VW Jetta City???
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The old jetta is back!!
In a weird move, VW of Canada has decided to sell again the old Jetta model as the Jetta City, alongside the current one.
I have never heard of anyone doing that.
Usually the old model might be on sale a while after the new one comes out. But they never bring it back after a year…
In Canada the “new” Jetta starts at $25 000 Canadian.
The “old” one will start at $ 16 700.
A huge difference.
They both come from the the Mexican factory.
Will this happen in the US too???
Are we getting the Taurus back?
How about the Pacer?
this is a smart move for volkswagen in canada, because small, cheap cars are the best sellers here. i live in toronto, and the best selling cars include the civic, corolla, the cobalt etc. and not the optioned out ones, the basic ones. therefore, for volkswagen to have its new jettas starting at $24895… well, its a death wish. i’ve already seen quite a few city jettas and city golfs around.
thats right, theres a city golf too, it starts in the low $14000 range.
and by the way it’s CITY jetta and CITY golf.
Vince, if they bought back the Pacer, that’d be your dream car! You could replace you current one with a new one!
Price sounds right…too bad it is Not the price for the new Jetta’s.
Looked as some in July, 23K? Better cars out there for 23K than the Jetta.
VW’s cost too much, and , well, realibility is horrible.
They should have left the U.S. in the 90’s, when sales were 40,0000 a year(in 1993 ?).
Ya see how Hyundai overcame their poor quality and low numbers? Well, VW ain’t doing that, and that is Unfortunate. I have NOT seen one guy drive any VW in 3 years… mainly the “Bugs” and women driving them.
ABVW” Anything But VW.
Maybe if the Jetta were 16-19K, like most cars in it’s class… people migh tbe willing to take a chance.
When you talk Honda, Toyota price ranges….NO.
Right, I forgot about the Golf…
They are still good cars.
I also think it’s a smart move.
I actually like the “old” Jetta design and interior better than the new one.
Well, Vincent, I concur. Problem is… 115HP for old golf(jetta?).
Maybe why it is so “cheap”(Canadian ….maybe what, 14K USA? I don’t really know the conversion) MIGHT bring some customers to VW, if they brought them to USA, again.
The new Rabbit? LOL…..20K, MSRP… yep… you can get one alittle cheaper, but, I’d rather have a 4 door Lancer, lol, when they come outleare SLOW….Less Than 2,000 units per month.
That’s bad, not like 80’s “bad”, either, lol.
I agree Vince. The old Jetta is much nicer looking than the current one.
I would love if they did this in the US!
I bet some people would choose to buy this over something like the Chevy Aveo or the Hyundai Accent, which might be in the same price range when optioned up.
The only car I remember being revived like that was the Rambler American–a fluffed up version of an older Nash Rambler that had been discontinued a few years before, then revived in 1958.
You do remember that, don’t you?
This would be a great idea in the states here is there website and if those models start at 14,900 and 16,700 in canada how much would they be here seeing prices in canada are alot higher than in the states. My buddy has a Jetta tdi and gets 46 mpg, id love to have one but not in california thanks to no diesels here.
I doubt it’s a coincidence, but when the Golf II was introduced in the early ’80’s, Volkswagen in South Africa continued to produce the original Golf I (Rabbit in the US) and remarketed it as the “CITIGOLF”. Believe it or not, this 1976(?) design is still in production in South Africa with a few upgrades since then (new dash, A/C, new engines), and ranges in price from the equivalent of $9,800 – $14,265. So the idea of continuing the production of the previous model Golf and calling “CitiGolf / CityGolf” is actually more than 20 years old.
Didn’t they do the same thing with the Jeep Cherokee after the Grand Cherokee came out? I believe they kept selling the original under the name “Cherokee Classic.”
Anyway, the previous generation Jetta is a great looking car…hunkered down and muscular looking — way better than the new “Corolla” lookalike Jetta. Now if only they could put a better engine than the 115hp 2.0L in the City version…
VW has a long history of doing this kind of thing. They still sell the first gen Golf (Rabbit) in South Africa, 3rd and 5th gen Passats in China, T2 van in Brazil… and so it goes.
How could they sell a version(old) of Jetta in USA, for similar MSRP of the Rabbit?
The Rabbit is pretty much a sub-compact, that is ok, but 18-20+K MSRP fairly loaded up? Sure, it has 150HP, I-5, but the Lancer will beat it by a few HP, and be arond 15 inches longer(thus, more room?)….Gimme more for the money, I say.
VW…who buys these vehicles anymore, really? I know they always fight Kia for 8th place(and Mazda… 8-9-10… in top 10 for sales every year,in USA).
