Used 2012 Volkswagen Jetta Consumer Reviews
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Fun and Fuel Efficient
I have 13,000 miles on my 2012 Jetta. This is my third Jetta and my second TDI. I love this car. It is amazing for the money. I drive 55 miles everyday in mixed driving in this car, and I have fun the entire time. It only costs me $90 a month in fuel to drive this amazing car. It has power for days, the torque is amazing. It handles great and has plenty of space. I have two kids in car seats, no space issues. I love this car and I plan to keep it forever.
Nice car for not a lot of $....
Owned this vehicle for about 3-yrs. & 45K miles (bought it new). Overall impressed with quality, comfort, value and performance. I stayed away from the TDI because of diesel fuel pricing and the intercooler issues (well documented here). Very happy w/my decision. While this vehicle is not a "sports-car", it does have that "German car feel" to it. Even w/the mileage, it is still pretty tight feeling drives smoothly. I also get around 28mpg (combined driving), about 1/2 and 1/2. Free maintenance service was nice for the 1st 36K miles.
Perfect first car to own!
This Jetta is my first car, and I honestly could not be happier. I drive between Syracuse and Albany about twice a month, as well as around Albany day to day. This car is reliable and worth the ~$8,000 I spent. I've purchased a rust undercoating, as well as top-of-the-line snow tires, to handle Syracuse winters, so those purchases have definitely positively impacted the reliability and durability of the car. The only issue I've noticed is that the acceleration is slow for the first 20 minutes or so within starting the vehicle, but it is by no means a deal breaker. To summarize, this car is phenomenal and I would easily consider buying another when the time comes to purchase a new car. *update: I’ve had a new car for a year and a half now and I still talk so so lovingly about my Jetta. Hands down still the best first car I ever could have asked for!!
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An excellent car, but do your homework
This was the most reasonably priced car in this kind of fuel mileage range that did not feel like a toy. True the interior is not flashy, and I am a bit heavy for the standard seat bolsters, and it is not an independent rear suspension, but this little car is a kick to drive. I have 12,000 miles on and I have no complaints. I just got my first 50MPG trip this last weekend. In mixed driving I get 38 on the low side and can always depend on 44 to 45 MPG highway driving with cruise control on 65 or 70 from Fresno to Los Angeles and back. The DSG transmission does take a while to get used to but its a great car. Lots of torque and a huge backseat.
Lemon Car
At 12,000 miles, the high pressure fuel pump blew up, destroying the whole fuel system. ($7500) That was bad enough for a one year old car, but then it did it again at 23,000 miles. Search the internet for articles about this problem, but VW has covered it up well. The dealer said they fix about 2 per week. The car suddenly lost power going 70 mph on I-5, then died. Just barely made it to the shoulder. Very scary. I hoped the new fuel pump they installed would be a better design, but obviously it was not, since the car blew up again 6 months later- same thing- high pressure fuel pump. We sold the car, and lost $10K. My friends Jetta did the same thing. Big rip off by VW. Smartest thing we ever did was sell it. Glad we sold before the big emissions scandal.
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