Volkswagen Golf (2013-2016)

By Jonathan Crouch

Models Covered

3 & 5DR HATCH, ESTATE (1.2,1.4,2.0 PETROL / 1.6, 2.0 TDI DIESEL)

Introduction

Volkswagen’s Golf is the family hatchback against which all others are judged – and never more so than in this lighter, larger, quieter and more efficient seventh generation guise, where it proved to be cleverer and more usable than ever before. If you’re shopping for a secondhand example, you might be asking yourself why you should buy one. But perhaps the more pertinent question is whether there’s really any reason why you shouldn’t.

The History

Volkswagen’s modern era ‘Peoples’ Car’, the Golf family hatchback, has been bought by an awful lot of people. Launched back in 1974 to replace the iconic Beetle, it was the car that saved the company through 29 million sales and six generations that by 2013, brought us to this MK7 model.

At launch, this was the first truly new Golf we’d seen since just after the turn of the century, the previous sixth generation version having been merely a light re-skin of the old MK5 model. And it arrived at a time when the marque needed to step up its game. Volkswagen’s in-house Skoda and SEAT brands were offering Golf technology for less, the South Korean competition was improving and more familiar mainstream family hatch rivals were adding premium quality and technology that, in the words of their marketeers, made them ‘more Golf-like’.

But, as Volkswagen has always argued, there’s no substitute for the definitive article – and this, we’re told, is exactly it. Stiffer, plusher, safer, smarter, more efficient and higher-tech than its predecessor, the MK7 Golf model’s goals lay far beyond simply being better than a Focus or an Astra. This car aimed to move above that, aspiring to appeal to buyers who might be considering premium-badged compact hatches from brands like BMW, Audi or Mercedes. Not everyone bought into that and predictably, throughout its lifetime, the Golf MK7 sold to people who wanted a nicer version of something Focus or Astra-sized. Volkswagen substantially upgraded this design in early 2017, but it’s the original version of this generation model that we evaluate here as a secondhand buy.

What To Look For

Most Golf MK7 owners we surveyed were very happy with their cars, but inevitably, there have been those who have had problems you’ll want to look out for. One owner reported squeaky noises coming from the suspension over speed humps. Another noted that his steering wheel made a slightly wheezy noise when going round bends slowly. There were reports of the boot juddering when closing. And fuel caps that were difficult to open, making re-fuelling a struggle. One owner reported vibration from the door cards at the front and the rear. And another reckoned that his infotainment system was choosing not to function in very cold weather – and at times, was choosing to control itself.

As for mechanical stuff, well we came across one owner who’d had a clutch go after just 4,600 miles – but that’s very unusual. Another experienced faulty injectors. And another experienced a power failure related to his DSG auto gearbox. Also look out for smearing wipers, problems with the cabin air blowers and a rattle from the gearbox over speed humps.

On The Road

Effortlessly rapid. That’s how we’d sum up this Golf to drive. Often, you don’t actually think you’re going that fast when you’re out on the road with it, but such is its combination of stability, poise and control that you find journey times shrinking rapidly. We’ll get to that in a minute but right up front, we’ll tell you about the first thing that we noticed behind the wheel – perhaps the first thing you’ll notice. The refinement.

The previous MK6 version was already a class leader in this respect, but that wasn’t good enough for the folk in Wolfsburg. Adopting the all-new MQB platform that this car shares with its SEAT Leon, Skoda Octavia and Audi A3 group stablemates gave them a chance to create a substantially stiffer structure. And a stiffer structure is a less creaky one. Add in the cleverer engine and suspension mounts that are part of it, the extra attention to engine installation and the sound-deadening acoustic windscreen and you can begin to understand just why after using this car, a drive in an ordinary mainstream Focus-class family hatch seems so noisy.

Even the humblest diesel variant, the 105PS 1.6 TDI which is the British best selling Golf variant, is far quieter than its direct predecessor was. Otherwise, the engine’s not much different – the main development work on it went into creating an eco-conscious 110PS BlueMotion variant. Still, in either form, it’s a unit that’s acceptably rapid for its modest station in life, with 62mph from rest in the ordinary version occupying 10.7s on the way to 109mph, with 250Nm of torque to zip you through the five-speed gearbox.

All of this represents the most affordable segment of a Golf model line-up that in MK7 form was effectively split into two halves by the engineering decision to adopt two quite different rear suspension set-ups across the range. MK5 and MK6 generation Golfs were always distinguished by their sophisticated multi-link rear suspension set-up that provided such an exemplary ride and handling balance. With this MK7 model, the Wolfsburg bean counters decreed that only variants with more than 120PS could have it.

Overall

In the words of a previous Volkswagen Group Chairman, the only mistake a Golf can really make is to stop being a Golf, a failing you could never level at this seventh generation model. It is, in short, a Golf made good. Which, if you’re shopping in this sector, makes it very desirable indeed.