Hi all,

I'm a visitor from VWVortex.com (the VW enthusiasts website), and while I LOVE my VW, I've always been very attracted to the Xterra. The only thing that prevented me from getting one was the poor gas mileage.

I recently got back from a week-long camping trip up in Acadia Nat. Park in Maine, and after hauling 2 mountain bikes, 2 kayaks, and all of our gear for 1 full week of solid camping and sightseeing, I realized I may have made a mistake. While the Jetta made the trip with ease, I KNOW an Xterra would have been more solid for such a trip.

So what IS so good and/or bad about an Xterra, should I stick with the economy and spunk of my Jetta 1.8T, or should I take the plunge into the world of SUVs despite the gas prices...

Thanks for your input guys!!!

Rob

Coming from a guy that had a Jetta TDI and an Xterra SC at the same time, I would take the Xterra anyday.

You have a big point in that the gas mileage is not that great. I have to tell you though that I come from a family of VW and Nissan owners. Every car my brother, father, and I have owned have either been VW's or Nissans. The quality of a Nissan is far higher that the quality of a VW, especially the Jetta. I have vowed to never buy another VW until they fire the monkeys that design and assemble the electronics.

I had lots of problems with my Jetta, and non with the Xterra.

The Xterra is far more capable than the Jetta. 4 wheel drive (if you opt for it), impressive trail capabilities for a stock truck, lots of room, and oh so many uses.

If you are one that enjoys nature (and it sounds like you are), then you will really enjoy the Xterra and what it has to offer.

Good

1) 4WD/Offroad ability
2) Lots of cargo room
3) Low price for an SUV
4) Good towing ability compared to other SUV's in this class
5) Looks bad-ass

Bad

1) Gas mileage
2) Bouncy/choppy ride compared to car based SUV's.
3) Did I mention gas mileage?

Good
6) Available in manual transmission

A lot of people who never owned one are shocked when they see that my x has 5 speed.

Jetta has that too - I've got a 1.8T version in my garage right now w/ a stick.

I like both. We haven't had any problems with either the Jetta (50k) or Xterra (30k). If you are hauling stuff or need offroad capability, the Xterra is the ticket. However, it's slow and handles like shit compared to the Jetta. Also gets worse mileage and has a comparatively cheapo interior. Long term reliability will probably favor the Xterra.

If you are really hauling a lot of stuff regularly you may want to think about an Xterra, or even a Jetta wagon if you don't need the SUV capabilities (or other type of wagon).

My preference? When all is said and done, I admit like my Xterra better than my wife's Jetta.

Well, my mom had a jetta, and I must say it was trash. Electrical problems were the least of it. The thing ate oil as fast as it did gas!

Aside from that though, the trip you just described is what the X was designed for! If you do that often, I think you should switch to the Xterra. However if that was a once in a lifetime event, stick to the VW. That is a fun car to drive (provided you dont have afore mentioned problems with yours).

If your jetta is new, you could probably sell it, and pick up both an older VW and Xterra for a bit more change...

And without options. You don't have to buy a "package" to get 4WD. I bought mine for $20k brand new, and it had everything I wanted, like A/C, 4WD, a CD player, and hand-crank windows, and nothing I didn't, like problematic power doors and windows, keyless entry, automatic transmission, limited slip, and various other bells and whistles which would have put me out of my budget. By foregoing all the extras, I was able to afford a true 4WD SUV. Nissan is the only car maker that does that.

Testimony Linconelli. My wife had a VW Bug.... Piece of Sh*t.... traded it for a Jetta because VW would not take the bug that was in the shop 7 times in 6 months back. Jetta was a little better but still a POS designed by a bunch of electronic idiots (don't ever try changng a battery... it'll end up costing you $130). Finally got out of the Jetta and got her into a 350Z - SWEET! VW was absolutely the worst car experience I have ever had and I would NEVER tell anyone to buy a VW. I have had 4 Nissans now and have had absolutely no problems with any of them. So, as you can imagine, my suggetion would be to dump the Jetta before it screws you and get the X. If it is performace you crave, go with the Z. Not that I am bias against VW or anything.... Good Luck

Did you ever try popping the plastic cover off (4 seconds), loosening the two bolts (13 seconds), putting the new battery in (6 seconds), tightening the bolts (14 seconds), and replacing the plastic cover (6 seconds).

If you got charged $130 dollars for that, you deserve it. :rolleyes:

As I said before, our Jetta has had (to date) 50,000 completely trouble free miles.

When you disconnect the battery, the on-board computer shuts down, when the on-board computer shuts down the car thinks it is being stolen and all kind of shit goes wrong. Alarm goes of each time you start the car, windows wont roll down, AC shuts off, etc... My wife had a new battery installed for about $50, then we had to take the car into the dealer to have the computer reset and the whole ordeal ended up costing twice as much as it should to change a simple battery. I've changed batteries probably a dozen times in different vehicles I've owned, and while I expect to have to reprogram the radio stations, I never expected this. Even when I spoke to the VW service department they told me "ohhh, uhhh, you can't change the battery, you have to bring it in to us for that... for about $200". I then assumed that I had made a mistake and that I should have read the owners manual before changing the battery - not a single word about not being able to disconnect the battery. If you managed to change the battery on a Jetta yourself, then according to VW service - you just got lucky... Add the BS I had to go through to get them to take the Bug back, and then more BS I had to go through when we tried to turn the Jetta in a couple of months early on the lease (even though it was paid in full - but that's a whole other venting session), hopfully you can undertand my frustation with VW. I guess some people must have some luck with the Jetta, becasue I do see them around, however I personally would not recommend the Jetta or any VW to anyone - but that it Just My Opinion, you are entitled to your own.

