Volkswagen Golf review - Reliability & safety

Out of the top 50 cars rated by owners in the 2024 Driver Power satisfaction survey, the Volkswagen Golf came 50th, scoring highest for its engines but not particularly excelling in any specific area. Major rivals came higher, such as the Ford Focus (47th) and Toyota Corolla (24th). The brand will be hoping the Golf’s mid-life refresh can improve on these results.

Volkswagen Golf reliability

We’ve not heard any horror stories about the latest Volkswagen Golf in terms of reliability, but it did come last out of the 50 top models in the 2024 Driver Power survey in this category as reported by customers. Volkswagen Golf owners are disappointed with their cars’ reliability, safety features and infotainment systems. Servicing costs are too high, you also told us.

As a brand, Volkswagen came in a very disappointing 29th place in 2024, which is actually a drop of two places since the year before. Its highest score for a particular category was a meagre 17th place for practicality, and customers just don’t seem particularly happy with their Volkswagens overall. Reliability stats aren’t terrible, but they’re nothing to write home about either, with 23.4% of owners reporting an issue with their car in the first year.

Safety

The Golf was retested by Euro NCAP in October 2022, due to an update to its safety equipment. It isn’t surprising that it holds onto its five-star Euro NCAP score with the new kit, however, the test is stricter than ever, making its most recent score all the more impressive.

The Golf scored especially well in the child and adult occupant safety categories, and while it didn’t perform as well for pedestrian safety, its score of 74% in the vulnerable road user category is still competitive in its class.