Buy Volkswagen Golf Estate (Mk8) Price, PPC or HP | Top Gear
Advertisement
BBC TopGear
BBC TopGear
Advertisement feature
Shell V-Power: Fuelling your passions
FIND OUT MORE
Friday 9th June
Advertisement

Buying

What should I be paying?

There are three trims available on the Golf Estate – starting Life and moving through Style and R-Line – plus an Alltrack and R version. The Life model starts at £26,970 and gets 16in alloys, aircon, a 10in infotainment screen and adaptive cruise control as standard. You won’t be celebrating Christmas getting into this one.

Style adds £2.5k to the price tag and throws in 17in alloys, three-zone climate control, carpets and LED headlights, while R-Line gets you sportier seats, fancier exterior trim and tinted rear glass for £30,725.

Advertisement - Page continues below

The Alltrack is your slightly beefed up 4x4 model at £39k, and £45k gets you into the souped up R model car with its 316bhp 2.0-litre petrol engine that manages 0–62mph in 4.9 seconds.

All Golf Estates are rated in the high-40s to high-50s on fuel consumption, except the R which is rated at 35.8mpg. Worth noting that the R and the Alltrack both tip into the £555 first year VED bracket, where all other models are in the cheaper bands at around £200.

What about monthly costs? 

The entry level Life model with the 1.0-litre 3cyl engine is a comparative bargain at £375 a month if you can live without all the equipment (the second-up-the-ladder SE Technology Octavia is the cheapest estate in that range at £380 a month). The 1.5-litre 4cyl R-Line model with 148bhp is the next cheapest trim to go for at £440 a month. The go-faster R-spec car will cost you around £690 a month, but the most expensive in the range is the Alltrack 4x4 at around £850 a month.

How does the Golf compare with its VWG rivals?

It’s worth noting that the Skoda Octavia estate shakes out around £2k less than the Golf Estate like for like. It’s a big difference, essentially a space vs style dilemma, but as ever you’ll pay the premium for style. Meanwhile nobody quite knows what the Seat is for, but the Leon Estate is a reasonably stylish and slightly cheaper alternative to the Golf.

Advertisement - Page continues below

The other virtue of either the Leon or the Octavia is that those cars also come with a PHEV option – why doesn't the Golf? You'd think Volkswagen would have an electric estate on sale by now too, come to think of it.

What extras should I go for?

There are a few boxes to tick on the configurator. The brilliantly bright IQ.Light LED-matrix headlights are an £875 optional extra. A rear-view camera is £300, the full-fat version of VW’s Travel Assist system is £710 (although it’s standard with Style trim) and the head-up display is £625.

A heated steering wheel comes as part of a £550 ‘Winter Pack’ (standard on the Alltrack), but every time you press the steering wheel-mounted button it brings up the climate control panel on the infotainment screen. Argh!

There are all the usual active driver assistance systems, as well as a choice of 30 colours for the interior lighting on higher spec models (10 on the entry car). Pretty colours.

compare car finance
Powered byZuto Logo
more on this car
Take one for a spin or order a brochure
Powered byRegit Logo

Subscribe to the Top Gear Newsletter

Get all the latest news, reviews and exclusives, direct to your inbox.

By clicking subscribe, you agree to receive news, promotions and offers by email from Top Gear and BBC Studios. Your information will be used in accordance with our privacy policy.

BBC TopGear

Try BBC Top Gear Magazine

Get your first 5 issues for £5
subscribe