Great car! This car handled like a sports car. Suspension was spectacular for a car in this price range. It was a TDI and average mielage was 50 MPG and at times it would do over 60 MPG. Solid car, no rattles or squeaks. Interior was great, easy to access everything from driving position and it looked good.

I sought after the 2006 jetta for fuel economy, knowing it has a tremendous amount of other poor quality issues. If you are looking for a MK5 VW be it gas or diesel be prepared for a laundry list of repairs to maintain factory functions and beauty. The MK5 platform is susceptible to horiffic rust in the front fenders, rocker panels, rear wheel arches, trunk and hood. The head liner and door fabric glue fails on all of them regardless of mileage. There are door lock issues caused by a module in the individual door window motors. Dash screens can become inop, and there are a myriad amount of squeaks to chase down. The heater control and related resistor for HVAC motor speed will fail. If you get a model with factory HID headlights, the two sensors that set the leveling of the lights will fail. If you get and automatic trans (known as DSG) repair of it can cost as much as the entire car purchase. Even though the body looks the same on early production MK5 Jetta, the later production has some key feature that are totally different, it is mainly early models do not have steering wheel control, nor the fuel calculator function in the dash board. The up side to the Mk5 Jetta TDI is that when the engine is properly maintained it can run well past 300,000 miles. Some people have documented 400 and 500 thousand miles. When properly maintained the MK5 Jetta is a joy to drive, handling and brakng are impressive, acceleration will vary depending on the engine in the car but even the TDI, which is the lowest horsepower of the available engines, has no issues keeping up with traffic. If you buy a VW MK5 platform car, make sure you have a VW technician WITH VCDS software. Additionally the knowledge of the special components that fail to be able to keep it in tip top shape. I am trying to make this review as objective as I can with no success, I own 2 Jettas, and one GTI, all three are 2006 models with one of the Jetta being and early model. I sincerely hope this review assist you in making an informed purchase

Performance - very good acceleration and tight handles Build Quality - Perfect no complaints Appearance - simple interior thats not confusing, elegant exterior thought it was a BMW when i first saw it! Cost of Ownership - 22/30 mpg Very High maintenance! Fun Factor - Fun Car to drive really i wish i was in germany on the autobahn with it!

Only regret was not being able to get the diesel power train. The 2.5 still has plenty of torque, and the car handles amazingly. Tiptronic along with just enough traction control makes even the most amateur driver feel like a veteran rally driver. Overall great car for getting five people around comfortably.

Great reliable car, never let me down when I needed it. Inexpensive to service and I save money on gas mileage. Relaxing car to drive but still sporty enough to be fun. Braking and acceleration were nothing special but adequate and the handling was very good.