For anyone interested, I've just seen 10,000 come up on the Golf's odometer, in 6 months or so. So far - so good.
HURRAY
Most things.
Engine was fairly lively from the start - even more so now. You soon get round the potential sudden rush of power over 2,000 rpm by judicious use of the accelerator.
Very good balance between ride and handling, and the steering is more direct than the (outgoing) Audi A4 and much better than my previous B-class Mercedes.
Fuel consumption 46-55 mpg - excellent and 10 mpg better than the B-class which was also 2.0 litresand 140 bhp.
Excellent front seats, with all the adjustments you could need - the steering wheel also adjusts both ways so if you can't get comfortable it's something you ate.
Good precise gearchange: I miss an automatic less than I thought I would. I could have had DSG, but the Mercedes drone put me off 4-cylinder diesel automatics, possibly for life.
Touching wood, nothing whatsoever has gone wrong or fallen off. They build these in Mexico, so in between dancing on their hats the workforce seems to have done a good job.
Residuals should be good - What Car says a healthy 48 % of cost retained after 3 years, compared with 40 % for the equivalent (and similarly priced) Octavia estate, and better than the A4 Avant 2.0 TDI (costing nearly £6,000 more and only 45 % after 3 years).
BOO
Noisier than some rivals (though much quieter than the B-class), but the noise is only really noticeable on hard acceleration. It's much quieter and more relaxed at motorway speeds than the petrol 1.6 Nissan Tiida we hired recently in South Africa.
VW need to copy some of the newer designs for folding the rear seats. They fold flat (unforgiveable in an estate if they don't) but you have to remove the headrests first.
So 9 / 10. My natural habitat is still an Audi, but the V6s are too expensive, and you can't justify the extra cost of the A4 2.0 TDI over this, when the Golf does about 95 % of the job.
Edited by Avant on 13/03/2008 at 21:29
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Good report :)
I honestly can't recall seeing a Golf V estate on the road around here (Cheshire).
The one drawback of the PD motor (in either 1.9 or 2.0 form) is that it's coarse when cold and under hard acceleration ... but the grunt, driveability and economy more than make up for it.
Do you have the 5- or 6-speed manual? I found the 6-speed to be an ideal match, the ratios were very well chosen for A / B road blasting and m/way cruising.
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6-speed - it comes as standard with the 2.0 TDI and makes all the difference to cruising.
I ordered mine the day they were announced and got one of the first batch already in the UK. Like you I've seen very few others - I was told that they can take 4 or 5 months to come from Mexico, for some doubtless excellent reason.
Edited by Avant on 14/03/2008 at 19:02
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"I could have had DSG, but the Mercedes drone put me off 4-cylinder diesel automatics, possibly for life."
What's the difference in "drone" between a manual and an automatic - wouldn't both be doing, say, 2000 rpm whilst cruising at approx. 70 mph, irrespective of method of gear change. Isn't Mercedes a CVT box as opposed to DSG automated manual?
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Interesting question, Colin. Yes, the Mercedes had a CVT box, but I'm not sure whether it would have made much difference if it had beeen a DSG.
It may be the nature of the B-class's engine or transmission, but you had to get the revs up to 2000-2500 rpm to get anything like reasonable performance - hence the excessive noise. It wasn't the volume at 70 mph that was the problem - the Mercedes was at its best then, cruising at only just over 2,000 rpm. It was in town and any time you started fron rest where the noise was oppressive.
A friend has a B180 CDI manual which he likes - still noisy but not quite as intensely so as the automatic.
This debate could usefully be widened - who else has a diesel automatic or DSG?
Edited by Avant on 15/03/2008 at 22:58
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Good report, and sounds like a nice car.
My father-in-law is considering one of these as he is coming up to retirement and they are selling both their mk4 Golf TDIs (one 115bhp hatch, one 130 bhp estate), and buying their "last car".
He's not sure whether to go for an Octavia instead, as you get a lot more for your money, and residuals are not going to be an issue (they're both fit and healthy, and there's no reason they shouldn't have another 10 years+ of driving ahead of them), but he's had Golfs for years, and it may well be another.
Both the existing mkIV Golfs have had build and minor reliability niggles, but it sounds like the mkV is a welcome improvement.
Cheers
DP
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"He's not sure whether to go for an Octavia instead, as you get a lot more for your money"
That's where I started from last year, but I was slightly surprised to find that Skodas, though excellent, are no longer cheap. The comparable model to my 2.0 TDI SE estate is the Octavia Elegance - just about the same price as the Golf but with rear parking sensors and climate control as standard. The sensors were not very expensive as an extra, and I personally prefer manual A/C as you don't have to have hissing worthy of the reptile house every time you start the engine.
There's very little in it if residuals are not an issue: I found the Golf seats more comfortable but this is highly subjective. It may well turn on whether (as often) your in-laws' local Skoda dealer is more friendly than the VW dealer and / or gives a better deal.
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I have driven my sis-in-law's B-class CDI auto, and I've also driven a Golf TDI DSG. The 'drone' is definitely a symptom of the CVT 'box - I recall the same drone from a Punto Selecta (CVT) I hired over 10 years ago. Like you, Avant, it would has me off a CVT for life. The DSG in the Golf by comparison sounds just like any conventional auto (diesel or otherwise), albeit with a quicker gear change.
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Have the Golf mk V 2.0 tdi DSG. Regularly do cross-Spain (950 km) trips and find its a car you can step out of at the end of the journey without a "buzz" in the ears and aching body. Only comment on seats, at 65k km the material is starting to wear quite badly - I think this is a known fault.
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"who else has a diesel automatic or DSG?"
As most probably know that will be me - A3 Sportback SE 2.0TDi 170 DSG. Just coming up to 10,000 so I'll do a report soon. If this car didn't have the DSG I wouldn't have it at all.
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Interesting. I was just mulling over a B class as the answer to small-ish external, large-ish inside problem, and I do want an auto box.
There is the Golf Plus - a better alternative to the estate or not? And even the Fabia Estate which is narrow but has a practical 'boot' with the rear serats down?
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Just some thoughts on diesel autos.
A couple of years back I had a C-max 1.6 tdci auto, which has a cvt box.
As such as you pulled away, the engine revs would reflect how far open you had the throttle, so it could be a bit "buzzy" until you lifted off to cruise. I liked it a lot, apart from its slow take off from rest. It did around 40 mpg.
My wife now runs a VW Eos, 2.0 tdi, with the 6 speed dsg box.
This I think is very good. Near instant smooth gear changes. It also does not hang onto each gear for too long. The only small problem comes if you perhaps approach an island with your foot off the throttle, and suddenly decide to accelerate. The box will then give a jerky change as it goes down 1 or 2 gears, but I don't think it is alone in this, all auto tend to. Its giving 45 mpg in mixed urban motoring.
Mind you if I was buying VW diesel dsg I think I might head for the spanish variants......!
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