In the end, I’m sorry to make this an ‘everyone’s a winner’ story but the victor here is the humble family hatchback. All three cars will easily crack 50mpg while maintaining good performance and drivability, have a compelling blend of ride, handling and general comfort and, if you don’t go wild with the options, cost less than £35,000. I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend any of them, because how much more car do you really need?
Verdict
Okay, I get it: you want a hierarchy. Fine. The first to drop off is the Peugeot. It has more ergonomic foibles than the others, doesn’t handle as naturally, and if you want a high spec it’s the most expensive by some margin – no matter whether you buy it outright or on PCP.
Golf or Corolla? That’s a much tougher question. The Golf has the more upmarket, more practical and quieter interior, without being worse for usability, and thanks to the adaptive dampers and a conventional seven-speed gearbox, it offers quite a versatile driving experience. But then the Corolla feels easier and more natural to drive. It has the fuel economy advantage for suburban drivers and it has the better adaptive cruise control.
Which one is cheaper depends on the spec you want: Volkswagen gives you more freedom to pick and choose options (including a diesel, PHEV or manual), which means that the cheapest Golf is cheaper than the cheapest Corolla, but the most expensive Golf is more expensive than the most expensive Corolla.
They meet somewhere in the middle. In the end, Toyota has one big hammer to beat the competition with: its unequalled reliability record.
You would think Volkswagen would have its electronic ducks in a row by now, but at the UK launch, we found one car with a glitchy screen, and our car for this test at one point briefly refused to start. Anecdotal evidence, but reliability surveys tell a similar story.
The Mk8.5 Golf is a return to form for Volkswagen and here, today, the Golf or Corolla question is one of personal preference, but over the course of multiple years of ownership, the Toyota has got to be a safer bet.
