After graduating college I was looking for a new car to replace my worn out Honda that had little to no life left. 20,000 giving me plenty of options to choose from. After test driving several different models, I decided on the Jetta. My experience has been mostly positive, but the car is not without faults. Acceleration: My car has the 5cylinder engine with 150hp. It moves the car around sufficiently enough, but the car is not fast by any means. Luckily the transmission is a 6 speed to ensure you are always in the optimal gear. If you buy a brand new Jetta, the car should feel a bit more peppy because it has an extra 20 horsepower. Overall I'd give the car a 7/10 for acceleration. Transmission: The transmission is a 6 speed automatic which is unheard of in this price range. It is very smooth. Handling/Steering: The car steers accurately and provides just the right amount of feedback. Handling is pretty impressive and the car always feels in control.
Overall I rate it an 8/10 for handling. Ride: The car rides firm, but is comfortable and controlled. I prefer a firmer ride to the soft mushy feeling you get in a car like the Toyota Camry. Seating: There is plenty of room front and back. There are plenty of adjustments for the front seats including lumbar adjustment. The steering wheel tilts and telescopes making it easy for anyone to find a good driving position. Trunk: The trunk is huge, and is bigger than most. In addition, the car has hooks for you grocery bags so they stay in an upright position. It's touches like these that make this car special. Exterior Styling: The car looks classy with its chrome grille treatment, but the car is a bit too tall for my tastes. Some of the exterior views look a bit too Japanese for my taste, including the rear which has tail lights like the Toyota Corolla. Interior Styling: The interior looks more expensive the anything in the class. The materials are rich and surfaces feel high quality. Safety: This car has airbags galore including two front, two side, and head airbags as well. Reliability: I haven't had any major problems with the car, but it only has 33,000 miles on it. The transmission kicks down sharply sometimes and some of the interior elements have come loose. Also, the passenger door has been sticky ever since I bought it. People have to pull the door handle twice to open it. Price/Value: Considering its features, quality, and space the Jetta offers good value for the money.
Bluetooth connectivity comes standard, as does Volkswagen App Connect which includes Android Auto and Apple CarPlay. Charging options include a single USB port and a 12-volt charging port, both of which are located in front of the gearshift. The Jetta鈥檚 cabin is also more spacious after the redesign, the backseat especially. The last-generation model was a little stingy with the head- and legroom for backseat passengers, but both feel improved here, and tall windows all around provide excellent visibility from any seat. The most important thing you get with the VW Jetta now might not even be a feature 鈥?in fact, it鈥檚 not even part of the car. Coming out of all of that negative press from Dieselgate, Volkswagen started to offer a big warranty 鈥?like, six-years-or-72,000-miles big, including bumper-to-bumper coverage. And it comes on all models of the Volkswagen Jetta, including the base model. Here is where things get more interesting, because the new Jetta S is still a compromised vehicle.
The biggest omissions come on two fronts: safety and technology. The seats are cloth, but you can deal with that in this price range. What bugged me more was the multimedia system: Volkswagen offers a beautiful, high-resolution touchscreen on SEL and SEL Premium models, that makes the screen on the base-model unit looks old and pixelated by comparison. There鈥檚 also a lack of charging options. That single USB port and 12-volt port will have to do the heavy lifting 鈥?no extra ports in the center storage bin and no ports for backseat occupants. This is an area in which the Jetta generally lags, as even the top-level SEL Premium only comes with one more USB port in the bin, but its omission is still felt on the base model. The backseat is also quite spartan with its lack of visible air vents 鈥?and on the base model, there isn鈥檛 even a fold-down armrest when the center seat isn鈥檛 in use. The 2019 Jetta S is also the only trim level of the Jetta to not get automatic forward emergency braking and blind spot warnings standard, features that come as such on the other trim levels.
