2017 Volkswagen Jetta Review

We're still coming to grips with the current evolution of the Volkswagen Jetta. The Jetta of the past signified European refinement and a more sophisticated driving experience than the typical economy car, yet now we encounter an automobile that is all about a big interior package and a small price, as if it were meant to be sold at Costco.

OK, maybe we exaggerate, as Volkswagen has slowly added more features to the Jetta and recalibrated its personality since this car’s introduction. The current Volkswagen Jetta has more cabin and trunk space than its predecessors, not to mention more than some of today's smaller midsize sedans. Yet the Jetta no longer represents a uniquely European interpretation of an affordable five-passenger sedan, and this makes it harder for this Volkswagen to compete with the vastly improved breed of modern compact sedans.

Still, the 2017 Volkswagen Jetta offers some upside. A rearview camera is now standard on all models. Sophisticated driver aids such as blind-spot monitoring, rear cross-traffic alert and adaptive cruise control now show up even on lower-priced trim levels. An updated infotainment system finally includes a USB connection in place of the former setup with its annoying proprietary cable. Finally, the 2017 Jetta's lineup of four-cylinder engines is pretty sweet, and two of the three available engines even offer a manual transmission.

But given the high standards set by compact sedans from other brands, it's hard to overlook the Jetta's bland interior design and similarly bland road manners. Top-rated competitors such as the Ford Focus, Honda Civic and Mazda 3 have copied the playbook of the classic Jetta, combining distinctive styling with a premium-style range of convenience features, not to mention lively handling in some models. We recommend checking them out, and you might even consider the latest four-door, five-passenger VW Golf before settling on the 2017 Volkswagen Jetta.

Every 2017 Volkswagen Jetta comes standard with traction and stability control, antilock disc brakes, a complement of six airbags (front, front-seat side and side curtain), active front head restraints, and a rearview camera. The SE trim level offers blind-spot monitoring and rear cross-traffic alert, while SEL models tack on forward collision warning and automatic emergency braking.

VW's Car-Net telematics system, standard on SE models and up, includes automatic crash notification, roadside assistance, remote vehicle access, stolen vehicle location, and geo-fencing (which allows parents to set boundaries for teenage drivers). A Car-Net smartphone app lets owners control many of these functions on the go.

In government crash tests, the Jetta received five out of five stars for overall safety, with four stars for total front-impact protection and five stars for total side-impact protection. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety gave the Jetta the highest possible crash rating of Good in its moderate-overlap and small-overlap front-impact tests, as well as a Good score in the side-impact, roof strength and seat/head restraint (whiplash protection) tests.

In Edmunds brake testing, a Jetta SE came to a stop from 60 mph in 118 feet, which is better than average.