My brother just got a new Jetta a few months ago to replace his troublesome 2000 Bonneville SLE. He'* loved the car so far and he just sent me a few pictures of it at 3,500 miles...



























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Somehow he ran a red light and side-swiped a truck. Luckily he was only going 25 MPH when he hit the truck. It just seems like a lot of damage to me for only going 25. He said he slammed on the brakes once he realized the light was red, but it was already too late. I rear ended a van in my Riv going 20 MPH and that car had NO damage to it. I"m just surprised this Jetta crumbled so bad. Basically the entire bumper shattered and that'* why you can't see it here. My brother told me he took these pics before they started any work on it, so they hadn't even touched teh car in these pictures.. amazing!

new vws blow up in crashes thats why you stay safe. but broke. had a jetta hit me at 20 in the rear bumper of my 90 grand am. broke the exaust manifold. everything in front of it too. but they just kept laughing

We had a VW account at the auction back when. Damn things can't take a hit for nothin. We had any number of claims from just tapping bumpers while parking them in tight lots.

Yeah the bumper took a hit, what else is expected? Any car that hits something else solid @ 25+ is going to need some new structural points..

And when cars do that they're releasing energy, i.e. not hurting the driver. The new Jetta is SAFE. Modern cars are getting pig heavy so they can beat all of the crash regulations, etc that are demanded of them. The GTO can't even be sold as an 07 model because it can't meet the regs.

And it never met them in Canada you can't even import it.

It'* ironic that in canada you can't import the GTO, but damn near ANY car 15 years or older can.

Just seems rediculous to me that a 25 MPH impact caused $12,000 in damage to a car that costs barely over $20,000 brand new. Like I said, the Riviera I had before had the same speed of impact and the total cost of repair was $600 and that was it. I'd like to think that car was safe, too.

Most of the cost is labor.
The actual bumper (black beam in first pic) is undamaged.
What most people think is the bumper on most "modern" cars is just a shell for styling and aerodynamics.

To make a structural bumper in the shape of the front of the car would be more expensive and very heavy.

Trust me when I say VW'* are safe.....December I went sideways into a tree prolly doing 30-35 and my passenger was fine!! VW'* are German...ummm...Autobahn...you need some serious stength at speeds up to 155+!! Granted US spec VW'* are mostly mexican made cars but still strong!!