I moseyed in to the dealers today (as you do) for one of my visits and have to say I was rather impressed with the new Golf Plus. Noooo not for speed, I have other cars for that but am thinking about replacing my daily Astra drive for something newer - bearing in mind I have a couple of big 7 stone Setters and need something to fetch horse feed and bedding in. I would be really interested in hearing from anyone with experience of one of these "things" which is neither car, estate nor people carrier, it looks a useful vehicle. MKVI didn't look too bad either, had a play in one of those but them MKVs, God imagine cleaning the grille with a toothbrush, my wheels are bad enough, they laughed at me when I said that but it's like a bluddy honeycomb. Ugly horrible things and the only colour which looks good is black. An alternative is a one year old Passat (auto - never driven auto but might be able to live with that) - any advice would be welcome. Thanks.
I`ve been in a couple, and wasn`t overly impressed. As you say, there neither one thing or another. There`s was ceratinaly more headroom inside, but that`s of no consequence/need to me, and the boot space didn`t seem to be all that more (given what you`d be using it for.) Assuming the Passat is an estate, I`d go for that.
Thanks Stu - what didn't impress you? My GTi is not in daily use now since it's resto and I have an Astra hatch runaround with back seats flat and that would be necessary with a Plus. I wouldn't really need to use the back seats. Reason I'm thinking about it is His V40 does not have a particularly dog friendly tailgate and the back of the car is high.
My mam had a Passat. She had a St Bernard and a staffy and was allways getting 25kg bags of dog food, and had no problems with it (she is over 60). She loved the Passat but likes her Jags more so she sold it and bought a Jag.
The way I see it, the golf plus was trying to be like the Honda Jazz was, Giving the room and versatility of a much bigger car but in a smaller package. The Jazz is a brilliant car, the Golf+ is a golf for tall people and thats about the only benefit I can see with it Thought about a MK4 Golf estate? bit smaller than a Passat but very handy car to own. Could get one for peanuts too now I would have thought
I've driven quite a few Golf plus's at work. Always found them to be very nice to drive, great driving position as you sit a little higher than you do in a car. Have to agree with the "there neither one thing or another", if you need a bit more room and load space then an estate would seem more ovbious.
Thanks for your comments guys, we have a Volvo V40 estate which Himself uses most of the time so what I am thinking about is something smaller, ie shorter, than that and I also liked the higher driving position for every day use. Would like a Passat but that would be two bigger cars which isn't really the answer I spose. Might get a Passat when Volvo is replaced. I can get a lot in the Astra hatch but am tempted to get something newer hence the Plus.
I look at Golf Pluses in disgust. It's a case of "why?" - a total sell out. Please don't encourage them
thinking slightly outisde the box, what about the skoda fabia estate? seen a few of them about, and in the sportier specs think the new ones look really cool! and its a polo underneath too
Again, thanks for comments they are appreciated. Another estate is not practical and I wondered about the Plus with it being a VW, it seems to be a good utility vehicle with the rear seats flat for daily dog drives and anything else bulky I need to put in it. I need something Astra size, amazing what that holds. His V40 eatate is not what I would have chosen, would have had another 70, as everything has to be lifted rather than pulled out of the back.
My Wife has a Golf Plus, 2.0 GT TDI - I find is a joy to drive, very quick off the mark and lots of space. I have been a passenger in the back a few times and the leg room is great, I had to ask the passenger in the front if they wanted to move their seat back, but it was back and I still had loads of room. Dan
............... Don't buy a new car to lug around 2 dogs and some animal feed!! unless its a van or pickup or something lol
I need it to commute to work too, might hang onto the Astra for a bit and buy a used one next time as it would be a lot of money to pay out for a new one for muddy dogs!
The Golf Plus is a great car in its own right. Just because it doesn't fit into any particular class or category - doesn't make it a bad car. I suppose they are probably best for peeps who are less agile - slightly higher seating position, and more headroom. My old man went from a truely horrendous C-Max (and before that an even more horrendous Merc A class) to a Golf Plus GT Sport TDI - and absolutly loves it. He can get his mobility scooter in the boot just fine. The 'sports' seats don't agravate his knackered back (the seats in the C-Max were about as comfortable as church pews made out of granite). As others have said, they handle very well, and the 140PS TDIs go like stink. Looks are very subjective though - but no where near as bad as the fugly C-Max!