This is why jumper cables and a 12v dry cell comes in handy.

Bullshit. I've had no trouble disconnecting my Jetta's battery, which I've done a few times for various reasons. I even just did a search over on VW Vortex for this issue and found nothing.

You got screwed by your dealership.

I agree that I got screwed by the dealership (2 of them in fact) and VW in general, but trust me, the problem was very real. I called the service department when the problems occurred and the very first thing they asked me was if I had disconnected the battery. Maybe I just got a couple of lemons... there are a lot of VW's out there so they can't all be bad. Anyway, I am glad you are not having the same issue with your Jetta - outside of the reliablity issues we had, it was a nice car. I'm just glad it's gone and there is a shiney new Z in the garage next to the X.

My X -

More room
Slower than a snail on downers
lots of space
Off-roadability
crappy mileage
Damn cool looking
Lots of room
reliability
still solid at 40k miles
plenty of space
takes regular unleaded
And it still looks cool

Did I mention that it has lots of space and gets shitty mileage? Not a complaint. Just a reality of ownership compared to a car.

Even though it's slow (in comparrison) and as aerodynamic as a brick , I love the thing. I will probably keep it forever.

The Li'l Mrs. 2001 Jetta 1.8T (Wolfsberg)

Lightweight
great handeling
quick
great seats
sporty
decent looking
VW service is a rip off
sucky little warranty
New clutch at 30 some odd thousand miles
Peeling interior - cheap plastic crap
New Turbo. - warranty
Great mileage
somewhat Offset by the necessity for super unleaded
no space or room for anything
small and compact so it fits in smaller parking spaces
No room for kids crap - and there is endless crap

If I could I would bury this thing as deep as I could into the ocean and feel no sense of loss. From the shitty interior, crappy cupholders and questionable assembly, it pains me physically and hurts my head that I still own this car. If we weren't still upside down in this thing I sell it instead of taking the time to write this.

This is my wife's third Jetta and without a doubt it will be her last.

I had an 1981 Vw rabbit diesel that was a really good car, got over 35mpg with its 42hp it made. The xterra actually is faster that it was. Had a 1984 vw quantum which was the untimate pos I have ever had. Sounds like vw hasn't improved much since then by reading most of the postings.
We love the xterra as a whole, sits up high, runs good(slow but good) fit and finish are good.
Mileage is pathetic for only having 170hp. Full size trucks have more than 100hp more and get the same or better mileage these days.

It's a truck......

Heavy, underpowered and gas guzzling. I guarantee that it will be very difficult to get used to after your 1.8T. I say keep the VW as a daily driver and pickup a $10K "X" 4x4 in the paper or here:

Xterra Sale

(You'll havta skip past the "featured" vehicles to find the cheap ones)

Make no mistake about it, I love my X and would never dream of driving something like a Jetta. However, the Xterra won't match the onroad fun or performance of your Jetta........

Another option:

More Power!!

P.S.:

Will your Jetta do this?

I had a volkswagen bug and while i hated it (98 vw bug) i have to say it was near indestructible. I tried to fry the engine so I could get the money for a new one and drop a vr6 in it. So i didnt change the oil i dribbled out some of the tranny oil and basically did whatever i could to sabatoge the thing. It ran crappy but It never blew up

Than i sold it for 4 grand after fixing everything up and bought my butt an Xterra. GOD im so glad I did. Interior doesnt break. its solid its sturdy and the air conditioning and heating works!

I love the Xterra even though its slow and has bad mileage.

I had a 96 jetta I loved the thing for the first month. I bought it at 82k, I brought it to my mechanic before I bought it and he said it looked solid. So about 30 days after the check engine light came on, ended up being some ignition housing somthing or other. They coned me into getting timing belt rods ect fixed so I did $$. My rear shocks went little after that. Check engline light came back on. It wouldnt start when it rained, new wires fixed that then eventually my coil went and the dist cap. The Tach would jump up in down and work when it wanted. eventually the odo, mph all stopped working along with the gas guage. the water pumped leaked pretty bad, the mounts had to be replaced. After a while the struts needed to be done and it started to pull really bad and killed the tread on the tire. the tire blew out, next week I bought my x. Those were not only problems. The back windows broke, the door locks chamber fell out and the passenger door only opened from the inside. So yes I had to shimmy down the back window to break into my car to drive it pretty bad, and my dash was ruined because of some people rippin out my stereo, ac worked for one summer. and the exhaust made terrible noises when i had weight in the back I sold it for 1400 just to get the thing out of my face.

luv the X, the only thing that irks me is trying to get in the back seat. Very narrow to get in due to rear wheel. Should of designed it a little better, but good

I think I've got a unique perspective on this topic, since I just traded my 2004.5 Jetta GLI for a 2004 4x4 Xterra two days ago.

I only had the GLI for 6 months. Before that, I had an '02 Jetta for 1.5 years. I love VW's, and never had a single problem with either of mine. They were the most fun I've ever had on-road, and I fully intend on picking up another VW in the future when I can afford to have two vehicles.

However, for my situation, an SUV was a better choice. I'm a realtor, and cramming a family into the Jetta or for-sale signs and whatnot was just a hassle. The Xterra offers me the size I need, the style I want, and all-weather convenience. I miss my GLI like crazy, but I know the Xterra was a better choice for me overall.

That's a plus!

It keeps all the fat b@st@rds out of my X!