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Not Your Mama’s Wagon

The Jetta Sport Wagen TDI is a not your mama’s station wagon. It’s sporty, (v)roomy and gets good gas mileage.

By CANDICE MERRILL
Published: Monday, August 31, 2009 | 7:45 PM

Visions of my 1974 Karman Ghia convertible danced through my head (I loved that car!) when I saw the Jetta SportWagen TDI on our test drive schedule. Man, has Volkswagen come a long way since those Woodstock days of Beetles, Karman Ghia’s and Buses!

Sleek not boxy, mid-sized but with plenty of interior room, the Jetta SportWagen is a station wagon without the wagon. In other words you won’t feel like you’re pulling a wagon! I was surprised at the amount of leg room front and back and the impressive amount of cargo room. The back seat is split so that either half or both may be folded down for extra space.

I loved the color of my Jetta. A quick look and you saw black a second glance shows you the car was a beautiful deep blue called Blue Graphite Metallic. It sparkled and twinkled in the sunlight.

I am loath to call the Jetta a “station wagon” because that brings to mind the long boxy cars from the 70’s. The Jetta is anything but that. Its sporty fuselage belies the leg room and storage space on the inside. And its average mileage of 34 mpg is enough to make any tree hugger proud.

The TDI comes equipped with a turbo-charged diesel engine and a six speed manual transmission. I had forgotten the sheer joys (and occasional tribulations) of driving a manual transmission but it’s like riding a bicycle, you never forget. You just can’t beat the thrill of driving the car – instead of having one that drives you.

The Jetta’s turbodiesel engine gives it a punchy burst of speed when needed, but here’s a diesel engine that doesn’t sound like an eighteen wheeler. This car whispers that it’s a diesel instead of yelling it.

As a diesel virgin, I was worried about filling up. I’ve never even looked for diesel fuel and I had no idea where to find a local gas station that carried diesel. It was easy to Google “diesel fuel 91105” and I found that I had a station within a mile of where I lived.

Whether you are a soccer mom, single professional or speed demon you will find something to like about this car. It is a good compromise between a full-sized gas guzzling SUV and a sipping economy vehicle. It offers luxury while being sporty and also roomy.

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