Best Volkswagen cars: the brand’s top new models and all-time greats
Want to know which Volkswagens are worth your attention? We’ve selected ten of the best
Volkswagen is one of the best-known carmakers and a consistent strong seller – even if you’ve never owned a VW yourself, you’ll probably know someone who has. The brand has had its ups and downs over the years, but you never have to look too far for talent in VW’s range, from the evergreen Golf family hatchback to the flashy ID.Buzz, with its retro-futuristic styling and quiet electric power.
The current line-up offers a bewildering amount of choice. For just about every long-running combustion-powered model, VW offers an electric alternative in its ID range, all based on the same MEB platform (which you’ll also find under Audis, Cupras and Skodas, as well as the Ford Explorer and Capri).
Some are more worthy of your attention than others, so we’ve compiled the ten best models in the current range below – as well as selecting five past masters from VW’s back catalogue, which have shaped it into the company it is today.
1. Volkswagen Golf
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- Prices from £27,760
Don’t be mistaken by the lukewarm reviews the eighth-generation Golf received when it arrived in 2020. It was indeed a flawed car, but far from being a bad one – and the mid-life Mk8.5 update addressed several of the early criticisms, most notably with some interior interfaces, to make the current model much more appealing than it was five years ago.
You still need to fiddle with the touchscreen or haptic controls a little too much to operate some regularly used functions, although the physical buttons on the steering wheel make most significantly less frustrating. Plus a few cheap-feeling plastics remain in prominent areas, too.
Yet the Golf remains one of the best cars in its class. All the fundamentals are there, from a spacious cabin to a wide range of keen and frugal engines, and the evergreen appeal of that badge on the bootlid.
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2. Volkswagen ID.7
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- Prices from £51,580
Like the latest Golf, VW’s ID range of electric vehicles took some time to get going. The ID.7 launched in 2023 is our favourite of the brand’s EVs, taking many of the qualities we got accustomed to when each new Passat came around, and pairing them with superb practicality, typical electric-car refinement and a generous equipment roster. But it’s not cheap, and a heat pump isn’t standard either.
Power isn’t an issue in any ID.7, with even the basic Pro Match car sporting 282bhp and a 6.5-second 0-62mph time. It’s impressively quiet whether you’re toddling around town or schlepping down the motorway, and while it’s no B-road thriller, and quite large, it’s pretty easy to drive. Space is the real virtue though; it’s one of those rare cars genuinely capable of housing tall passengers in both the front and back at the same time.
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3. Volkswagen ID.Buzz
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- Prices from £59,035
Cars, electric or otherwise, don’t come much more likeable than the ID.Buzz. It doesn’t matter that many drivers won’t even remember the Swinging Sixties heyday of the original VW bus, because it’s an image with enduring appeal, and one the Buzz taps right into with its funky styling and bright colour schemes.
It’s more than just a pretty face too, and so it should be for nearly 60 grand. The interior is genuinely versatile, and the recent addition of a long-wheelbase variant has given it the seven-seat option it always needed. It’s large, but visibility is fantastic and takes the sting out of manoeuvres, and like most of VW’s electric cars, it’s even pretty brisk – compared to the classic VW camper, it’s basically a supercar. A 293-mile maximum range, which is more like 200-250 in the real world, curtails its abilities as a true road-tripper though.
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4. Volkswagen Tiguan
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- Prices from £35,105
The Tiguan is one of those accomplished all-rounders that Volkswagen has always had a knack for. It wouldn’t feature on many dream car lists, but it’s a lot higher on most people’s real-world family car shortlists, thanks to its space, premium feel and a wide choice of powertrains.
VW has made a big push with plug-in hybrid power on this generation and it’s got a useful 70 miles of electric range. The 700-plus mpg official rating is pretty meaningless, but most drivers should be able to cover most trips in EV mode, although 35mpg when running as a regular hybrid is nothing to write home about. The cabin design is easy to get on with, if a little light on physical buttons like most VWs, but seat space is generous and the 652-litre boot very useful indeed (even if it drops to 490 litres in plug-in form).
