Saw these at the VW dealer yesterday...

[drhavoc]

out here in Calgary this would be perfect. there is no need for A/C 3400 feet above sea level and at the base of the rockies

[iamsuperdan]

I think this is a great idea. Will they sell many like this? No. Will that price get people in the door? Yes. bring people in with the cheap car, then they say, "I love it! but put a radio in it. And AC. Can I get it with power mirrors?" And boom. Now you're selling a Jetta that's $2000 more, and the customer still thinks they're getting a cheap car. I know if I had a very limited budget, this is the car I'd choose over a Hyundai or used Honda or something of the sort.

Honda did this for years with cheap Civics. 4 Speed manual, driver's side mirror only, no hubcaps, no AC, AM/FM radio only, vinyl seats, etc.

[Kar98]

out here in Calgary this would be perfect.

Yeah, and here in Texas, not so much
My current 97 2.slo Golf is my first car ever with a working A/C, and I won't give THAT up
I'm OK with power nothing (except for mirrors) and manual is a given. Radio prep much preferred over OEM radio.

[PA_Dub]

I think this is a great idea. Will they sell many like this? No. Will that price get people in the door? Yes. bring people in with the cheap car, then they say, "I love it! but put a radio in it. And AC. Can I get it with power mirrors?" And boom. Now you're selling a Jetta that's $2000 more, and the customer still thinks they're getting a cheap car. I know if I had a very limited budget, this is the car I'd choose over a Hyundai or used Honda or something of the sort.

Honda did this for years with cheap Civics. 4 Speed manual, driver's side mirror only, no hubcaps, no AC, AM/FM radio only, vinyl seats, etc.

It just seems that in the past 10-15 years the automotive world has generally abandoned these tactics, maybe that's why this seems so strange to us all.

[g60vwr]

Without a nice interior, VW has nothing going for it...

says the guy with the Cavalier...

[dub01]

And this suprised me...
(pic of windshield)
Well not really... I didn't expect them to move like hotcakes. But it seems odd that these are the models this dealer would choose to show off in the showroom. Another guy in the showroom asked me, "are they serious with the no radio?" The other model advertised $99/mo payments, with a lot of other fine details I don't remember.

I don't think we'll be seeing many of these base models at dealers. This is not the "S" trim, which comes standard with AC, AM/FM radio with aux input, and the 2.0. The VW website shows the S trim as the lowest trim level, so this stripper base model must be a fleet configuration. The MSRP on the S is 15,995 and this base model is $1000 less than that.

It is indeed strange to see two of these at a dealer showroom.

It wouldn't surprise me at all if they put those two in the showroom with blowout prices because someone who orders new cars for that dealership ordered them by accident. Cars aren't like parts that you can return if its wrong; you have to sell it or dealer trade it to get rid of it.

[g60rabbit]

Sometimes I flip flop between do I need a "performance car" or just basic transportation. So one day I was feeling basic transportation would be enough for me and my 2 kids. I thought that Jetta could be a great option because not only could I trade my S4 in for a new car, but I would also get cash back.

I pull into the VW dealer and park next to another b6 S4 [he is shopping for a CC]

I ask the dealer for the keys to the poop brown base Jetta they have outside.

As the dealer hands me a valet style key she says kinda under her breath "you know that thing has no A/C right" No I did not know that but deside to check it out anyway.

So I get in the car and see where the radio should be. I thought to myself thats odd why would they hide the radio. So I push on the panel like an idiot thinking the plastic would flip up and underneath would be some dials. Nope.

The steering wheel feel is very similar to how my sons steering wheel feels in his FJ Cruiser power wheels. Cheap Plastic.

Ok I get it, the price tag is cheap so the car feels cheap. Thats fair and I could deal with all the other stuff but I "need" a/c. I know I know my parent parents didnt have a/c in their cars and their kids turned out of. But if given the choice to not cook my kids out I wont.

My basic feeling on the car is. If you arent going to come with a radio and you arent going to come with an a/c I think you should do better then 30 mpg.

I can go get a civic still under plenty of factory warranty that has all the things that Jetta is missing and get better MPG, more HP, and is cheaper then that Jetta.

[Dr Drake]

says the guy with the Cavalier...

Indeed. No wonder the guy is so bitter and hateful. Poor sap...

[spockcat]

Power windows?? Metallic paint? Not stripped enough.

[bryan burnick]

I don't see a problem with this. Would I ever buy one, no. But if there are people out there that want this why not offer it as an option? If you don't like it then don't buy it.

[AutoEuphoria]

It's like the Evo RS...only without the fun

[Dr Drake]

I'll still take it any day over a base Corolla or Civic.

[VDub2625]

Power windows?? Metallic paint? Not stripped enough.

It's like the Evo RS...only without the fun

lol

[Ben.Reilly]

says the guy with the Cavalier...

Indeed. No wonder the guy is so bitter and hateful. Poor sap...

Gotta love VW owners

[IC AI]

Taking cheap to a new level.

I have to start thinking about getting a car for my daughter. Since the majority of young drivers wind up in an accident, I want a car that's - cheap - safe - without a lot of distractions. This looks really good!

[Ben.Reilly]

I have to start thinking about getting a car for my daughter. Since the majority of young drivers wind up in an accident, I want a car that's - cheap - safe - without a lot of distractions. This looks really good!

Unless you want your daughter to be left stranded, I would look somewhere else

[vdubinsd]

Unless you want your daughter to be left stranded, I would look somewhere else

says they guy with the Cavalier....

[Ben.Reilly]

says they guy with the Cavalier....

A turbo Cavalier!

