eGolf 2016 SE versus ICE Jetta 2015 SE TDI

[forbin404]

I was the recipient of a ICE Jetta for a couple of weeks while my eGolf sat in the lot of the dealer (Because the darn tech went on vacation in the middle of it)

VW paid Enterprise a little money to get me a rent a car, and what did they give me? an ICE Jetta (Ice stands for Internal Combustion Engine)

It was so similiar to my eGolf that I had to make some comparisons.

1) Jetta has hydraulic steering , eGolf has electric - Wow with the Jetta, I could feel every little rock as they impacted the tires through the wheel. I do NOT miss that.

2) Whomever made the electric mirror settings on the Jetta was insane. 1, it isn't lit (nor on the eGolf) but on the eGolf the mirror settings are 10-L, 12-Neutral, 2- Right, 6-Heat. On the Jetta it's 8-R,9-N,10L,3 Heat. Now how in the heck do you figure that out at night? And why is the Heat part of the mirror settings on an ICE car?

3) Jetta has keyless start. The problem was that about 25% of the time, if you let go of the keyless start button too quickly, the car stalls. DUMB eh?

4) The only good thing. The Jetta's keyless start was all by itself. No other buttons nearby to confuse. The eGolf has the ECO button right next to the Keyless Start and it can cause the car to shut off by accident.

5) The Jetta's manual is EVEN WORSE than the eGolfs. The Jetta had bluetooth phone, but for the 2 weeks I had, I couldn't find how you set the darn thing up.

6) the Jetta does not have a defroster in the front windsheld. Ooo how I just loved getting in my egolf, pushing a button and a few seconds, clear windshield.

7) The Jetta's trunk does not have proximity unlock. That sucked.

8) The Jetta's Trunk pops open automatically when you push the button on the remote. That's nice.
Owells, that's my little description of how the eGolf is so much better than the ICE Jetta. Even though same company, I like the eGolf over the Jetta.

 

[johnnylingo]

Cool comparison. I've ended up with Jettas a couple times in rentals. Not a fan at all.

 

[2doors]

The Jetta is now a US market specific, cost conscience disappointment. Since it's no longer directly tied to the Golf, you have pretty big differences now, so it's not surprising you found some things difficult. It would have been interesting to hear what you thought about an ICE Golf.

As to your heated mirror question (#2), why wouldn't an ICE car have heated mirrors? The method of propulsion has nothing to do with cold or frosty outside mirrors. My 2000 GTI has heated mirrors.

 

[forbin404]

The Jetta is now a US market specific, cost conscience disappointment. Since it's no longer directly tied to the Golf, you have pretty big differences now, so it's not surprising you found some things difficult. It would have been interesting to hear what you thought about an ICE Golf.

As to your heated mirror question (#2), why wouldn't an ICE car have heated mirrors? The method of propulsion has nothing to do with cold or frosty outside mirrors. My 2000 GTI has heated mirrors.

On the heated mirrors this is first ICE car that has the heat switch located on the movement control. Very odd

 

[2doors]

On the heated mirrors this is first ICE car that has the heat switch located on the movement control. Very odd

Nope. This is where they have been on VW's since at least the MkIV generation. The fact that they are located on the mirror control on the eGolf is because that's where it is located on ALL Golfs. The eGolf is a parts-bin car.

 

[forbin404]

On the heated mirrors this is first ICE car that has the heat switch located on the movement control. Very odd

Nope. This is where they have been on VW's since at least the MkIV generation. The fact that they are located on the mirror control on the eGolf is because that's where it is located on ALL Golfs. The eGolf is a parts-bin car.

Ok how about this,
Odd that it doesn't light up at night like the eGolf.

 

[forbin404]

Lol and my eGolf is back in service. This time VW WANTS to fix the radio, I said 'don't bother' but they insisted.

Well I got a new Passat TDI for a rental.

Few things
1) + The Mirror Selector lights up at night. Much improved
2) + There is no Heater mirror selection. I ASSUME it means the mirrors are always heated (Why didn't the Jetta do this)
3) + The Trunk pops open. (Jetta too), nice, too bad the eGolf doesn't.
4) + The Trunk has these 'flying item restrictors' in the trunk. Basically velcro 'walls' that you put around your stuff to keep it from sliding in the trunk (nice feature)
5) - Radio SUCKS. 12 Channels, It has HD FM (I don't think the Egolf has this) that constantly flips between HD and not (very annoying)
6) - No 4 door unlock , or I couldn't find the feature.
7) - BT Audio play set to default. This means when I start the car, it starts playing my phone. Why was this set to default on?
8) - No 'How to set up bluetooth' on the screen. Turns out that each time you start the car, it goes into bluetooth seek mode. Huh? Why not put that as a button? That's not safe at all.
9) - Cigarette lighter set downwards (Egolf is at an angel). VERY easy to lose some change down it and blow the fuse.
10) - Terrible Rear window defroster. Takes 10 minutes to defrost So Cal windows. eGolf did it within 5 minutes.
11) - And the big one? ICE engine sucks compared to Electric engines. haha
12) - The shifter knob is extremely easy to put into Manual Matic mode, just lean on it and it moves to the right. Yikes for people like me who like to hang onto it.

