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anyone got any views on this? do you think it would be pointless getting it with only a 1.4 engine?
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Which Golf? Mk4 or Mk5?? In any case too slow for such an heavy car. depends what you'll be using it for. If pottering about in town etc I'd go for a 1.6.
But please tell us more and I can then give you better advice.
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I would imagine it would be woefully underpowered, but the best way is to book a test drive and see if it's an issue for you.
New Golfs are also comically overpriced, and apart from the higher powered TDI and GTI models, the residuals are not as concrete as you might think. Bear in mind that the mk6 Golf is allegedly coming next year as well.
I think you'd need to really want a Golf to buy a 1.4S, but why not have a go in one and see what you think. My own view is that Golfs have always been great as diesels and GTI's, but pretty unremarkable otherwise.
But you might feel differently.
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Read HJ's car by car breakdown on the left. It seems some quality control issues are not being solved very well. ISTR PoloGirl having a problem with the paintwork on her new Golf last autumn.
Don't get hung up on 1.4 engines because of the insurance. The Golf 1.4 TSI (£18,000) is as fast as a 2.0! It has two turbos...
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I had one as a hire car a while back. Really really really underpowered. I was driving around Wales and got seriously fed up with having to change gear pretty much constantly just to keep up with the traffic round bends and on anything even vaguely resembling a hill.
It had ESP which made me laugh as I can't imagine being able to go fast enough to lose traction!!
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the truth is that i am a badge snob -terrible i know- i want a vw because of the reputation and the brand. i cant afford a bigger engine one - and desperately want a new car - in our family we get one bought for us and then we are on our own. i've looked at other cars and the only other two that i sort of like are the new corsa - but then everyone seems to say something bad about it - and the vw polo SE 1.4 - and that doesnt have the most exciting interior - i dont know much about cars but know vw have a good reputation
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"i dont know much about cars but know vw have a good reputation".
Reputation for what exactly?
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I had a Mk V Golf 1.4 FSI (90 BHP), and whilst it was fine around town, but I had to plan overtaking about 3 weeks in advance, and to get to 80-90mph took an absolute eternity. Also had all kinds of reliability issues, and it used a ridiculous amount of oil, which VW (3 seperate dealerships) claimed was a charcteristic of the engine........... avoid like the plague. Can you not pick up a 1.6 FSI Match/SE from a supermarket for around £13k? I had a 1.6 as a courtesy car and it was more than adequate. If you can find a demostrator 1.9 TDI, all the better.
Have you looked at Skoda Fabia's? I have a vRS now and it looks superb, and is a real pocket rocket. If not id go down the route of a Mini One.
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being solid,reliable cars - dont they?
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'i dont know much about cars but know vw have a good reputation'
You are wrong - VW has only an average reputation nowadays. All the ownership surveys show the Japanese brands to be the best.
Everyone does not have something bad to say about the new Corsa. Autocar says it is the best supermini.
Your received opinions seem to be somewhat selected.
I like VWs and am on my eighth in a row BUT they can be expensive to run.
Go for a Hyundai and get a 5 year warranty. How's that for a good reputation? Or a Yaris - top of the polls?
--
I wasna fu but just had plenty.
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VW Golfs are still just trading on the reputation that was built up with the Mk1 (70s to early 80s) and the Mk2 (to 92/3) - since then they have been average cars, in all reality. They had some very good advertising in that era too, and Golf became the car of choice amongst the Yuppie generation who didn't have BMW money but would not be seen dead in a Ford/Vauxhall/Nissan.
Look very hard at Toyota, which for me is probably the the best of the mfrs now, with really good cars at most prices/sizes. Even with £13k to spend you should have salesmen eating out of your hand, and if they don't want your business, then vote with your feet and wallet.
I still stand by my first advice though. Spend £5k, bank £8k, and buy a new car that you are really going to enjoy in 2-3 years time. You'll appreciate it all the more, and you might even be able to save some money during that time to get something even better.
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My VW was an unreliable, hopeless pile of poo! (And the dealers were just as bad). My Vauxhall was the paragon of reliability with a decent dealer!
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>>> My Vauxhall was the paragon of reliability with a decent dealer!
Mirrors my own experience with Mazda.
Clk Sec
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Agree with the others - there are many reasons to buy VW but my experience is that reliability is not one of them!
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You mention in a different post that you can only afford a 1.4 petrol because of insurance reasons, however it's worth noting that the Golf 1.4S has an insurance group rating of 6, the same as the 1.6 Golf and the 1.9 TDi Golf, and significantly higher a grouping than say, a 1.4 Megane which is only insurance group 3, and will most certainly be a significantly lower insurance cost. I suggest you get some quotes for different cars you're considering using confused.com, and look closer into the insurance matter. My 1.6 Focus cost me £1250 to insure fully comp when I was new driver, 18 and male.
