Filed under: Diesel, Volkswagen, USA
2009 Volkswagen Jetta TDIs now available for customer delivery
Diesel fans that have been waiting patiently for the 2009 Volkswagen Jetta TDI will now finally have some relief. Two months after dealers began receiving their demonstrator models, regular customer units are now available and dealers can now start customer deliveries. Volkswagen is charging a $2,000 premium over the base 2.5L gas engine for the fifty-state legal diesel but the Jetta TDI is eligible for a $1,300 federal alternative fuels tax credit. The EPA has rated the Jetta at 29/40 mpg with the 6-speed DSG transmission but drivers of older Jettas have long reported that the EPA estimates for diesels underestimate real world performance. We hope to provide our own evaluation on a regular production unit soon.
[Source: Volkswagen]
THE WAIT IS OVER
Volkswagen's all-new clean diesel is right for the times and now available in all 50 states
HERNDON, Va.-Volkswagen of America, Inc. today announced that their all-new, and highly anticipated 50-state compliant clean diesel Jetta TDI sedan and SportWagen are now available for customer delivery.
"We're proud to be the first manufacturer to offer a clean diesel vehicle for sale in all fifty states," said Stefan Jacoby, CEO/President, Volkswagen of America, Inc. "We believe our Jetta TDI's truly offer a no compromise alternative fuel driving experience, that provides the customer the best of both worlds-excellent fuel efficiency combined with a dynamic driving experience."
The Environmental Protection Agency estimates the Jetta TDI at an economical 29 mpg City and 40 mpg Highway. Volkswagen went a step further to evaluate the real world fuel economy of the Jetta TDI. Leading third-party certifier, AMCI, tested the Jetta TDI and found it performed 24 percent better in real world conditions, achieving 38 mpg in the City and 44 mpg on the Highway.*
EPA research has concluded that if diesels were to power one third of all light duty vehicles in the United States, the shift would save approximately 1.4 million barrels of oil a day-equal to the daily shipments from Saudi Arabia to the U.S.
Providing even more value to the Jetta TDI sedan and SportWagen, a $1300 Federal Income Tax Credit was recently announced. The Internal Revenue Service issued a certification letter affirming that both vehicles qualify for an Advanced Lean Burn Technology Motor Vehicle income tax credit.
The Jetta TDI's come standard with Volkswagen's Prevent and Preserve Safety System, consisting of numerous standard safety features. Jetta TDI's include six airbags, with optional rear side airbags, and like all 2009 model year Volkswagens, Jetta TDI's also feature standard Electronic Stabilization Program (ESP) for added safety.
Also standard for 2009 is Volkswagen's carefree maintenance program, with this program there are no charges for the scheduled maintenance described in the vehicle's maintenance booklet for the length of the New Vehicle Limited Warranty-three years or 36,000 miles, whichever occurs first.
Recently Volkswagen announced pricing for their Jetta TDI sedan and SportWagen would start at $21,990 and $23,590, respectively.
Volkswagen of America, Inc.
Volkswagen of America, Inc. recently announced Electronic Stability Program (ESP) as standard equipment on all its 2009 vehicles. As a result, Volkswagen is one of the only original equipment manufacturers to offer an electronic stability control system on their entire product line – ahead of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's (NHTSA) deadline requiring vehicles in the 2012 model year to include stability control systems. Volkswagen's ESP technology works in conjunction with anti-lock brakes and helps reduce loss of control and rollovers to avoid crashes. NHTSA predicts nearly 10,000 lives could be saved each year if automakers included stability systems as standard equipment.
Founded in 1955, Volkswagen of America, Inc. is headquartered in Herndon, Va. It is a subsidiary of Volkswagen AG, headquartered in Wolfsburg, Germany. Volkswagen is one of the world's largest producers of passenger cars and Europe's largest automaker. Volkswagen sells the Rabbit, New Beetle, New Beetle convertible, GTI, Jetta, GLI, Passat, Passat wagon, Eos, Tiguan and Touareg through approximately 600 independent U.S. dealers. Visit Volkswagen of America online at vw.com.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Jason 4:00PM (8/18/2008)
the wait is not exactly over yet. Customers are not actually getting delivery of vehicles at this time, according to my sources.
If any dealer is actually calling customers to say come get their cars, please provide a reference.
I have one on order and they are telling me mid-September.
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johnriley 9:47AM (8/19/2008)
Acquaintance north of Seattle says he got a notice from his local dealer that it was in.
Killroy 5:31PM (8/18/2008)
The $1300 tax credit is a joke because the CO2 emmisions of this car are not really not that low. There are about 10 other cars (moslty gas) that beat the Jetta TDI. Its just too big and heavy. Slim it down and it would do much better. Diesel still comes from oil and the US peaked on Oil production a long time ago.
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Killroy 5:32PM (8/18/2008)
The $1300 tax credit is a joke because the CO2 emmisions of this car are not really not that low. There are about 10 other cars (moslty gas) that beat the Jetta TDI. Its just too big and heavy. Slim it down and it would do much better. Diesel still comes from oil and the US peaked on Oil production a long time ago.
