Volkswagen Jetta (Rental) Test Drive

Casey's List:

The Good

HUGE trunk
Windshield Wipers had many speeds to choose from
Quiet ride

The Bad

Seats were very shallow, even for me
No outside keyhole on any door but driver's
Windshield wipers confusing to use thanks to all the settings

Jetta Jockey

We rented a Jetta from Dollar Rent-a-Car on the Big Island of Hawaii. We actually had a Jeep Wrangler first but needed to be able to lock our luggage in the car so we traded the Jeep in. The Jetta was white with black cloth interior and looked like she'd been abused and smoked in. The outside was a bit dinged up, especially on the passenger side. We were a little worried about the abuse at first, but it was only cosmetic.

Overall, the interior was much more comfortable than our Jeep, and the ride was miles quieter. The seats were a bit shallow (and I'm only 5'1") but were otherwise comfortable. The car had no problems on the steep roads we took around the volcano.

We headed over to the wet side of the island in search of a black beach, and the car drove in the rain quite nicely. The only problem I had was that the windshield wipers had too many adjustments. They could be set and various intermittent levels and also several normal levels. Too many choices for me; I would have found it easier had it just low, medium and fast speeds. Of course once used to it they would be fine, but in a rental car simple would be be preferred.

The Jetta left me with a favorable opinion of Volkswagen, and while the Jetta seemed on the small side, I was impressed enough with it that I would look at other models in their lineup if I were in the market for a sedan. Plus they have a wagon version and it's pretty cute!