Volkswagen JettaTiming chain or Belt?

The Volkswagen Jetta is a compact sedan (C-segment in Europe) manufactured by the German automaker Volkswagen. It is one of the longest-lived models of the German marque, and has been sold since 1979. The Jetta has had a total of 7 generations throughout its life. However, some of these generations were marketed under other names, such as the Volkswagen Vento or the Volkswagen Bora. The Jetta has also been marketed in some countries as Volkswagen Atlantic*, *Volkswagen City Jetta or Volkswagen Sagitar.

Even from the beginning, the Jetta was a sedan body of the Volkswagen Golf —despite its enormous resemblance to the Volkswagen Passat—. Its first version was born due to American buyers’ lack of interest in hatchbacks. Thus, Volkswagen came up with the idea of keeping the trunk of a sedan in the body of a Golf. This first model became popular all over the world, even in the United States.

In 1984, the Jetta Mark II was successful again with a longer wheelbase and five seats instead of four. Like the Mark 1, the second generation was offered as a two-door or four-door sedan. It was a fairly reliable vehicle. As a curious fact, Volkswagen of America held a contest in 2007 to find the diesel-powered Volkswagen with the longest distance driven with the original engine. The winner was a 1986 Jetta from Ohio, which had covered 904,000 kilometers despite having spent its entire life in an area exposed to snow and salt.

The third generation of the Jetta was sold worldwide as Volkswagen Vento. Something similar would happen with the fourth generation, which was sold as Volkswagen Bora. For the fifth generation, this model recovered its original name, although it continued to be called Bora in Mexico and Colombia. In Argentina and Chile, the model continued as Volkswagen Vento. This version inherits the entire front grille of the Volkswagen Golf Mk5, with a rear very similar to the Passat of the time.

The sixth generation is known as NCS (New Compact Sedan). This model (the Jeta A6), ceased to be a development derived from the Volkswagen Golf. However, part of its structure is based on the PQ35 platform, shared with the Volkswagen Golf Mk6. VAG’s goal with this sixth generation was to lower costs so that the car would remain competitive in Latin America and further increase its presence in the United States. It was also the first model to feature hybrid engines.

Finally, the seventh generation, the Jetta Mk7 arrived in 2018 and is not sold in Europe. This model is based on the MQB platform, is larger than its predecessors and regained some of the charm of being a premium compact. A new redesign of this model was presented in 2022 at the Chicago Motor Show.

The Jetta has had a multitude of competitors. Among the most important are the sedan variants of the Ford Focus, Opel Astra, Renault Fluence, Mazda 3 and Toyota Corolla.