One-year Ownership Update: 2019 Volkswagen Golf SportWagen

Well friends, it’s been an entire year since I purchased a CPO Golf SportWagen, and it’s time for an ownership update.

Do you expect I’ve had any more issues since we last spoke?

You may remember that my initial (and so far, only) ownership experience with a non-Audi VW Group product was not an awesome one. The purchase took a couple months worth of haggling with the local dealer who just happened to have a singular (hard to find) example with tan interior. Because I was able to wait them out, they eventually came around on price.

Much to my dismay, shortly after the purchase I realized there was quite a rattle in the headliner. And so began four repeat trips to the dealer, which after 23 days or so admitted there was a quality control issue with the headliner, as the factory installed a deformed one. At day 27, I picked up my car with a new headliner, and no rattles.

And all was well! Of course, about six weeks later I moved to work from home status along with so many others across the country, and commute miles dropped to zero. I resorted to afternoon or evening sanity drives, most often to explore the middle of nowhere. There on twisty and occasionally hilly roads, the Golf proved a fun if somewhat underpowered companion. Always planted and stable, its primary shortcoming is in the power department. The 1.4 is happy to rev if the shift paddles are used to hold the engine in the first four or five gears. But if left in automatic during zesty driving, upshifts are too frequent. Similarly, downshifts (and turbo power) are a bit too delayed: The power arrives after the corner you’d intended to power out of has passed. The brakes have plenty of punch, and bring the wagon down quickly with an easy-to-modulate pedal. The skinny tires (Pirelli Cinturato P7 all season) designed with fuel economy in mind do create traction issues in wet weather conditions, and I wouldn’t advise anyone do rainy day cornering in a Golf.

On longer-distance trips, the Golf performs well in standard automatic mode. The ride is compliant at high speed, and the suspension absorbs highway bumps well. Seats prove comfortable for a few hours of driving time, with no back or leg aches or fatigue. As you’d expect, cargo capacity is copious and the wagon handles many bags with aplomb. At highway speeds, noise is managed well, although there’s some wind noise from the panoramic roof. I find myself closing the shade on longer trips to buffer it a bit. The heated seats get almost too hot on their highest (level three) setting. I can tell you with certainty Volkswagen does better heated seats than Infiniti, Lexus, and Subaru – no contest.

As mentioned, the interior is a pretty quiet place to be. But there’s a slight rattle in these colder months from the cargo cover. Many wouldn’t notice, but hearing annoying rattling sounds in the car is my thing. While I’m griping, there’s also an occasional slight rattle from the glove box door. Months may pass with no sound from the area, then there might be a few days of light rattling. Again, pretty minor. Owners of these Golfs who park outside will notice there are a lot of places for leaves, pine needles, and other bits of natural detritus to gather. Sometimes they’re hard to pick out by hand, for instance when pine needles lie in crevices around the windshield. Some human detritus made an appearance over the summer and used the Golf as a doorstop in a parking lot. At least it was down low on the door, and touch up paint fell readily to hand.

Generally, the controls and infotainment have been simple and without fault. There’s an “oil change needed” warning which comes up upon every start these days, as determined by the calendar and not mileage. It can’t be reset within the menus by the press of a button, and that’s annoying. There might be a special procedure to reset it, but I’d rather it could be dismissed and not warn me again.

Android Auto works well the majority of the time, with some occasional lag upon startup. When plugged in, the car charges my Samsung phone quickly, which is the opposite of my experience in some other modern cars which used a trickle method of charging. The audio system is fine for this class of car, but would not pass for a premium sound experience (Fender Audio was limited to the extinct SEL trim). The CD player in the glove box is an oddity, as are the memory card slots in there. Both have remained unused.

Features like blind-spot monitoring and rear traffic warnings are nice, but the lane keep assist is annoying – I turned it off quickly. The radar cruise is a bit too cautious and only works without annoyance in low traffic highway situations. If trusting in the machine is your thing, the radar cruise also works around town, even at stoplights.

A year of ownership, and I’ve experienced no issues with the Golf, save for that early rattle. When I picked it up last December the mileage was at 3,997, a figure which reads 8,575 today. This wagon has the most consistent fuel economy of any car I’ve ever owned. No matter how or where this VW is driven, it returns 31 to 32 miles per gallon by hand calculation. The trip computer is generally slightly optimistic, but not too far off. I do wish the fuel tank was a bit larger, as 13.2 gallons seems to disappear so quickly. But at current prices, a $22.00 fill-up doesn’t hurt too badly.

After 12 months, I’m still pleased with the SportWagen. It does lots of things well, and only asks that you manage its relative lack of power in exchange. I don’t see myself getting bored with it any time soon. And if something does break, you’ll be the first to know.

[Images © 2020 Corey Lewis/TTAC]