Overview & Reviews
The Sportwagen body style and diesel-fueled TDI engine debut for the 2009 VW Jetta. Unlike the previous-generation Jetta's TDI, this more powerful diesel engine is 50-state certified in terms of emissions. Other changes throughout the Jetta lineup include stability control, heated seats and heated washer nozzles added as standard equipment. The optional navigation system has also been substantially upgraded to include a touchscreen interface and a 30GB hard drive.
- Diverse selection of strong engines, upscale look and feel, comfortable seats, impressive cargo capacity in both body styles, pleasant ride.
- Below-average fuel economy with 2.5-liter engine, small backseat compared to midsize competitors.
User Reviews:
Showing 1 through 10 of 263.00-
Not smooth enough - 2009 Volkswagen Jetta
By sloto - January 29 - 1:53 pmI am a 76 yr old that still likes performance. The acceleration is amazing. And that is the only thing that will make you realize it is a diesel. However maintaining speed in traffic is annoying. Especially when braking. It seems the auto transmission wants to help slow you down. This should make the brakes last , but a real pain trying to maintain driving distance. The cruise control must have been designed by Mr Volkswagens kid. Long over due for modernization. The wipers are backwards to every one elses. Fuel cap is on right side, real handy AARGH
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Yikes - 2009 Volkswagen Jetta
By chris72 - January 20 - 7:23 amI bought my Jetta wagon. Had fun purchasing and driving it. Left the dealership with 25 miles on it. 12 days later, at 540 miles the car beeped, red light flashed, air conditioning blew hot air. The needle on the temp gauge went to 260! all the way to the right. VW road service came. Towed the car to dealer. Needless to say, the thrill of the new car is gone, and doubt has set in. Until then I loved the car. Now I worry about reliability and high repair costs after warranty wears out. Dealer handling it well, just a disappointment to me that the car had problems before I even got my license plates.
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Could be better. - 2009 Volkswagen Jetta
By RN - December 31 - 5:13 amI have owned this car for approximately 3 months. I have 10,856 miles on the odo. The average "real world" economy w/o soft peddling (driving like hybrid owners) is 36.5 mpg combined cycle of which I would say 80% of my miles are highway. I feel that this car could give much higher fuel economy by simply adding a 7th gear or OD for the highway. If you drive the vehicle, you will notice that the engine revs at a higher rpm. With diesel engines having very good low end torque, dropping the revs by 400 rpm could boost fuel economy to a level that could surpass any hybrid in the market.
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LOVE my wolfsburg! - 2009 Volkswagen Jetta
By wolfy87 - December 2 - 3:26 amI just put 10,000 miles on this car and have loved every mile of it! It looks and drives like it costs $10,000 more. The DSG transmission is a ton of fun and sport mode always helps me get to school on time. This car is leagues above its Japanese competitors in the performance and handling areas. Definitely opt for the 2.0 turbo engine because it seems more refined. The fuel economy is as advertised (20/29).
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2009 Jetta Wolfsburg - 2009 Volkswagen Jetta
By brishimmel - October 25 - 2:49 pmI LOVE my Jetta. Before I started having problems with it I swore by VW and said my future cars would be VWs. Well in the past three weeks, that has changed. Once my Jetta hit 25k, everything went wrong. Check engine light always comes on, it has left me stranded two times in three weeks. Both times have been the fuel pump. The first time (3 weeks ago) the dealer said they replaced it, now I am doubting that they did. Now they are saying it is the fuel pump again. I called roadside asst which is still under my warranty and they charged me $250+ to have it towed to my dealer where I live. Again, love my Jetta but be sure you have $$ to fix it when it goes out of warranty.
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This is a risky car to own. - 2009 Volkswagen Jetta
By JamesG - October 25 - 2:00 amI just sold my 09 TDI Jetta today. I will miss it, it was SO much fun to drive on the high-way. Fuel pumps (HPFP) are failing in this model, repair can cost $8 - $10K. VW is being very wissy-washy about covering what appears to be a growing issue. To much risk for me, good luck if you decide to buy.
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The US needs more diesels like this - 2009 Volkswagen Jetta
By Rickallen - July 4 - 12:13 pmI bought this car as a replacement for a hybrid that just didnt cut it for me. The VW makes up for all of the performance and comfort trade-offs of a hybrid but with little penalty to the MPGs. I actually average about the same or better with diesel than I did with the hybrid - about 39 mpg over the life. Acceleration of the line makes passing slowpokes easy and squirting in and out of stop and go traffic is a breeze since it gives you "right now" torque. My only disappointments have been some annoying rattles, an audio system that gives me headaches, and no aux in if you have the ipod adapter. Other than that, I cant complain. I think Im spoiled for anything but diesel.
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Near-hybrid economy, but fun to drive - 2009 Volkswagen Jetta
By Cornfieldcraig - January 19 - 6:56 pmI had been driving a 99.5 Jetta TDI with 180k miles before buying this car. It had been quite reliable and is still running well, but I was ready for a new car. Cheapskate that I am, I put $500 down on a 2010 Prius which wasnt yet in the dealerships. I finally had a chance to drive the Prius and was moderately disappointed, so I went 10 minutes down the road and test drove the 2009 Jetta TDI. The driving experience was simply night and day. I expect that the Prius would have been more trouble-free and about the same cost per mile as the Jetta, I just couldnt bring myself to buy the Prius. The new TDI is SO smooth, powerful, quiet, and clean- smelling. I just wish the mpg was better.
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TDI fuel system self destructs!!! - 2009 Volkswagen Jetta
By No More TDI For Me - December 24 - 2:00 amThe 09 TDI was in many ways the best car Id owned in 20+ years. Safe, comfortable, good handling in snow, and amazing MPG (44 hwy, 37 city over 20K miles). However, the TDI has a faulty high pressure fuel pump design and complete failures are showing up all over the US due to the poor quality of US diesel compared to Europe. Bottom line? at 21K my pump failed and shot metal particles through the entire fuel system. It was all replaced (tank to injectors) at a cost of about $10K. This was covered by warranty and the dealer was great-- but there is nothing to prevent it from happening again, out of warranty. And who needs are car that may self-destruct without warning at any time? Stay away.
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So much potential! - 2009 Volkswagen Jetta
By Carson C. - November 16 - 6:16 amI purchased my 2009 Volkswagen Jetta S in 2013. It was a certified used vehicle purchased from Volkswagen Van Nuys in Van Nuys, CA, and it only had 27,000 miles on it. Since Ive owned the car, the resale value has tanked. It now has about 85,000 miles, and is only worth about $8,500 max (and thats including all the upgrades). Ive had many electrical issues with the car...such as: 1.) In 2014, the fuse panel under the engine melted, 2.) In 2016, my front driver seat almost caught fire, as the seat warmer burned through the seat & caused black marks...luckily, I noticed before it turned into a fire, 3.) In 2016, my fuse panel inside the car melted. Although Volkswagen considers some of these "safety issues", they will refuse to take care of the problem...which is why it is unfortunate, but I will never purchase another Volkswagen again. I will give this car credit -- it handles very well. The only other negative about this car, is that I feel as though the car goes through gas a lot faster than it is supposed to. I even borrowed a 2015 Volkswagen Jetta while mine was being repaired, and the car would say "125 miles until empty"...5 miles later, it would read "110-115 miles until empty", and so forth. I would not recommend this car to anyone over 58". I am about 56"/57", and even I sometimes will hit my head getting in and out of the car.
