpg city/hwy. However, the driver seat is really uncomfortable for me and the dealership was of little help in offering solutions. The ride is stiff and you feel every bump. I'll have to spend a lot of money to get a custom seat somewhere else. Other than that, if the reliability is good, it's an excellent workhorse-type car.

The mileage is better than what i expected. On the road i am getting 43.9 and over 34 in town the only complaint i have is the throttle responce some times it lags when takeing off from a stop.

Because of the difficulty I had in the Seattle area getting the Gli I had on order for 6 months, I went on Cars.com and chatted with Ben in Columbus, Ohio. Three days later he picked me up at my hotel in Dayton and we had an enjoyable 60 minute drive to the dealership talking about Jettas. 30 minutes after I arrived at the dealership, I was on I-70 West driving back to Seattle in my beautiful new Gli! Considering the power, handling, technology and styling that went into this car, it is the best car I have ever purchased. It was a joy to drive through ten states in three days.

Bought a new Jetta last month and we couldn't be happier. It's the perfect car for a family with young drivers - has a youthful feel, but doesn't look or feel gimmicky for the parents to drive. We looked at the Hyundai, Honda and Suburu, but this car is very safe, solid and fun to drive. The styling is classic which appeals to everyone in the family. It handles very well. The acceleration requires getting used to as the engine shifts to higher gears too soon (engine lugging), but the tiptronic gives you an option if you really want more pep.

I had a 2009 VW sportswagon 6-speed and I liked it but this 2012 is totally different. This car is fast, warms up quick in the winter. Only wish it wasn't such a smooth ride. I like a little stiffer ride but for those who like comfort the seats hold you well. Comes with just about all the bells and whistles and the steering wheel controls make life easy. the diesel is quiet and all you hear is the tuned exhaust=no smell. nice styling. The best bang for the buck.

I have the auto trani Jetta sportwagon and the mileage is less than expected (37-38mpg) highway and parkway driving.