Jetta Mark V Test Drive

My current car is a 2001 Jetta Wolfsburg.  It had to go into the shop due to some re-bar protruding from a curb that managed pull part of my front bumper off.  They gave me a new Mark V Jetta (2006?) from Enterprise Rent-a-car to use.  I’m kind of glad they did as I was really sitting on the fence about the new models.  Here are some of my thoughts on the VW Jetta Mark V

When I first saw the new Mark V body style I was hit by a wave of disapointment and thought “Wow.  It looks like a Honda.”  I thought it might grow on me over time, but alas it has not.  I think VW hit a high point with the Mark IV body style.  I think they need to go back to the lump of clay and start again.  Now I’ve been poking around on the VW web site and I noticed that they have the new City Jetta that appears to be very similar to the Mark IV body style.  I’m starting to wonder if the sales of the new Jettas are down this might be a way of gauging if they should be rethinking the Mark V.

I slumped down into the drivers seat and looked around.  The field of view is significantly reduced, front and back.  The side mirrors are a lot smaller.  None of this is a good thing in my opinion.  Over all the interior was nice looking.  Fit and finish was the usual VW step about the North American crap.  It also didn’t have that rounded, angled look that the Japanese seem to like.  I have a problem with the black finish in my 2001 Jetta.  After just 2 years, some of the thin top layer of black film has started to peel away around the knobs and dials.  Why is that a problem?  Well first off it should last longer then 2 years.  Secondly, underneath the plastic is white and this makes it look rather ugly.  But, I digress; I’m talking about the new Mark Vs here.  I found the seats too narrow.  The main annoying effect it produced was that it felt as if the heated seats were just heating the crack of my ass rather then my whole butt.  The noise level was quite low.  It seems every time I jump into a new model VW it gets quieter inside.  The cruise control stick was way too close to the turn signals.  Every time I went to signal I found myself grabbing the cruise stick. By the time I figured out what I had done, I had finished my lane change and there was no point in signaling any more.  Again, this is something that I would probably just have to get used to over time.  Speaking of the turn signals, I did like the way that if you just pressed the signal arm and didn’t engage it completely, it just flashed three times.  Nice feature.  Personally I would have had it do it a couple more time, but that’s just a nit pick.  Another nice touch was the ability of the heat direction knob to be able to rotate a full 360 degrees and beyond.  No more having to turn it a full 270 degree to go from windshield to dash vents.

I looked at the stereo and noticed that the tape player has been replaced by a CD player.  No surprise here.  Can you even buy tapes any more?  So much for the tape adapter for my iPod.  Hmmm… no convenient line in either.  I looked in the glove box and found no inputs or iPod connector in there like other manufacturers such as BMW provide.  Crap I guess I’d have to go back to the crappy FM transmitter.  For a company that is listed on Apple’s web sight as offering “seamless integration between your car and your iPod” I found it pretty much the opposit.  After searching the vw.com site for iPod I found a statement that every new VW has an auxiliary input jack.  I couldn’t find it; maybe I didn’t look hard enough.  It was -20C that morning so I wasn’t in a bit of a hurry to get the car moving and warmed up.  I searched on the vw.ca for iPod it came back blank.  Maybe it’s not available in Canada.   I used to own an 95 Golf (Mark III ?) and it had a prominently displayed AUX jack right on the front of the stereo.  How much easier and convenient can you get?  Why the step backwards VW?

Wow.  Maybe I’m just used to driving standard, but did the tiptronic transmission ever suck.  It had lots of lag.  It made a smooth ride in rush hour stop and go traffic rather difficult, thus causing my girlfriend’s motion sickness to kick in.  So in short, it didn’t make for a good ride home.  It might just take some getting used to.  I’d definitely need to take one for an extended use to see if it was any better.

I exited the vehicle and poked the lock button on the key fob.  Did it beep?  I’m not sure.  I heard it lock, but I didn’t hear the satisfying little muffled “unph” sound I’ve grown rather attached to on my Wolfsburg.  I tried again and heard a high pitched very quiet chirp.  Well, that’s annoying.  I want my “unph” back.  I found it very hard to hear in any environment where there was even a small amount of noise, such as a street.

If some one from VW reads this, you should know you had some very big shoes to fill with the Mark IV Jetta.  I don’t think you even came close.  I think I’m going to either be holding on to my 2001 for a while longer till you do some design work that is up to your usual standard or I might just have to look elsewhere.  The City Jetta is intriguing me a little, but mostly just for the fact that it looks much more like the Mark IV if in fact it isn’t just that.