Used 2012 Volkswagen Jetta for sale 

The Volkswagen Jetta is offered in four trims for the 2012 model year and is available with either a manual or an automatic transmission. It helps cater to a wide range of budgets and comes loaded with most of the necessary features right from the base trim. The higher-end trims add a hint of luxury and premium to the otherwise affordable car.

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The base and the S trims, although are very well packaged, lack a certain amount of features, and is best to opt for the SE trim, whereas the transmission choice remains a personal preference. If we have to go with one transmission, it will be the manual transmission as you feel more connected with the car.

The Volkswagen Jetta is offered with gasoline and a diesel engine, the latter producing 140 hp and 236 lb-ft from the 2.0L TDI engine. A gasoline counterpart is a 2.0-liter unit producing 115 horsepower and 125 lb-ft of torque. The gasoline engine is mated to a 5-speed manual or a 6-speed automatic transmission, whereas the diesel engine gets a 6-speed manual or a DSG gearbox.

The power is sent to the front wheels as standard, with no option available for an all-wheel-drive drivetrain. The performance from the underpowered gasoline engine is lackluster as it takes 10.8 seconds to achieve 60 mph from a standstill, whereas the quarter-mile takes a sedate 18.2 seconds. 

The Kia Forte is the most affordable car here and also generates the highest engine output, whereas the Jetta has the lowest engine output. The Forte is therefore the fastest in our acceleration tests, with the Honda Civic right at its tail. The Corolla is over a second slower than the Kia, whereas the Jetta is a second slower to 60 mph than the Corolla.

The Volkswagen Jetta is not one of the most efficient cars in the segment, and it shows with the EPA ratings. The EPA rates the 2012 Jetta for 24 mpg in the city, whereas it can run for 33 mpg out on the highway, while the overall combined fuel economy rating is 28 mpg. The large 14.5-gallon gas tank assures the owner of driving the car for about 400 miles of combined driving on a single tank of gas. 

There is no real competition to Japanese motors in terms of frugality, and the Honda Civic is the prime example of it. It is the most efficient car in this comparison, while the Toyota Corolla, also from Japan, has marginally lower efficiency. The Kia Forte is a bit more efficient than the VW Jetta, which has the highest fuel consumption. 

The Jetta becoming more affordable last year had its drawbacks, and most of them were seen inside its cabin. Although some of the previously available premium interior materials are now back with the SEL trim, the lower trims make use of cheap hard plastic surfaces, which is exactly opposite to what Jetta was known for in the previous generation. 

The build quality and the fit and finish are still top-notch, but a lot of the handy interior features are still missing, owing to the cost-cutting techniques. The overall design is pretty simple yet sophisticatedly laid out, and there is ample room for all five passengers to be seated comfortably. The Jetta also offers a rather large 15.7 cu-ft of trunk capacity, which should suffice most needs of an average buyer.

At the front, the Kia Forte offers acres of legroom and abundant headroom but compromises on the rear legroom space. The Jetta, on the other hand, has the roomiest rear seat and also has the largest boot. The Honda Civic and the Toyota Corolla, on the other hand, offer a great combination of front and rear seat comfort but offer a smaller capacity trunk. Major interior features include-

• 6-way adjustable heated front bucket sport seats
• 60/40 split-folding rear bench seat
• Two-tone leatherette seat trim
• Tilt/telescoping leather-wrapped 3-spoke multifunction steering wheel
• Leather-wrapped shift knob & handbrake grip
• Remote keyless entry w/remote push-button start

How is the 2012 Volkswagen Jetta Sedan’s infotainment system?

Although the Jetta has downgraded the interior, it is very neatly laid out and offers a clean design language. The touchscreen infotainment system is pretty intuitive to use and also offers a good amount of equipment. Although the small screen does affect the experience, the Fender audio system available on the top trims is a real treat for audiophiles. Few key infotainment features available with the sedan are-

• Premium VIII touchscreen infotainment system
• 6-disc in-dash CD changer
• RNS315 navigation system
• 7-speaker Fender premium audio w/subwoofer
• SiriusXM Satellite satellite radio with a 3-month complimentary subscription
• Bluetooth connectivity
• Media Device Interface (MDI) w/iPod cable

The Volkswagen Jetta has a typical European design, which makes it sleek, simple, and sophisticated, more like an executive sedan than being a wannabe sporty sedan.

There are smooth flowing straight lines with hardly any curves while the front grille and the headlamps aren’t exorbitantly large as some others to give it that mean look. Instead, it portrays a calm and sleek look which people also seem to have grown a liking to.

The Jetta is the longest, widest, and heaviest sedan in this comparison, but the much shorter Honda Civic offers a superior wheelbase. The Kia Forte too also offers a similarly sized wheelbase despite being shorter in length than the Jetta. It also offers the highest ground clearance of 5.9 inches, whereas the Jetta and Civic have the lowest, although there isn’t a great deal of difference between them. Few key exterior features include-

• Dual-reflector halogen headlamps
• Fog lamps
• Chrome grille and window trim
• Heated power mirrors w/integrated turn signals
• Power tilt/sliding sunroof
• Dual exhaust tips
• 17-inch Joda black-accented alloy wheels

The 2012 Volkswagen Jetta does well in its safety tests, as the government-run NHTSA has rated with an overall 4-star rating out of possible stars. On the other hand, the privately-owned IIHS has bestowed it with their ‘Top Safety Pick’ award in the crash tests conducted by them. There are various engineering techniques implemented in the design of the car alongside a considerable amount of safety features, which help the Jetta achieve this feat. Few salient safety features available with the Jetta are- 

• Electronic stability control (ESC)
• Anti-intrusion side-impact door beams
• Tire pressure monitoring system (TPMS)
• Dual front airbags w/passenger occupant detection
• Driver & front passenger side thorax and side curtain airbags
• Cruise control

The Volkswagen Jetta has now truly accepted the ‘People’s car’ philosophy by becoming more affordable than ever. Although the cabin hasn’t been compromised, the overall look and feel have. There aren’t as many features as it had before or what the competition offers even today, while there isn’t a great deal of performance on offer and the fuel efficiency isn’t up to the mark as well. Most of the rivals are better in most of these aspects, and that’s when Volkwagen’s decision of cutting costs on the Jetta raises some eyebrows and makes us choose the rivals over it in the segment.