2021 Volkswagen Golf Wagon Life review

While it’s quite fun to say ‘Volkswagen Golf Wagon’ out loud quite quickly, the car itself doesn’t quite scream ‘fun’ at first glance. Sleek, or stylish perhaps, come to mind first.

The eighth generation of VW’s ‘iconic’ car looks to be a crisp evolution of the excellent Mk7.5, and in many ways it is. But Volkswagen has done a lot to keep this generation atop the bar in its class.

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Here, in Golf Life Wagon guise, we enter the middle of the range at $36,250 before on-roads. The base Golf Wagon is $2700 cheaper but misses out on some goodies you’ll probably want. For the hatch, a more expensive R-Line exists with more goodies, but it’s not available as a wagon.

For your hard-earned, the Life includes a 10-inch touchscreen (VW calls it Innovison) instead of the smaller 8.2-inch unit in the base. It also adds wireless charging plus wireless Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, as well as keyless entry and start, and a larger digital dash display at 10.25 inches.

There are also some non-techy touches, 18-inch wheels over the 16s the base wears, microfleece ‘Comfort’ seats and ambient lighting that comes in the $2000 Comfort & Style package available for the Life.

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Overall, the interior takes a more minimal approach to design, mostly doing away with buttons and relegating many of the car’s functions to screen controls.

Climate, for example, is controlled entirely through the touchscreen. It’s not the ideal way to change fan speed and airflow mode (temps have touch buttons under the screen), but the trade-off is that VW has included a clever ‘Smart Climate’ screen that has more simple commands like ‘warm my feet’ or ‘defog the windscreen’.

The screen itself is neatly designed and its menus aren’t difficult to navigate but it can very occasionally lag slightly. This, however, isn’t as bad as the infrequent audio cutouts that occur with wireless Android Auto and sporadic dropouts with Apple CarPlay. This isn’t a problem unique to Volkswagen but can be frustrating nonetheless. Thankfully, wired smartphone mirroring (via the USB-C ports) is seamless.

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Buttons do, however, still adorn the steering wheel. Higher-grade Golfs like the hatch’s R-Line or GTI get touch controls on the wheel but buttons remain the nicest ergonomically in my opinion – and those on a VW wheel are well laid out and easy to feel for without looking.

The small shifter instead of a full-sized lever is fine, if a little harder to swing your hand down and grab quickly, but does at least follow the proper ‘RND’ pattern with a separate park button.

The interior takes a minimal approach to design, doing away with buttons and relegating many functions to screen controls.

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In terms of other general ergonomics, storage isn’t abundant but it’s clever in places. The central bin can only hold four narrow cans (think energy drink or canned coffee), but the cup holders are small arms that come out at the press of a button to create an otherwise more flexible storage place.

Also welcome is the digital dash display, which is reminiscent of cars from sister brand Audi in its operation and layout. The ability to bring navigation up directly in front of the driver as a map display, or set a custom layout that provides the most important info to you, is a big plus. The 10.25-inch screen isn’t available on the base Golf Wagon and is so constantly useful you’d miss it if you knew.

A $1500 Sound & Vision pack for the Golf Life also adds a head-up display and a 480-watt Harman Kardon audio system. On that note, the upper volume limit in the Golf seemed a little low in our test car.

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Behind the front row, rear passengers are treated to similar seat trim as the front, with the backrests only feeling very slightly too upright to properly nestle back into. Legroom in the wagon is fine, however, and the backs of the front seats are cloth rather than plastic, with document and phone pockets on the backs. There are also vent and temperature controls, plus reading lights on the ceiling.

Further back is where the real advantage of the wagon comes in; a cavernous 611 litres of storage space (above a space-saver spare tyre too) that can become 1642 litres with the second row folded down.

The auto pairs nicely with a 1.4-litre turbo engine, hauling this wagon around without complaints, nor trying to become the star of the show.

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However, the wagon doesn’t come with the one base model feature that might sway some buyers – a manual gearbox. Both wagon variants (fun fact: the Wagon is confusingly named ‘Variant’ in Europe) come with an eight-speed automatic transmission, replacing the 7-speed DSG dual-clutch that could at times be a little hesitant and jolty at take-off.

The ease of the auto pairs nicely with a 1.4-litre turbo-petrol engine that’s unassuming but accommodating, going about the task of hauling this wagon around without complaints, nor trying to become the star of the show.

Not being able to hear any harshness of the engine working away is coupled with the relatively effective insulation from tyre roar and wind noise, except for on the harshest of surfaces, where the suspension gets a chance to shine.

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Even rough roads don’t make the Golf feel too harsh-riding, with the 17-inch wheels and well-judged suspension cushioning passengers from bumpy surfaces. Multi-link rear suspension does well to keep the back of the wagon tied down, also proving useful when cornering.

For twisty roads, the Golf is controlled and comfortable, with well-weighted steering and brake pedal feel that allows accurate judgement of how much foot pressure is needed.

More advanced engines are available… overseas. VW says Australia’s fuel quality isn’t good enough to consider bringing particulate filter-equipped cars.

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The Golf 8 also has a five-star ANCAP rating, scoring high for occupant protection (both adult and child), with driver and front passenger airbags front and side, plus front and rear curtain airbags, and outer rear-seat passenger side airbags.

Long drives won’t result in too many stops at the petrol station either, with VW claiming 5.9L/100km fuel consumption. More advanced engines are available in the Golf 8… overseas. Unfortunately, VW says Australia’s fuel quality isn’t good enough for it to consider bringing particulate filter-equipped cars to our shores just yet.

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Back to our shores, and the Golf Wagon gets the same five-year unlimited-kilometre warranty that all Volkswagens get here, though servicing is on the pricier side for each of its 12 month/15,000km intervals. From around $400, the price climbs north of $800 for the fourth (60,000km) service.

Volkswagen does offer a cheaper way to do this though, a $2100 five-year ‘Care Plan’ (or $1200 for three years) caps costs at those figures and includes extra roadside assist cover after servicing takes place, just in case.

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Rivals? You can't stray too far from the Golf if something of its size in a wagon format is what you’re looking for. The closest alternative is the Skoda Octavia Wagon, available in ‘base’ Ambition trim for $37,990 drive-away or the step-up ‘Style’ trim for $40,490 drive-away.

The Mazda 6 Wagon can be positively plush but requires a climb further up the price ladder while also still running some older equipment, such as its infotainment unit.

It seems obvious, but the reason the Golf is such a standard is that it maintains the quality to keep it above the bar in the key areas and doesn’t fall down with any of the vital points.

This is as true of the wagon as it is the hatch – just that the wagon has even fewer rivals.

2021 Volkswagen Golf Wagon Life specifications