2025 Volkswagen Jetta vs Kia K4
We compare two top sedans: the long running Volkswagen Jetta vs the Kia K4, to see which one is the better buy.
Two Standout Sedans
Did anyone else forget sedans aren’t illegal yet? In a sea of crossover SUVs that all look, drive, and handle pretty much the same, a few automakers still make vehicles for folks who resist market trends. Among them, Kia and Volkswagen offer two of the best values.
Between the all-new Kia K4 and the long-time stalwart the Volkswagen Jetta, there’s more value to go around than nearly the rest of the sedan market put together.
A New Name vs the Old Guard
Is a tried-and-true platform a better deal than a shiny, new offering from an OEM on a meteoric rise? It’d be wrong to say Kia hasn’t made VW sweat the last 10 years or so, but let’s crack in and see what’s up.
Getting to the meaty stuff right away, the Kia K4 is nothing short of a bold replacement for the long-extant Forte. For nearly 15 years, the Forte was one of Kia’s bread-and-butter models. A zippy, practical little subcompact that might not have been as reliable or refined as a Corolla but often undercut the competition by thousands under sticker price. Only time will tell if the K4 holds up over time. But on the surface, a surprisingly easy-to-decipher model lineup starts at just $21,990, which means you won’t have to hemorrhage your future to buy into a brand-new Kia.
Trims, Specs, and Features
For this price, the base front-wheel-drive LX offers a choice of three exterior colors and black cloth seats, a 12.3 center touch screen with iOS and Android connectivity, and a six-speaker stereo, whereas some entry sedans only have four. USB-C connectivity is ample enough for front and rear passengers at this price point, even sporting two ports for rear seat passengers. Elsewhere, 16-inch steel wheels might sound tiny and old-fashioned these days, but they happen to fit the smaller stature of the K4 quite well.
Moving up the range, the front-wheel-drive LXS at $22,990 nets you turn-by-turn navigation independent of iOS or Android, a six-speaker sound system over the LX’s four, higher-quality cloth seat covers, plus entry into Kia’s highway driving assist, and navigation-based adaptive cruise control system. It’s all made to look nice, thanks to black alloy wheels instead of steelies. For just $1,000 more, the EX gives you all of this but a 12.3-inch digital gauge display and wireless phone charging to go with front and rear USB-C ports.
SynTex vegan leather trim pieces on the gear knob and steering wheel, plus illuminated sliding sunvisor vanity mirrors, are two final touches to prove the K4 doesn’t have to skimp on quality.
Across the board, the K5’s safety suite is far too chocked with tech to list all at once. But blind spot detection makes its debut with the mid-range LXS, as does rear cross-traffic collision avoidance capability. The lower trimmed LX still makes use of lane-keeping assist and smart cruise control on top of forward collision avoidance assist. But on the Volkswagen side, the Jetta’s four trim levels for 2025 are simplicity at its finest.
Starting at just $21,995 for the base S model, the German sedan is cheaper on the lower end than the South Korean kings of value. For your money, you actually get more standard equipment than the previous model year for slightly less. This includes a redesigned interior, complete with a funky-looking floating eight-inch infotainment screen with all the phone connectivity you’d expect with cloth seats as standard.
While many platforms save a digital gauge cluster for the range-topping trim, 2025, Jetta drivers will have an eight-inch digital info unit as their gauge display regardless of the trim. As a statement for what a modern interior 2025 wields within, that’s an awfully impactful one. Up the range to the Sport at $23,275, an integrated LED front light bar in the grille is a tasteful touch of modern styling to match the interior. Trim-specific 17-inch alloy wheels make the trim distinct from the one below it. The SE at $26,665 adds Cloudtex leatherette seat coverings plus a pair of USB-C charging ports for the whole family to use.
By the team, you reach the range-topper SEL at $29,000; the Jetta gives you a near one-to-one recreation of the range-topping K4’s suite of tech plus other goodies like sports comfort front seats trimmed in plush leather to go along with a BeatsAudio sound system. For the extra money, you get a more refined Volkswagen Digital Cockpit Pro 10.25 gauge display that’s configurable by the user, unlike the rest of the range. All in all, you’ll have to upgrade to the larger Kia K5 to reach a level of features on par with the higher trim 2025 Jettas. For a platform far older than the K4, that’s quite interesting.
Driving and Performance
It doesn’t matter which “normal” K4 or Jetta trim you buy. None of them have the makings of a varsity athlete. The Jetta’s 1.5-liter four-cylinder engine may be turbocharged, but 158 horsepower isn’t going to impress anyone. Kudos for the eight-speed automatic transmission over a CVT, though. So, too, with the K4, its base two-liter four-pot makes even less power at 147 horses total. Not great at all by any means.
But there’s a reason we deliberately skipped over the range-topping trims for both these cars. We were saving them until we could talk about their engines. On the VW side, the Jetta GLI Sport Sedan is at $32,715, and its two-liter turbocharged engine has 228 horsepower to play with and 258 lb-ft of torque. Did we mention it’s a six-speed stick shift? Now THAT’s a really sporty sedan. Then again, the Kia K4 GT-Line Turbo trim dropping very soon is a decent parallel for the Jetta GLI. With 195 horsepower at the GT-Line Turbo’s disposal, it’s bound to be a pocket rocket.
Fuel economy for both the Kia and VW are great for the non-hybrid market segment. We’re talking 30 MPG in the city and 40 MPG on the highway for non-turbo K4s and the same city MPG plus one extra over the Kia on the highway for the Jetta. Both have ample trunk space for their size, 14.1 ft³ in the Jetta and 14.6 in the K4. Ditto for rear legroom; the Kia has 38 inches to the Jetta’s 41.1. When you break both cars down to their core figures, there’s not much between them at all.
The Verdict
That presents a problem because either of these compact sedans would be great pickups if you brought them home. So, in the end, all credit goes to Kia for making the K4 into a fitting successor to the beloved Forte.
But in a world where the Jetta is one of the longest-standing sedans in its North American market segment, there’s a reason VW still keeps it around in the era of the SUV. With a particular emphasis on the Jetta GLI, the Jetta just feels more exciting than the plain Jane, inoffensive K4.
At a time when German engineering is often more of a marketing gimmick in North America than solid facts, the Jetta is not only more exciting than a K4 but also slightly more sensibly designed. Thanks to the latest refresh, it also looks funky both inside and out. One thing’s for sure, the six-speed in the GLI would absolutely never get old.
