It’s safe to say that Volkswagen isn’t having the easiest time in America. On the one hand, fans of the brand feel somewhat alienated by moves like discontinuing the regular Golf and ditching manual transmissions. On the other, the brand hasn’t had the stateside success it expected over the past decade or so, and we’re still waiting on hybrid models. Where did the visible decline really start? While it’s easy to point fingers at Dieselgate, many enthusiasts of the brand will single out another moment that marked a turning point for the brand: The launch of the 2011 Jetta.
See, for the first three decades of its life, the Volkswagen Jetta was the compact sedan you bought if you wanted something nicer than all the other compact sedans. The Mk4 model of 1999 was a particularly high water mark, instantly becoming one of the most desirable compact cars on the American market. Despite carving out a successful niche, the Jetta never quite saw the sheer sales figures of the Toyota Corolla and Honda Civic, but Volkswagen hoped the Mk6 model of 2011 would turn things around by laser-aiming it at the American market.
While previous Jettas had essentially been four-door variants of the Golf, the Mk6 was a marked departure from that tradition. With a stretched wheelbase and entirely unique sheetmetal, it had a certain glitz at a standstill that carried through every part of its reveal. These days, it’s fairly standard for automakers to rent a venue, have executives say a few words, then drive a new car on stage for journalists to poke and prod. The venue that Volkswagen rented out? Times Square. Yep, Times Square. Oh, and it booked Katy Perry to be the entertainment of the event, right as “California Gurls” was about to hit number one on the Billboard Hot 100. The confidence, the sheer confidence.
Of course, Katy Perry dancing on the hood of Volkswagen’s then-new compact sedan couldn’t conceal a fundamental truth about the Mk6 Jetta: Underneath the crisp styling and enticing list of available toys, Volkswagen made it really cheap. Like, Dollar General cheap.
Photo credit: Volkswagen
Volkswagen somewhat arrogantly assumed that putting price above everything else would appeal to more Americans, despite the brand having built its water-cooled stateside reputation on offering nicer-than-average cars. The headline figure was $14,995 for the base model before freight, and this base model was truly something to behold. Here’s a short list of the things it didn’t come with: Cruise control, steering wheel-mounted controls of any kind, floor mats, a height-adjustable driver’s seat, rear cup holders, rear disc brakes, independent rear suspension, or an engine from this century. Indeed, while the cheapest 2010 Jetta featured Volkswagen’s 2.5-liter inline-five, the 2011 Jetta S reached into the back catalog and found an engine with an architecture dating back to 1972.
That’s right, it was a two-liter variant of the EA827 inline-four making just 115 horsepower. Why so little? Well, sporting a single overhead cam and just two valves per cylinder when most rivals’ entry-level engines had moved onto twin cams and 16 valves played a big role. Hitched to either a five-speed manual gearbox or a six-speed automatic, the two-point-slow didn’t exactly offer swift forward progress. When Car And Driver tested a stick-shift model, it ran from zero-to-60 mph in 11 seconds flat. That’s not brilliant for a compact car in 2011.
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Also in the suboptimal category, the interior materials. As the magazine wrote: “After hitting an Audi-like high point in the 2005–10 fifth generation, you can almost hear the Jetta’s interior screaming as its costs have been cut. The few remaining soft-touch surfaces have now mostly iced over with hard plastic.” Indeed, compared to the fifth-generation Jetta, the 2011 model didn’t feel nearly as lovely in any trim but the most expensive one. That was a hard pill to swallow at a time when compact cars were just getting better and better.
On showroom appeal alone, GM and Ford were making massive strides. The first-generation Chevrolet Cruze felt like a Ritz-Carlton suite compared to its Cobalt predecessor, with dramatically improved interior materials, a standard six-speed manual transmission, standard satellite radio, and optional Bluetooth even on the base model. Likewise, Ford’s then-incoming 2012 U.S.-market Focus was finally a world car again, offering a far more sophisticated suspension setup than Volkswagen’s compact sedan and an additional 45 standard horsepower. Oh, and let’s not forget how vast of an improvement the Kia Forte was over its Spectra predecessor, with the added bonuses of standard Bluetooth, a standard USB port, and a standard height-adjustable driver’s seat. Just as Volkswagen was taking its bestselling sedan downmarket, the backmarkers of the pack (okay, not you, Dodge Caliber) were moving up in the world.
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At first glance, it seemed like Volkswagen got the top non-performance trims of its sixth-generation Jetta wrong too. While the two-liter TDI diesel engine continued to be held in high regard until about 2015, and the SEL trim kept many expensive-feeling soft-touch plastics, a whole load of items disappeared from the options list or were reserved for only the top trim. No more 10-speaker audio, only an eight-speaker system. No more power driver’s seat, or optional household power outlet, and not nearly the same quality materials as the previous model when it came to the TDI. The one thing Volkswagen did carry over was the 170-horsepower 2.5-liter straight-five, which was getting a touch thirsty by 2011.
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Despite the Mk6 Jetta being a disappointment compared to its predecessor, it still did some things well. The doors still closed with a quality thud, the rear seat was absolutely enormous, the trunk was suitably commodious, and the aforementioned diesel engine really was the high card. Regardless, at the time, none of this could make up for what was indisputably a step back for Volkswagen.
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Throughout the Mk6 Jetta’s production run, the marque tried to make amends. The 2013 model year brought a leather-wrapped steering wheel and shifter back to the mid-range SE trim, along with power reclining front seats and a center armrest. All TDI models gained a soft-touch dashboard midway through the model year, but bigger updates came in 2014. Not only was the straight-five replaced with a 1.8-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine, but independent rear suspension also joined the party. A facelift in 2015 introduced available xenon lights and updated interior materials, and the ancient two-liter base engine was finally replaced in 2016 with a 1.4-liter turbocharged inline-four.
However, a funny thing has since happened to cars with the ancient two-liter straight-four: They’ve soldiered on in regular duty as more and more of their competitors have shown powertrain-related Achilles’ heels. While automatic Ford Focuses have been dogged by failing transmissions, 1.8-liter Chevrolet Cruzes have been suffering from oil cooler failures that cause oil and coolant to mix, Nissan Sentras have been plagued with transmission issues, and Elantras of the time keep blowing up, the base Mk6 Jetta just keeps going so long as the timing belt’s replaced at its intended interval, the odd coil pack’s replaced as necessary, and the $12 coolant outlet flange that takes an hour to replace is changed if it starts leaking.
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Likewise, the 2.5-liter inline-five has also proven itself out on the road. The PCV diaphragm can tear with age, but Dorman makes a replacement for about $50. The vacuum pump can leak, resulting in a hard brake pedal and an oil drip on the exhaust manifold, but DIYers have figured out a way to remove it from up top and rebuild kits exist for as little as $50. Coil packs can go with age, but the timing chain on 2011-and-up cars generally holds up perfectly. There are reasons you see clapped-out Mk6 Jettas with mega mileage on them, and it’s not frequent preventative maintenance.
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It’s not glamorous, it’s not luxurious, but the early Mk6 Jetta has proven a remarkably robust used car that sells for pennies on the dollar compared to its Japanese rivals. It’s simple, it’s utilitarian, it’s surprisingly faithful to the mission of the Beetle: sensible transportation at an affordable price. In short, it’s a pretty good economy car with the added bonus of unusually good ride quality, even if handling with the torsion beam rear suspension isn’t anything to write home about. It might not be regarded as the best Jetta by enthusiasts, but on robustness alone, it’s a real contender for the title of the best Jetta for its actual purpose.
Top graphic image: Volkswagen