CARS.COM — The 2017 Volkswagen Jetta 1.4T SE was the third most expensive sedan in Cars.com's 2017 Compact Sedan Challenge of eight compacts priced less than $23,000. At its price of $22,815 with destination, the Jetta surely had a lot of room, but did it pack that big space with features?
The 2017 Compact Sedan Challenge
Results | Safety Features
Standout Features
The Jetta was one of two cars to include leatherette (imitation leather) seating surfaces for easy cleaning and a high-quality look. The upholstery comes with heated seats and is standard on the SE trim along with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, which display phone features including navigation, calls, texts and certain apps on the Jetta's multimedia display screen. The Jetta was one of five to include Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, and it comes with a moonroof, so it checks many boxes of what we track as desirable convenience features.
What's Missing
The Jetta didn't have all-wheel drive or complimentary maintenance, but few cars in this test did — and none together. Also missing was a forward collision warning system with automatic emergency braking others included, though it did have a blind spot monitoring system.
Editor's note: Cars.com's What You Get series is a component of our multicar comparisons where we spend a week testing a class of vehicles to find the best one. Each car meets a price limit, which is set by Cars.com, for the comparison. The 2017 Compact Sedan Challenge tested the 2017 Chevrolet Cruze, 2017 Honda Civic, 2017 Hyundai Elantra, 2017 Kia Forte, 2017 Mazda3, 2017 Subaru Impreza, 2017 Toyota Corolla and 2017 Volkswagen Jetta.
