Lately I've been hearing bad things about Volkswagons, but my family owns a Passat and I am looking to buy a Jetta and I LOVE the handle of and feel comfortable in this German car. Should I go ahead and buy the Jetta or listen to "the experts"?

Yeah stick with the VW! In 2005 I had a '91 Jetta get spanked by a deer and then I had to get 2003 ford focus, which I don't hate but I missed the old jetta. It was a bit of a clunker and old but it was purple and special and it was my first car. I'd say, follow your heart!

It varies. Personally, I would only consider the 2nd and 3rd gen Golfs. I don't like Jettas because I need the hatch, but that is more preference than the car's fault. The first-gens are anemically underpowered and the newer ones are both overpriced and prone to reliability issues, usually electrical.

The 2nd and (to a lesser extent) 3rd-gens have the added advantage of me being familiar with their flaws, weaknesses, and layout so I can do many things to them without a manual. For a 2nd-gen, rip apart the door and check the plastic liner to avoid wet carpets and re-seal the taillights as water tends to like creeping in there as well.

Add in the low-end torque that Hondas lack and a 1st gear designed for stump-pulling and you'll be off the line before you realize it. My A2 could start on a hill in 3rd gear (not recommended; I missed 1st when I stopped) and my A3 doesn't need to shift out of 5th for most hills at 55 MPH. Oh, and the 2nd-gens are MUCH lighter, so they don't need much power to rocket away at stupid speeds. I saw where someone put a VR6 into an A2 chassis; fscking ridiculous yet sweet.

get a BMW...

Get the Jetta! My brother is a VW guy and would tell you that you are better off with a VW than with most other cars. They are well built, and safer than other cars the same size. You will get more miles on it than most other makes of car.

Volkswagen is no exception to the German rule. Volkswagen pays attention to the little things... aesthetics, tactile quality and on-road dynamics.

A Volkswagen is not a car for "people on a budget"... If you are on a budget, buy a Corolla or Cavalier. A Volkswagen is for people who value distinction, knows that they are getting into a fine German automobile and have a few extra dollars to do it right.

The quality of materials is superior. Go test drive some Japanese and American cars and take one knock on the dashboard with your knuckle... I'll bet it's made of hard plastic and sounds hollow. VW spares no expense on their material quality. Fit and finish is second to none. All the separate parts are engineered to work and fit with one another. What you get is a staggering feel of quality when you touch a knob, dial or simply when listening to the audio system.

The power plants are engineered to perform a specific duty and handle stress, heat and a boatload of miles beyond that what you would normally dish out to a car in it's life time. To put it short... Over engineering. German engines last longer.

Steering is very German... heavier, direct and involving. The car asks more from the driver than the typical Japanese and American cookie cutters but they also deliver more.

Volkswagens have standard features you will not find in most other cars. Point for point, feature for feature a VW is a hell of a lot of car for the money.

VW pays close attention to things like efficiency, performance, handling, build quality, "WOW" factor, styling, standard features, longevity and most importantly SOUL... Soul is something that very few cars have these days. Most cars that I find on the "top" of the consumer reports list are point A to point B cars and lack everything above.

I highly recommend the Jetta. I can promise you that you will not be dissatisfied.

Try this site - it's an unbiased site where cars are reviewed, with common faults that have been reported are highlighted for each model. Technical data on each car, e.g. performance, weight, MPG etc is also available. What is more, there is a section of user reviews, for each specific model, allowing you to see what other suers have thought fopr each car.

For me, it was invaluable for when I was considering buying another car.

http://www.parkers.co.uk/?frommenu=true

This is the Jetta (2006 onwards) submenu.

http://www.parkers.co.uk/cars/reviews/review.aspx?model=1429&page=1

I think if you absolutely love a car, you should
buy it and it will do well for you. Case in point -
one friend of mine bought a Chevy Cavalier. She really
didn't like it, the color, paid too much for it etc. -
she had lots of trouble with it. Another friend bought
a Chevy Cavalier, she loved it, the car ran till it had
150,000 miles on it!

Go with your own experience.
I would advise you go ahead and buy it.

I personally would go for it. Some "experts" just make up random stuff to make bad business for others.

I have a 99 Passat. Generally as a car I love it. What I hate is the service. VW America does not stand behind its cars well enough. For VW the customer is rarely right. I also have a Ford. My ford has also had problems but when I have a problem it is much easier - and cheaper - to fix.

I recently purchased a New Passat, I have also owned a 2001 Jetta, I love them both. My Passat was a little pricey, but It handles very well and has an amazing interior. I feel it is well above the average car. I have owned Chevy's, Pontiacs and Dodges. My VW supercedes all of them. Yes it costs a lot to have them repaired, but keeping up with the preventative maintenance and keeping full coverage insurance I never had a problem.

I worked at a new volkswagen dealership. Through this experience, I was able to talk with the salesmen, managers, mechanics, service techs, detailers, etc. I have heard all the horror stories.

A tip I got from a salesman was to stay away from 02-05 jettas. They have bad electrical systems. I can't even count the number of jettas we had to boost on the lot after they died from drained batteries.

I drove every new model including all 3 trim levels of jetta (TDI, 2.0, 2.5), passat (3.8 and 2.0), touareg, golf, rabbit, gti, city golf and city jetta. My unbiased opinion is that volkawagens are highly expensive average vehicles.

I have driven everything from chevy to honda and there's no real difference. Yes, volkswagen has good layouts inside, and I am a big fan of the blue & orange guage clusters, but I just don't see the justification for the price.

My favourite new VW though is the Jetta GLI. However, it's over 37,000 (but it looks very nice) .

I would personally suggest a different brand. Of course it's up to you, but I saw not only the new ones but the old ones too. One plus is the high resale value, but the cons include a high rate of mechanical problems. People often brought their vehicles back for warranty problems.

Good luck,
Hope this helps

http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/cars/models/volkswagen/jetta/model-overview-4654-5606.htm

I heard that a 6 mph collision caused over $9,000 worth of damage in VW's. Don't remember the model, but that is ridiculous.