[addicted2vw]

The Golf and Jetta City had no radio or AC, like these cars. They didn't advertise those even in brochures though. We didn't get the CL in the USA. That was a Canadian 1.8l Monoport injection model.

Right, now I remember. Those were the models I was thinking of.

And I saw a new Jetta on a National car rental lot in Denver a few months ago. It definitely had a/c and a radio.

[Cooley]

If VW is further decontenting these things, does that mean that the "S" is doing well and that by offering an even cheaper version they'll sell even more?

I can't imagine anyone in the southern US buying a car without AC.

[mavric_ac]

if this was any other brand the hate would be strong from the dubbers. But now they are trying to find reasons to say that turd is in-fact a good car.

I'll take a base Hyundai Accent sedan for the same price and enjoy my radio and nicer interior.

[BigSkyGLI]

if this was any other brand the hate would be strong from the dubbers. But now they are trying to find reasons to say that turd is in-fact a good car.

I'll take a base Hyundai Accent sedan for the same price and enjoy my radio and nicer interior.

What a load of crap. There is more hate against VW in this forum than pretty much any other car out there but the Prius maybe.

Go ahead and take your Accent. Nobody gives a **** troll.

[mavric_ac]

I'm not a troll, I'm just saying that things a turd.
I barely get involved with VW threads in here. I'd rather sit back and watch the threads spiral into a mess but I laughed when I saw the first picture thought it's as bad as those $5,000 Chinese cars. So I thought I'd share my opinion. (I am allowed to do that right?)


You can resort to personal attacks but all I'm saying is there are better options for around the same money

[Air and water do mix]

I'm not a troll

I laughed when I saw the first picture thought it's as bad as those $5,000 Chinese cars.

.

[Ben.Reilly]

What a load of crap. There is more hate against VW in this forum than pretty much any other car out there but the Prius maybe.

Go ahead and take your Accent. Nobody gives a **** troll.

That's a VW owners defense for everything.... If someone points out something negative about a VW, just call him a troll with the face palm or roll eyes icon!!

I feel bad for the respectable VW owners out there... These forums give you guys a bad name.

[capn]

Taking cheap to a new level.

You misspelled "affordable".

[VDub2625]

if this was any other brand the hate would be strong from the dubbers. But now they are trying to find reasons to say that turd is in-fact a good car.

I'll take a base Hyundai Accent sedan for the same price and enjoy my radio and nicer interior.

The base accent retails in the mid-15s and also is missing the radio, ac, and power windows. At least the one i saw at the auto show in Jan was. It was worse than the Versa which has an auto trans for low 14s. The Elantra was only a tad bit more and had all the basics, and a better engine. But so does a decently equipped Jetta.

[nickthaskater]

This is the car many people around here have whined about for years. A stripped out car with no features. I never understood this mentality, but I guess this is a trim version for the real enthusiasts.

Generally the people wanting cars like that are referring to models that are actually fun to drive, not ones that take longer to get to 60mph than a shopping cart, are relatively fat, and have no sporting intentions put into the design anywhere. The 3.7 V6 Mustang would be a prime candidate for this sort of treatment, especially considering it could likely knock the price down to sub-$20k levels.

http://www.crutchfield.com/

for all your car stereo needs. As for the AC, I drove a mk3 with no AC all summer and I'm still alive. It's not bad, and the price is extremely low for a jetta.

All Crutchfield is good for is window shopping. Amazon is leagues cheaper in most cases I've come across.

[Ben.Reilly]

All Crutchfield is good for is window shopping. Amazon is leagues cheaper in most cases I've come across.

True, but Crutchfield does include free mounting hardware, and their staff knows a lot about this kind of stuff.

[wantacad]

Does this have the new "ABA" 4cyl?

[KJ Picayune]

The Golf and Jetta City had no radio or AC, like these cars. They didn't advertise those even in brochures though. We didn't get the CL in the USA. That was a Canadian 1.8l Monoport injection model.



That makes sense. I wonder how they got there. I'm tempted to scan the lot and see if there are more. Anyone who wants to know where they are, they're available for purchase, just contact me

It seems that dealer has 4 of them, all priced similar. There's also a brown one out in Rhode Island, but there are no pics of that car's interior, just a sub $14K price. This would be a tempting package with the 2.5, alas, a 2.0 is not that bad of a motor.

[VWestlife]

I don't think it's stupid, I'm curious too. I've never bought a car with no radio from the factory.

Wiring harnesses are expensive, so my guess would be "no," but I could be wrong.

On the base model Versa, you get everything except the radio: the wiring, speakers, and antenna are included. Same thing with the base Kia Rio before they made the radio standard (but it still has no A/C and no power steering).

The only exception I know of is that Honda makes you pay an extra $10 or so for an "antenna connector" if you want to install a radio in a base Civic DX. However as far as I know, the power/speaker wiring harness is already there, as well as the speakers.

[nickthaskater]

True, but Crutchfield does include free mounting hardware, and their staff knows a lot about this kind of stuff.

Mounting hardware is cheap anyways. Maybe if they included the harness I'd be swayed, but when you click into the "INCLUDED FOR FREE" section of your order, the often $100+ harness is conveniently left out of the deal, with you scoring only the $15 bracket etc. Considering that Amazon will probably save you in excess of $50, plus free shipping in most cases, I'll stick to them. There are enough external knowledge bases that I don't really award any added value for having Crutchfield staff on hand, either.

*shrug*

[curvedinfinity]

When I saw the OP's picture, I thought I was looking at a MKIV for a second.

[patrickvr6]

That's a VW owners defense for everything.... If someone points out something negative about a VW, just call him a troll with the face palm or roll eyes icon!!

I feel bad for the respectable VW owners out there... These forums give you guys a bad name.

You just don't know a good track car when you see one.