New Golf or New Leon?

My company car is up for renewal. My two main choices are the new Golf in a 1.6tdi but just in the S, or the new Leon, also a 1.6tdi but in the SE.

Was planning on test driving both but has anyone got either of the above and care to comment on it?

I’ve looked at which and they bother get very good reviews. At the moment the better spec on the Leon SE is swinging it for me, guess its coming down to head vs heart.

So any thoughts!?

I’d go with the Golf, if it was a company car.

I had that choice(not as a company car) a couple of years ago, the deciding factors where visibility (rear mainly) and the garages in question. And for some reason the Golf just felt a nicer place to be, couldn’t say why tbh.

Obviously there’s not much in it, I’d be tempted to poke around them at a dealers and choose from there.

Whichever is most favourable on the tax / monthly payment – I suspect the Leon

Have a look on SCN – some of the Mk3’s are just getting delivered to the owners now.

The Leon 3 door is just released as well which is a bit of a looker.

The shame of both the Leon & Golf now on the MQB platform under 150bhp is that they’re on a fixed rear beam type suspension…. Just means it’ll be a little bit harsher ride

Got the golf but in se spec, on paper there’s not a lot of difference between them….
If I’d had to make a choice I’d have gone for the Leon as the SE spec is a significant improvement and the extras particularly the adaptive cruise control are v nice

Id go for the leon, Golfs are over rated. but if it was my own car. Id go for neither. 8)

Id go for the leon, Golfs are over rated. but if it was my own car. Id go for neither.

Having spent the last two weeks in a mk 7 Golf (se 2.0 Tdi 150) I can say its a close to family car perfection as you could get, and ive driven lots and lots of cars in my time… You have to drive one to pass judegments like that im afraid

If the Leon has cruise control I’d go for it if you are doing lots of m’way miles. I have a Golf S and it’s fine but there really aren’t many extras

My main thinking of the Leon was the cruise control. Daily commute will be 25 motorway miles each way, plus the odd longer trip. Also has alloys as standard.

Tax wise they are basically identical.

I’ve heard that both the new Golf and Leon are nicer than previous (Leon a lot better)

When I looked at the Leon it was hard to find anything downspec’d from the Golf
It’s a vast improvement over the previous one

Best car I ever had was a company Golf Match TDI (MKV). Better than the 320d touring I have now (i.e. less things went gone wrong).

I would still definitely look at a Leon, Golfs are excellent cars but there are loads around and I would be more than happy with a Seat, especially with a better spec.

The shame of both the Leon & Golf now on the MQB platform under 150bhp is that they’re on a fixed rear beam type suspension…. Just means it’ll be a little bit harsher ride

I think for the Golf it’s only sub 120 bhp cars that have the torsion beam, although that still includes the OP’s one.

The shame of both the Leon & Golf now on the MQB platform under 150bhp is that they’re on a fixed rear beam type suspension…. Just means it’ll be a little bit harsher ride

Not necessarily. In general that’s true, but not when comparing two cars. A workmate went through about three cars when changing his recently, he originally bought an A4 then swapped it for a Golf, which he then changed for an A6. The thing he really missed about the Golf was the ride quality. It was a 1.6 diesel, not sure which power version, 105 I think.

My limited experience of Seat vs VW is that Seat interior grade is slightly lower – a little less noise insulation etc, although the interiors aren’t bad. And they seem to come slightly sportier with stiffer springs.

my neigbours just took delivery of a new Leon in FR spec and it don’t look as sporty as the previous Leon, looks like Seat are trying to blend it into the Golf market with less garish looks. Either way looks like a nice motor. I’ve been looking at getting a new 5 series and i’m now seriously considering a Golf GTD/A3 but the Leon has caught my eye as I think it will save me a fair few quid in tax. I do 40K a year and comfort and cabin noise are massive things for me.

I’ve got mates with Mk6 GOlf’s and when I call them on handsfree it sounds like they have every window open it’s that noisy, noise intrusion on the Golf seems to be bad, or is it just the VAG handsfree kit, my mate has a brand new TT and that’s even worse.

I can say its a close to family car perfection as you could get

A family of what? Midgets with no luggage? We had a week in the Lakes last week and easily filled every last bit of boot space in our Octavia estate. A little hatchback would have been absolutely useless unless we had a massive roof box but thats not an option as the bikes were on the roof.

I’m sorry but a Golf is not a perfect family car.

We had a week in the Lakes last week and easily filled every last bit of boot space in our Octavia estate

They do a Golf estate you know, same size as your Octavia estate 🙂

Well not overly bothered about wether it’s the perfect family car, I’m only 25 so dont really need anything like that quite yet!

As long as I can fit my bike in the boot, jobs a good one!

Cheers for all the comments so far. Was hoping a few more might have driven them.

[quoteA family of what? Midgets with no luggage? We had a week in the Lakes last week and easily filled every last bit of boot space in our Octavia estate.[/quote]

If you want a Skoda estate I’m sure it can’t be beaten, the OP was after a 5 door hatch..

Is the 1.6 A3 SE not an option? i choose it over the astra and golf and im very pleased with it, i’m struggling to find something to grumble about tbh apart from i should have paid for the nav option.

same size as your Octavia estate

Wrong. Next…

If you want a Skoda estate I’m sure it can’t be beaten, the OP was after a 5 door hatch.

Correct. I wasn’t disputing that – I was merely pointing out that a Golf isn’t “the perfect family car”. If it is then someone needs to tell VW and they can stop bothering to make anything bigger…

I’ve got a mk6 Golf 1.4 TSi as a company car and it is as sweet as a nut. However mine is Match spec with cruise, DAB touchscreen, auto lights, multifunction wheel etc, the S really is pretty basic so I’d go with the better specced Leon in your case. Don’t really see where the head vs heart comes into it as it’s a company car, resale etc isn’t a factor.

One thing I would say is test the petrol TSi if it’s an option as I drove the 1.6TDi before I got mine and it felt sluggish, only being 5 speed with long gearing for economy didn’t help. Not sure if that’s changed on the mk7 though. Petrol might cost you a few quid more to run but well worth it IMO. I get 38mpg mixed and sit in the fast lane most of the time, have squeezed nearly 50mpg out of it on a 65mph run.

Took mine to Wales with a mate last year, took both our bikes with gear quite comfortably with the rear seats folded. About to hand it back to get an S-Max, will be sorry to see it go