monstrocity

Hi folks!

Kids will be learning to drive soon and I want to get them something half-decent to learn on. And by that I mean not too nice... but also something my wife and I would enjoy using on occasion.

I'm very interested in an early 2010s VW Jetta. Seems like a good safe starter car with a reasonable cool factor for a teen. Thinking I would choose gas and manual transmission (fun for parents and kids can't text!). The Comfortline ones look nice with rims but I wouldn't rule out a basic Trendline if price or condition was right.

Probably I would pick a budget like CDN$8K-10K and get the lowest mileage model I could find. And maybe find one with a couple scratches already, just in case...

Anyone have advice on best models or years? And also is it a big difference between 2.0 and 2.5? I don't especially care if the car isn't fast...

ClipperFan

I wouldn't buy a vw that old or probably at all. I'd tell my kid he is lucky to drive to school. Cool factor might attract types u don't want around your kids. Find a Honda or Toyota. Corolla's, accords and civics still come in manual transmissions


you will get more opinions in off topic

White Out

2.5 is half the Gallardo/R8 engine. I think the 2.0 is a turbo motor for those years. The turbo VW have decent power (not fast) where the n/a are dogs.

VW requires more maintenance than the American and Japanese counterparts, but they are nicer inside.

ClipperFan

Did I mention my dark gray 2016 Toyota Corolla manual transmission is for sale ? Lol,
f/s about 12k or so.....30k miles. I see a chance to get a SS Camaro, manual transmission of course. Value of those are dropping faster than my high mileage Corolla

GTOguy

This^^^^. As a professional mechanic for the past 35+ years, water cooled VW's don't rank highly on the reliability scale. Electrical problems, oil leaks, etc. They tend to be well past their prime at 100k miles....whereas a Toyota Camry, Corolla, or a Honda will be just broken in at that point. Along with Audi, VW would be about my last pick for a car. You'd even be better off with domestics at that point.