Compare the2023 Honda AccordVS 2023 Volkswagen Jetta

For enhanced safety, the front and rear seat shoulder belts of the Honda Accord have pretensioners to tighten the seatbelts and eliminate dangerous slack in the event of a collision. The Volkswagen Jetta doesn’t offer pretensioners for its rear seat belts.

In the past twenty years hundreds of infants and young children have died after being left in vehicles, usually by accident. When turning the vehicle off, drivers of the Accord are reminded to check the back seat if they opened the rear door before starting out. The Jetta doesn’t offer a back seat reminder.

The Honda Accord has standard driver and front passenger side knee airbags mounted low on the dashboard. These airbags helps prevent the driver and front passenger from sliding under their seatbelts or the main frontal airbags; this keeps them better positioned during a collision for maximum protection. Knee airbags also help keep the legs from striking the dashboard, preventing knee and leg injuries in the case of a serious frontal collision. The Jetta doesn’t offer knee airbags.

Over 200 people are killed each year when backed over by motor vehicles. The Accord Touring has standard Low Speed Braking Control that uses rear sensors to monitor and automatically apply the brakes to prevent a rear collision. The Jetta doesn’t offer backup collision prevention brakes.

The Accord’s standard lane departure warning system alerts a temporarily inattentive driver when the vehicle begins to leave its lane and gently nudges the vehicle back towards its lane. A lane departure warning system costs extra on the Jetta.

The Accord’s driver alert monitor detects an inattentive driver then sounds a warning and suggests a break. According to the NHTSA, drivers who fall asleep cause about 100,000 crashes and 1500 deaths a year. The Jetta doesn’t offer a driver alert monitor.

Both the Accord and the Jetta have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, side-impact head airbags, front wheel drive, height adjustable front shoulder belts, plastic fuel tanks, four-wheel antilock brakes, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, crash mitigating brakes, daytime running lights, rearview cameras, available blind spot warning systems, rear parking sensors and rear cross-path warning.

Honda’s powertrain warranty covers the Accord 1 year and 10,000 miles longer than Volkswagen covers the Jetta. Any repair needed on the engine, transmission, axles, joints or driveshafts is fully covered for 5 years or 60,000 miles. Coverage on the Jetta ends after only 4 years or 50,000 miles.

The Accord’s corrosion warranty is unlimited miles longer than the Jetta’s (unlimited vs. 100,000 miles).

There are over 67 percent more Honda dealers than there are Volkswagen dealers, which makes it much easier should you ever need service under the Accord’s warranty.

A hardened steel chain, with no maintenance needs, drives the camshafts in the Accord’s engine. A rubber cam drive belt that needs periodic replacement drives the Jetta’s camshafts. If the Jetta’s belt breaks, the engine could be severely damaged when the pistons hit the opened valves.

J.D. Power and Associates’ 2022 Initial Quality Study of new car owners surveyed provide the statistics that show that Honda vehicles are better in initial quality than Volkswagen vehicles. With 47 fewer problems per 100 vehicles, JD Power ranks Honda higher than Volkswagen.

From surveys of all its subscribers, Consumer Reports’ January 2023 Auto Issue reports that Honda vehicles are more reliable than Volkswagen vehicles. Consumer Reports ranks Honda 18 places higher in reliability than Volkswagen.

The Accord’s standard 1.5 turbo 4-cylinder produces 34 more horsepower (192 vs. 158) and 8 lbs.-ft. more torque (192 vs. 184) than the Jetta’s 1.5 turbo 4-cylinder. The Accord Hybrid’s standard 2.0 DOHC 4-cylinder hybrid produces 46 more horsepower (204 vs. 158) than the Jetta’s 1.5 turbo 4-cylinder.

On the EPA test cycle the Accord gets better mileage than the Jetta:

Regenerative brakes improve the Accord Hybrid’s fuel efficiency by converting inertia back into energy instead of wasting it. The Jetta doesn’t offer a regenerative braking system.

Regardless of its engine, the Accord’s engine automatically turns off when the vehicle is stopped, saving fuel and reducing pollution. Volkswagen only offers an automatic engine start/stop system on the Jetta Automatic.

The Accord’s standard fuel tank has 1.6 gallons more fuel capacity than the Jetta (14.8 vs. 13.2 gallons).

The Accord has a standard cap-less fueling system. The fuel filler is automatically opened when the fuel nozzle is inserted and automatically closed when it’s removed. This eliminates the need to unscrew and replace the cap and it reduces fuel evaporation, which causes pollution. The Jetta doesn’t offer a cap-less fueling system.

