I have owned five cars in my adult life, and my 2010 VW Jetta is my hands-down favorite. When I bought it, it had 43K miles on it. There was a problem with the engine (the exact problem escapes me), but it was covered under warranty. From 43K miles to roughly 120K miles, the only repairs that have been necessary are standard maintenance (tires, brakes, oil changes). Now that it has reached 128K miles, the repairs are becoming more frequent. I just had to have the ignition coils replacedÑbut at $600, I guess that's not so bad! My car handles well in snowy Buffalo, NY, and it simply feels sturdy on any road and in any weather. I absolutely adore the heated seats and side-view mirrors. What other base model has those awesome features? The only real complaint that I have is that there is some rust. For some reason, the area directly below the rear license plate is rusting out. Oh ... and one more thing. The hubcaps do not stay on. I've seen many an older Jetta missing one or more hubcaps. I look forward to owning another Jetta when it is time to buy my next car. I've never had another car that lasted more than 100K miles before it needed to be junked. I hope this one hits at least 150K.

I was surprised that a VW was in the same price range as other vehicles I had been shopping (Kia and Mazda), so I decided to go with the Jetta. It looked classy and upscale, and had more oomph than my old pickup truck.