About the Volkswagen Golf
K P purchased this Volkswagen Golf new for $46,000 (including all on-road costs). K P wouldn’t buy this car again because: “Yes, if I was taken back in time to the same situation. However, would I buy the current generation, sadly not.
I feel the hot hatch game has moved on and who is the market leader is not as clear. The newer Mk8 GTI doesn’t represent the same value either, even though there is a lot carried over from the Mk7.5. I’ve also found cost of ownership is quite high, the better performing wet clutch type DSG fitted to my GTI accounts for some of this. “
How reliable has your car been? Tell us about any issues.
Very reliable. It hasn’t had a single mechanical issue or niggle. This is to be expected with the last of a generation.
Volkswagen has done an excellent job refining and improving the Mk7 over its lifetime and this shows in the reliability of this vehicle.
What do you think of the ownership experience with your car?
Overall ownership has been smooth yet a slightly expensive experience.
Servicing has been higher than expected but fuel costs have been reasonable despite it sipping premium unleaded, with long term fuel economy sitting around 7.5L/100km.
The feature set of the car still stacks up against new models that cost a lot more. It is a very enjoyable car to drive, with a screen load of settings, adaptive dampers, and drive modes to boot.
The seven-speed wet clutch DSG is the best dual clutch around by a long way. It doesn’t suffer any of the common dual clutch gripes.
How has the purchase and aftercare experience been with your car?
The aftersales support from Volkswagen has been good and any questions I’ve had have been answered promptly.
My vehicle was even selected by Volkswagen Australia to be used in a mystery shopper program to test dealerships, the upshot of this was they picked up and dropped off the car and paid for the service.
This is not common across other brands in Australia, which shows how serious Volkswagen take the aftersales experience.
Are you happy with the price and features of your car?
Without doubt, the amount of included features for the drive-away price I paid is unmatched in todays market.
The custom drive modes, full size screen in front of the driver, LED lights all round, adaptive suspension, sports exhaust, auto reserve parking… the list really goes on.
Plus the 2.0L turbo is such a impressive engine, torque at any speed but still very efficient
What do you think of the performance and economy of your car?
I genuinely think this is all the performance car you need on Australian roads. I’ve had faster and sportier cars but this feels like the goldilocks zone for hot hatches.
It’s fast enough to have a blast on some twisty roads but it’s a breeze to keep tame. Economy has been excellent, when I was daily driving 100km a day, I would regularly return 6.8 L/100km on a mix of highway and city driving.
In short, a very complete package.
What do you think of the technology in your car?
This car has all the options and technology you need in a modern car, and considering its sub $50k price tag, it doesn’t miss out on much. The adaptive cruise and lane keeping system is excellent and doesn’t intrude like others I have used.
The stop/start is smart and never leaves the car off when you need it most. The feature set inside would be at home on a car twice the price, it is well thought out, easy to use and reliable.
I enjoy the auto reserve parking feature, its still impressive how well it works. The screen in front of the driver is clear and gives you all the major items of information. The entertainment system is smaller than what you would typically see in new cars, but its responsive and has all the creature comforts.
Best of all there’s not a capacitive button or switch in sight.
What do you think of the ride comfort and handling of your car?
A big tick for ride and handling. It’s certainly not the last word in sporty hot hatch feel, I came from a Renault Sport Megane with the Cup chassis, now that’s an informative ride.
The front end can feel a little lazy when you’re really pushing but overall it always feels sure footed and controllable.
But to live with everyday, in and around the city and suburbia, it’s very good. Set it to comfort and its a relaxing experience.