Category: Small Family 
Price Range: £11,945 to £20,460
Punchy and smooth petrol engine, class-leading refinement, rides well, good drive.
Price premium, uninspiring looks.
The pick of the Golf range.
It was rumoured that Volkswagen was going to cut the Golf's costs, resulting in a less 'premium' feel. We needn't have worried.
Rather than skimping on interior quality, VW has saved cash by reducing the time it takes to screw the car together. In fact, fit and finish has actually improved: high praise considering the old Golf led the class for perceived quality.
Now the sticking point: will the TSI prove reliable? The old Mk5, with its turbo 1.4, finished 30th out of 100 models in the 2008 JD Power Customer Satisfaction Survey. Owners reported electrical and mechanical gremlins, with air conditioning systems particularly problematic. Room for improvement, then.
The VW brand itself is mediocre, finishing joint 13th out of 30 in the JD Power league table for manufacturers.
Latest Readers' Drives About the Volkswagen Golf
wrote on 20 06 2007
wrote on 14 10 2006
wrote on 06 06 2006