The Golf with a boot never went away. Well, not until a few years ago, anyway.
The Bora of 1999-2005 was less practical and more of a borer but, being a Mk4 Golf, was nevertheless a good basis for a rather conventional specification – the V5 and V6 less so.
Moving on to 2006 and Wolfsburg dusted off an old name to reinvent in the boot yet again. A type of car that had fallen out of favour in the UK, the Jetta also seemed a tad pointless when there was already the Passat, but it was in many ways nicer.
It was more upmarket than the Golf inside and had a boot usefully bigger than the old Bora’s, at 527 litres, so there are two good reasons to buy – as well as the usual range of very decent TSI turbo petrol and TDI diesel engines.
The 1.4 TSI is fine for local runs, the 1.6 TSI is a good compromise, while the 2.0 TSI is solid enough and, being the GTI engine, lively. The Bluemotion 2.0 TDI is the one if you do big mileages, because it will return around 60mpg.
The standard equipment is very decent, including climate control, electric windows and remote locking. S trim means a full-size spare wheel, SE features cruise control, while Sport adds foglights and rally-style seats. The Jetta scored well for safety, with front and curtain airbags, hydraulic brake assistance and stability control.
Ideally, find yourself a cared-for privately advertised example and enjoy. These do exist, as older drivers who never got the whole hatchback thing bought them. Otherwise, it could be a long-retired company car with multiple ex-owners and quite hammered.
Leaking diesel pumps, steering-rack failures and worn clutches are the main things to look out for.
Ones we found
2006 Volkswagen Jetta 2.0 TSI Sport 75,000 miles, £3600: This is a top-of-the-line 197bhp GTI-alike model with a recent service and a full service history. Something of a stunner that could be yours for not much money.
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