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john1701a 11:49PM (8/18/2008)
Bin-5 is hardly an emission-rating to consider "clean".
In other words, the "50-state legal" is polite way of saying that if it were any dirtier they wouldn't be allowed to sell it. SULEV & PZEV are the genuine clean emission-ratings.
As for the efficiency, it will be interesting to find out what the real-world driving results are. The calculated average from my Prius from 103,013 miles of driving is 48.0 MPG.
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montoym 7:12PM (8/19/2008)
Tell that to the huge number of other currently available models from other manufacturers which also meet T2B5 standards. Not to mention that they are all gas models as well which are supposed to be so much cleaner than diesel.
I won't even begin to start a comprehensive list here, but I think you'd be very surprised at the large number of vehicles which meet the T2B5 rating and not the lower levels.
Besides, while T2B5 may be on the higher side of emissions standards for cars, it's anything but dirty. Youre splitting hairs when your taliking of lowering NOx standards by almost 50% when they are already in the 100ths of a gram/mile as it is. CO is the only major change from T2B5 to the lower Bins, it drops from 4.2g/mi in T2B5 to 2.1 for Bins 2-4. That's a much bigger change than the 0.03g/mi change in NOx required to drop from Bin 5 to Bin 4(from 0.07g/mi to 0.04g/mi).
Here's a sheet from the EPA breaking down the different standards.
http://www.epa.gov/greenvehicles/detailedchart.pdf
Do some reasearch and see how many cars out there actually meet T2B5 and I think you'll be quite surprised. I honestly was. I didn't actually think it was so many. It includes probably all of the Top 10 in sales( I didn't check them all) and a great many more as well. Very few models actually find themselves in lower bins currently, gas or diesel.
montoym 10:19PM (8/19/2008)
As an additional comparison, look at the current standards compared to even the next most recent standards. The incredible decreases in emissions from even a few years ago is amazing.
Looking at the link I posted above, take a close look at the 1994-2003 Tier 1 standards which were in place before the Tier 2 regs took over in 2004.
The cleanest Tier 1 "bin" is LDV which allows for 0.6g/mi of NOx, 0.31g/mi NMOG, 4.2/mi CO, and 0.10 g/mi PM.
Those figures are dramatically higher than even Tier 2 Bin 5 which allows for 0.07g/mi NOx, 0.090g/mi NMOG, 4.2g/mi CO and 0.10g/mi PM.
The differences account for an 850% difference in NOx(0.6 vs. 0.07), a 340% difference in NMOG(0.31 vs. 0.090), and no change for CO and PM with CO dropping to 2.1g/mi for Tier 2 Bins 2-4 and PM staying the same for Tier 2 Bins 2-5.
These aren't archaic standards either that i'm comparing them to. They are the standards in place just before Tier 2 took over. You can peruse further and see even greater changes by looking at the other historical standards as far back as to pre-1968 before there were emissions control standards.
Additionally, it's important to note that I was comparing the cleanest Tier 1 standard to the current T2B5 standard. Even greater changes are made with the diesels dropping to T2B5 from the previous LDV diesel standard which allowed more than double the amount of NOx as the cleanest Tier 1 standard (LDV).
It's information such as this that makes me look strangely at people who feel that T2B5 is somehow signifying the end of the world and us choking on our own emissions when in fact it's significantly cleaner than the emissions of a "clean" car from even 5-10yrs ago.
We need more people to look at the facts and make their own decisions rather than a bunch of chicken littles claiming that everything is so horrible right now.
O 1:33PM (8/20/2008)
@5 (and others): Just to echo montoym. The clean diesels are 'only' Bin 5 because of Nox. They would be bin 1 for example on CO, HC etc. The statement that SULEV/PZEV are the 'real' standards is based on selective standards for gas engines. Notice no mention of CO2 figures there in the standards? The clean diesel almost meets PZEV on Nox already, and easily does on CO and HC and particulates, and by far emits less CO2 than comparable gas engine. I could easily create my own emissions standards for CO2, CO, and HC that a diesel would easily meet and most gas engines would likewise fail...so playing the SULEV card is quite arbitrary.
AND also keep in mind that Nox will very likely continue to fall with new refinements in injection and emission controls. Nox generation by itself is not related at all to the actual combustion of the fuel, it is a byproduct of compressing the inert nitrogen along for the ride in the air flow at a higher ratio . The same cannot be said for a gas engine and CO2---the higher carbon emissions betray the inherent relative inefficiency to diesel engine.
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ralfm1 12:45PM (9/10/2008)
Concerning the delivery of the 2009 VW Jetta TDI: I paid VW a deposit at the end of July with a promised delivery around the middle or end of September. Now I am being told that it most likely will be the end of the year, if then. On top of that VW is not even acknowledging to get me the car I ordered, but told me that I may just have to take whatever they deliver to the dealer. On the other hand VW is still taking orders and people's money right now for vehicles they probably can not deliver. I find that incredibly unethical.
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