Volkswagen Golf Estate (Mk8) review

There are three trims available on the Golf Estate: Life, Style and R-Line. The Life model starts at £28,400 and gets 16in alloys, LED headlights, front and rear parking sensors, digital instrument cluster and 12.9-inch infotainment screen, ambient lighting and wireless charging.

Style adds £2.8k to the price tag and gets you the more powerful 1.5-litre 4cyl engine, 17in alloys, body-coloured bumpers, cornering lights, three-zone climate control, carpet mats and rear view camera. You can also have the diesel at this level: £34,595 is your entry price for that.

Meanwhile, R-Line gets you sportier seats, fancier exterior trim and tinted rear glass for £31,650. That's with the entry 1.5 mind; the 2.0 TDI tops out at £35,045 here.

The entry-level Life model with the 1.5-litre 4cyl engine is a comparative bargain at £335 a month on a four-year agreement with an initial payment of under £5k. One up Style trim (which gets you the more powerful engine) costs from £365 a month, while the go-faster R-Line spec car will cost you a couple of quid more.

How does the Golf compare with its VWG rivals?

It’s worth noting that the Skoda Octavia estate shakes out around £2k less than the Golf Estate like for like. It’s a big difference - and essentially a space vs style dilemma - but as ever you’ll pay the premium for style. Meanwhile nobody quite knows what the Seat is for, but the Leon Estate is a reasonably stylish and a cheaper alternative to the Golf.

The other virtue of either the Leon or the Octavia is that those cars also come with a PHEV option. Why doesn't the Golf? You'd think Volkswagen would have an electric estate on sale by now too, come to think of it. The ID.7 Tourer is on its way, aparently.

What extras should I go for?

There are a few boxes to tick on the configurator. The brilliantly bright LED matrix headlights are an £1,825 optional extra. A rear-view camera is £375, the full-fat version of VW’s Travel Assist system is £680 and the head-up display is £580.

A heated steering wheel comes as part of a £475 ‘Winter Pack’, while there are all the usual active driver assistance systems, as well as a choice of 30 colours for the interior lighting on higher spec models (10 on the entry car). Pretty.