Used Volkswagen Golf diesel cars for sale

Absolutely – in fact, we'd recommend a diesel Volkswagen Golf over a petrol model if you frequently go on long drives, where a diesel will be more efficient than a comparable petrol version. Volkswagen may have some bad history when it comes to lying about its diesel cars' economy and emissions figures, but that's all (hopefully) in the past, and you can trust the real-world figures given out these days.

A Volkswagen Golf diesel will easily manage more than 55mpg in most situations. In fact, most Mk8 diesel Golfs from 2020 onwards will top 60mpg. The Golf's 2.0-litre diesel engine with 150hp gets 62.8mpg in stringent official testing, and you may well see higher figures on long drives. It's worth noting that shorter drives or driving around town will lower diesel cars' fuel economy quite significantly.

By and large, diesel Golfs should be reliable. Granted, diesel models tend to rank slightly below petrol models in reliability surveys – What Car? quotes a reliability rating of 89% for diesel Golfs versus 95% for petrol models. However Volkswagen as a manufacturer did end up 20th out of 30 brands in the same survey, so it's not in the most reliable brands overall.

For most driving, we'd recommend the 2.0-litre Golf with 150hp. It's a torquey engine with lots of low-down shove, and it's relaxed at a 70mph motorway cruise while also being incredibly efficient – we've seen more than 65mpg on a long drive in a Golf fitted with this engine. Performance fans should check out the Golf GTD – a 200hp diesel hot hatch version of the Golf that can get from 0-62mph in just 7.1 seconds.