 First thing, I love my Jetta. Despite it's tiny 115hp, it is a blast to drive thanks to the manual transmission, great steering and fun ride. I have owned my Jetta for three years now, and have had very few issues. I live in Wisconsin, and this car surprised the hell out of my friends who had trucks and SUVs by its' performance in heavy snow and ice. For some reason, it is unstoppable in winter weather. I am also 6ft 1 and have plenty of head and legroom while driving. I am disappointed with the gas mileage, I usually average 26 mpg combined, but have gotten 31-32 mpg on long highway trips. The biggest downside with this powertrain is undoubtedly the engine. I frequently have difficulty passing or I have to downshift 2 gears to make it up a small hill. I wouldn't mind if the return was excellent mileage but the mileage as I mentioned is somewhat mediocre for a car of this size. My only truly negative experience was an EPC censor that would put my car in limp mode. The censor randomly would go off when I would start it, and acceleration was limited and the car would max out at 50mph. I took it to several mechanics and a dealer and eventually found out that a botched repair from a previous owner was to blame. Just be careful with these cars though, as the electronics are really touchy and can be expensive to fix.Other than that, I love my car and have had no other mechanical issues to speak of. I highly recommend this car as a cheap, fun to drive car that isn't as vanilla as a Ford, Chevy or Hyundai.