I really don't think the 1.4 Golf is a good idea - the lack of power as heavy as a Golf will annoy, especially when you've been shopping with friends. If you really do want a Golf - and I'll support any decision to consider one, it's a good all-rounder in my view - I really would consider the 1.6 or 1.9TDi - the extra cost to buy of the 1.9TDi would probably be reflected in better residual values...
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I agree with the other comments on reputation and reliability. SWMBO's family are VW nuts, and between them have 3 mkIV Golfs, 1 mkV Golf, a Passat and a Polo. None have been totally reliable, and one (Passat) has been dreadful. It's needed over £2,500 worth of repairs since the warranty ran out in 2005, and it hasn't yet done 80,000 miles. In fairness, the Golfs have been reasonable, but certainly no more reliable than the Focuses, Meganes and Astras on our side of the family.
If you really want a VW then fine, but please don't go into it thinking you're getting anything more than average reliability or build quality.
Cheers
DP
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>>average reliability or build quality.>>
My November 1999 1.6 16v Bora has been a model of reliability since I bought it four years ago - its build quality is first class.
A MkIII or MkVI Golf with the standard 1.4 engine will struggle because of the weight (my Bora is only 15kgs less than a 1.8 Ford Mondeo LX); however, with a 170bhp unit it should be fine.
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What\'s for you won\'t pass you by
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I don't think I will ever understand people who purchase £14,000 brand new cars based on how much it costs to tax or insure.
Buy a used proper one, not a stupid poverty spec model with a hairdryer for an engine.
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To prove the 1.4 is being made to work hard in the heavy Golf, the 1.6 does more miles to the gallon according to the official figures and emits less carbon dioxide as a result.
Many years ago I had an Astra 1.4 Automatic as my first company vehicle - got forced into taking it as a "handed down" vehicle. It had 90PS but that was really slow. To make it go you had to thrash it and that resulted in appalling mpg - okay it was an auto. Compared to the Golf S 1.4 though it had more power and was a lot lighter.
But the 1.4 is two insurance groups lower (4 vs 6 for the 1.6) but with passengers on board it going to be slow, offer poor real-world MPG and have you shifting gears all the time.
If you must have a 1.4 there are lots more options. If it has to be VW then think about the Polo.
My experience (and my brother's) is VW's are not always reliable, some examples:
- Golf GTi MKIII of my brother's would break down in the rain
- Golf GTi 1.8T needed new gearbox on day one. And new locks and the front seat made a squeeking sound (I used the old VW advert as a reason why they could not fob me off - you know the one with the earring) ... stolen after 6 months :-(
- Passat 1.8T Sport needed new turbo charger on delivery (sounded like a jet fighter) but garage insisted it was gearbox so also had a new gearbox. Locks needed changing. Seat squeeked. Wind noise around driver window traced to hole in wing mirror (took months). Air-con failed within 3 years. Air-bag warning light started coming on around 3 years too - lots of attempts to fix and some wiring loom bypassed. For all I know it went again after it went back to the lease company.
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blondiebombshell, have you checked out Motor Match (in the red menu bar)?
You can use it to compare cars and their features.
honestjohn.dealdna.com/grid/displaygrid.cfm
And as has already been mentioned, HJ's Car By Car Breakdown.
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thank you everybody - you have been really helpful and given me lots to think about
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Go for a Hyundai and get a 5 year warranty.
...and get virtually nothing back for it when you go to sell it!
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...and get virtually nothing back for it when you go to sell it!
Yes but you didn't pay much for it in the first place, Hyundai & Kia depreciation is some of the lowest in the industry in cash terms, its only when you look at percentages it's bad.
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You're living proof that VW's advertising company are brilliant as you still think the badge is somehow upmarket.
I was once told by a salesman in a VW dealership when I was considering a Golf that VW competed on a level with Volvo and Saab. He did concede that BMW and Mercedes were more upmarket. I did point out that neither Volvo nor Saab made £7000 cheapo 1 litre runabouts and promptly walked out, astonished at the arrogance. As you all know I went and bought a lovely Saab 93 for less money than the Golf.
As has been said above by all means buy one but please accept that you are not buying anything special or upmarket. It's an ordinary runabout. That's why they sell 600 000 of them in Germany every year.
And it WILL go wrong. As all cars do. So again, accept that and pray to God you have a dealer who knows what he's doing. Most of them don't. That's where VW ownership finally ended for me - the fact that they couldn't fix the damn thing.
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akr
I have to disagree with you..in the nicest possible way. Not all cars do go wrong.
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Toyota Yaris......get one in the colour you want with the toys you want, so it looks different from the blue rinsers ones
pretty good engines, Toyota reliability, good crash protection, interior not too bad
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