But…..
I never see VW’s on the roads near dayton Ohio… mayeb a few, but No Rabbits, and usually 2-3 year old Jetta’s, people probably buy used(due to the high prices in the first place).
This might go over, but 115HP…etc… C’Mon, the Versa beats it.
(have only seen 1 Versa on the road, BTW).
Am I the only one who finds “CITY” Golf, or “CITY” Jetta very funny/disturbing? Of course thinking about CITY WOK from South Park. (BTW, I am above legal drinking age).
I agree with you vince!
I think it’s a great idea, even a better one if VW started selling the old ones for $6300 (I think I did the conversion right) less than the current one here in US.
I think they will be able to sell a whole “CITY” load of them, it won’t even be funny.
Actually, that is a desperate move. As Acura “CSX” and B-class eat most share from VW traditional buyers, especially when Passat is now in BMW 323i and Acura TSX territories and Toureag is never a Canadian favor, I can imagine that most VW dealers are now struggling to survive.
Just about any competitor among compact to mid-sized sedans is a better choice than a VW Jetta IMO.
When I was car shopping in the summer of 2003, I didn’t even consider a VW because its service record is so lousy and VWs tend to be overpriced as well.
VW is a sleazy company, too. There are so many better choices than any VW–especially a new one that’s a revived old one. Can’t get much duller than that!
In Brazil both old and new Jettas are being sold together, since the launchment of new Jetta. And I guess there’s some other places that it happens, too.
General Motors did the same thing in the US. When the new Chevy Malibu came out a few years back, the car it replaced became a “Classic” and was sold as a fleet vehichle.
new one is not selling as expected and they screwed themselves because they don’t have an inexpensive car. they decided, to do the only thing they could, bring back a defunct , old model to try to compete. alot of people don’t realise, but cars like the new sentra are bigger in most all dimensions than the new jetta.
hey, thats a good idea, I got a MK4 Jetta and the thing is killer on gas and came with most everything standard. And its a good choice for VW Canada, they can bite into the corralla civic sentra market now.
Here in Canada, Nissan sold the old sentra along side a new generation labeling the old one as the Sentra Classic. (for whatever ass-backwards reasons they do this i don’t know)
that’s a great idea! bring both (golf & jetta) back to the US for around $15k – nicely equipped (ac, pwr door & window, and a basic amfmcd player)with only auto trans & sunroof as options. They will sell!
as far as engine goes, the old 115hp 4 banger is fine for an economy car, for those that have driven one knows (i had one), it actually has very good torque creating good all around power, it always felt like more than 115! and i always get 30+ mpg in city & freeway driving in real life! not that EPA crap!
vw is such a mess: they wanted to take the jetta upmarket but they made it look like a corolla. and i optioned out a jetta 2.0 and a passat 2.0 on the vw site and they both came out to be 29K. what’s up with that?
the previous jetta has a far more sophisticated and “european” look to it than the current one. it looks classy unlike the new one. that’s why the old one sold. not as many people want to buy an overpriced, bloated corolla copy.
HEY Vince, Maybe Honda will take notice of this NEW TREND and bring back the 2nd generation CR-V for the HUGE number of people who still prefer a SUV over a whimpy crossover wagon!!! We can all cross our fingers and hope it becomes a reality!!!
It’s an odd move.
Here in Mexico, the “Old” Jetta never came out of market, Instead the “New” Jetta was named as “Bora”.
Both are bad cars, very expensive manteniance with bad factory support. But here they are … best sellings
mind you. add mitsubishi to the list of marketing OLD models. in the philippines the L300 van and UV models have been on sale since 1986!!! go to mitsubishi-motors.com.ph and look for the L300!!! and still selling!!!
Ok ok, now let’s all ask Honda to bring back the discontinued Prelude. I can finally afford one but am too afrais to buy used…
if only they would do this elsewhere in the world
Actually, Volkswagen does this pretty much everywhere:In China they sell the old Volkswagen Quantum/Dasher as the Santana and Santana 3000:http://www.csvw.com/csvw/cpjs/santana/index.shtmlThey also sell the Sagitar, Bora, and Jetta (also known as Jetta, Jetta, and Jetta) there all concurrently:www.jetta.com.cnwww.bora.com.cnwww.sagitar.com.cnIn Brazil they still sell the old VW Bus as Kombi:http://www.vw.com.br/…and they sell more than just a City Golf, they also sell what they call a Citi Golf in South Africa. Oh, and it’s available in truck version as well. (this is like the original US Rabbit)http://volkswagen.co.za/models/pickup/Veedub sure knows how to make long term investments…haha…OR DO THEY? lol