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5. Volkswagen Polo
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- Prices from £21,210
The Volkswagen Polo is living on borrowed time, with the model only marked on VW’s calendar until 2030. But it’s still providing sterling service as one of the most grown-up superminis on the market, something it’s done since 1975 – yes, the Polo nameplate is now 50 years old. Even the current model is getting on a bit, but for space and quality, it’s still towards the top of the class.
The latest car starts at more than £21,000, although the Polo GTI model – one of vanishingly few hot hatchbacks left in this class – seems like reasonable value at a shade over £30k; MINI charges that for a basic electric Cooper E. The GTI could be more fun, as could all Polos, but the 1.0-litre TSI engines are peppy and frugal.
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6. Volkswagen ID.3
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- Prices from £30,850
You can think of the VW ID.3 as an electric Golf – and with the e-Golf no longer available, that’s effectively the role it serves in the line-up. It’s another car that had some notable flaws at launch, but VW has ironed them out over time, and today’s car offers a good blend of range, refinement and space. It’s particularly impressive on the latter in fact, with the dedicated MEB platform setting aside plenty of room for passengers.
As with several VWs on this list, we find the infotainment system a bit fiddly and a few too many functions are denied physical buttons. A tight turning circle makes it a doddle to drive in town and it’s refined everywhere, while the Pro S version’s 347-mile range is very competitive in this class.
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7. Volkswagen Passat
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- Prices from £39,610
The Passat saloon is dead: today’s Passat is estate-only, which is curious when the very similar (and slightly cheaper) Skoda Superb is available in both saloon and estate forms. Still, the Passat is one of few remaining options for those who need plenty of space but aren’t convinced by SUVs, and with a minimum of 690 litres of capacity (or 530 litres in plug-in eHybrid form), it certainly has room on its side, and more than VW’s own Tiguan.
The plug-in model has a very impressive 77 miles of electric range on its side, although if you want diesel power, only Skoda’s version can provide that, since the Passat range is mild-hybrid or plug-in hybrid only. All Passats are refined, relaxing and comfortable to drive, and they feel high-quality too.
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8. Volkswagen Golf R
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- Prices from £44,535
The likes of Audi and Mercedes might now offer cars which have eclipsed the Golf R’s capabilities, but few cars offer more accessible performance than VW’s range-topping hot hatch. With 328bhp and all-wheel drive it’s effortlessly capable yet retains all of the virtues (and indeed some of the foibles) of a regular Golf family hatch – or estate.
Without the spectacular finance deals once offered on the previous Golf R, the new model isn’t as common a sight on the road, but the latest Mk8.5 version is something of an evolution of its predecessor. Today’s model can shuffle power around as necessary to maintain balance in corners, and 15-step adjustable dampers make it surprisingly adept on bumpy UK roads, too.
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9. Volkswagen Multivan
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- Prices from £48,375
It might not be as stylish as the all-electric ID.Buzz, but the Multivan is even more useful as a people mover. As it is based on the Transporter commercial vehicle, the driving experience is more van-like – but vans are pretty good these days so that’s not such a problem. The front four passengers get individual seats and there’s a rear bench for three, but everyone gets plenty of room in the quality cabin.
The interior is also a little less willfully weird than that of the ID.Buzz, which may appeal to some – as should the choice of plug-in hybrid or pure petrol and diesel powerplants. The Multivan is expensive (and even more so in its California camper variants), but one of the most desirable people movers on the market.
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10. Volkswagen T-Roc
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- Prices from £29,045
Based on the Golf, you’d expect the T-Roc to be a strong contender in its class – rivals include the Toyota C-HR, Mazda CX-30 and BMW X1 – and that’s how it proves. The T-Roc majors on delivering a relaxed, comfortable drive and in providing space for the whole family, without taking up loads of room on the road or requiring large and thirsty engines.
