Opinions on VW Golf 1.4 MK6

[anonymous-user]

Hi, I'm looking into picking up a low mileage 1.4 Mk6 Golf 80PS.

If i could get any opinions from people and people who have owned one (any problems?) that would be great!


Reasons i am looking at this car:

-VW Good Quality - I will use this car for as long as i can probably doing 80-100k miles in it. Town and Motorway miles.
-Little 1.4 so reasonable MPG
-Low insurance. I'm 21 so 80PS version is not too bad.
-Good Boot space with option of backseats going down.


Sorry if this is in the wrong place, I'm reasonably new to PH. And yes I know it is not the most interesting of cars but there ya go, at 21 the insurance companies have a field day!

All opinions and suggestions are welcome.

Thanks,
BreadWrap.

Edited by anonymous-user on Wednesday 20th June 15:32

Edited by anonymous-user on Wednesday 20th June 15:34

[300bhp/ton]

BreadWrap said:

Hi, I'm looking into picking up a low mileage 1.4 Mk6 Golf 80PS.

If i could get any opinions from people and people who have owned one (any problems?) that would be great!


Reasons i am looking at this car:

-VW Good Quality - I will use this car for as long as i can probably doing 80-100k miles in it. Town and Motorway miles.
-Little 1.4 so reasonable MPG
-Low insurance. I'm 21 so 80PS version is not too bad.
-Good Boot space with option of backseats going down.


Sorry if this is in the wrong place, I'm reasonably new to PH. And yes I know it is not the most interesting of cars but there ya go, at 21 the insurance companies have a field day!

All opinions and suggestions are welcome.

Thanks,
BreadWrap.

Edited by BreadWrap on Wednesday 20th June 15:32

Edited by BreadWrap on Wednesday 20th June 15:34

Hi afraid I've not driven one. However I think VAG and VW's reputation precedes them and is rather over inflated in the UK. I don't believe they are any more reliable than any other make and often less so. I know people who have owned other Golf mk's and other VW products. I wouldn't call them bad, but a long long way away from rock solid reliability.


Insurance wise - if it's a real issue look at classic or kit cars much much cheaper. Or even just less obvious alternatives. I suspect a Mondeo sized vehicle is cheaper to insure for example.

And I suppose my closing comment - at 21 is a 1.4 Golf really the most exciting thing you can buy?? Seems more like a retirement car for someone not really interested in cars imo.

[SonicShadow]

You'll want rid of it in a couple years, when more powerful models become reasonably insurable. I doubt the 1.4 will be as economical as you think it will be - its a heavy car so you will probably not drive it in an economical fashion. My dad had a 1.6 Focus hire car a while ago, and that barely managed 36MPG, mostly motorway miles - my MR2 comfortably does that!

On that basis, if you want a Golf, I would save some money and get a tidy Mk5.

[CYMR0]

The difference between an 85 PS and 105 PS 1.2/1.4 will be surprisingly small on insurance as well... certainly if you can afford a Mk6 you can afford one with an actual engine.

[y2blade]

Don't know about the Golf 1.4 but I drove the latest Fabia 1.4 (vRS) and loved it.

It was a great car

[Prof Prolapse]

Spend less on something older and better.

Then pay more for insurance.

[SonicShadow]

y2blade said:

Don't know about the Golf 1.4 but I drove the latest Fabia 1.4 (vRS) and loved it.

It was a great car

Thats the 1.4TSI though, its not even comparable.

[LuS1fer]

Before going low mileage used cars, always worth asking at dealers like Ford etc and asking about deals on new cars they have in stock and are willing to do great deals on. Ford are introducing their new 1.0 engine so may have deals on the older engined cars.

Not had any quality issues with our then new 2009 Mondeo Ford almost gave us in 2009 for £12k. Nothing gone wrong or fallen off of any note and just breezed its first MOT.

[y2blade]

SonicShadow said:

y2blade said:

Don't know about the Golf 1.4 but I drove the latest Fabia 1.4 (vRS) and loved it.

It was a great car

Thats the 1.4TSI though, its not even comparable.

Ah...ok
sorry...do they share any chassis components at all?

[davepoth]

y2blade said:

Ah...ok
sorry...do they share any chassis components at all?

No, the fabia is on the same floorpan as the Polo; the Golf shares with the Octavia AIUI.

My mum had the non-turbo 1.4 engine in a Seat Ibiza a few years back, and it felt underpowered there, wheezy, unwilling to rev and not that good on fuel. Goodness knows what it'd be like shifting the bulk of a Golf.

[anonymous-user]

Interesting views from you guys, my budget is up to 8k with a primary focus on Insurance and MPG, I'm not looking for anything too exciting I have a bike for that

I read that the golf will do around 40-50 mpg, if anyone has any experience that would be great.

I was a little worried that it's quite a heavy car, what decent alternatives are there then? I was also considering a focus/fiesta they are a bit bigger. What about going for a 1.6 FSI MK5?

Edited by anonymous-user on Wednesday 20th June 16:10

[zeduffman]

If it's MPG you're after why not get a diesel? It'll have a lot more punt than the 1.4 for overtaking and will be better for cruising on motorways. Insurance really shouldn't be a problem at 21.

