Rear seat room is at a premium if driver and passenger position their seats to the rearmost location. We moved the seats slightly forward to accommodate a full load of passengers while retaining a relatively comfortable position for a tall driver. The rear seat features 60/40 fold-down capability as well as a pass-through feature for skis and fly rods. Three shoulder harness are installed in the rear for maximum safety.

In the Teutonic German fashion, the controls, switches and instruments are easy to see and manipulate. We were a bit skeptical when VW announced they were using blue lighting with red points on their instruments. Though blue is used as lighting in the aircraft industry, it can be difficult to read. However, our skepticism vanished quickly as darkness fell on our drive. The shade of blue that illuminates the instrument panel makes the numerals easy to read and the stark contrast of the red pointers make them stand out as if floating in thin air. In our GLS test vehicle the leather-wrapped, three-spoke steering wheel felt good in our hands. This firm grip goes right along with the sportiness of the Jetta. A new radio adds manual tuning to the scanning feature, making it possible to receive weaker signals.