S 2.0 TDI 5dr Hatchback

Superb family car which is more fun to drive than it deserves to be

We decided to change my wife's 1.6 Civic SE 2004 due to age, and it needing a major service

We went into the local VW garage looking at a Polo, and ended up three weeks later buying a used Golf 110 TDI 2.0 S with 7000 miles on the clock - strangely enough, we weren't bothered about the engine and either the 2.0 TDI 110 or the 1.4 TSI 122 would have done. (The invoice says it's an SE: we're still in some discussion with the dealer over exactly what it is we've bought. The salesperson didn't quite have the product knowledge we expected...).

In summary, it's a superb car using any metric you care to measure it by.
Interior? Excellent. Good quality, great comfortable seats, all very nicely done. Useful ski hatch. Only downside is a plastic steering wheel (not leather) which feels a little cheap.
Exterior? Excellent. not a terribly exiting shape, but well executed.
Performance? Great. The 110 diesel engine is stronger than numbers suggest, quiet, and surprisingly smooth: I guess a lot of development has gone on since the last 1.9TDI I drove as this is a good engine!
Economy? Outstanding! 30 quid a year for road tax, and over 70mpg on a run. All Golf MK6 TDIs have a DPF, so it's "soot free" too.
Handling? The real surprise: excellent. I was expecting boring handling with nothing but understeer. Whatever VW have done has reduced understeer and actually allows a little bit of movement on the rear in corners to tighten the line: this is a lot of fun, and unexpected compared even to a Mk5, which was dull.

The only disappointment in the whole experience was the dealer and the level of product knowledge (throwaway comments like "oh, it's an SE spec, oh, it's got alloy wheels", which turned out to be wrong), but we're now engaged with the dealer principal and things are being rectified.

Overall though, a fantastic car that's more fun than it deserves to be, cheap to run, good quality and refined.

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