VW couldn’t resist offering a 296bhp T-Roc R performance variant, although it’s hard to imagine who it’s for. The rest of the brisk but frugal engines make a lot more sense, and the company hasn’t yet ditched diesel in its family SUV, with a 56.4mpg 2.0 TDI in the range. The older-style cabin is more intuitive than those in the latest VWs, too.
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The best VWs of all-time
Narrowing down the best Volkswagens ever is no easy task; the company’s back catalogue is enormously varied, and VW has made some of the most significant automobiles of all-time. We’ve had a go, though, and the five models below are perhaps the best snapshot of the company’s history, from the car that started it all to ones that looked well into the future.
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Golf GTI
1974’s Golf GTI MK1 wasn’t the first hot hatchback, but it inarguably popularised the genre. Developed after-hours, when finally presented to VW’s top brass, the vivacious 1.6-litre version of the sensible Giugiaro-designed Golf was too good not to put into production. Its 108bhp seems modest today but the GTI’s chassis made use of every bit of it, and a torquier and more powerful 110bhp 1.8 arrived in 1982 to keep things motoring along.
The Mk2 Golf GTI arrived in 1984 and continued VW’s good work. It looked and felt more substantial but was just as pleasing to drive, and got much quicker in 1986 with a 137bhp 16v engine. The GTI’s shine wavered with the Mk3 and Mk4 versions, but things picked up again with 2005’s Mk5 Golf GTI, already a modern classic.
Beetle
Developed under the Nazi regime during World War II, revived by British Army officer Major Ivan Hirst after the war, darling of the Sixties youth counterculture movement in the United States, transportation for millions upon millions of people over a period of more than 60 years, and produced across the world, the Volkswagen Type 1, or Beetle, has an undeniably colourful history.
And while it was getting on a bit even by the time German production ended in 1978 (it lasted until 2003 in Mexico), the Beetle’s endurance was key to its appeal: these little cars just go on and on, and make people smile as they do so. Plus no automotive shape is more recognisable, even if VW hadn’t made 21 million of the things.
XL1
The XL1 is, alongside the Bugatti Veyron, the ultimate expression of Ferdinand Piech-era Volkswagen’s engineering boldness – and one might also say hubris. Dieselgate put paid to anything like the XL1 getting beyond the limited-production (and extremely expensive) form in which it arrived in 2011, but as an automotive footnote it’s fascinating.
Weight was low at 795kg, courtesy of a carbon fibre structure and tiny dimensions. A tiny 47bhp twin-cylinder diesel engine and 27bhp electric motor worked together for claimed combined economy of 313mpg – heavily dependent on regular battery charging, of course. But really, it’s the striking, car-from-the-future styling that stands out. The XL1 was supercar engineering used for economy rather than speed.
Karmann Ghia
The Type 14 Volkswagen Karmann Ghia is a perfect example of the coupé art: take prosaic mechanicals and clothe them in a beautiful body. Performance isn’t really a factor – the car just needs to look good and make people feel good.
In the Karmann Ghia’s case, the mechanicals were essentially those of the Beetle and more family-friendly VW Type 3, while the styling was the work of Carrozzeria Ghia, and it was built by Karmann in Germany. The 34bhp engine available on the car’s 1955 launch confirmed the style-over-speed ethos, but buyers didn’t seem to mind then, and the classic’s owners don’t seem to mind now – although later 49bhp 1.3-litre versions are happier in modern traffic. Karmann built well over 400,000 during the car’s 19-year run.
Samba bus
Along with the Beetle, the Type 2, known as everything from Transporter, Bus or Camper to Bulli, Samba, Microbus and Kombi, defines Volkswagen. Like the Beetle, the original split-window bus and its bay-window successor used flat-four power and rear-mounted engines, and while they may not have got you to your destination quickly, they’d certainly get you there.
Today the split-window variants in particular are highly-prized classics, and the more windows the better: the best 23-window buses, named for every pane of glass you’ll find, have gone for six-figure sums at auction. Bright colours, incomparable style and an enormous sense of wellbeing are enough to make you forget the Type 2’s austere, commercial origins. It’s a trick that VW has pulled several times with the Transporter since.
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