3200 mile update:
WINTER BLEND FUEL yields lower miles per gallon. Seems like the first 1500 miles it was pretty easy to 'average' 40 to 41 mpg. The second 1500 mile has the fuel economy dropped down to 38 to 39 mpg. Those are 'averages' of my daily driving routine, which is no less than 80 but rarely more than 140 miles per day. The driving mix is includes hilly rural 2 lane rural roads, reasonably flat 2 lane rural roads which evolve into 4 lane suburban/city driving and then into 4 lane suburban driving.
SNOW/ICE drop the fuel economy about 5-mpg. Even rain seems to drop the fuel economy a couple miles per gallon. I suspect that the rolling resistance increases enough, in just rain, to sap away 2 miles per gallon. But when there is snow on the road it drops another 2 or 3 mpgs.
COMFORT & LUXURY: I rate this little care VERY HIGH in comfort but only AVERAGE in terms of luxury. Realizing this is a fully optioned economy car, the comfort level is very high for such a small/economical car. Seats are nicely supportive and even on long days are a pleasure to occupy. But when it comes to "luxury" this car is, at best, average. Its just not designed to be luxurious so little trim pieces and convenience features are absent.
On the minus side: The seats are manual with an electric lumbar adjustment, consequently there is no "memory" function for multiple drivers. There mirror is not an 'auto dimming' type. There is no built in "homelink" system to activate the garage doors. The climate control is a simple unit, not a multi-zone affair. The wipers are neither speed nor rain sensitive. The headlamps are not automatic.
On the plus side, the glove box is climate controlled so you can chill a bottle of wine; there is a 120volt inverter so you can plug in your computer, or other AC appliance. The rear arm rest is wide and comfortable, the front arm rest, while small, is nicely padded and adjustable. The steering wheel and seats are leather wrapped. Options allow for an excellent navigation system, sun/moon roof, and the trunk is huge!
If you want to go through the grief, as I did, you can order OEM parts from Germany to further enhance the vehicle. It seems like there is an active tuner crowd that messes around with both performance and luxury/convenience items on the Jetta and Golf series cars
(they share many parts). I've added sliding under-seat storage bins
(a Euro part not available as an option in the US) a carbon fiber dash, carbon fiber mirror housings, racing front end, with fog lamps, larger diameter and larger caliper brakes due to come. I also had a self-dimming mirror with "homelink" garage door openers hardwired into the car.
Oh and I have a few custom buttons added for those "James Bond" moments
I do find it odd that some luxury and performance options are available on other models of the Jetta but not on the TDI
(like the auto dimming lights, homelink, etc)