And why the emphasis on low mileage? As long as the service history is all in order you're unlikely to be let down.

[DanDC5]

Prof Prolapse said:

Spend less on something older and better.

Then pay more for insurance.

This.

[VR46]

A polo gti or ibiza cupra are better options I think. The 1.4 golf is underpowered imo.

[SonicShadow]

y2blade said:

Ah...ok
sorry...do they share any chassis components at all?

The Fabia is based on the same platform as the Polo and Ibiza, I dont know how much they share with the Golf.

[Crow555]

BreadWrap said:

Hi, I'm looking into picking up a low mileage 1.4 Mk6 Golf 80PS.

If i could get any opinions from people and people who have owned one (any problems?) that would be great!


Reasons i am looking at this car:

-VW Good Quality - I will use this car for as long as i can probably doing 80-100k miles in it. Town and Motorway miles.
-Little 1.4 so reasonable MPG
-Low insurance. I'm 21 so 80PS version is not too bad.
-Good Boot space with option of backseats going down.


Sorry if this is in the wrong place, I'm reasonably new to PH. And yes I know it is not the most interesting of cars but there ya go, at 21 the insurance companies have a field day!

All opinions and suggestions are welcome.

Thanks,
BreadWrap.

Edited by BreadWrap on Wednesday 20th June 15:32

Edited by BreadWrap on Wednesday 20th June 15:34

I've been working onsite in Newcastle for the last few months and as such have been getting hire cars each week, some of them being golfs. I did get a 1.2 TSI (I put the reg into compare the market to see what it was) which was a nice car to drive. It might sound like a tiny engine but the turbo does help it to get going. Not sure if it was 85 or 100PS though. The downside of this is however, it will be drinking petrol the way I was driving it so quoted MPG would be out the window.

That said, it was a damn site better than the Astra SRI 1.4 I got. Gutless engine, awful MPG. It's the only car I've had that I hoped it would be the diesel when I got the key.

In terms of reliability, I'm not sure VW are that reliable anymore. Probably best checking the last JD Power survey to be sure. Someone mentioned the 1.0 Ecoboost focus although it might be beyond your budget, but I've heard great things about that engine.

Are you likely to be carting about a lot of stuff? (i.e. is a smaller car an issue?)

[anonymous-user]

Unfortunately at 21 insurance is still an issue, even that golf with insurance group 4 is around £900 fully comp.

With regards to size: a small family car size. I will be lugging all manner of things.

Had a look at that JD Power Survey. From looking at the "Small family cars" section other cars that looked interesting were the Seat Leon and Peugeot 308. I was quite surprised to see that the Focus and Astra were rated so low!

Thanks for your posts. Also I'd love to hear from more Golf owners as I was originally quite set on that 1.4 however now it seems i should look for a little more power or different car.

Thanks,
BreadWrap

Edited by anonymous-user on Wednesday 20th June 16:58

[XDA]

I never really understood the PH mindset that modern VW's aren't reliable!

I currently have a MK6 Golf (2011) and so far I've covered 50000 miles in it from new. What's gone wrong with it in that time? Just the fuse for the 12v socket went. Other than that, nothing else has gone wrong. Nothing at all. maybe I've just been lucky?

My current employer runs a VW fleet, and the previous Passats reached about 120000 miles with very very few (if any) issues.

I'd rather a VW over anything French.

BreadWrap said:

Had a look at that JD Power Survey. From looking at the "Small family cars" section other cars that looked interesting were the Seat Leon and Peugeot 308.
Thanks,
BreadWrap

Edited by BreadWrap on Wednesday 20th June 16:58

I wouldn't even consider a 308!! I had a 2009 one for about 16 months and covered about 62000 miles in it. Engine wise it was spot on but the usual french electrics let it down. It was wasn't very comfortable either and felt cheap (panels rattled).

They were that bad, the company fleet was changed to VAG!

[anonymous-user]

XDA said:

I wouldn't even consider a 308!! I had a 2009 one for about 16 months and covered about 62000 miles in it. Engine wise it was spot on but the usual french electrics let it down.

I've heard the engines are solid and that's what made it appealing. It's good to hear from a golf owner. What model do you have?

Thanks,
BreadWrap

[Cyder]

XDA said:

I never really understood the PH mindset that modern VW's aren't reliable!

I currently have a MK6 Golf (2011) and so far I've covered 50000 miles in it from new. What's gone wrong with it in that time? Just the fuse for the 12v socket went. Other than that, nothing else has gone wrong. Nothing at all. maybe I've just been lucky?

Anecdotal, but to balance the argument a lad I work with has a Mk6 GTI that has caused him nothing but grief since he's owned it in terms of reliability, yet he still won't hear a bad word said about it!

Objectively...

What Car reliability VW came in 20th with Citroen and Peugeot above it.
reliabilityindex.com VW came in 24th with Citroen and Peugeot above it and only 3 places ahead of Renault!
JD Power VW were 8th so a bit better.

The saying no smoke without fire often has an element of truth in it!