Volkswagen Golf GTI hatchback (2013-2020) - Reliability & safety

The standard Volkswagen Golf achieved a mediocre score of 41st out of the top 100 cars ranked in our 2019 Driver Power owner satisfaction survey of cars currently on sale in the UK. 

The Volkswagen brand itself came 17th out of the 30 top new car makers. Owners generally didn’t like the interior design or exterior styling of their Volkswagens and weren’t fans of the ride or handling. Of the owners who responded, 26.2% reported experiencing a problem with their car at least once, but the most common cause of these issues was electrical gremlins.

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Safety

Making its cars safe is usually fairly high on Volkswagen’s list of priorities and the Golf GTI is no different. Euro NCAP awarded the standard Golf the maximum five-star score in its stringent crash tests.

All Golf models come with driver, passenger, curtain and knee airbags and the Golf scored a highly impressive 94% for adult occupant protection. The hatchback also managed 88% for child occupant protection and 65% for pedestrian protection. The GTI adds VW’s sophisticated autonomous emergency braking system that can automatically brake the car if an obstacle is detected in its path. There's clever optional safety kit, too, including blind-spot warnings that can prove invaluable on the motorway.