Upscale interior, unsurprisingly
Volkswagen is good at creating cockpits that use high-quality plastics and textures. Fit and finish is great in my test car, and you really feel that you're getting your money's worth when you sit inside. The doors emit a hollow metallic sound when you close them, however, which isn't very pleasant.

As with other Volkswagen products, the interior fit and finish is good.

The gray dashboard is pretty sober, but is functional nonetheless. The radio and ventilation buttons and dials are straightforward, and the instrument panel has big legible gauges. The 10-speaker sound system is a nice feature to have as standard equipment, and performs very well.

The seats are wrapped in nice grippy fabric and offer a good amount of lateral support. Climbing in the rear seat is a little painful for the back in a three-door compact car, but once you sit down in the Rabbit, you'll find that two adults will fit comfortably. And no one can deny the practicality of a hatchback, as there is ample storage space that can get even bigger once you push down the rear seatback.

Competition
Trying to find real competitors for the Rabbit is tough; the Ford Focus ZX3 and ZX5, the Kia Spectra5 and the MINI Cooper are all compact hatchbacks within reach of this VW's size and price. You can always compare the 5-door Rabbit to small wagons such as the Dodge Caliber and Mazda3 Sport. All these models are pretty fun to drive, although the Kia trails the other in that regard.

Pricing for the 3-door Rabbit starts at $19,990 but can go over 24k with options.