Category: Small Family 
Price Range: £16,315 to £20,855
Plain but smart looks, well-equipped, good choice of engines and transmissions.
Rather ungainly boot design, noisy diesels.
An attractive compact saloon, but lacks image of 3-Series and so on - and the practicality of the Golf hatchback.
Volkswagen's reputation has slipped in recent years, but major problems have been addressed and the company has instigated major initiatives to bring quality up to scratch again.
The Mk5 Golf, which shares this car's basic underpinnings and powertrains, is doing fine so far, though, and while the Jetta is built in Puebla, Mexico, rather than alongside the Golf in Wolfsburg, examples we've seen as yet have been well-finished with good attention to detail.
The interior has, if not quite as reassuringly expensive feel as that of the Passat, plastics and upholstery which mark it out as a cut above the Japanese and far eastern imports in this sector.
