Volkwagen Golf Estate 1.9 TDi S

Good points: Build quality, fuel consumption (amazing), performance.

Bad points: Leg room in the rear

I think Volkswagen are a cut above comparable marques. The others may provide more immediate satisfaction but if you need a car that will have to last a good number of years, Volkswagen is the only option.

I ve had (literaly ) dozens of vws over the years and 9 golfs from mk2 to present 03 estate. This one is my first estate ( save for a fastback) This one is a great combo of practicality, economy and driver comfort. better load space than my old 3 series estate nad more reliable than my brothers alfa ( shock horror! ) I ve already mentioned remap or chipping whichhas given much more torque and improved already reasonable performance- i do a 70 mile round trip a day and manage to not be held up shall we say whilst still managing to get 600 miles to the tank.Even without that I still managed to get 500 mls to the tank It seems a better put together car than french equivs, less ubiquitous than the passat - and focus for that matter, good forward and all round vision- reasonable levels of equip ( although wheel mounted stereo controls would be good ) Interiors tend to hold up well, best to go for the darker colours if at all poss. as with all the pd engined diesels, get the right oil n they ll run mechanicaly like clockwork with only a few quality niggles in day to day life.

I've had it for one year now, still have and its doing great at the moment. Very reliable engine, still going strong at 109,000 miles! Had second hand, the engine is the most impressive, it give good respond and work tirelessly when the going gets tough. Fuel economy is not bad at all and I'll definitely buy a new one in future. A great workhorse.

Being a company car driver I have driven a number of different makes of vehicle, and by far the best is my current VW Golf Estate. On the road and motorway it far outshines all others for comfort and economy (55+ mpg). However in slippy conditions it falls down. Any sort of snow/mud on an incline and it stops dead in it's tracks even with it's clever traction control gizmo's (but what do you expect from a 2wd family car?). Reliability is amazing; it's only been in the garage 3 times and that's for each of it's 20k miles services (2 years old, 65,000 on the clock).