Volkswagen Golf Plus (05-08) - Review

Review by David Ross on
Last Updated: 28 September 2009
The Golf Plus sits between the standard Golf hatchback and the Touran people carrier in the Volkswagen range, making it ideal for those who want a more useful alternative to a standard hatch. It's never proved as popular as the normal Golf, but this is good news if you're buying second hand as prices tend to be lower across the board. It's as good to drive and has plenty of boot space while long distance comfort is impressive. There's a decent choice of engines too, including some frugal diesels along with a low-emissions Bluemotion version.
4 out of 5

Other Volkswagen reviews

3 out of 5

Running costs

The Golf Plus will be no more expensive to run than a standard Golf. All the engines offer reasonable costs although we'd steer clear of the 2.0-litre FSI and go for a 1.9-litre TDI if you want to maximise fuel economy. Insurance groups are 4 for entry-level models although the GT models are 13 which is a little high considering they're far from sporty. Volkswagen servicing isn't the cheapest around though, especially compared to the likes of Skoda and SEAT which use many of the same parts.

* based on most recent data

Estimated fuel cost for 10,000 miles per year

Unleaded

£1,395 - £1,918 *

Diesel

£1,105 - £1,526 *

The estimated fuel cost figure is a guide to how much this model will cost to fuel each year, so you can compare between cars. It's calculated by using the model's average mpg (calculated from both town centre and motorway driving) and the average fuel price. It's based on the following cost-per-litre: petrol 135p and diesel 141p. Prices are updated daily.

Summary Running Costs

Servicing period

Variable according to on board indicator.

Warranty

Three years/60,000 miles.

Road tax (12 months)

£100.00 - £270.00

Vehicle excise duty (VED) varies according to the CO2 emissions and the fuel type of the vehicle. For cars registered after March 1st 2001 VED or road tax is based on the car's CO2 emissions. For cars registered before March 1st 2001 it is based on engine size.

Full running costs data

3.5 out of 5

Green credentials

  • A
  • B
  • C
  • D
    127
  • E
  • F
  • G
  • H
  • I
  • J
  • K
    209
  • L
  • M

CO2 emission figure (g/km)

Fuel economy rating

The arrows indicate the best and worst CO2 bands for this model.

Emissions summary

Like many other Volkswagen models, a Bluemotion version of the Golf Plus is available. It's powered by the 1.9-litre TDI diesel with 105bhp but tweaks to the engine along with longer gear ratios and weight saving measures mean it emits 127g/km of CO2 and returns 58mpg.

Find the exact engine and CO2