There’s nothing wrong with the Volkswagen Jetta, but why on earth would you get one when the Golf is so much more versatile?

• Comfort

  Great seats, a supple ride and fine refinement mark out the Jetta as a car that cossets you like something from the next class up. It's a good place to be.

  

• Performance

  Any of the 1.4 TSI engines over-delivers - it comes as a 122, 140 and 170 output, but also has generous torque at usefully low revs, so forget about the small capacity. The 1.6 base engine is a bit raucous, and underwhelming. The 2.0 high-power diesel is the noisy TDI design - wait for the smoother common-rail version that's being rolled out across the VW Group.

  

• Cool

  If you need to ask why a saloon is so uncool while the related Golf is much cooler, you've clicked onto the wrong website.

  

• Quality

  The Golf family, of which this is a member, isn't the leader it once was in perceived quality, and there are some uninspiring slabs of hard plastic around the cabin. But the firm furniture and vault-like doors reassure you that it's made of good stuff.

  

• Handling

  The Jetta feels well engineered and always on your side. You always get lots of warning of what's happening, and it's almost always benign. It's not all that light on its feet though.

  

• Practicality

  While the Jetta doesn't have the versatility of a hatch, it does have a colossal boot. And the rear seat backs do flop forwards to extend the bay a bit.

  

• Running costs

  Treat it gently and you can get the Jetta's service intervals up to 20,000 miles. The TSi and TDI engines are pretty careful with fuel, and insurance isn't bad - the 200bhp version is group 15 while a Golf GTI is 17. Because, presumably, no-one wants to steal a Jetta or drive it fast.