Volkswagen Jetta

The 2026 Jetta in brief

The 2026 Volkswagen Jetta is a compact car offered with a 1.5L 4-cyl turbo engine and front-wheel drive.

It measures about 186 inches long and 71 inches wide on a 106-inch wheelbase, with a curb weight of roughly 2,976 lb (4dr Sedan).

EPA rates its most efficient version at 34 MPG combined (29 city / 40 highway), 16% better than the 2026 compact car average of 29.2 MPG, for an estimated $1,950 a year in fuel.

It has 1 recall campaign on file and owners have filed 6 complaints with NHTSA since 2015, most often about the electrical system.

The Volkswagen Jetta has 23 model years in our data, from 2005 to 2027.

Its most efficient year was 2016 at 44 MPG combined; across all years the best version ranged from 25 to 44 MPG.

Owners most often report problems with the electrical system (1,067), engine (811), unknown or other (700).

Buying used? 2023 has the fewest problems in our data, and 2019 is the year to avoid.

2019 has the most recalls (11); all years together count 42 campaigns and 4,090 owner complaints.

How the 2005 Jetta compares

The 2005 Volkswagen Jetta is a compact car offered with 4 engines (1.9L 4-cyl turbo, 1.8L 4-cyl turbo, 2.0L 4-cyl and 2.5L 5-cyl) and front-wheel drive.

It measures about 172 inches long and 69 inches wide on a 99-inch wheelbase, with a curb weight of roughly 3,179 lb (4dr Sedan FWD /Gli).

About the Volkswagen Jetta

The Volkswagen Jetta is a compact car/small family car manufactured and marketed by Volkswagen since 1979. Positioned to fill a sedan niche slightly above the Golf hatchback, it has been marketed over seven generations, variously as the Atlantic, Vento, Bora, City Jetta, Jetta City, GLI, Jetta, Clasico, and Sagitar.

From the Wikipedia article "Volkswagen Jetta", licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.