The Volkswagen Jetta is one of the most popular European mid-sized cars sold today in the United States and the top selling VW across the globe. In the US, it offers a German competitor to standouts in the market like the Honda Accord, Subaru Outback and Subaru Legacy, Ford Fusion, Hyundai Sonata, Nissan Altima, Chevrolet Malibu, Toyota Camry, and Toyota Prius V, as well as a cheaper alternative to its stablemates the Volkswagen Passat and Volkswagen CC. Available in both sedan and station wagon versions, the Jetta is frequently chosen by parents interested in safe ways of transporting their children and families in daily life. This post is about my efforts to find which car seats fit best in the Volkswagen Jetta, along with reviews of those seats and how they work in 3 across configurations.

In my experience, the best protected children in vehicles are the ones who rear-face as long as they can (ideally until 4!), and then forward-face as long as feasible (ideally until 8!), and then booster until they can use a regular seat belt (which typically happens between 10 and 12). These guidelines keep your children as safe as possible by keeping them in the right orientations as long as possible.

However, in order to make the best decisions regarding rear-facing, forward-facing, and boostering, it’s essential to know which car seats will and won’t work in your Jetta, which is precisely where this guide comes in. I rented several recent Jettas and went through my collection of car seats to find which car seats would and wouldn’t puzzle well in a Jetta. My results are below, and I’ll continue to update them as I find more seats to test.

You can access the complete 3 across guide for every vehicle here and the complete list of recommended seats here. Canadians can find recommended infant, convertible, combination, and booster seats here. 3 across car seat images are courtesy of Wikipedia.

2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017 Volkswagen Jetta (A6, Typ 1B)

Guaranteed 3 across installations:

Clek Fllo (x3).

Clek Foonf (x3).

Diono Radian RXT (x3).

Diono Radian R120 (x3).

Diono Radian R100 (x3).

Chicco KeyFit 30 (x3).

Combi Coccoro (x3).

Diono Radian / RXT, Diono Radian / RXT, Combi Coccoro.

Clek Fllo, Diono Radian / RXT, Combi Coccoro.

Clek Foonf, Diono Radian / RXT, Combi Coccoro.

This generation of the Volkswagen Jetta is 182 inches long and 70 inches wide, which means it’s going to be a bit tougher to achieve a 3 across installation than you’d expect from a mid-sized car, which are typically around 72 inches wide or even wider. That said, it’s more than possible to get a good set of installations, especially if you’re willing to use 3 sets of seat belts instead of LATCH anchors, which tend to take up more room than seat belts.

These installations apply equally to the sedan and SportWagen (hatchback station wagon) version of the Jetta.

2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010 Volkswagen Jetta (A5, Typ 1K)

Guaranteed 3 across installations:

Clek Fllo (x3).

Clek Foonf (x3).

Diono Radian RXT (x3).

Diono Radian R120 (x3).

Diono Radian R100 (x3).

Combi Coccoro (x3).

Diono Radian / RXT, Diono Radian / RXT, Combi Coccoro.

Clek Fllo, Diono Radian / RXT, Combi Coccoro.

Clek Foonf, Diono Radian / RXT, Combi Coccoro.

The 2005-2010 generation of the Volkswagen Jetta is 179 inches long and 69 inches wide, or 3 inches shorter and 1 inch narrower than the following generation. What this means is that you’re going to have a bit of a rougher time in 3 across installations with this generation than you would with the current generation, and that practically speaking, it will feel like a small car instead of a mid-sized one on the inside. That said, it’s still possible to get a range of seats in if you use narrow ones and stick to the seat belt system for all installations.

If you’re going to buy one of the Radians above and use it to rear-face in this generation of the Jetta, I’d definitely recommend also picking up the angle adjuster. It’s a cheap but super functional accessory for reducing the space the Radians take up, and it will make driving or being a front-seat passenger much more pleasant.

1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004 Volkswagen Jetta (A4, Typ 1J)

Guaranteed 3 across installations:

Clek Fllo (x3).

Clek Foonf (x3).

Diono Radian RXT (x3).

Diono Radian R120 (x3).

Diono Radian R100 (x3).

Combi Coccoro (x3).

Diono Radian / RXT, Diono Radian / RXT, Combi Coccoro.

Clek Fllo, Diono Radian / RXT, Combi Coccoro.

Clek Foonf, Diono Radian / RXT, Combi Coccoro.

The 1999-2004 generation of the Volkswagen Jetta is 172 inches long and 68 inches wide, or 7 inches shorter and 1 inch narrower than the current generation. Once again, this generation of the Jetta will feel like a small car instead of a mid-sized one on the inside, and in this case both the EPA and IIHS classify it as a small car. That said, it’s still possible to get a range of seats in if you use narrow ones and stick to the seat belt system for all installations.

If you’re going to buy one of the Radians above and use it to rear-face in this generation of the Jetta, I’d definitely recommend also picking up the angle adjuster. It’s a cheap but super functional accessory for reducing the space the Radians take up, and it will make driving or being a front-seat passenger much more pleasant.

If you find the information on car safety, recommended car seats, and car seat reviews on this car seat blog helpful, you can shop through this Amazon link for any purchases, car seat-related or not. Canadians can shop through this link for Canadian purchases.