Today, Volkswagen made publics the announcement of the refreshed 2025 Jetta and Jetta GLI.
The refresh is, as I wrote, quite minor.
Which got me wondering — does a mild refresh move the needle for you, the car buyer?
Especially when mechanical changes are limited?
I don’t mean to pick on VW here — every manufacturer serves up mild refreshes in which outside of small styling changes, the car doesn’t change much. And in fairness to VW, there is a small but noticeable price change for the base car, there’s no more manual for the base car, and certain desirable comfort and convenience features are now available on lower trims. So there is news here.
No, I am not picking on VW — it’s just the most recent mild refresh I’ve written about. And I get why refreshes are done — the exterior design tweaks give a vehicle fresh looks so that the style doesn’t get stale. This is especially necessary since the days of major changes each model year died decades ago, thanks to regulations and related costs.
That said, as a car shopper, does it matter to you? Or maybe the extent to which the vehicle is changed matters?
Going back to the Jetta again, perhaps the change in base price or feature availability makes a difference and a shopper might hold off from buying the 2024 model in favor of the 2025. On the other hand, there might some hard-core stick-shift enthusiast out there who can’t afford a GLI who will be running out to snag a manual base Jetta before they sell out. Of course, if there were more of the latter perhaps the manual would carry over. But I digress.
OK, let’s reset before I get too off track. I ask of you, the B and B — does a mild refresh to any given model affect your possible purchase plans, one way or another?
[Image: Volkswagen]
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.
