Faults:

Nothing but I have only had it one year. Upon purchase the car had a full MOT and service. History is complete and there are no signs of abuse or major problems.

General Comments:

My 2014 Golf has been a good car to own and drive this past year. "Match" is a decent specification and the car has electric everything. Looks nice in silver though that is a very common colour. Love the alloy wheels also. Great looking car.

1.6 TDi is very economical as expected, does over 60 mpg. Not fast by any standard, but most drivers will find it good enough.

Interior is quite large considering it is a smaller family hatchback car. Feels a much more solid quality car inside than my previous Fiat. I get comfortable easily. I could complain about the electric handbrake as many drivers do, but it is not bad once used to it. Still would prefer a lever.

Centre console display is small and is getting on a bit, but still modern enough to hook up your phone and all the usual stuff. Quite glad the climate control is analogue though, just much more intuitive than a touch screen. All in all for a 2014 car it is hard to believe it is 8 years old, still feels as good as new. Cheap to run but I have heard repairs are expensive, so try to avoid rough ones buying used, but find a looked after Golf and you have a reliable car.

Faults:

Rear door speaker seals leaking water into cabin (both sides).

Rear tailgate leaking water into rear hatch.

Notchy gearbox (observation).

Be wary of oil consumption - some use more than others, but should be checked every 1000 miles or so.

General Comments:

You hear some stories regarding these cars, but there is a pattern with familiar items. For instance the silica bag in the expansion tank will fail at some point unless it's removed or it will end up ruining your heater matrix.

The tailgate water leak is to do with a pipe and gromit missing or weakened which runs from the hatch lock down to the central tailgate edge. The part is quite cheap from dealer network, but really shouldn't occur to begin with.

The rear speakers are a PITA because first you have to remove the door trim, and then you realise the speakers are riveted into place and they need to be replaced to resolve the leak into the cabin which collects around the bottom door seal... I think this should have been a recall, but that's not happened either. The issue is the design of the inner door skin, and the water drips down either the NSR or OSR (depending on the parking angle of the vehicle). New stock speakers will therefore only delay the problem until they fail again.

The notchy feel from the gearbox seems worse when the engine is colder, and only in the first 3 gears does it really seem to be affected. I believe this is a characteristic rather than a problem, but it does niggle me.

The engine is very responsive in Sport mode and decent economy is only achievable if you're not stuck in stop-start traffic, so on long journeys you can achieve over 60 MPG if you're reasonably careful. It's just the little things that let it down, that's all. Looks sensational though and it makes me smile. Do not park near a kerb though; those diamond cut alloys are just a nuisance to keep in one piece, but they look nice.

I have focused on the negatives as that is what sticks in your mind when you think about it. It's still a great car despite its faults.