Volkswagen Golf Estate - Practicality & boot space (2013-2020)

With a boot that’s 225 litres bigger than the Golf hatchback’s, the Golf Estate already proves its worth before you consider its van-rivalling luggage capacity with the seats down. Volkswagen has gone all-out by adding plenty of useful features that make the Golf Estate a very practical proposition indeed.

Volkswagen Golf Estate interior space & storage

There’s room in the back for three adults, although the passenger sitting in the middle may find the large transmission tunnel eats into the space for their feet.

Storage for odds and ends is plentiful in the VW, with a large cooled glovebox, a cubby under the centre armrest between the driver and front-seat passenger and another one for sunglasses in the roof console. There are also two cup-holders up front, while all but the S model benefit from handy drawers under the driver and front passenger’s seats.

On top of this, there are large pockets in all the doors, lined with felt to stop their contents from rattling around. And the pockets at the front have massive drinks holders that can take even big two-litre water bottles.

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Boot space

The standard Golf hatchback is already a very practical car, but its 380-litre boot is neither as big nor as versatile as the one found in the estate. With the rear seats in place, the Golf Estate offers 605 litres of boot space, but the load bays in the Skoda Octavia (610 litres) and Peugeot 308 SW (660 litres) are bigger still. Despite being a performance model, the R estate doesn't sacrifice any boot space.

Nonetheless, the Golf’s boot opening is very wide, so there’s lots of scope for loading bulky items. Drop the rear seats down – easily done by simply tugging the handles in the boot – and you get a maximum capacity of 1,620 litres. It’s also a very usable space with very little wheelarch intrusion and – although the seats don’t fold entirely flat – there’s an adjustable boot floor so you can lose the load lip altogether. This makes it easy to slide those bulky purchases from IKEA in, or make life that little bit easier for your faithful dog when it’s jumping in the back.