Sometime in the early 90s, I was stuck inside of a red Volkswagen Jetta on a two-hour ride with a girl named Shelly at the wheel. You can take every superficial stereotype about a young, shallow sorority girl and combine it with all of the generalizations about Asian women drivers, and that was Shelly. Only instead of being timid and slow when behind the wheel, she was aggressive and entitled. Even today, if that car still exists, you can probably see the indentations from where I was gripping the rear seat for dear life. From what I can glean from her Facebook profile, Shelly has matured and is living an upstanding life, and hopefully has gained some perspective about her driving habits. Like Shelly, the redesigned 2019 Volkswagen Jetta has undergone several transformations, and has grown and matured into a responsible compact sedan. The 2019 Volkswagen Jetta looks all grown up, inside and out. As the trend is with other compact vehicles, the latest Jetta has grown in size.
In fact, the 2019 Jetta is now as big as the Passat was at the turn of the century. 895 for destination charges). That鈥檚 not exactly economy car territory, but in its defense it had all kinds of impressive equipment, like cornering headlamps, an oversized sunroof, and ambient lighting for the cabin. In this trim level, the Jetta is not a car that most families would get for their teenaged daughter and her friend-terrorizing ways. But now that Shelly and I are both older and have kids, would a new Jetta serve well enough for a family? Upscale design and lots of passenger and cargo space make the 2019 Volkswagen Jetta compelling. Several people who came by our house the week we had the Jetta wondered what it was. When told that it was a Volkswagen Jetta, they were surprised. I thought it was an Audi! I can鈥檛 say that I blame them. Where the previous generation Jetta was rather plain and featureless, the new Jetta has much more character, thanks to a sculpted hood with creases radiating from the simple but distinctive grille.
There are also crisp lines that draw your eyes along the flanks, but they wrap into a rear end that isn鈥檛 as unique. In fact, it looks like every other sedan on the market today, actually. The 17-inch wheels are eye catching as well, although I鈥檓 not a fan. They look too much like they might unfurl to become Optimus Prime. Inside, my test car was swathed in black, black and more black, with only a gray headliner to break up the monotony. Volkswagen offers some attractive alternative color combinations that would be preferable. Luckily the perforated leather on the seats was of good quality, and the overall design of the dashboard is modern and clean. Things vastly improve during nighttime drives, as my test vehicle offered 10 lighting choices to match your mood. I like to put it on the violet color and remember the good times I had in Volkswagens from my youth, which at the time had disco ultraviolet and red lighting schemes. The only thing detracting from the Jetta鈥檚 upscale and grown up look and feel was the cheap plastics on the lower part of the cabin.
But then, this is the case with all compact cars. The 2019 Volkswagen Jetta鈥檚 front seats received mixed reviews on comfort. There was no heat wave. It wasn鈥檛 even a particularly warm week. But for some reason the all-black cabin of my test Jetta retained, and practically radiated, solar heat from the sun. As such, entering the cabin reminded me of scenes from Florentine frescoes depicting the hereafter. That鈥檚 not true of the front passenger鈥檚 seat, though. In my household, everyone likes to sit up nice and high. This provides a better view out, and also makes cars easier to get into and out of. Once my husband realized that the low-mounted front passenger鈥檚 seat supplied no height adjustment, he found lots of excuses not to join us for errands. Both front seats are roomy, though, as is the rear seat. A Jetta easily accommodates four adults, or maybe five if absolutely necessary. However, there are no rear air conditioning vents, so they鈥檒l be pretty sweaty on warmer days. The Jetta鈥檚 dashboard and center controls are well designed and easy to use.
I鈥檓 a big fan of digital gauges, and Volkswagen Digital Cockpit is one of the best regardless of price. Better yet, it鈥檚 standard with SEL and SEL Premium trim levels. Drivers use the steering wheel controls to modify the Volkswagen Digital Cockpit display. Other switchgear is logically arranged, and the automaker wisely retains a traditional power/volume knob and a tuning knob for the stereo, giving VW鈥檚 infotainment system an instant advantage over others that don鈥檛. Additionally, the climate controls are well-marked and intuitive to use. Dear Volkswagen: Please make the Jetta鈥檚 trunk lid hinge detents more secure. Perhaps I鈥檓 a slow learner, but my week with the Jetta was marred by what I assume to be a glitch with the trunk lid hinges. You pop open the trunk and lift the lid, like you would on every other sedan on the planet. Once open, you would assume that it would remain that way.
