As I’ve said before, the winter steel wheel you want for your 2004 1/2+ Jetta GLI 1.8T is a Macpek X41657. Not mentioned previously is that the tire size is 205/55 R16.
The post generated a lot of comments at the time, and now that winter is coming I’m getting another round of email on it. Amazing really – I was just venting about how hard it was to find the right wheel, but then I found one, snatching victory from the jaws of defeat, and it seems like every other person with the same car and the ability to use Google wants to talk about it. Which I can understand – the VW dealer network isn’t known for their attitude or service. Here’s a quote from one correspondent:
My dealer experience is on a par with yours. Basically no help.
Confidential to VW: I offer high-resolution qualitative market research and product strategy consulting services that would be a good fit here. Happy to help if you’d like; just give me a call.
The question is: Where do you get this fabled Macpek X41657? You can take a look at the Macpek website, but it won’t help much. There’s no part listing, and the inventory tab is behind a password. One strategy would be to call them and find a distributor in your region, then call the distributor to find a dealer. Welcome to supply chain management, where a rewarding career awaits you.
I happened to find my wheels at RH Scales in White River Junction VT. You can call them at 802-296-7203, but I have no idea if they ship of if it’s local pickup only. This is a real honest-to-goodness industrial parts jobber with one employee, so don’t expect the same level of service you get from LL Bean. RH Scales has offices all over the east coast, so there might be one closer to you. This page from an unrelated search has a lot of the RH Scales offices listed. If you drive up here to by a set and you’re coming from more than two hours away, send me an email and I’ll buy you lunch before you drive home.
Tire Rack has gotten better this year. Here’s a search page for winter tire and wheel packages for the 2005 Jetta GLI 1.8T. The 16″ package starts at $125 per wheel. That’s probably the easiest choice – Tire Rack is well-known, they seem to have the winter wheel package ready this year, they ship all over the country, and their prices are good. OTOH, they don’t list any steel wheels available, only alloy ones, so then you’re back to finding a Macpek if you want the cheaper steel wheel option, or if you’re a Rolling Stones fan.