Posh Meets Practical in Jetta

By: Lori Hindman

Maybe I’m just slow on the uptake, but Volkswagens are much nicer cars than I thought. The VWs of my youth were affordable little cars for hippies and folks who couldn’t afford anything nicer. They were loud and smoky and good only as an excuse for punching my little brother in “Slug Bug.” The 2008 Jetta makes all of that a vague, distant memory.

This Jetta is luxurious. It’s a pleasure to drive. It’s downright posh. The 2008 Jetta boasts all the features and luxury of a car twice the price. We’ve got smooth leather seats. We’ve got a primo sound system with a six-CD changer and Sirius Satellite Radio. We’ve got navigation. We’ve got keyless entry. We’ve got spiffy alloy wheels. We’ve got a sunroof with not a crank wheel in sight. And yes, we’ve got seat heaters for a warm tush. That’s a lot of stuff, right? Well, we’re not through. Miraculously, the Jetta manages to have all this and still be affordable.

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Tiguan Launch Tour

From Tiguan Training

Training for the new Tiguan at the Kansas Speedway was a great learning experience. We raced Tiguans against other, took very fast turns on sand and water while breaking as hard as we could. What a blast! Oh and if you're looking to buy a Honda CR-V or a Toyota Rav-4, do yourself a favor and drive all three of these vehicles before buying. The difference is night and day. I'll let you make your mind about which is better.

The other cool thing is that Volkswagen is going with 3 years/36,000 miles bumper-to-bumper warranty including maintenance on the vehicle (on all of its future 2009 models as well). With the arrival of the Tiguan and later on the Jetta Sportwagon, the CC, the Jetta TDI, the minivan and other TDI options it's going to be a very strong finish for Volkswagen this year and a super fast start next year. Times are exciting.

We watched a long uncut (maybe a couple minutes) VW commercial, more like an American marketing vision which almost made me cry (I know it's weird, but in my defense my first car was a 77 VW Rabbit and I've been driving VWs ever since, for the last 20 years, VWs are just part of my life). If you've seen the movie What Women Want with Mel Gibson and Helen Hunt and you remember the scene when they show the Nike executives their vision for the future and the executives think to themselves that they nailed it...I felt the very same way. Extremely powerful and apparently "secret" at the moment. All I'll say is we... you've been waiting long enough.

Guess who's in town?

From Tiguan