 

[JoulesThief]

Lol and my eGolf is back in service. This time VW WANTS to fix the radio, I said 'don't bother' but they insisted.

Well I got a new Passat TDI for a rental.

Few things
1) + The Mirror Selector lights up at night. Much improved
2) + There is no Heater mirror selection. I ASSUME it means the mirrors are always heated (Why didn't the Jetta do this)
3) + The Trunk pops open. (Jetta too), nice, too bad the eGolf doesn't.
4) + The Trunk has these 'flying item restrictors' in the trunk. Basically velcro 'walls' that you put around your stuff to keep it from sliding in the trunk (nice feature)
5) - Radio SUCKS. 12 Channels, It has HD FM (I don't think the Egolf has this) that constantly flips between HD and not (very annoying)
6) - No 4 door unlock , or I couldn't find the feature.
7) - BT Audio play set to default. This means when I start the car, it starts playing my phone. Why was this set to default on?
8) - No 'How to set up bluetooth' on the screen. Turns out that each time you start the car, it goes into bluetooth seek mode. Huh? Why not put that as a button? That's not safe at all.
9) - Cigarette lighter set downwards (Egolf is at an angel). VERY easy to lose some change down it and blow the fuse.
10) - Terrible Rear window defroster. Takes 10 minutes to defrost So Cal windows. eGolf did it within 5 minutes.
11) - And the big one? ICE engine sucks compared to Electric engines. haha

LOL, well, can't have it all. I think if you press the remote unlock button twice, all 4 doors unlock. press once, wait a second, press again, if that doesn't work, wait half a second between presses.

What color exterior and interior on the TDI? 6 speed DSG or 6 Manual?

 

[RonDawg]

2. If there's no mirror heater selection, it's probably not heated. Is there a symbol for a heated mirror on the mirror glass itself?

3. I don't know of any German hatchback with a remote inside trunk pop. Then again, neither did my Leaf, nor my friend's 2014 Hyundai Accent hatchback. My Audi A3 has it on the remote but not inside the car. However with these cars and the eGolf, if the car is unlocked, the hatch can be opened. For the Leaf and eGolf (but not the Audi or Hyundai) because they use proximity keys, if the key is nearby and you operate the hatch handle or button, the hatch will unlock after a second.

4. VW offers a trunk liner with cargo blocks for $125: http://www.vwserviceandparts.com/accessories/heavy-duty-trunk-liner-cargo-blocks/ I don't know if you can get the blocks separately or if they work without the trunk liner. However I just use a free box that I got from Costco.

5. I could swear the eGolf's radio is capable of HD Radio, but I stick with Sirius/XM, or my iPod. LA-area radio is horrible.

6. I believe this is a programmable feature. You might be able to do it from the infotainment screen.

7. You may be able to set this up via the infotainment screen, or at least disable BT audio streaming if it annoys you enough.

 

[JoulesThief]

Let me know if you'd like to buy a set of velcro wall holders for the trunk, I'll sell mine to you for your Golf. If there is fabric in there, the Velcro will stick. Since I drive mellow, like an old man, I don't need them, nothing is sliding around in my trunk.

 

[GadgetGav]

My 2015 SEL has HD radio and it sucks. I don't know if it's the radio head unit, the antenna or just a shortcoming of HD radio but it's always dropping back and forth between HD and regular FM. There's also some digital artifacts in the HD sound just before it drops back to FM.
I keep turning it off, but thanks to the many and varied bugs that are in the infotainment system software, it keeps turning itself back on. I can usually tell within a few minutes without even looking at the screen, so I go into Setup and turn it off again. I don't know who thought that FM radio needed a HD revolution, but it was a waste of time as far as I can tell.

 

[RonDawg]

"HD" Radio is a bit of misnomer as the signal doesn't have to be in high definition. It just means it's in digital format. One advantage of HD Radio is like when OTA TV went digital: the ability to carry multiple streams of programming over the same channel. Unlike digital OTA, the original analog broadcast is still available.

 

[forbin404]

6) - No 4 door unlock , or I couldn't find the feature.

In regards to this AND to honking when locking.

This is not settable from the InfoTrainment system on a Passat.

You need to buy Vag-Com an expensive item that connects to your PC and the OBD Port.

Lol , that sucks.

 

[JoulesThief]

6) - No 4 door unlock , or I couldn't find the feature.

In regards to this AND to honking when locking.

This is not settable from the InfoTrainment system on a Passat.

You need to buy Vag-Com an expensive item that connects to your PC and the OBD Port.

Lol , that sucks.

You do know if you look around, like on VW Vortex, you might find some owners that would do the mods for you for a few good beers or something. Getting my silly default value changed and fan remembering my last settings for my HVAC, took the tech 5 minutes and paid $65. Some dealerships want $115-$130 to do the same thing.

I do own a VCDS cable.