The car was totally stock, a lower model GL. It drove and handled as well as the best small cars of that time. It was made in Mexico and had excellent build quality. It held up well over the four years we owned it. The paint never had any issues, even though it was never garaged. It wasn't particularly fun to drive but it was very satisfying and confidence inspiring. In short it was well suited for it's intended purpose. It was roomy and had a large trunk. There were two major things wrong with it. The Automatic Seatbelts, (pre-airbag, the last year the Jetta was so equipped) and the three spoke steering wheel where the spokes were never quite where they felt comfortable.

Volkswagens are very well engineered in general and the jetta is no exception. having had few problems with it in its only 85000 miles, the problems i have had were mostly because of mechanics without brains... or mechanics trying to rip us off. it has quite decent handling and the performance it has for a 4 cylinder car with front wheel drive and weighing in at around 3500lbs GVW is really good.

not fast at all, but a 2.slow will last you well over 200k miles with even the slightest bit of care. Great first car, and they're easy to get a hold of. Parts are easy to find as well as the engine and body were used for years. My GL was at 237k when I got rid of it, and the engine still ran great. It went on to bigger and better things. Great gas mileage too!

handles great and is pretty quick off the start. i put a cold air intake in it. got new rear tires and new brake pads. going to buy and very nice exhaust for it called ANSA. this car is extremely fun to drive it feels like a gokart on how it handles

Volkswagens are very well engineered in general and the jetta is no exception. having had few problems with it in its only 85000 miles, the problems i have had were mostly because of mechanics without brains... or mechanics trying to rip us off.