I bought it to replace an `05 Focus Estate with the notorious Peugeot/Citroen 1.6 TDCI 110hp diesel - but which is Euro 4 (I think)and soon to be banned from town centres everywhere; so it`s clearly not a "pride and joy" - just another cheap family banger to use as a workhorse for the next few years.

Good things: it`s better then the Ford on mechanical refinement, and the 2.0 litre diesel has a lot more punch - although it loses out due to the over-high gearing. It has a high "on-the-road" performance - in other words if you just drive it the way it feels comfortable, you will find yourself going a lot faster than you expected. Beware speed traps! On the other hand it is very good for overtaking safely.

It can be quite economical - you can get 50 mpg if you drive carefully in "eco" mode, but in reality it will do about 42 mpg, same as the Ford. The computer exaggerates the economy by around 2mpg. The engine only gets noisy if you rev it; but you don`t need to do that, 2500 rpm is plenty.

This estate version has good space/room inside; ideal for those who find a Passat or Mondeo too big, and I think the layout preferable to a Skoda Octavia estate, which was an option.

It is comfortable on longish journeys with some provisos - see below.

Not so good: the physical conformation is bad for some (larger) drivers. This is because the stylists overcame the engineers - so the roof-line is too low, and the `A` posts are raked too far forward. This means it is difficult to get in without a "limbo dancer" contortion. When you are in, if you are of average height the rear-view mirror is exactly at eye level, rather than above it, creating a disturbing blind spot.

I am astonished that none of the road-tests I have read mention these deficiencies - presumably the result of a Friday afternoon Product Committee in a hurry.

The "Bluemotion" versions of this model have lowered suspension and 225/45x17" tyres which shriek road noise; together, both features give a lousy ride. The first thing to be binned was the tyres, and the 205/65x16" replacements are an improvement as you might expect. Presumably this aberration was due to another bad day for the Product Committee.

Standard springs next?

Frankly the old Ford Focus had a far superior blend of ride and handling qualities compared with the Golf. It also lacks the Golf`s continual jigging and rocking inflicted by that wretched PC - really they ought to swallow their pride and pull a Focus to bits to see how Ford did it - and then copy, rather than second-guessing from a table of spring rates..

The external mirrors are too small - much smaller than the Mk 6 Golf - another PC aberration.

The leather (heated) seats take an age to warm up - they are not a patch on our ancient Subaru; the driver`s seat cushion doesn`t warm up anyway. Get cloth seats - reports suggest they are better.

The driver aids and "infotainmnent" systems are a nightmare with conflicting controls for different options - the driver`s manual is a masterpiece of obscurity in this respect. and after a month I still cannot find out how to select/save a radio station without risking a crash, or a long sojourn in a layby doing trial and error. You are never quite sure whether the option you are trying to activate is non-existent, un-reachable, or has simply ceased to function. Like auto wiper control? Auto headlight control (and which features?) - and so on. Too clever by half.

For instance, there are 18 buttons on the steering wheel - this is not ergonomics, it`s ridiculous.

The manual doen`t help, and the PC have probably long forgotten what it was they agreed to anyway.

Just remember, that until recently (I read) all Golf Estates were built in Mexico -- no wonder the "2.0 GT Bluemotion Estate" doen`t exist in VW`s line-up; they probably forgot to tell the Mexicans.

This doesn`t mean it`s a bad car - it`s not; but don`t kid yourself you were buying a quality German car ; that doesn`t happen any more. It`s not a bad buy at £8000 but I wouldn`t be wanting to buy a new one. (And I don`t buy the road tests either).

But as a banger it`s fine.

AS