VW Jetta - 2.5 Wolfsburg Edition
Discussion
Thought i'd share this one as its a little different from the norm! Not really an enthusiast car by any stretch and a pretty odd looking thing too, but thats what this forum is all about!
I bought this car around 6 months ago as just a 2nd runabout car for my Wife and I. At the time, 2 cars wasn't a necessity but it saved putting extra miles on the Dodge Charger we recently bought. The car in question is a 2007 2.5 5 Cylinder Auto american import (we're based in Dubai). It was a cracking deal by Dubai standards, nice previous owners, superb service history and low mileage (just rolled round to 48000 miles).
Bodywork
The bodywork suffers from the usual dents and battle scars seen here, but nothing too serious. Its missing a bit of trim on the front bumper, and a couple of other minor things but its parts that should be easy to come by. The headlights have taken the brunt of the of the sand here, so will need some attention soon. I'll be keen to hear thoughts on people who have brought theirs back to life, and what they've used. I did once read about toothpaste being used to restore faded headlights, but perhaps that was a April 1st post?
Interior
Being a Wolfsburg Edition it actually has a nice interior (well maybe a tad dull). Its full grey leather, with matching dash / door trim. Its comfy and inoffensive, but can be a tad sweaty on the back during warmer days (which is pretty much every day). It has heated seats (which will never be used), but otherwise a pretty standard affair.
Engine / Mechanical
Firstly the engine! My first impressions weren't positive, but then the other motor is a 6.4l Hemi so maybe its being a tad unkind. It's pretty gutless down low, and doesn't offer much higher up the rev range. The poor throttle response highlights its shortcomings, but once I spent some time with it, I found myself actually enjoying the ride. Midrange is nice, and its a perfect cruiser.....plus if you let you mind wonder you'll be close to imagining (even for a second) that you're driving something a little more fruity!
The mechanicals are generally in good shape, but I have a few areas to work on. Firstly the low speed AC fan doesn't seem to work, and this results in poor cooling when stationary. I need to delve a bit deeper into the best way to sort this, but initial impressions lead me to believe it is indeed the fan and not fuse / wiring. The 2nd issue is the brakes....they don't inspire much confidence. I have tested them at speed on a quiet road, and they do haul you up but the discs feel warped, the initial bite isn't great and their not as progressive as I'd like, so an overhaul of these in the coming weeks! Finally I have a random eml that pops up every now and then. It doesn't make the car go into limp home mode, and nothing is obvious is jumping out as the issue. A local garage couldn't read the fault their system because the car being an import, so I need to see if I can get my own reader and check it out. I read somewhere that the low speed fan issue on the AC can throw a fault, but if that was the case i'd expect it to be always on?
Anyway I will update the thread as I go along, but the initial plans are to sort out the brakes / ac. Do a little tidying up of the bodywork, and then take it from there. Future plans, (and purely for fun) was to turn this odd looking motor into some kind of Jetta GTI / R32 hybrid (something along the lines of the bottom pic). Thoughts on a postcard for that one, but everyone loves a little project!
Some snaps (more to follow).
Could turn it into something similar to this??
I bought this car around 6 months ago as just a 2nd runabout car for my Wife and I. At the time, 2 cars wasn't a necessity but it saved putting extra miles on the Dodge Charger we recently bought. The car in question is a 2007 2.5 5 Cylinder Auto american import (we're based in Dubai). It was a cracking deal by Dubai standards, nice previous owners, superb service history and low mileage (just rolled round to 48000 miles).
Bodywork
The bodywork suffers from the usual dents and battle scars seen here, but nothing too serious. Its missing a bit of trim on the front bumper, and a couple of other minor things but its parts that should be easy to come by. The headlights have taken the brunt of the of the sand here, so will need some attention soon. I'll be keen to hear thoughts on people who have brought theirs back to life, and what they've used. I did once read about toothpaste being used to restore faded headlights, but perhaps that was a April 1st post?
Interior
Being a Wolfsburg Edition it actually has a nice interior (well maybe a tad dull). Its full grey leather, with matching dash / door trim. Its comfy and inoffensive, but can be a tad sweaty on the back during warmer days (which is pretty much every day). It has heated seats (which will never be used), but otherwise a pretty standard affair.
Engine / Mechanical
Firstly the engine! My first impressions weren't positive, but then the other motor is a 6.4l Hemi so maybe its being a tad unkind. It's pretty gutless down low, and doesn't offer much higher up the rev range. The poor throttle response highlights its shortcomings, but once I spent some time with it, I found myself actually enjoying the ride. Midrange is nice, and its a perfect cruiser.....plus if you let you mind wonder you'll be close to imagining (even for a second) that you're driving something a little more fruity!
The mechanicals are generally in good shape, but I have a few areas to work on. Firstly the low speed AC fan doesn't seem to work, and this results in poor cooling when stationary. I need to delve a bit deeper into the best way to sort this, but initial impressions lead me to believe it is indeed the fan and not fuse / wiring. The 2nd issue is the brakes....they don't inspire much confidence. I have tested them at speed on a quiet road, and they do haul you up but the discs feel warped, the initial bite isn't great and their not as progressive as I'd like, so an overhaul of these in the coming weeks! Finally I have a random eml that pops up every now and then. It doesn't make the car go into limp home mode, and nothing is obvious is jumping out as the issue. A local garage couldn't read the fault their system because the car being an import, so I need to see if I can get my own reader and check it out. I read somewhere that the low speed fan issue on the AC can throw a fault, but if that was the case i'd expect it to be always on?
Anyway I will update the thread as I go along, but the initial plans are to sort out the brakes / ac. Do a little tidying up of the bodywork, and then take it from there. Future plans, (and purely for fun) was to turn this odd looking motor into some kind of Jetta GTI / R32 hybrid (something along the lines of the bottom pic). Thoughts on a postcard for that one, but everyone loves a little project!
Some snaps (more to follow).
Could turn it into something similar to this??
Edited by matt_knowles on Sunday 27th September 19:49
aspirated said:
Great cruisers, my mother has a TDI DSG. Surprised to see no tints?
I missed that off to be honest! Tints are also one of the priorities.As we sometimes take our son in this car, I'm contemplating getting darker tints for the rear and rear side windows to keep the sun out of his eyes more. I'm sure it wont look as good as the same all round, but should be ok if the difference isn't too severe (front to back).
Gassing Station | Readers' Cars | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff