We’ve been made an offer we really can’t refuse that involves us getting a 12 month old Mk6 Golf Match Bluemotion which is going to replace our ’57 plate Mk5 GT TDI (which will be up for sale in about 3-4 weeks if anyone’s interested – in the NW and done 108k with 80k of that mainly on motorways).
A lot of our driving is shortish trips down country lanes which I think will suit the 1.6 BM better than the GT although the latter is a huge amount of fun and has averaged 45mpg over the last 28k miles.
Anybody got a BM that can chip in with their experiences?

For a while you will still drive it, thinking it’s the GT.

My sister’s just got an estate. She lives in the country.. said she got 52mpg on a 5 mile trip and 62 on a 15 mile one I think.

Can’t help much more than that 🙂

Just bought a Mk6 for the wife. Better built and more refined than the Mk5, by some margin. You will be disappointed with the lack of oomph after a GT though.

Dont get a car with Bluemotion.I have one and find the blue motion to be really bad.

It stalls on roundabouts if you need to stop for a split second. At times if you pull up to a roundabout/junction slow down and stop for fraction of a second, then pull away the delayed engine stop cuts in and leaves across junctions, its crap and to be frank I think its dangerous. I appreaite everyone drives diffrently and I may be more aggresive than others, but I dont like it.

You do have the option to turn it off, but this needs to be manually done every time you start the car.

You will be disappointed with the lack of oomph after a GT though.

Yep, thought that would be the case but our ‘offer’ does not include a GT 🙁

Wiilt – I read that the automatic stop only occurs when the car is in neutral and the clutch pedal is released (pressing the clutch pedal in restarts the engine.

I had one for a week as a hire car in italy/france.

Build was OK. Controls feel a bit spartan though, but I find that with VW group cars. You’ll be used to it though with the GT TDI…

Over the week, it averaged 50mpg – that was with just one motorway trip, the rest was around town and quite a lot of hilly road driving. On the motorway trip, it easily average north of 60mpg. (all figures from the computer, so optimistic at best).

It drove quite well – given it’s only a 1.6, it went quite well, and the engine was relatively flexible, which surprised me having driven several other VW diesels from the older PD motors through to the more recent 2.0.

The weirdest thing though was an odd ‘buffeting’ sensation around 60-70 mph.

The steering also lacks feel – I assume it’s an electric-assist thing.

I checked the list price when I got home, as I was starting to think one could be a possibility soon. HOLY CRAP! HOW MUCH!!! seems very expensive for what it is. Jumped back in my 8 year old Sugaru Legacy and thought this is a much nicer place to be. Quieter, more refined, much nicer to drive (and more comfortable, but I have had time to settle into it).

It could be that wiilt is approaching roundabouts in neutral, yes.

(all figures from the computer, so optimistic at best).

The computer on my Passat is dead accurate, FWIW.

no issues with the auto-start stop for me – worked brilliantly in fact. As above, only works when out of gear and clutch pedal is released. and you’re going very very slowly or stopped. It is possible to make it turn off whilst moving, but only when you’re only just above 0mph, and have been for a couple of seconds.

My sister has one. I find it to be pretty basic inside, and the engine isn’t as refined as Ford’s small diesels.

BTW – diesels don’t tend to do well on economy for short journeys. You might be better off with a small petrol instead.

Or *gasp* a hybrid…!

Good point though – if you do a lot of short trips it’ll be really bad for the engine itself, and could end up with expensive failures if it doesn’t get at least some long trips and/or some proper thrashing.

if you do a lot of short trips it’ll be really bad for the engine itself, and could end up with expensive failures if it doesn’t get at least some long trips and/or some proper thrashing

We do long trips also – the Golf is the go-to car for pretty much everything unless it involves pulling boats, lots of luggage or more than the family (so 6 or 7 people) in which case the XC90 is used.

My sister has one. I find it to be pretty basic inside

I agree the standard BM is a bit short on the goodies but the Match version comes with touch screen stereo, bluetooth, USB/iPod/SD integration, auto lights, auto wipers, multifunction steering wheel, and parking sensors which is much more like it.
The interior does seems a classier place on the mk6 than the 5 also.

Does it have to be a Golf BM? I assume so from the wording of your OP, it’s a specific car?

My brother has got the 1.6tdi match with bluemotion pack as it worked out a lot cheaper than getting the Bluemotion and had more kit. Don’t know if that’s what you are getting, but will be pretty close.

He loves it. Interior seems nice, space is ok, engine is fine for it’s purpose. He’s not the most knowledgeable or patient person when it comes to car gadgets & features, but gets on fine with the stop/start function.

Yep, that’s what we’re getting.

I have the 1.6 Tdi BM Sportline estate and like it a lot. I’d have to agree with willt’s comment though, I (and the OH) find it really easy to stall and on occasion it does seem like it just bogs down when trying to pull away – you have to dip the clutch and give it some gas for it to pick up. It also really doesn’t like ‘rolling’ starts in higher gears, so slow speed getaways in say 2nd gear are almost a no-go. I put it down to it being a relatively large car and a low(er) capacity/torque engine rather than the stop/start as such.

That aside, it’s nicely built, economical, has plenty of room and so far seems to be totally reliable. Servicing costs are also decent – just had it’s first service after 2 years which came to about £200 including a wing mirror repair.

Just done a trip to the Alps in mine, took 4 of us with 3 bikes on the roof and a shed load of riding gear/parts etc – everything went in the boot with no problem so we all had plenty of room. Got about 46mpg for the whole trip which I didn’t think was too bad at all. Unladen, I’ve had ~65mpg on a trip to Aberdeen (from Bradford).

I’ll let you know in 3 hours when my new one arrives! 😛

I have had a brand new Passat for the last 2 months (about 4500 miles) with that engine and was quite impressed that it moved the weight as well as it did. Quite poor when trying to accelerate in top gear on the motorway (I’m used to a 2.0tdi A4 170bhp) but all right if you drop a couple of cogs. I think that the gearing is a lot higher to reduce cruising revs which then struggles to pull from low down.
As far as the stop start goes, it works fine. As above, keep in gear, keep the clutch down or keep it moving and it won’t cut out. If you coast to a junction in neutral, then I guess it could just still be moving when you wanted to pull away, but even then I can’t beat mine starting when dipping the clutch engage gear.
Just a thought, I have no idea what they are like with an auto box though.
I’m swapping to the golf as I don’t need 2 estate cars, I expect it to be pretty similar just a bit smaller, more nimble and faster. Hopefully it’ll come with blue tooth and DAB again as I love that on the Passat.
Oh, and it’s done 47.9mpg average for the last 4500milesdriving like an arse on 90% country roads / very twisty slow A roads and and 70% 80mph + on motorwarys.

transapp – did you have the 1.6 or 2.0 Passat? I’m looking between the two at the moment

mine was the 1.6tdi Blue motion. I didn’t want a ‘low’ powered car after the A4, but it was delivered to work 2 days after I started so grabbed it!
From brand new, it was a little tight so not great, but freed up very well. Needs more ‘working’ than the older (2008) tdi’s, but then I think that’s the same for the 2.0 as well. Certainly the max revs have all increased to 5k now indicating a more petrol like drive.
I’m sure someone will be along in a min to quote torque curves etc to prove me worng!
Anyway, I do rate the 1.6, and it’ll cruise in comfort at 90 should you want. Not so keen on the electronic handbrake (although I could cope with just that) coupled to the auto hold, almost a handbrake setting!

My wife has had one, the golf BM, for nearly three years as her company car.
Before that she had the Golf Tdi, and before that the Bora GT tdi (I think). For all this time, we’ve used her company car as our only family car so I’ve had plenty of experience in these VWs over the last 7 years.
Unfortunately, I can’t help you compare them to other cars as I’ve not needed to drive one often.
You will notice the lack of power for overtaking. It dosen’t have the same oomph in fifth. And it won’t be as much fun. You’ll need to drop into fourth to go past people, but that’s not really a problem. Once going, it’ll happily cruise at 90 or 80 though.
Servicing is covered under the company contract, but we’ve not had to put in in for any mechanical problems. (Except one “bump”, catching the front underbumper – be careful ‘cos the extra streamlining/aerodynamics to increase the fuel econ. means the bumpers are lower than normal and can catch on high kerbs)
You will notice the economy. My wife drives quite fast/hard but still averages over 60 mpg, it makes a big difference. I’ve also had the polo BM on hire, and that averaged seventy plus.
It’s true that the automatic stop only engages in neutral with clutch up. It doesn’t happen every time, I think only once the engines reached a certain temperature. You get used to this after one drive, the engine kicks in as you depress the clutch to move into first. You soon ignore it, then not notice it.
It’s also true that it does seem to stall slightly more easily at roundabouts than some other cars. I still haven’t figured out exactly why and when but the reasons above seem plausible. However a stall in a BM is less significant than in any other car I’ve driven because it restarts immediately on use of the clutch, so you don’t even move your hands.
Overall, it feels a little underpowered compared to the previous ones we had, but more than made up for in economy. now we’re used to it, wouldn’t go back. The wife gets a new company car in November (3 year cycle) and this time it’s going to be the Golf Plus bluemotion. Similar, just a little bigger [for bikes and kids 🙂 ].

cool, thanks for the detail 🙂

I had one as a rental last week and raced a BMW Coupe off the lights, I got the holeshot on him, but half way through second gear he passed me.
The body kit on it made it look pretty cool too.
That’s my alternative opinion.
I think they’re ok, similar in many respects to the TDi but without the torque. I’ve not driven one long enough to check the fuel consumption which I guess is the ultimate reason for choosing one.
Polo Bluemotions however are utter pants.

Oh yeah, one more thing. People have complained that VW reliability is not what it once was. As it happens my Passat (see previous thread) has had an ECU problem, most likely caused by water ingress it looks like.

The repair man said he was amazed to be called out for my car because they are so reliable he hardly ever is. And when the MOT man told me my car had passed last time he added “they always do”.

A bit of anecdotal evidence for you, FWIW. I found it reassuring after the scare stories.

We have one as a company car and are very happy with it. Not had any issues with the stop start (note though that use of the air con can stop if stopping though if the pump needs to be driven to get you down to temperature, not a biggy just explains why sometimes it does not stop).

I’d suggest that the issues above are more due to driving method/style than anything else. It will stall more easily that older types of chuggy diesels, but not as easily as a petrol. The auto anti stall is great though, first time that happened to me I had instinctively reached to restart the car and found I actually turned it off again as the auto restart was so quick.

One thing you will notice is how far it rolls. When you come off the throttle and engine brake it takes a long time to slow down compared to other cars.

I’d don’t agree on the under powered side. It has plenty to allow you to pull out on the motorway, even in 5th when already at 80 leptons. Granted its not as nippy as the more powerful variants but I’ve never considered it under powered (unless you the type of driver that uses every tiny bit of straight A road to nip past the car ahead).

I have a heavy right foot, frequently using the whole rev range and full throttle, and we still get 60+ MPG.

People have complained that VW reliability is not what it once was.

Probably generation specific eg Mark IV Golfs were pretty bad.

It also really doesn’t like ‘rolling’ starts in higher gears, so slow speed getaways in say 2nd gear are almost a no-go. I put it down to it being a relatively large car and a low(er) capacity/torque engine rather than the stop/start as such.

My wife has the 1.6 tdi (105) not BM, and this is a real PITA. I think the gear ratios are too high. When approaching a roundabout and crawling in 2nd you generally have to change to 1st to avoid a stall when moving off. Presumably the gearing is such to reduce high revs and improve fuel consuption. I have to say though the wind noise and buffeting around 60-70mph is excessive for a ‘quality’ car brand.

We have also had a complete electrical failure after 15 months which resulted in the RAC coming to pick the mrs up.

Would I buy again, no. My company Vauxhall Insignia is a much more pleasant drive and is just soooo much quieter.

We have also had a complete electrical failure after 15 months

That sounds like the well known Siemens injector issue, which was subject to a recent recall…

That sounds like the well known Siemens injector issue, which was subject to a recent recall…

Interesting, the dealer wouldn’t tell us what the issue was other than the generic, ‘electrical’ problem.

There was definitely an issue – they would apparently just stop working completely at random. There had been a long consumer rights battle about it before VW admitted it and put the recall out, I think.

I drove a Golf BM for a few hundred miles as a rental car over a weekend. Can’t say that I particularly noticed a reluctance to pull away in that time, but it may just be down to gearing as others have said. I was surprised that it didn’t feel anywhere near as gutless as I was expecting it to; generally it was fine ‘cruising’ and quick enough when accelerating down sliproads etc.

It wasn’t as effective on smaller country roads, but if you weren’t in any hurry then it was perfectly happy to move along relatively inoffensively…

VAG start-stop is very reliable and predictable in my experience. Unlike the Fiat one 😉

I’ve got a Glof estate Mk6 – this isn’t actually a ‘6, it’s a 5 underneath. Anyway, it’s the 2.0 tdi 140bhp version. Averages 56 in the trip computer, probably 51-52 in the real world.

I had a 1.6 BM as a loaner when mine went in for new clutch/DMF/pressure plate at 37k. The BM was actually slightly less economical on my commute – came in at 54 mpg ish on the computer over the super scientific mileage of 55 (but on my normal route, so it kind of is accurate). It’s a much better, more pointy drive than the estate but I wouldn’t like to say it’d be any good with a family and week’s worth of gear on board as the engine just doesn’t have the guts. Not bad for a 1.6 oil burner, but nowt amazing and I’d certainly be tempted to suggest that the 2.0 BM is the way to go.

Oh, and watch out if your courtesy car comes from Volkswagen via Europcar – they’re currently trying to sting me out of 192 quid for “damage” that they seem to be unable to evidence…

I have mk6 2.0tdi Match which I have had from new and love it after 50,000 miles.

I tried a 1.6tdi Bluemotion when i bought mine and although all is very similar inside, I found that the 1.6tdi, coupled with the long gearing on the bluemotion, meant that the engine had to be worked quite hard, and therefore got less mpg than mine!

Both great cars but i think it depends on what driving you do…….if its country lanes or fast driving then the 2.0 will get you better economy that the 1.6.

As with bikes……….try them both!

I had one a year ago for 6 months (1.6 blue flush) and prior to that a 2 times 1.9 both again for 6 months, all estates.

The blue flush(1.6) is the quietest and smoothest of the 3 the first 2 had rattles as well in the A and B pillar. The fuel economay wat poor only about 43 ( a renault megan tourer will 90k on gets 46) but all were brand new and will prob be a lot better when run in.They all went back when they had about 10k on them.

The match with the blue flush seems to be the best all the toys with good ( when run in) fuel economy

Just to add to above, my new Gold blue motion turned up at 4:30 today. Only 49ml on the clock. I was expecting the 1.6 but actually got the 2.0 140. I’ve only driven it home (36miles, Cheddar gorge, Mendips, then A-road into Bath), however initial thoughts are very promising. Engine pulls like a train, really doesn’t matter that it has long gear ratios. Handling seems good however once the tyres loose their mould release, I expect it to improve pushing into hard turns (OK, I drive like a prat). A bit more body roll than my A4, but more comfortable in the Golf. Noise seems good, and I keep expecting it to have a sporty exhaust note, not the tractor rattle.
Really nice is the touch screen DAB / bluetooth / phone touch screen head unit. Sounds stupid but I spend at least 2 hours a day driving my car so like to have decent tunes and phone.
Overall I’m a very happy bunny, especially that it’s the more powerful version but mainly that it has a normal hand brake!

Bear in mind there’s bluemotion technology, and actual bluemotion – the latter is more hardcore and only on the 105ps.

Mines the actual blue motion 140ps not too sure what the differences are though in reality