Review: Volkswagen Golf Estate

German automotive giant Volkswagen has been in the news over the past couple of weeks, not for the right reasons.

The company announced earlier this month that to remain competitive it is considering closing some of its German factories for the first time in its 87-year history.

This is obviously not good news. Volkswagen is one of the world’s largest and most prestigious automotive companies and the announcement has sent shockwaves throughout the industry.

It’s particularly poor timing as Volkswagen is, this year, celebrating the 50th anniversary of the iconic Golf. It’s a word I don’t use lightly - if at all - but it is certainly apt in this case with over eight generations and 37 million sold. Not surprisingly it is the biggest selling model in Volkswagen’s history to date.

According to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, total Volkswagen registrations in the UK in 2023 were 162,087. These included 27,293 Golf Hatch and 1,252 Golf Estate - the subject of this week’s test drive.

The Golf Estate is an easy car to like and live with. It is smart and functional and does everything required of it without any fuss. It’s also very practical with a boot of 611 litres - ideal for dogs, luggage, shopping and anything else you can throw at it.

The Golf is available with several different engines - turbodiesel, turbo petrol, mild hybrid and plug-in hybrid.

Ours came equipped with the splendid and quite potent mild hybrid 1.5-litre petrol engine with 148bhp and a responsive seven-speed DSG automatic transmission. This engine is quiet and smooth, as is the DSG gearbox. Stopping is also smooth although a bit of practice is needed to get it spot-on due to the regenerative braking on our eTSI model

It’s comfortable and we had no complaints when it was taken on our usual badly surfaced and speed-bump-strewn test route.

And, as ours was fitted with the optional dynamic chassis control (£870) with its three modes, it was even better than expected.

It handles well with light supple steering which is particularly good around town.

Inside the cabin all is typical top quality Volkswagen with no real surprises. Although if you’ve been away from the marque for a while you may be surprised by the infotainment screen which has seen major strides forward.

It is accessed through a 12.9in touchscreen and supports wireless phone charging and smartphone mirroring. There are also two USB-C ports in the front, two USB-C charging sockets in the centre console and a navigation system.

Like a lot of people, I’m not a fan of the slider system for volume etc and can’t understand why manufacturers can’t just use a knob or a switch for important functions.

Drivers of all sizes should be able to find a comfortable position with plenty of adjustment on the seats and steering wheel.

All round visibility is great. All trims have front and rear parking sensors and our test car in Style trim came with a rear-view camera.

Volkswagen Golf Estate

Price: £31,700 (£38,765 as tested)

Engine: 1.5 litre eTSI

Power: 148bhp

Torque: 184lb/ft

Transmission: Seven-speed DSG

Top speed: 139mph

0-62mph: 8.6 seconds

Economy: 52.3mpg

CO 2 emissions:1235g/km