Volkswagen Golf (2012 - 2019) review - Reliability and Safety

VW has always played heavily on its reputation for building durable and reliable cars, so the brand’s 5th place result in our Driver Power 2018 satisfaction survey comes as no surprise. The Golf Mk7 comes in at a creditable 18th place overall in the Driver Power top 75, and Golf owners responding to the survey have been keen to praise their cars’ build quality, performance, comfort and handling.

Certainly the Golf exudes an air of being built like a tank. The shut lines are consistent and narrow, the quality of the materials is high throughout and there is a pleasing lack of squeaks and rattles.

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Further peace of mind comes in the form of the VW’s strong safety record. All cars get seven airbags (including driver’s knee airbag), while the five-star Euro NCAP rating is impressive, especially the 94% rating for adult occupant protection.

Standard safety gear across the range includes an electric parking brake with auto hold function, electronic tyre pressure monitoring, stability control, front passenger airbag deactivation and hydraulic brake assist.

All but entry-level S editions get Front Assist, which now incorporates city emergency braking and pedestrian detection.

Safety options include lane assist with side scan, blind spot monitoring and dynamic light assist, park assist and rear side airbags.

Deals

Latest VW Golf Hatchback deals, save from £3,526

Warranty

VW’s three-year, 60,000-mile warranty is about average by industry standards, although you can extend it, at extra cost, up to a maximum of five years or 90,000 miles.

Servicing

The service schedule for the Golf is every 12 months or 10,000 miles, whichever is the sooner. Fixed-price servicing is available from VW dealers, although VW doesn’t offer the sort of low-cost all-in servicing package that many rival manufacturers do, so costs are likely to end up being higher than some competitors.