Compare the2023 Honda AccordVS 2023 Volkswagen Jetta GLI

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 GLI 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 GLI 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 GLI doesn’t offer knee airbags.

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 GLI doesn’t offer a driver alert monitor.

Both the Accord and the Jetta GLI 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, lane departure warning systems, 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 GLI. 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 GLI ends after only 4 years or 50,000 miles.

The Accord’s corrosion warranty is unlimited miles longer than the Jetta GLI’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.

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.

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

Regenerative brakes improve the Accord Hybrid’s fuel efficiency by converting inertia back into energy instead of wasting it. The Jetta GLI 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 GLI Automatic.

To lower fuel costs and make buying fuel easier, the Honda Accord uses regular unleaded gasoline. The Jetta GLI requires premium for maximum efficiency, which can cost 20 to 55 cents more per gallon.

The Accord’s standard fuel tank has 1.6 gallons more fuel capacity than the Jetta GLI (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 GLI 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 GLI.

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 GLI doesn’t offer a CVT.

For better traction, the Accord Sport/Touring’s tires are larger than the largest tires available on the Jetta GLI (235/40R19 vs. 225/45R18).

The Accord Sport/Touring’s tires provide better handling because they have a lower 40 series profile (height to width ratio) that provides a stiffer sidewall than the Jetta GLI’s 45 series tires.

For better ride, handling and brake cooling the Accord Sport/Touring has standard 19-inch wheels. The Jetta GLI’s largest wheels are only 18-inches.

For a smoother ride and more stable handling, the Accord’s wheelbase is 5.8 inches longer than on the Jetta GLI (111.4 inches vs. 105.6 inches).

For better handling and stability, the average track (width between the wheels) on the Accord is 2.3 inches wider in the front and 2.9 inches wider in the rear than the track on the Jetta GLI.

The front grille of the Accord uses electronically controlled shutters to close off airflow and reduce drag when less engine cooling is needed. This helps improve highway fuel economy. The Jetta GLI doesn’t offer active grille shutters.

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 GLI 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 GLI is rated a Compact.

The Accord has 11.8 cubic feet more passenger volume than the Jetta GLI (105.7 vs. 93.9).

The Accord has 1.6 inches 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 GLI.

The Accord has a much larger trunk than the Jetta GLI (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 GLI’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 GLI doesn’t offer locking storage for small valuables.

The Accord uses gas struts to support the hood for easier service access. The Jetta GLI 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 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 GLI 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 GLI can’t use the remote to operate the windows.

Both the Accord and the Jetta GLI offer available heated front seats. The Accord Touring also has standard heated rear seats to keep those passengers extremely comfortable in the winter. Heated rear seats aren’t available in the Jetta GLI.

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