Opinion Desperately Needed: Jetta 1.8 Turbo or Accord LX-V6? (1 Viewer)

[Philip Hamm]

Oh, you're going to love it. The car that my wife replaced was a 1996 Jetta with 120K miles. It was still running great, but getting tired. She kind of wanted a new car and a family member needed a low cost commuter so we sold it. It was and contrinues to be a great car. Also, the thing handled great and was a blast to drive, even with the 115hp little engine (of course it was a 5-speed so that helped there).

Anyway, enjoy the new car, I hope it serves you as well as ours did. If so you may end up back for another one in 6-7 years!

 

[Shawn Solar]

I took the plunge today and bought a 2000 nissan maxima loaded. Your posts on your mazda kinda made rethink the little protege I was looking at. My budget was $20000 plus tax. the Nissan was $17995. the sucker just flies down the road leather, all power, heated seats, climate control and a nice 222hp engine with over 200ft of torque

 

[Reginald Trent]

Jin E quote:

The effects of just their chip in the 1.8t is phenominal. ~200hp ~2240 ft-lbs of torque with 91 octane.
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You must mean 240 ft-lbs of torque, because 2240 ft-lbs would absolutely wipe the floor with Vettes, Vipers, Ferraris, Lambo, etc. You would probably put fear in the heart of John Force also.

 

[Philip_G]

congrats! enjoy the car

 

[David Susilo]

Shawn,

good move, don't get the Mazda. My friend's 2000 Mazda Protege is starting to have the same problem I had with the intake gasket. He is going to replace the intake gasket next week. His mom's 2002 Mazda Protege also have its engine light on yesterday. ... oh, my uncle's Protege 1999 have the same transmission problem like mine.

So, 4 out of 4 cars from 3 different production years failed... now THAT's bad

My uncle ended buying an 2002 Altima V6 as the replacement, I bought the 2003 Jetta 1.8 T, and my friend will be replacing his car as soon as the 2004 Jetta 1.9 TDI arrive in Canada.


Philip,

depending how much I like this car, I may buy another VW (maybe just the 4-door Golf TDI) in a year or two for my wife. But although I'm still waiting for delivery, I'm sooo hyped about this car. Last night I actually dreamed about driving with the TipTronic control.


Philip_G,

Thank you

 

[Shawn Solar]

I loved the style of the jetta. Almost going to buy one but found that I should probably go with a bigger car. I just have to wait 2-3weeks for delivery. its a used car lot that only certifies and fixes at time of sale. Haldimand Motors. I think I had a very similar dream there Dave

 

[Matt DeVillier]

Last night I actually dreamed about driving with the TipTronic control.

dream? sounds like a nightmare to me!

j/k, and enjoy your jetta! welcome to the (extended) family

 

[David Susilo]

I'm picking my car on Thursday!!!! Yaaaaaaaaaaay!

 

[Daryl Furkalo]

Congrats David! You will like it alot!

 

[David Susilo]

Thank you. I'll pick up the car on Thursday after work. I'll report back here on Friday with my first impressions.

Anybody have any comment on the stock (not Monsoon) stereo system?

 

[Brett_H]

David,

Congrats, I doubt you'll be disappointed!

Anybody have any comment on the stock (not Monsoon) stereo system?

Well, I can say that it looks good on a shelf in my closet. Seriously, I opted for the base head unit specifically so that I could rip it out and replace it with an aftermarket Sony that I had from my previous car. I will say that the factory, non-monsoon speakers do sound pretty darn good. I haven't felt the need to touch them yet. The stock radio sounded OK for the two days it was in there, but lacked a CD player.

Enjoy the car, and seriously, when you feel like you're getting used to the power, take a look at APR as mentioned before...

-Brett.

 

[Shawn Solar]

Geez I ended up with the one stereo in my car I thought I would never buy...Bose:frowning: Aw well have to do until the dvd screen goes in

I did find the quality of stock sytems to vary a lot from car to car brand. For about 120 bucks a pair speakers can be replaced quite easily. and a decent head unit is only 300-500 bucks. It only gets real costly when you add amps and subs. In the next three years I probably will have another 3 grand in the stereo. I do like the car you got Dave.

 

[Matt DeVillier]

Dave,

the stock system in the current Jettas is decent, but the head unit is a tad underpowered. The first thing I would replace is the head unit, as you'll notice a huge difference in sound quality, esp at higher volumes. You can always add an amp later on if need be, so be sure to get a head unit with at least one set of pre-amp outputs. Of course, this assumes that you're not satisfied with the stock system, which you haven't head yet =P

 

[David Susilo]

Yep, I gotta listen to it first and see how it sounds on the highway while driving 80mph. If it's loud enough for me(I don't listen to music loudly anyways), then I won't add separate amps.

Head unit will stay, though, at least until it's broken. Other head units protrude too much (not flushed like the stock radio).

One thing for sure, I will use my really-really old 6" Bazooka to add a tad more bass.

ps: any of you guys add tinting to the window? supposedly it's already tinted.

 

[David Susilo]

Well, the sound system ain't great, but not bad either. Relatively nice bass for such a small enclosure (door areas). The fact that they have separate tweeters positioned closer to the ears, making stereo separation even better.

Sub... here I come!

 

[Shawn Solar]

Ha, I just ordered two subs from stryke audio. av-12, at a pre-order of $140. Both are going to upgrade my stock system in my new nissan. Hope you enjoy the jetta more than the mazda

 

[David Susilo]

TY.

So far, I love the Jetta very much. It's very quiet in there, even quieter than the Accord. Enough 'kick' but not excessive. Fun handling and very nice intrument cluster's light.

A bit of problem already though, the plastic cover of the instrument cluster seems to have some kind of smudge on the inside. Is this something the dealer can replace easily?

 

[Philip Hamm]

Be Careful!! One of the guys on my Kawasaki message board noticed a similar smudge (and I have one on my Kawasaki myself). He opened up the instrument cluster and cleaned it off and now the damn thing steams up all the time! Turns out the "smudge" was anti-fog solution.

 

[David Susilo]

Oh, as much as I'm an electronic repair dude, I won't even attempt to do anything for my car myself, especially when I have 7 year/ 160.000km comprehensive warranty.

If that's the anti-fog solution, then I'll just have to live with it then.

Thank you for the warning, though.