Used Car of the Day: 2005 Volkswagen Jetta GLI 1.8 Turbo

Tim Healey
by Tim Healey

In honor of the 40th Anniversary Volkswagen Jetta GLI, today we have a used one from North Carolina.


The owner asks $18,000 for this 2005 Volkswagen Jetta GLI, which has the 1.8 Turbo engine. It's an automatic and the seller claims it's been well-maintained and runs well.

Apparently, the car is stock and the only damage involves minor dents. There are only 53,000 miles on the clock. Perhaps this explains the high price for a 17-year-old car.

You can check it out here.

[Images: Seller]

Become a TTAC insider. Get the latest news, features, TTAC takes, and everything else that gets to the truth about cars first by  subscribing to our newsletter.

Tim Healey
Tim Healey

Tim Healey grew up around the auto-parts business and has always had a love for cars — his parents joke his first word was “‘Vette”. Despite this, he wanted to pursue a career in sports writing but he ended up falling semi-accidentally into the automotive-journalism industry, first at Consumer Guide Automotive and later at Web2Carz.com. He also worked as an industry analyst at Mintel Group and freelanced for About.com, CarFax, Vehix.com, High Gear Media, Torque News, FutureCar.com, Cars.com, among others, and of course Vertical Scope sites such as AutoGuide.com, Off-Road.com, and HybridCars.com. He’s an urbanite and as such, doesn’t need a daily driver, but if he had one, it would be compact, sporty, and have a manual transmission.

More by Tim Healey

Comments
Join the conversation
2 of 37 comments
  • Wjtinfwb Wjtinfwb on Feb 14, 2024

    I had this generation GTI but with the sweet VR6 with a manual. Not super-fast but long-legged, smooth as whipped cream and very reliable. That combo might rescue this Jetta but the 1.8 with Automatic was not a sweet combination. Add in self-destructing electrics and interior bits and it's no dice.

  • Clair Clair on Feb 27, 2024

    If you still have this car, do you mind sharing the VIN# for reference?

  • Tassos You can answer your own question for yourself, Tim, if you ask instead"Have Japanese (or Korean) Automakers Eaten Everyone's Lunch"?I am sure you can answer it without my help.
  • Tassos WHile this IS a legitimate used car, unlike the vast majority of Tim's obsolete 30 and 40 year old pieces of junk, the price is ABSOLUTELY RIDICULOUS. It is not even a Hellcat. WHat are you paying for? The low miles? I wish it had DOUBLE the miles, which would guarantee it was regularly driven AND well maintained these 10 years, and they were easy highway miles, not damaging stop-go city miles!!!
  • Tassos Silly and RIdiculous.The REAL Tassos.
  • Lostboy If you can stay home when it's bad out in winter, then maybe your 3 season tire WILL be an "ALL-SEASON" tire as your just not going to get winters and make do? I guess tire rotations and alignments just because a whole lot more important!
  • Mike My wife has a ‘20 Mazda3 w/the Premium Package; before that she had a ‘15 Mazda3 i GT; before THAT she had an ‘06 Mazda Tribute S V6, ie: Ford Escape with a Mazda-tuned suspension. (I’ve also had two Miata NAs, a ‘94 & a ‘97M, but that’s another story.) We’ve gotten excellent service out of them all. Her 2020, like the others before it, is our road trip car - gets 38mpg highway, it’s been from NC to Florida, Texas, Newfoundland, & many places in between. Comfortable, sporty, well-appointed, spacious, & reliable. Sure, we’d look at a Mazda hybrid, but not anytime soon.😎
Next