Wednesday, August 16, 2017

One year with a German car

I bought last year a Golf Mk7 SW (Variant) as the old Kalos was going out of shape and it lacked basic safety features nowadays as ABS.
Before buying the car I drove some Ford Focus, Kia C'eed, Renault Megane, Peugeot 308 and Opel Astra K on test drives. I was also considering Citroen C5 and Volvo V60 but they were kind of too expensive for me. Finally I decided to go with Golf as it had the most features for the money (it had even more features than Kia). However it was not the most pleasant car to drive Focus and 308 were far better rides (more precise steering and suspension). The engine was better than Kia's but Renault's and Peugeot's felt better.

After one year and more than 12000 km of driving the car both on city and on the countryside I can say:

1. It is not a city car - too long, hard to park, fuel consumption quite high (~9 l/100 km) due to the fact that I drive short distances.
2. Interior feels cheaper than previous versions and is prone to scratches. The interior fabric gets dirty easily and the black colour makes it visible immediately
3. Not the most comfortable chairs.
4. Trunk is big enough.
5. Lacking independent suspension on the rear wheels reduces the comfort for passengers.
6. The clutch smells burnt on moderate effort (parking manoeuvres, steeper hill roads) although it works (until now)
7. Infotainment has some bugs especially with Android Auto.
8. I expected more storage space (eg. under driver's seat)
9. Upgrades are quite expensive (eg. ACC, cameras)
10. Fuel economy on long countryside rides.
11. Good looking but not stunning.

What I am missing is the quality that makes this car unique. It's above average in every aspect but...