**Hello, fellow CT Yank. I've owned two Jettas. Both were 2003s but
one was an automatic 2.0l and the other was a 5-speed 1.8T. If you
look around those Jettas that we always see in traffic, you'll see
even more Subarus of all makes and models :) and that's what I have
now.

I only owned the 2.0l Jetta for 8 months so I can't really comment on
it. It was a nifty car, but the 1.8T was AWESOME. It was tornado red,
with the sport suspension, 17-inch Longbeach wheels and a spoiler. The
interior was one of the best I've ever seen on a car, just gorgeous.
In fact, my sister (at the time) owned a new BMW 3-series wagon and,
after a shopping trip, she ran her hand over the Jetta's dashboard and
remarked: I should've gotten the Passat, I just love the inside of
this car. Major fun factor when driving it, also.

Buuuuuuuuuuut, yes, I gave it up with 26K on the clock because it was
developing too many niggly problems and I needed something reliable.
Some of the problems weren't VW's fault and some were, but I ditched
the car before I had to spend any money on it. :D Naughty, I know. I
*really* miss that car, but I do *not* miss shifting that sucker.
There was the infamous 2nd-gear grind which was really nasty during
the winter.

On the flip side, I dipped my toe into the Subaru pond with a 5-speed
2005 Impreza RS Sport Wagon. Loved and no problems except for a CD
player that would stop playing a couple of hours into a (very) long
drive. The wagon was spectacular in the snow! Several times I left
work at 10:30pm only to be confronted by a foot of snow and the car
had no problems navigating the hills of Litchfield County. Now, I have
a 2008 Impreza 2.5i (the base model) and I'm hoping that it's just as
good in the snow as the previous model. I have to admit, however, the
previous Impreza was a far more *fun* car than the 2008. The 2008 has
been vanillafied for the masses. :)

kaboomie