The Honda Accord comes standard with an automatic transmission, for driver comfort, especially in the city. Automatic costs extra on the Jetta.

The Accord has a standard continuously variable transmission (CVT). With no “steps” between gears, it can keep the engine at the most efficient speed for fuel economy, or keep it at its peak horsepower indefinitely for maximum acceleration. The Jetta doesn’t offer a CVT.

For better stopping power the Accord’s brake rotors are larger than those on the Jetta:

For better traction, the Accord has larger standard tires than the Jetta (225/50R17 vs. 205/60R16). The Accord Sport/Touring’s tires are larger than the largest tires available on the Jetta (235/40R19 vs. 205/60R16).

The Accord LX/EX/EX-L’s standard tires provide better handling because they have a lower 50 series profile (height to width ratio) that provides a stiffer sidewall than the Jetta S’ standard 60 series tires. The Accord Sport/Touring’s tires have a lower 40 series profile than the Jetta Sport/SE/SEL’s 55 series tires.

For better ride, handling and brake cooling the Accord LX/EX/EX-L has standard 17-inch wheels. Smaller 16-inch wheels are standard on the Jetta S. The Accord Sport/Touring’s 19-inch wheels are larger than the 17-inch wheels on the Jetta Sport/SE/SEL.

For superior ride and handling, the Honda Accord has fully independent front and rear suspensions. An independent suspension allows the wheels to follow the road at the best angle for gripping the pavement, without compromising ride comfort. The Volkswagen Jetta has a rear torsion beam axle, with a semi-independent rear suspension.

The Accord has standard front and rear stabilizer bars, which help keep the Accord flat and controlled during cornering. The Jetta’s suspension doesn’t offer a rear stabilizer bar.

For a smoother ride and more stable handling, the Accord’s wheelbase is 5.7 inches longer than on the Jetta (111.4 inches vs. 105.7 inches).

For better handling and stability, the average track (width between the wheels) on the Accord is 2.1 inches wider in the front and 3.3 inches wider in the rear than the track on the Jetta.

The Accord uses computer-generated active noise cancellation to help remove annoying noise and vibration from the passenger compartment, especially at low frequencies. The Jetta doesn’t offer active noise cancellation.

Because it has more passenger and cargo room, the EPA rates the Accord a Large car, while the Jetta is rated a Compact.

The Accord has 11 cubic feet more passenger volume than the Jetta (105.7 vs. 94.7).

The Accord has 1 inch more front headroom, 1.2 inches more front legroom, 2.4 inches more front hip room, 2 inches more front shoulder room, .1 inches more rear headroom, 3.4 inches more rear legroom, 4 inches more rear hip room and 2.5 inches more rear shoulder room than the Jetta.

The Accord has a much larger trunk than the Jetta (16.7 vs. 14.1 cubic feet).

With its sedan body style, valet key, locking rear seatbacks and remote trunk release lockout, the Accord offers cargo security. The Jetta’s non-lockable remote release defeats cargo security.

A standard locking glovebox (which can’t be accessed with the valet key) keeps your small valuables safer in the Accord EX/Sport/EX-L/Touring. The Jetta doesn’t offer locking storage for small valuables.

The Accord uses gas struts to support the hood for easier service access. The Jetta uses a prop rod to support its heavy hood. It takes two hands to open the hood and set the prop rod, the prop rod gets in the way during maintenance and service, and the prop rod could be knocked out, causing the heavy hood to fall on the person maintaining or servicing the car.

The Accord Sport-L/EX-L/Touring’s standard easy entry system glides the driver’s seat back when the door is unlocked or the ignition is switched off, making it easier for the driver to get in and out. The Jetta doesn’t offer an easy entry system.

The Accord Touring has a standard heads-up display that projects speed and navigation instruction readouts in front of the driver’s line of sight, allowing drivers to view information without diverting their eyes from the road. The Jetta doesn’t offer a heads-up display.

On a hot day the Accord’s driver can lower all the windows from a distance with the keyless remote or at the outside door handle. The driver of the Jetta can’t use the remote to operate the windows.

The Accord’s standard speed-sensitive wipers speed up when the vehicle does, so that the driver doesn’t have to continually adjust the speed of the wipers. The Jetta’s standard manually variable intermittent wipers have to be constantly adjusted.

When the Accord Touring is put in reverse, the passenger rearview mirror tilts from its original position. This gives the driver a better view of the curb during parallel parking maneuvers. Shifting out of reverse puts the mirror into its original position. The Jetta’s mirror doesn’t automatically adjust for backing.

The Honda Accord outsold the Volkswagen Jetta by over four to one during 2022.