VW Golf : One Year On

One anniversary that almost completely passed me by is that just over a year ago I replaced my old Toyota Yaris with a VW Golf. I think, in part, that this was mainly because it was such an uneventful year motoring wise. This is a good thing as it means I haven’t had to spend any money on maintenance. In fact, with the variable-service long life oil I haven’t even had to have it serviced yet. That will be due in another 5,000 miles or 9 months (unless it changes its mind). Other than changing the wheels over for Winter and topping up the washer fluid I’ve had to do very little.

One of the things that I had worried about is whether it would be more expensive to run. The claimed economy was 51.4 mpg which was actually slightly higher than the Yaris claimed even for a car that weighed over a quarter of a tonne more. The actual figures that have come out for total lifetime consumption are 51.5 mpg for the Golf compared with 52.7 for the Yaris. That’s pretty close but all that extra weight can’t be hidden that easily. The main difference I’ve noticed is that the Yaris was much more efficient in town whereas the Golf’s ultra-long gearing helps it at speed. Over an equivalent period of a year there isn’t much in it:

One thing I have noticed, though, is that the Golf’s trip computer is a habitual liar. The trip computer on the Yaris was pretty much spot on: any differences in mpg were more likely to be down to filling errors. The Golf’s trip computer is also very accurate: providing one always subtracts 3mpg from the figure. The only reason I can think for this – and it is a cynical thought – is that it is deliberately set higher because the manufacturer knows that most people won’t check the accuracy but they will tell friends and family about how frugal they think their car is:

In terms of overall ownership one big difference I’ve noticed is that the Golf is far more comfortable on a hot day. In part this may be because the interior is bigger, in part down to its reflective silver paint (compared to the dark blue of the Yaris) but it could be that the air-conditioning system is just that little bit more aggressive. On one particularly sunny day I had the air-conditioning on all the way for my drive home and the trip computer indicated that the fuel consumption was worse by a full 10 mpg. It’s nice to have, of course, but it is one to use sparingly.

Overall, I’m pretty happy with the car. Of the other cars I looked at, I still like the look of the Toyota Auris and our local taxi firm has bought a fleet of the hybrid estates which is ideal for their business. I also rather liked the Ford Focus I had on hire but some of the design is just that little bit impractical. All the cars I looked at were really in the dull and boring category and the Golf is possibly the dullest of them all but if I can go for another year  of hassle free motoring from my boring car I’ll be quite happy.