Ohhh, I hate to do this but...

> >Can anyone relate their experiences with recent model-year Jettas and/or
> >the 1.9 TDI?
> >Are Jettas any good?
>
> If you don't mind an utterly dull-handling car, get a new VW.
> Probably unreliable too. If you want something utterly reliable, get
> a Toyota.

Personal opinion or fact?  Based on my experience with a brand new 1.9 Jetta
TDI the handling is fine and the suspension is well composed and absorbs
potholes with aplomb.  The body is solid.  Car magazines tend to interpret
the car's compliant suspension as bad handling.  Toss in a few potholes and
speed bumps and it works just fine.  I used to own an '87 Jetta GLI and
spent quite a bit of time in an '84 GTI.  I think my comparison was fair.

> US ones are far worse.

Really.

>The mags do say that manufacturing quality and fit & finish are very good
> (another turnaround; however VW's plastics record is unbelievably
> bad, so time will tell whether the new dashboards will shrink, sag
> and break in half and window winder handles snap off), approaching
> Toyota levels.

So, are you just paraphrasing car magazines or can you very this information
from personal experience?  Yes, the early 80's VW's plastics leave something
to be desired.  (Shrinking dashboards?  Breaking in half? Where do you get
this stuff?)  Based on my observations the plastics and the interiors on the
new batch of VWs, such as the B5 passats, hold up rather well in the
southern Alabama furnace.  Look at the Passat resale values and compare to
the perrenial American-Joe favorite, the Honda Accord.  I'd say people are
voting with their wallets and the resale value challenges the Honda.

Chris S.
'85 Westy
www.knology.net/~vw/
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/wolfsburg_campers