Almost 6 months ago I decided to trade in my Ford Fiesta and get a proper car. I'd pretty much set my heart on a Golf but needed to try some other cars and also decide what mark Golf I wanted. After test driving a few cars I finally decided that the Golf was my favourite and that was what I was going to get. Next onto whether to get a mark 4 or mark 5. From the outside I definitely prefer the mark 4. Its more distinguished and easily recognisable. The mark 5 is recognisable but is not in the same category as the mark 4.
The thing that sold it to me was the interior. Once you site inside the mark 5 you can't help but be impressed. Of course the coolest thing of all (for both cars) is the blue dials but aside from the mark 5 looks and feels much better than its predecessor. As soon as you sit down at the drivers seat you are surrounded by a lovely looking car that puts everything at your finger tips.
I won't bother going into every detail about the car and what it has on it because if I did then I'd be here for hours! What I will say is that the driving position is very good. You can adjust the seats vertically and horizontally so that you are well placed to see the road ahead of you. The gear box is positioned quite high and adds to the comfy feel. The gears also have a very close ratio so each gear is positioned close to another making changing gears a very quick thing.
There is also plenty of space in the car. I like to sit with my chair quite far back in the car and if I do that then there is still enough room for someone 6 foot tall to sit down and not be uncomfortable. Obviously, having three people in the back is also not too cramped. Boot space is very good. Obviously the back seats will fold down to give you more room if you need it but I have found it to have more than enough space.
Onto the actual driving. The Golf drives beautifully (which isn't hard compared to my previous car). It is solid and holds the road very well. I have recently driven my parents 2003 focus and that is awful to drive compared to the Golf. You feel detached from the road and like you don't have full control of the car. The Golf suffers from none of these problems and you feel every curve and get a really good all round drive. One thing I like is that the power steering also varies depending on your speed. At slower speeds it is much lighter and lets you be more nimble with the car. At higher speeds it feels a lot heavier.
One of the factors that helped me decide to get a Golf was the fact that it looses very little value compared to other cars. It is also very fuel economic and servicing costs are reasonable. If you were to get a focus or something, it would loose a hell of a lot of its value very quickly and, for me, I didn't want that.
In terms of reliability I must admit I have been slightly disappointed. So far I have had to take my car to VW 3 times to fix certain problems with it. Now while these problems have been relatively minor and easy to fix, I still find it frustrating that I have to do it. That said, I must say that the staff at VW have always been extremely polite to me and have been nothing but helpful. When I was buying the car the salesman was not very pushy at all and actually seemed like he cared about whether I bought the right car for me or not (either that or he was a very good actor!). Throughout any problems I have had with the car, the service staff at VW have always been very polite and have called me on numerous occasions to keep me informed as to what is happening.
Overall I have to say that I love my Golf. It feels good to drive and the inside is lovely. The outside is not as noticeable as the mark 4 but still looks good. Fuel economy is good and running costs are reasonable. Ok so the car is a bit more expensive than other cars sililar to it, but you certainly pay for what you get.
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Jul 7th, 2008
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