Category: Small Family 
Price Range: £15,820 to £20,265
Plain but smart looks, well-equipped, good choice of engines and transmissions.
Rather ungainly boot design, noisy diesels.
An attractive compact saloon, but lacks image of 3-Series and so on - and the practicality of the Golf hatchback.
Insurance groupings are low (Group 6 for the 1.6 FSI and 1.9 TDI, 9 for the 2.0 TDI, and 11 for the 2.0 FSI, although the 2.0 T-FSI is in Group 15) and T-FSI apart, carbon dioxide emissions are reasonably low, thus determining reasonable VED tax bandings.
The 1.9 TDI returns a good 53mpg, the 2.0 TDI nearly 49mpg and the 1.6 FSI nearly 40mpg. The 2.0-litre petrol engines are less impressive on this score: 34mpg from the 150bhp unit, and 34.9mpg from the turbocharged T-FSI, which is pretty good for a car with such strong performance.
Volkswagen dealers aren't the cheapest, so servicing and maintenance will be fairly dear, but if you drive carefully and smoothly, you may be able to stretch out the variable service intervals - these are as indicated by the car's on-board computer, which assesses all its vital functions to diagnose when it needs an oil change or other attention.
