Volkswagen Golf Estate - Reliability & safety (2013-2020)

Volkswagen’s policy of sharing parts across the group’s brands – which include SEAT, Skoda and Audi – means that all the company’s parts are thoroughly tried and tested, so it’s no wonder the Golf has an excellent reputation for quality – and that’s certainly backed up by our Driver Power owner satisfaction survey findings. Meanwhile, VW has packed the Golf full of safety features and it can be fitted with equipment that isn’t available on some of its rivals.

Volkswagen Golf Estate reliability

The Volkswagen Golf wasn’t rated particularly well for reliability in our 2020 Driver Power owner satisfaction survey of cars currently on sale in the UK. Of the owners who responded, 28.1% reported experiencing a problem with their car at least once, with one in five issues down to the electrics. However, it came a respectable 50th out of top 75 cars overall, and scored fairly well across the board.

Safety

The latest Golf received a five-star safety rating when Euro NCAP crash-tested it, with every area of protection being rated as good, apart from the driver's right leg protection, which was considered adequate.

Even the entry-level S model gets airbags all round, a post-collision braking system (which applies the brakes to stop the car being involved in a secondary accident) and a tyre-pressure warning buzzer. The Match Edition model and above come with an automatic braking system and active cruise control.