After an exhaustive search, the Jetta Wagon was the choice for me. I needed a mid-size wagon with enough cubic space to haul furniture, feel comfortable when driving long distances, and have a little bit of pep.

The main comparison was with the Subaru Outback. The Jetta has slightly more cubic storage space, and surprisingly had a roomier front seat. That is important for me (i'm 6'2"). However the backseat is tighter in the Jetta and large adults like myself won't be very comfortable driving long distances. But it would be fine for kids and small adults.

My Jetta is the mid-range GLS. It has the 1.8L Turbo engine and the Tiptronic gear system. The wagon is an automatic, but you can toggle into this special Tiptronic mode and be able to shift between five speeds on the fly. This is useful for going up and down hills but I've not used it too much yet. The turbo engine really gives this wagon some zip, but the gas mileage suffers.

So far I'm getting about 20-21 mpg in mostly city driving and 25+ on the highway. This is slightly below the sticker's stated mpg but within the expected range.

Ergonomically, the controls are laid out well except for one or two minor details. The cup holder telescopes out when needed, but unfortunately completely blocks the radio controls when in use. The seat adjustment controls are also a little hard to reach (I don't have the electronic controls). Otherwise, the dials and controls are easy to read and intuitive. German engineering at its finest.

My Jetta came with a sport package including a sun roof, bigger wheels and a tighter suspension. At first I didn't care about these features too much, but the wheels make the car look much better and the suspension feels very good to drive. I also got a winter package with heated seats. I love my heated seats! I find I use the blower less and just use the warmth from the seat to keep me toasty. This works well for my location (Portland, OR) but may not in North Dakota. But don't fear, the heater seems to be very efficient.

Overall, other than a few minor details, I love my new Jetta. If a sporty wagon is what you desire, the Jetta will not disappoint.

**** 6 month Update ****

I'm still loving my Jetta Wagon and I just wanted to mention a few more insights I have had after the car's first 5000 miles.

The mileage seems to have settled in the 22-23 mpg range in mixed driving (mostly city). Friends and family absolutely love the car when they drive in it. The heated seats, and the blue back-lighted instrument controls get the most oohs and aahs. Now that it is summer, I have a black interior so it really heats up inside the car on the hot days, but the air conditioner works great, and opening the sunroof helps vent out all that hot air in no time. I've had no mechanical problems at all and am about to take it in for it's first scheduled oil change and maintenance.

***** 1 year update *****

Still loving the car, but unfortunately it has had to go to the dealership twice in the last 4 months. In October, the car was running very sluggish one morning, and we discovered that two of the coil packs needed to be replaced. The dealership was quick and efficient and we got the wagon back on the road quickly.

Just last week, the same thing happened, and sure enough one of the other coil packs needed to be replaced. Since we had had this problem previously, the dealership expedited our service and had both of the other two original coil packs replaced. Unfortunately this problem is cropping up on a number of the 2001 and 2002 turbo wagons, but VW will fix the problem for free.

Amount Paid (US$): 22600
Condition: New
Model Year: 2002
Model and Options: 1.8L Turbo, GLS