It's none of our business if Mr. Mahovalich wants to, and has excess money to afford to, buy his kid a car, no need to pass judgement, and in fact, I think it's nice. Back to the topic, all economy cars are so similar nowadays, you really can't go wrong with any of the choices.
Some things to consider though, if the Jetta breaks down it will be much much more expensive to repair than the Elantra or Forte, and VW doesn't have the best reputation in terms of reliability. In terms of re-sale, I'd say the Mazda 3 would be the most valuable, since of the 5 cars listed it's the most popular, although the Elantra is quickly becoming the most popular in its class. Since the differences are slight, it just comes down to personal preference, and I'd personally go with the Mazda 3 or Hyundai Elantra.
